Sometimes we have to hit rock bottom to realize Jesus is exactly who He says He is. He wants a personal relationship with us that invades every single part of our lives. After his own rock bottom experience, Michael DiMarco came to the beautiful realization that Jesus is supreme—no person or thing is greater.
Be a Good Boy
Michael was the youngest of six kids born to a draftsman and a school teacher in Eugene, Oregon. Along with his Italian and Irish heritage, he was brought up to be a devout Catholic—a “good kid” who believed in God and feared Him. His mom had a dream for him to one day be the Pope. Others had even mentioned he should be a priest or pastor someday. He heard about a personal relationship with Jesus for the first time as a senior in high school. It made sense in his mind, but it did not penetrate his heart and definitely not his will. After “accepting” Jesus at 17 years old, he continued trying to live the good, moral life he was brought up to live. Although his life looked good from the outside, internally, he knew he was really living life for himself. This continued through his 20’s and early 30’s.
good at gambling
After a decade of living for himself, burning through relationships and careers, Michael turned to gambling to fill the void in his life. He was attempting to find peace with God through other means than God Himself. At some point, he stopped caring and began to take money from his employer to further his gambling habit. He vividly remembers one gambling venture during a lunch break, sitting at a blackjack table in a casino, with US$1,500 of bets in front of him. He prayed, “God, I don’t care what you do, get me out of this.” He ended up losing all three of those hands. He had reached the end of his rope.
Michael drove back to work. At this point, he had been gambling with work’s money for nearly two years, and the public university where he was employed caught on. The university filed a police report, and Michael was arrested and booked in the local county jail. The amount of money he had taken was enough to be filed as a Class A felony.
Be my Lord and Savior
The first night in jail, he found himself alone in a cell with only a worn pillow, small towel for showering, and a well-worn Gideon-placed Bible. Michael closed his eyes, picked up the Bible, and pointed to a verse. The verse his fingers happened to fall on was 2 Corinthians 5:17 which reads, “Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation. The old has passed away; behold, the new has come.”At that moment, Michael dropped to his knees and prayed, “Jesus, I accepted you as my Savior when I was 17 years old, but I never made you Lord of my life.” The Word of God had saved Him that night. He realized that he had previously prayed a prayer of fire insurance, not actually a prayer to surrender his life to Christ.
meaningful growth
After his arrest, it was hard to find meaningful employment. When asked in job interviews, “How did you leave your last job,” he would reply, “I left my last job in the back of a police car.” This ended many interviews for him. In God’s providence, he was offered a position at a Bible software company. He accepted a customer service position, helping customers activate and use Bible software. He soon moved from customer service to publisher relations, finally landing in the ministry relations department. In ministry relations, he traveled and trained Bible teachers and seminary professors on how to use the Bible software program. He found the resources he was in front of on a daily basis to be a huge discipleship help in his spiritual journey.
While traveling with the company, he met his wife, Hayley, who was also in Christian publishing and an author herself. In 15 years of marriage, God has done incredible things in lives of the DiMarco’s. The once addicted gambler is now a married Christian author and publisher. Michael and Hayley have one daughter (Addison – age 13) and four dogs. Together, Michael and Hayley have published over 40 books (including four Bible studies and two devotional Bibles available in several translations and languages) and have sold over 1.5 million books.
Today, Michael DiMarco is the lead pastor of Friendship Community Church, in Mount Juliet, Tennessee. He has been leading this congregation for two years, and the congregation averages 600 in weekly attendance. From his mom saying he should be the Pope to youth and college leaders saying he should be a pastor, Michael is amazed at the hand of God in his life.
Faithful Living
Pastor Michael says one of the greatest challenges of leading an organization or congregation is focusing on a specific approach or method, which often leads to not recognizing the difference between effectiveness and faithfulness. It is important to keep a clear vision and purpose of loving God, loving our neighbor, and pursuing the Great Commission. “We tend to become closed-fisted with what God has entrusted to us instead of open-handed—in reality, God owns it all,” says Michael. “We have to remember to hold everything with open hands of faith, not just with the things we have but in how we accomplish things.” His desire is to lead his congregation to not be about excellence as much as being about faithfulness.
