Your prayers are urgently needed
Help Keep a Gideon Bible in Hotel Rooms
It has been brought to our attention over recent weeks/months that Hilton Worldwide have begun to remove Gideon placed Bibles from all of their hotel bedrooms. The CEO of Hilton Worldwide was written to last month and has responded to confirm that Hilton Worldwide have removed all Gideon Bibles.
As we well know from many testimonies received, the Lord has used Gideon placed Bibles in hotel bedrooms to prevent suicides, save marriages and provide hope, comfort and salvation to many desperate and needy souls over the years.
The verse in the Gideon National Daily Prayer Diary yesterday (Day 10) tells us “If my people, who are called by my name, will humble themselves and pray…” 2 Chronicles 7:14. Therefore, National President, Fred Kershaw, is calling for as many who are able to set time aside to pray between 12 noon and 1.00pm on Friday 18 March. Those who are able and feel so led are asked to consider fasting their lunch on that day. This is an urgent situation and we must pray. The verse from the Daily Prayer Diary today (Day 11) reminds us “Apart from me you can do nothing.” John 15:5.
As one Branch reported after visiting one hotel…“One of our Branch brothers visited the hotel and gave 170 Bibles to the manager. She was delighted to accept the Bibles because one of their guests had committed suicide in his hotel room last weekend!”
Let us do all we can to stir God’s people to urgent prayer, specifically on Friday 18 March between 12 noon and 1.00pm. The souls of the lost are at stake and we must be urgent.
Please share this Blog with as many people as possible and ask others to do the same. On your Facebook, Twitter and other social media pages, in your churches and church newsletters, among your family and friends and urge people to pray for this situation. Let us pray for wisdom in how to respond to Hilton, pray that there will be a change of heart at Hilton and, above all, that God will receive all the glory in this matter.
Finally, let us be encouraged as we read the verse in the Daily Prayer Diary for tomorrow (Day 12) “With God we shall gain the victory.” Psalm 60:12.
The Lord can do amazing things with just one Bible in a hotel room. Read the story of how one Gideon placed Bible sparked revival in Spain here.
Psalms in hospital
Pictured is Rev. Geoffrey Rumble who was pleased to share his testimony with members of the Bromley Branch of The Gideons and the National Office Team who met with him recently.
Geoff, when he was 40 years old was working long hours as an Industrial Engineer, he visited companies throughout the UK and Germany. These companies used tool steels and his specialty was the heat treatment of the steel and involved some Atomic research.
One day he was in his car on his way to Cornwall from South Wales and felt extremely ill, so had to pull over and was approached by a Police Car. This incident was the start of his sickness, which was cancer. He knew he was ill because he couldn’t eat his Christmas dinner! His doctor sent him to Cardiff Hospital where he subsequently spent 15 months being treated for suspected lung cancer. The prognosis was really bad and his family and friends were preparing for his death.
In the bedside locker, Geoff found a blue New Testament & Psalms placed by The Gideons. He doesn’t know why but he decided to read a Psalm every day.
He was very depressed, but at about Psalm 29 he starting thinking, “when I get out of here” His family and friends were still of the view that he would die, but Geoff’s thinking had changed during the reading of the Psalms. Geoff said the Lord spoke to him and said, “you are going to get out of here.”
By the time Geoff got to Psalm 78, 79 and 80 he was up out of bed walking around the hospital. He started talking to the young men who were in A&E who had got drunk and found his attitude to life had completely changed. He needed treatment for his lost voice and thyroid cancer but recovered through what Geoff was convinced was the Lord’s intervention. He said, “God is good and did a work in my life.” Geoff fully surrendered his life to Christ.
At his home, in Merthyr Tydfil, a minster heard about Geoff’s story in hospital and met up with him and invited him to give his testimony. Soon after, Geoff was asked to lead a failing church down the road with about 10 members, he agreed and it grew to 60 members. The Lord has used Geoff to strengthen a number of small churches ever since and he now serves as the minister at Olivet Baptist Church, Deptford.
One day at school later changed my life
“When I was just 15 we had a visit from The Gideons to my grammar school. They came into our class and presented us all with small red coloured New Testaments with the Psalms included. The next day our teacher made us all sit down and write to The Gideons to thank them for their kind. We all had to sound really grateful whether we were or not!!
Mine lay in a drawer at home unused until I was 17 and in my final year at school. Through a series of circumstances, I started to think about spiritual things for the first time in my life and my mind went to the New Testament in my drawer. I looked up the daily readings and for several months I was drawn back, time after time, to read the portion for each day. Even when in the middle of a TV programme, I would have to stop and get the book out and start to read. I was searching for answers to life’s most pressing questions and I was talking to lots of people and seemingly getting more and more confused. But the New Testament spoke with clarity and certainty to my young, seeking mind.
On Sundays, I used to go for long walks and to do a lot of thinking away from distractions and would often stand across the road from a local church and watch the people going in and out and wonder what it was that drew them there. I was especially fascinated by the numbers of young people about the same age as myself. What was it they saw in Christianity?
Eventually, I sought out my cousin whom I heard through the family grapevine had recently become ‘good living’ as it was described, and he invited me to that church with him.
There I heard the message of the gospel clearly for the first time and I attended several weeks in a row, getting a greater understanding of this life-changing message. Then, in my daily readings I came to John 14 v 6 and the words seemed to stand up on the page and hit me between the eyes, “Jesus said, ‘I am the Way, the Truth and the Life; no one comes to the Father except through me.’” I knew I had been looking for those three things – a Way to live, Truth in a confused world, and especially Life – real life. And here in front of me were the claims of Jesus Christ that He was all three!
Shortly afterwards, after an evening service in church, I bowed my head in the back seat of a little mini car at the side of the road and repented of my sin and came to Christ.
The Lord eventually gave me Sheela as a wonderful wife, took us to Bible College and into Christian ministry. We had three children of our own and adopted another son in 2003. In late 2007 after a struggle with cancer, the Lord saw fit to take Sheela to Glory where she beholds with her own eyes the Lamb in Immanuel’s Land.
I thank God for the faithful witness of The Gideons. Never despise the power of the little!”
A Father’s Love Letter Comes Full Circle
The Gideon-placed Hotel Bible that inspired a father to write a special love letter to his son.On the outside, it looked like one of millions of other Hotel Bibles placed by The Gideons. However, when Rodney Jones, a Gideon in Nashville opened it, he discovered this copy of God’s Word contained an extra message – one that would bring him and many others to tears.
It was a Saturday evening and Rodney was in his guest room at a hotel in Tennessee. He was preparing for a message he would be delivering as a guest speaker at a church service the next morning. He needed a Scripture and opened the nightstand drawer to retrieve the Gideon-placed Hotel Bible.
When he opened the Scripture, he discovered someone had written a note on the inside back cover. It read:
Dedicated to the memory of My Precious Son, Christopher, Age 4, who departed this life to be born in Heaven, April 20, 1992.
Dear Christopher, it’s hard to believe it’s been almost seven years since you died. It seems almost like a lifetime ago. I miss you still and know I always will. I will miss all the fun we would have had together and perhaps Cameron, your nephew, will fulfill some of those lost memories. You would like Cameron, He’s terrific, and you would be very proud of your sister Kim and Kevin. They have turned out so well. I know you know all about what’s going on, but it’s not the same as having you here. I will see you again one day and maybe then we can catch up on lost time. I still love you with all my heart and will never forget you.
Love, Dad 4/10/99.
As Rodney read the letter, tears began rolling down his cheeks. He kept the Bible, and immediately put in a request for a replacement copy for the room.
He began carrying that copy of God’s Word to churches where he visited to speak on behalf of The Gideons International. As he shared testimonies with congregations of lives changed after encountering a Scripture placed by The Gideons, he included the story of how he believed this copy of God’s Word provided comfort and peace to a father who lost a son.
One day, he was talking with a pastor of a church where he was planning to speak. He began telling the story of this Bible. After he read the letter penned by the dad, Rodney looked up to see an expression of amazement on the pastor’s face.
“I know who wrote that,” the pastor said. “He and his wife attend this church!”
That Sunday, Rodney stood up in the front of the church, knowing that the father who wrote the letter was sitting in the congregation.
As Rodney shared the story and read the father’s note, many in the congregation began to recognise the names and the events in the story. Afterwards, the pastor announced that this note was, in fact, written by the father in the congregation. By that time, most of the congregation were in tears.
At the conclusion of the church service, the father and his wife talked with Rodney, thanking him for sharing the story, and encouraging him to continue sharing the story in hope that others may find comfort from it as well.
The testament was on the floor
“Well, 6 or so months ago in an instance of curiosity I simply picked up a Gideons New Testament that I eyed on the floor in my living room and I ‘had a flick through’.
There was nothing significant about it at the time besides the fact I instantly recognised the memorable little red book as the same which was given to me many years ago – and at that age probably lost or thrown in a drawer – in lower high school. That one was in fact my little brothers he was given around the time.
I can’t remember the specifics of my thinking at the time or what lead me to it, but I took a stroll to the youth club a few minutes walk from my house that happened to be on that night which I hadn’t been to in years, I knew some of them and remembered that they were Christians. I asked a few questions, had an intriguing discussion and ended up at the end of the night with my first ever Bible in my hands and an invitation to Sunday worship. That was my first ‘real’ instance or experience with the Bible.
I can’t pinpoint ‘when’ exactly I was saved. I can however think back to times of deep, answered prayer, and experiences of God’s presence, as well as those times when I just ‘knew’ the truth on a deeper level which cleared up the spiritual and intellectual confusion new searching Christians experience – or at least I did in those months I was reading, searching and trying to break off the chains of the world and my secular mindset.
I’m now trying to walk the Christian walk to the best of my ability, in line with God’s will, thirsty and desiring more of God and His deep loving relationship.
Thanks a lot for your missionary service 🙂 and the small New Testament. It’ll be perfect for the backpack pocket and useful for reading in those snippets of free time throughout the day.
Much appreciated.
God bless
Jack”
So often we hear of that “little red book” sowing a seed years later. What a privilege we have of being involved in this life changing ministry!
If you have a story that you would like to share with us, let us know by emailing testimonies@gideons.org.uk
The 2016 Philippines International Scripture Blitz
A young student signs her brand new copy of God’s Word after praying to receive Christ during the 2016 Philippines International Scripture Blitz.In January, Gideons and Auxiliaries from the Philippines conducted the 2016 Philippines International Scripture Blitz. They were joined by an international team of Gideons from Australia, the British Isles, Finland, Germany, Japan, the Republic of China, South Africa and the USA.
With a Scripture goal of 1.5 million copies of God’s Word, there was much excitement among the members in anticipation of how the Lord would show up during the two week event. However, the number of Scriptures they could distribute wasn’t what was fueling their activities.
“From the beginning, we agreed this blitz wasn’t about how many copies of God’s Word we could distribute, but rather how many souls could we touch,” says assistant team leader, Jeff Audrain, a Gideon from Nashville, Tennessee.
Jon Wold, a Gideon from South Dakota, shares the Gospel with students during January’s International Scripture Blitz in the Philippines.When God Speaks
After distributing Scriptures in 40 classrooms at the Lolomboy National High School, Gideons entered one more classroom. It was filled with 18 hearing-impaired students. Jon Wold, a Gideon from South Dakota, stood in front of the students and presented the plan of salvation, while the teacher interpreted the message in sign language. The Holy Spirit was at work as well. After the message, Jon asked the students to pray along with him if they wished to receive Jesus as Lord and Saviour. At the conclusion of the prayer, he asked how many prayed along. All eighteen students raised their hands, many of them smiling and communicating with their lips or hands, “Thank you, Sir.”
A Lunch Time Gospel Revival
Students listen as a Gideon shares God’s plan of salvation during a lunch break.Gideons were eating lunch at a local restaurant in Mabalacat City when they noticed a group of students reading the New Testaments presented to them during a Gideon distribution that morning. One of the Gideons walked up to the students and asked if they understood what they were reading.
A boy named Darryl confessed he had some confusion. Their conversation ultimately led to a discussion with the students about understanding God’s ultimate plan for their lives.
The Gideon told them about man’s broken relationship with God, caused by sin, and the need for reconciliation with God. The students were excited to hear and read for themselves of Jesus’ sacrifice as an acceptable payment for our sin. The Gideon explained, they could each pray to receive Jesus as Lord and Saviour.
They all prayed together to receive God’s gift of forgiveness and salvation. Then they held a short devotional and the Gideon reminded them to share the good news of the Gospel with others.
This motorcycle sidecar filled with Scriptures in the Tagalog language is just one example of the resourcefulness of the Philippines’ Gideons in carrying out the Scripture blitz.All To The Glory of God
During the two weeks, Gideons and Auxiliaries saw students, waiters, waitresses, teachers, a school principal, sales clerks, and people from many other walks of life choose to receive Jesus as Lord and Saviour. By the end of the blitz, the teams had distribued 1,551,922 copies of God’s Word.
The international team leader, Charles Warren, was especially moved by how the Lord blessed the blitz. “Our theme verse was John 4:35, ‘…lift up your eyes, and see that the fields are white for harvest.’ The fields were truly white, and the Lord blessed the harvest.”
A Gideon explains God’s plan of salvation during the Philippines International Scripture Blitz.The Gideons International was first organised in the Philippines in 1953. Today, camps operate throughout the country with over 2,300 Gideons and 1,500 Auxiliaries. Prior to this 2016 International Scripture Blitz, more than 68.3 million Scriptures had been placed and distributed there through the efforts of The Gideons International.
We thank our members, pastors, churches, donors and the many others whose faithful prayers and financial support helped make this blitz a success. We also thank our members who sacrificed their time and money to participate in this blitz.
Most of all, we thank God and give Him the glory for all we believe He will accomplish through each Scripture distributed in this Blitz. What a mighty God we serve.
Please pray the Lord would continue to move in the hearts of those who received Scriptures during this blitz.
Running out of testaments in prison
The following email was sent to one of our Gideon members by a Prison Chaplain.
“Hi Fraser. Hope this finds you well.
I just wanted to say that we are on to our last few Gideons New Testaments. These Bibles are very popular with the prisoners and we have a constant stream of men asking for them.
It is also clear that many prisoners are taking these Bibles with them when they are liberated and I think that the reasons for this are genuine and they want to keep with them a book that has provided them with a great deal of comfort and support during their time in prison.
We recently gave one to an African prisoner we’ve been working closely with. He was brought up a Muslim and wants to convert to Christianity having had several dreams in which God is telling him to take this path. He is fluent in 5 languages but cannot read or write in any of them, not even in his mother tongue. But he wants to learn and he wants to use the Bible to learn first in English so that this will be the first book he is ever able to read. Unfortunately for us he was transferred to another prison this week but he got in touch with the chaplain there straight away and that chaplain is now taking care of him and will prepare him for baptism.
Anyway, I was wondering if it would be possible for you to send us some more of the wee brown NTs for prisoners. We greatly appreciate all that the Gideons have done for us since the prison opened (nearly 4 years ago now) and are grateful for your enormous generosity to us.
With every blessing.
Martin”
We continue to be amazed and encouraged by what the Lord is doing inside prison walls.
God’s Word a Welcome Comfort to Hotel Guests
Bibles in bedside drawers are a convenience hotel guests have come to expect. After all, what else could bring as much comfort to a weary traveller as reading God’s Word?
Each year, Gideons place over a million copies of God’s Word in hotels throughout the world. And while that number represents just a fraction of the more than 84 million Scriptures Gideons placed last year, Hotel Bibles are what people think of when they think of The Gideons International.
Gideons have great working relationships with hotels and motels across the world. Bibles are delivered to hotels by Gideons, who can also assist in placing the Scriptures in the guest rooms. There is no charge to the hotels, as the Scriptures are funded through donations to The Gideons.
Some hotel guests find such comfort from the Bible, they pack it up with them as they leave. And if having that copy of God’s Word helps someone continue on their journey with Christ, Gideons rejoice.
A single copy of God’s Word in a hotel room has the potential to touch up to 2,300 lives during its six-year life span. Over the years, we’ve received many testimonies from individuals who checked into a hotel and, as a result of reading a Bible placed there by The Gideons, came to a saving knowledge of Jesus Christ. Some of these testimonies were from people who had checked into a room when they felt all hope was lost, only to discover the peace and joy that comes from surrendering to Jesus.
Others have told us they were overjoyed to find a Bible waiting for them in the hotel nightstand while far away from home. Melony, a flight attendant from Florida wrote:
Dear Sir:
It is 9 a.m., I have been up for over 24 hours, and I just walked into my hotel room. I have done five beverage services and two meal services on my way from Miami to London and my first thought when I walked into my room was: “Is there a Gideon Bible in my bedside drawer?”I have been a flight attendant for almost 40 years. In each city where I spend the night, I have always counted on having the Gideon Bible in my hotel room and have not been disappointed.
I do not know if you have ever thought about the thousands of flight attendants you have ministered to in all these hotel rooms for all these years since aviation began. Having God’s Word in each room is an amazing miracle and I, for one, cannot say, “thank you” enough.
I know of no other organization in the world that fulfills Matthew 28:19-20 better than The Gideons. God has blessed your efforts and they have been such an inspiration to me. You have blessed countless flight attendants who have many “homes” away from home and can always count on His Word to be there.
– Melony
Miami, FL
We thank God, as well as our members and donors, for making it possible to reach the hearts of so many through the placement of His Word. And on behalf of the many hotel guests whose lives have been touched by these Scriptures, we offer a special thank you to hotel owners and managers for allowing Gideons to place God’s Word in their hotels.
The Power of A New Testament
Testimony
Last week, Gideons conducted the 2016 Botswana International Scripture Blitz. Early counts place the total number of Scriptures distributed at around 70,000 copies of God’s Word. The blitz team members witnessed more than 700 people pray to receive Jesus as Lord and Savior.
Keletso proudly displays her New Testament.
One of the people to receive a New Testament from Gideons last week was a teacher named Keletso. The head teacher and deputy head teachers at the school received full Bibles, but due to the greater investment required of The Gideons to provide Bibles, the rest of the faculty and students were given New Testaments. Keletso expressed disappointment about not receiving one of the Bibles. “I need a full Bible, too, because I need to be saved,” she told Dave Lacy, a Gideon from Tennessee.
Keletso’s comment revealed what she really needed was someone to share the Gospel with her. “The Holy Spirit let me know this was my opportunity,” says Dave. “So I told Keletso, ‘You don’t need a full Bible to get saved. You can be saved today, and this New Testament you hold in your hand can show you how.’”
With one of the deputy head teachers and another teacher standing by, Dave led Keletso through the plan of salvation. After reading through those Scripture passages, Dave said, “Today, Jesus is knocking on the door of your heart. Only you can open the door of your life to Jesus. Would you like to do that today?” Keletso and the two other faculty members standing nearby acknowledged they were ready to receive Jesus. “We prayed together as they confessed their sins and received the eternal gift of salvation by confessing Jesus as their Lord and Savior,” says Dave.
After prayer, Keletso read this verse,
“For everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved.” – Romans 10:13
After she read the verse, Dave reminded Keletso she could now be certain of her salvation. “The Scripture says you ‘will be saved,’ not ‘might be saved.’”
Keletso was overjoyed. “When you gave me this book I was not happy because I did not think it was that powerful,” she said. “Now I am happy because I can see it is really a powerful book.”
Bournmouth Scouts
In 2014, the Bournemouth Branch approached the local Scout Commissioner about presenting Badged Testaments to the local Scout Troops. This resulted in the presentation of just over 100 Testaments to 6 local troops.
Recently they received an email from the leader of one Troop saying that he had been presenting the few spare ones to new Scouts as they are invested into the Troop.
“They make the Scout Promise “On my honour, I promise that I will do my best, to do my duty to God and to the Queen, to help other people, and to keep the Scout Law” on the Union Flag, and I then present them with their neckerchiefs and initial badge issue. I’ve taken to also giving them one of the Testaments as part of that investiture process. We have Church Parade once a month, and I’m in the process of enriching the Scout programme with more faith-based activities.
Hopefully, the combination of this with each of them having a Testament may help bring God to those who currently don’t know Him, and fortify those who do as they grow up.”