THEN & NOW
64th Anniversary Celebration (serenaded by Elvis)!
The spiritual side of The Bill & Gerry Nicks Story spans eight generations!
“When
I call to remembrance the genuine faith that is in you, which dwelt first in
your grandmother Lois and your mother Eunice”
2 Timothy 1:5
Bill Nicks has been preaching the Gospel for over 60 years!
This page chronicles the lives of Bill & Gerry Nicks.
Bill & Gerry presently live in Waycross, Georgia. They work and worship with the City Boulevard church of Christ. Bill is still a very active Gospel preacher! He teaches the Sunday morning adult Bible class and preaches from time to time. He recently began using PowerPoint. Bill teaches a bi-weekly Bible class in the Georgia prison. Bill & Gerry can be reached at bgnicks@bellsouth.net They reside at 3164 Wood Duck Drive, Waycross, GA 31503.
Click here for pictures of Gerry and her family
Click here for pictures of Bill and his family
Click here to view the lineages of Bill & Gerry Nicks
Preparation
Efforts!
“How
then shall they call on Him in whom they have not believed? And how shall they
believe in Him of whom they have not heard? And how shall they hear without a
preacher? And how shall they preach unless they are sent? As it is written:
“How beautiful are the feet of those who preach the gospel of peace, who bring
glad tidings of good things!”
Romans 10:14,15
“For Ezra had prepared his heart to seek the Law of the LORD, and to do it, and to teach statutes and ordinances in Israel.” Ezra 7:10
“Be
diligent to present yourself approved to God, a worker who does not need to be
ashamed, rightly dividing the word of truth.”
2 Timothy 2:15
“Take
heed to yourself and to the doctrine. Continue in them, for in doing this you
will save both yourself and those who hear you.”
1 Timothy 4:16
As
a teenager, Bill presented his first lessons and sermons at the Charlotte Avenue
church of Christ, where he grew up in Nashville Tennessee.
After
graduating high school Bill went to work for the Washington Manufacturing
Company. His boss and N.B. Hardeman
made it possible for Bill to attend Freed-Hardeman College.
Bill graduated from Freed-Hardeman College in 1944
He later earned a B.S. degree from Memphis State College in 1946.
Bill
attained residence requirement for a Masters degree at Abilene Christian College
in 1962.
Foreign
Preaching Efforts
“Also
I heard the voice of the Lord, saying: “Whom shall I send, And who will go for
Us?” Then I said, “Here am I!
Send me.” Isaiah 6:8
“For
when I spoke, I cried out; I shouted, “Violence and plunder!”
Because the word of the LORD was made to me a reproach and a derision
daily. Then I said, “I will not
make mention of Him, nor speak anymore in His name.”
But His word was in my heart like a burning fire
Shut
up in my bones; I was weary of holding it back, and I could not.”
Jeremiah 20:8,9
Bill and Gerry worked for eight years in Nigeria, Africa as missionaries (1955-1960 and 1971-1974). They worked with other missionaries among the Efik people at first, then opened the Nigerian Bible College among the Ibo people in 1957 with 40 students. There are now over 400 congregations among the Ibo people and there have been over 400 graduates from the Bible College. Bill & Gerry also worked with others to establish the Nigerian Christian Hospital.
Bill and Gerry went to Liberia, Africa in 1969 as the first resident missionaries to live in that land. They worked in Monrovia for a year and started three new congregations in that vicinity. They planted 6 churches of Christ during the 3 years in the inland.
Bill and Gerry served as missionaries in Trinidad, West Indies from 1992-99. They worked with the Trinidad School of Preaching, under direction of the church in San Fernando. There are 47 congregations of the the Lord’s church in Trinidad & Tobago! Graduates of the Trinidad School Of Preaching serve most of these churches.
Bill & Gerry assisted the church in the Bahamas for
1 year (1991)!
Bill has also preached in Germany, France and Scotland!
In total, he has preached the Gospel in 10 foreign nations!!