Not many kids grow up with their family lives printed in the morning newspaper. For Glen Keane, it was a daily guarantee – in fact, his family was not only featured, they were literally circled in print. His father, Bil Keane, began the popular comic The Family Circus in 1960. Glen himself was his father’s inspiration for the character of Billy, the comic’s oldest boy in the family.
While Glen had other hobbies as a boy, he does not remember a time he was not drawing. His father gave him a book on dynamic anatomy, and Glen began to focus on growing his skills in fine art. By the time he graduated high school, Glen knew he would either play college football, or he would go to art school.
“My dad took me to drop off my portfolio at CalArts, the studio Walt Disney had created, but my portfolio ended up at the wrong school. Instead, I was accepted into the School of Film Graphics. It wasn’t long until I discovered that was what I was born to do,” says Glen. After two years of study, Glen heard about a training program at Walt Disney Animation Studios led by Walt Disney’s “nine old men,” the original group of artists who kick-started the animation sensation beginning with Snow White, Pinocchio, and Bambi. “These old guys began to sense the art form they had created may fade out with them, so they started a school to take in young talent and teach them. That’s where I learned everything I know about drawing, design, and storytelling.”
an etch on glen’s heart
Glen was raised Catholic, but by the time he began studying under the Disney giants, he felt faith was no longer relevant to his life. Instead, he immersed himself in the world of illustration. “I will never forget the feeling of that day at Disney—and the smell. It was a combination of cigarettes, pencil shavings, and scotch.” While he was only making US$90 a week, Glen describes his first few months at Disney as an environment where creative license permeated the air and the products of imagination could have been soaked up with a sponge.
However, while he was growing outwardly as an artist, something else was happening in his heart. “There was a weight of sin on my shoulders, and I became really concerned about where I stood with God,” he says. Glen remembers walking down the hallways of the studio, seeing everyone else passing by with their sketchbooks, happy and carefree. He wondered what could be wrong with him. He made time to visit a Catholic church in North Hollywood, where he confessed his sins to the priest. Leaving the church, he felt the weight lift from his shoulders. However, that night he lay awake wondering what right had been given that priest to forgive his sins. The weight quickly returned, and Glen could not shake the feeling he was hopelessly separated from God.
Though his heart was heavy, Glen continued to excel in his training at Disney. Soon, it was announced all the trainees would be split into pairs. “Now, in this environment, you’re pretty insecure. Wherever you came from before, you used to be the best. But at Disney, you were surrounded by truly the best, and basically, you knew you stunk. All I wanted was to be part of the in-crowd, so I tried to eat lunch with a particular group of artists whenever I could.” However, he began to take notice of a man who always sat apart from the popular group at lunch. In fact, he sat alone on a park bench reading his Bible. Glen had never seen anyone willingly read a Bible, and he was impressed with the dedication of this man. When the time came to split the trainees into pairs, Glen was matched with this same man—Ron Husband, or “Huz” as he was known.
a new character develops
Ron Husband’s journey to Disney did not start with an aspiration to draw. Ron was raised in a Christian home and decided to follow Christ when he was 12 years old. Though he had a foundational knowledge of Christ, his faith waned as he grew up. In college, Ron’s future was in football. He played for the University of Las Vegas on scholarship and frequently traveled with the team. “As a young man, I felt like we were traveling the world. We always stayed in different hotels, and I noticed no matter where we stayed, there were these Bibles in the bedside drawers. For whatever reason, I began taking them home,” said Ron. Though he did not read the Bibles, this became a habit. His collection of Bibles grew as football seasons came and went.
Ron Husband sketching a portrait
Ron graduated, started a family, and began taking various jobs from technical illustration to drafting. “I began to think there must be more to life than just working,” he said, “So, I began a journey to find some answers.” It wasn’t long before there was a knock at the Husbands’ door. Ron answered to find a couple from Jehovah’s Witnesses on the porch. “My wife and I became their first ‘converts’ of sorts, so they were experimenting on us, and I was experimenting with them,” said Ron. “My wife dropped out after a few weeks and went back to church, but I stuck it out for about a year.” Still, something didn’t match up in Ron’s heart as he studied their literature and doctrines, so he looked into other religions. “I tried Mormonism, Judaism, the occult, flying saucers – I really was just searching for answers anywhere.”
As Ron sought out answers anywhere, God followed Ron everywhere. His search led him back to that stash of Bibles, where he found the truths he learned as a 12-year-old to be the same truths he could count on as an adult. “It was like turning the light back on. Reading the Scriptures, I discovered it was me who walked away, and I had been searching for answers I’d always known,” he said. “I was so hungry for truth, I began to study apologetics. I wanted to grow in my understanding of Scripture – to get past the milk stage and get to the meat of understanding the Word of God. My study was also about rejecting the things that were not the truth, and to always be able to discern those things against the truth of the Gospel.”
“It was like turning the light back on. Reading the Scriptures, I discovered it was me who walked away, and I had been searching for answers I’d always known.”
During this time, Ron was also seeking a more creative outlet to serve God with his artistic gifts. He knew God had blessed him with a specific skill, and he always enjoyed drawing, but there were also long periods of time he did not pick up a pencil. For Ron, drawing came and went naturally, so when he heard about the training program at Disney, he decided to apply. Ron wanted to be around creative people, and though he had been kicked out of art class in high school, he knew learning with the artists at Disney would provide him the best training for furthering his career. “It’s funny, when I was accepted into the program at Disney, I knew nothing about animation. I had never even seen an animated film. I went in not to learn to draw, but to learn how to tell a story.”
the scene begins to unfold
So, on that park bench at Disney Studios in the Fall of 1975, Ron Husband sat reading his Bible during lunch as Glen Keane watched. The two would soon be thrown together in a small drafting room to learn the trade of animation. They seemed an unlikely pair to some, but time would tell a story much different. “Sometimes, I’d be working, and Huz would just tackle me or I’d do the same to him. We’d be wrestling, and you’d hear the smashing sound of things breaking in our office. And our manager would peek in and shake his head. It didn’t take long – I knew I had a friend for life,” recalled Glen.
Lifelong friends Ron Husband (left) and Glen Keane (right) sit in Glen’s West Hollywood studio.
One day, knowing Ron was a Christian, Glen asked him what the Bible said about getting right with God. Ron shared how no one can earn his way into God’s favor – it’s by grace alone a person is made right with God. He pulled out a small, green New Testament he had received back in college, handed it to Glen, and told him to read John 3:16. At lunch that day, Glen walked across the street to a restaurant carrying his little green book. “I remember like it was yesterday walking across the crosswalk reading John 3:16, and by the time I had reached the other side, I believed the words were real. I knew right then I would trust in Jesus, not in myself, for the rest of my life. I walked back into the studio an entirely new person,” said Glen.
Glen and Ron, along with a few other Christian artists, began a Bible study on the Disney lot, through which they encouraged one another and held one another accountable. It did not start out smoothly, as there was resistance from management. However, with prayer and persistence, Christian Fellowship officially began. The group even had a regular advertisement in the Disney Newsreel for meetings every Wednesday at noon. “You feel in a company like Disney that animation is obviously the ultimate thing, but we knew that wasn’t the case. We held to Colossians 3:23: ‘Whatever you do, work heartily, as for the Lord and not for men,’” said Ron.
“I knew right then I would trust in Jesus, not in myself, for the rest of my life. I walked back into the studio an entirely new person.”
a new perspective
The Adam Raccoon series is one of many ways Glen shares his faith through his work.
After becoming a Christian, Glen started to seek out ways to express his faith in his art. He began teaching kids at church through writing and illustrating stories about Adam Raccoon, now a popular children’s book series. “There’s actually a moment when you’re animating that you’re portraying truth. Any time you touch truth, you’re really peeling away the layers and revealing God,” says Glen. “With Adam Raccoon, there is a Scripture in my head before my pencil ever touches paper. I think about how I can capture the theme of a verse and make it easy to understand and relatable to kids. Pretty soon, I’m picturing little Adam Raccoon, who is just like you and me, and King Aren, who is like Christ. And of course, Adam is constantly getting himself into trouble, and King Aren is constantly getting him out of it.”
Glen’s work in many blockbuster films carries an obvious theme of wholesome, family-friendly fantasy. Yet, to hear Glen talk about his popular characters, one finds the hand of the artist moved with Biblical inspiration. Glen talks about weaving his faith in and out of characters like Ariel, Tarzan, and the Beast, “When I was creating the transformation scene at the end of Beauty and the Beast, I had 2 Corinthians 5:17 written on my sketches. I really wanted to capture on paper the emotion of a new creation – of having this prince inside wanting to break free and bring redemption to the old creature.”
In 2013, Glen Keane was named a Disney Legend. His work in films like The Little Mermaid, Beauty and the Beast, Aladdin, Pocahontas, Tarzan, and Tangled are testaments to his momentous role in the world of animation.
Today, Glen remains as humble as ever, and continues to work the talents he attributes to the Lord alone. His small office space in West Hollywood is shared by his son, Max, and a few other artists who come and go as projects arise. His message to The Gideons is one of gratitude and encouragement. “I’ve kept that green New Testament with me as a reminder of the divine spark I encountered that day in 1975. I was only 20 years old, and reading those words changed my life. There is a power to Scripture, and I am so thankful for a Gideon who gave my friend Ron the New Testament that ended up in my hands so I could be reading John 3:16 crossing the street that day,” says Glen. “I want to encourage every Gideon to continue the work of making God’s Word available to the next generation. There is nothing more important than such a calling.”
For Ron Husband, faith and art are inseparable. His daily practices include quick sketches of moments he sees in everyday life, and daily prayer and Scripture reading. “The Word is so rich, you’re constantly growing as you read it. I’ve read the Bible from Genesis to Revelation a couple times by now to gather the context of Scripture, and I still enjoy watching how it breathes truths into my life,” says Ron. On September 18, 1989, Ron read the book of Ephesians for the first time, all six chapters. The next day, he got up and read the same six chapters. In fact, every day for the past 28 years, Ron has read those six chapters in Ephesians, along with whatever else the Lord has him studying. “It always has something new and fresh to say to me. I waited ten years before telling anyone I was doing that. I just love the Word.”
the story continues
So, what happened to all those Bibles young Ron Husband collected from bedside drawers in hotels? He blushed when asked, and said that well had dried up long ago, “To this day, I do not have a Gideon-placed Bible. At the time, I had so many, but once I started actually reading them, I discovered how important it was to share them rather than to hoard them. I have given all those Bibles back out to others as an encouragement to seek out the truth about God. I want to thank Gideons who dispense God’s truth because, in today’s world, it is so needed. It’s a tremendous legacy The Gideons are leaving.”
“The steps of a man are established by the Lord, when he delights in His way;” Psalm 37:23
When Anthony was eight years old, his mom put him on a train in New York City bound for Hattiesburg, Mississippi, to visit his grandmother whom he called “Nanny.” Once in Mississippi, Anthony shared with her some of the illegal activities he was being exposed to by family members back in New York. Nanny decided it was in the boy’s best interest for her to raise him, and his mother agreed. So, Nanny raised Anthony, and she took him with her to True Light Missionary Baptist Church every time the doors were open.
Just around the corner from Nanny’s house lived another woman about the same age as his grandmother. That woman’s grown son lived with her, and he was Anthony’s biological father. Though he knew his son was now living just around the block, Anthony’s father showed little interest in getting to know him. Each day, Anthony would see his dad walk by his grandmother’s house, usually drunk.
The whole family always believed young Anthony would someday grow up to be successful.
On one occasion, Anthony’s dad promised to come and spend some time with him. With the sun beating down, Anthony waited in the yard, long past when his dad was supposed to arrive. Nanny was watching from the front porch. Her heart was breaking as she realized her grandson was about to suffer another disappointment from his dad. Finally, she said, “Your dad isn’t going to show up, Anthony. You need to come back up here on the porch out of that hot sun.”
For Anthony, this incident was the breaking point, and he began to shut down emotionally. The void in his heart led Anthony to again become involved with illegal activities, including theft. In his late teens, he was charged with grand larceny. A few months into his three-year sentence, he escaped the juvenile facility.
On the Path to Destruction
A fugitive on the move, Anthony started trafficking drugs from city to city. He also became addicted to drugs himself during this time. He would get paid for the drugs he was trafficking and then use the money to support his own addiction.
His mother and stepfather became aware of Anthony’s problems, and his grandmother and aunts were seriously concerned. Anthony had been the one grandson the whole family always believed could make it. They knew he was a boy with exceptional intelligence.
He dropped to his knees and cried out, “If there’s a God, please take this pain away from me. I’ll do whatever you want.”
One evening, Anthony hit rock bottom. He was tired and wanted to die, so he prepared to end his life with one last overdose. Just as he injected a needle into his arm, he realized he had made another bad choice in life. He dropped to his knees and cried out, “If there’s a God, please take this pain away from me. I’ll do whatever you want.”
Anthony heard no response – only silence.
Anthony made it back to his mom’s house later that evening and she rushed him to a treatment center. Lying in a patient room, Anthony began to experience the darkest hours of his life. He started hearing voices. It struck Anthony he was about to lose the one thing he had been able to count on his entire life—his mind. “Please, God, don’t take away my mind,” he pleaded, though not even knowing the God to whom he prayed.
Anthony’s mother came to visit him at the treatment center. She told him she was going to see his grandmother in Mississippi, who was ill with late stage Parkinson’s Disease. Anthony wanted to go and apologize to Nanny in person for the heartbreak he had put her through over the years. The walls he had built up inside his heart were slowly starting to come down.
returning home to see nanny
Anthony and his mother left for Mississippi. During that drive, Anthony had time to think about all Nanny had done for him. He had time to consider how over the past few years he had become so consumed in darkness, he had missed many opportunities in life, including the chance to care for his grandmother as she had grown ill.
In Hattiesburg, when Anthony entered Nanny’s room, he saw his grandmother in a chair by her bed. The strong, godly woman he knew was now feeble with illness.
Anthony knelt by her. “Nanny, I have changed.”
Then, as if nudged by the Lord, Nanny became alert. She looked at Anthony and spoke two words: “I’m glad.”
That tender moment lifted a huge weight from Anthony. However, the fact remained he was still a fugitive, as well as a sinner who had yet to receive Jesus as his Lord and Savior. After being in Mississippi a few weeks, the authorities spotted him and he was apprehended. This time, the charges against him were far more serious.
As a wanted fugitive, Anthony was now looking at a possible sentence of eight years in prison. He awaited his sentencing in the local jail.
A Gideon Walked In
Buck Mann served as a Gideon in Hattiesburg. His wife, Peggy, was active as an Auxiliary. Along with other Gideons and Auxiliary, the couple held regular Bible studies for the inmates in the Forrest County Jail, where Anthony was being held.
Anthony began attending the Gideon-led Bible study. Week after week of hearing God’s Word started to have an impact on him. After one of the meetings, Anthony waited until the rest of the crowd had left and he approached Buck.
“Buck, I hear you talking about being born again. