As a child I grew up in a home where faith wasn’t really discussed. My closest interaction with faith was the fact that I attended the nearest primary school to our house, a Church of England School. I always believed in God but had no real source of information, no one around me was a Christian to ask.

I am not sure if it was my primary school where I inherited ‘my little red New Testament and Psalms Gideon book’ (judging by my very childish handwriting most probably) but that little red book was to be my go to guide all throughout my childhood, my teens, and has continued to be my go to guide ever since!

It was that little red book that really brought me closer to God and connected me to Christianity when I had no one else to tell me about Jesus. In my early teens I started attending church with a school friend but a serious road accident that my church friends were in meant most of my friends were hospitalised. I fell away from attending my newly discovered church whilst they recovered in hospital.

But I still had my little red book!

The book took me through various aspects of my life – if I felt lonely, or afraid, or even if I needed to find a job – there would be a quick go to guide at the front of the book!

Years on and I’m now a regular church attending Christian, working in a church and singing the Gospel as part of a trio. Now with more than a few Bibles in my household I still use my Gideons New Testament and I use it to give others a verse when they are in need. Sitting in the busy reception of a church I often see many who are going through something!

I like to take my little red book on holiday, in fits just nice in my suitcase. The simplicity of the Gideons book really meant that even before I gathered the courage to attend a church I had somewhere to go and that simplicity still encourages me to find a verse for myself or others.

The Gideons book for me is more than just a little red book. It was the only place I could learn about Jesus and I have used it to tell more than a few others about Jesus too!

God bless you and your amazing simple but simply amazing ministry.

Juliette