Stateside
preaching efforts
“So
they read distinctly from the book, in the Law of God; and they gave the sense,
and helped them to understand the reading.”
Nehemiah 8:8
“Do
you not say, ‘There are still four months and then comes the harvest’?
Behold, I say to you, lift up your eyes and look at the fields, for they are
already white for harvest! And he who reaps receives wages, and gathers fruit
for eternal life…” John
4:35,36
“Preach
the word! Be ready in season and out of season. Convince, rebuke, exhort, with
all longsuffering and teaching.” 2
Timothy 4:2
“But
you be watchful in all things, endure afflictions, do the work of an evangelist,
fulfill your ministry.” 2 Timothy
4:5
Savannah church of Christ, Tennessee (1967-69)
Highland View church of Christ in Oak Ridge, Tennessee (1977-80)
Claxton church of Christ in Knoxville (1980-91)
See Bill & Gerry's foreign mission efforts above. Below you will find Bill's work in preacher training.
Preacher
Training School Efforts
“And
the things that you have heard from me among many witnesses, commit these to
faithful men who will be able to teach others also.” 2 Timothy 2:2
Bill has taught in Schools of Preaching in Ukpom and Aba, Nigeria. He served as an instructor for the Brown Trail School of Preaching. Bill served as Director and Interim Director for 3 years, and instructor for 14 years at the East Tennessee School Of Preaching & Missions where the Bill Nicks Library is located He taught at Michigan Christian College for 3 years. Bill taught at the Trinidad School of Preaching and Teaching for 7 years.
An
old man traveling a lone highway
came
at the evening cold and gray,
to
a chasm vast and deep and wide,
through
which was flowing a sullen tide.
The
old man crossed in the twilight dim,
the
sullen stream held no fears for him.
But
he turned when safe on the other side
and
builded a bridge to span the tide.
“Old
man,” cried a fellow pilgrim near,
“You’re
wasting your time in building here.
Your
journey will end with the closing day;
you
never again will pass this way.
You
have crossed the chasm deep and wide,
why
build you this bridge at even-tide?”
The
builder lifted his old gray head:
“Good
friend, in the path I have come,” he said,
“There
followeth after me today
a
youth whose feet must pass this way.
This
stream which has been as naught to me
To
that fair-haired youth may a pitfall be.
He,
too, must cross in the twilight dim –
Good
friend, I am building this bridge for him!”
Will
Allen Dromgoole
Book
Writing Efforts
“Hold
fast the pattern of sound words which you have heard from me, in faith and love
which are in Christ Jesus.” 2
Timothy 1:13
“Pleasant
words are like a honeycomb, sweetness to the soul and health to the bones.”
Proverbs 16:24
“A
word fitly spoken is like apples of gold in settings of silver.”
Proverbs
25:11
“Let
no corrupt word proceed out of your mouth, but what is good for necessary
edification, that it may impart grace to the hearers.”
Ephesians 4:29
Bill Nicks has written the following books, all of
which were published by J.C. Choate Publications, where they can be ordered at
Box 156, Winona, MS 38967:
UNTO YOU, YOUNG MEN, first printing in India, 1980, second printing in U.S.A., 1985.
CHRISTIAN EVIDENCES vs MODERNISM, first printed in India, 1981; second printing in U.S.A., 1985.
MISSIONS AND THE MESSAGE OF THE MASTER, first published in U.S.A., 1987.
SHORT STORIES FROM WEST AFRICA LONG REMEMBERED,
printed in 1997.
A booklet on THE ONE CUP QUESTION was published by Jim Massey, Melbourne, Florida in 1991 principally for the Nigerian work.
Bill & Gerry presently live in Waycross, Georgia.
They work and worship with the City Boulevard church of Christ.
Bill is still a very active Gospel preacher! He teaches the Sunday morning adult Bible class and preaches from time to time. He recently began using PowerPoint.
Bill teaches a bi-weekly Bible class in the Georgia prison.
Bill & Gerry can be reached at bgnicks@bellsouth.net
They reside at 3164 Wood Duck Drive, Waycross, GA 31503.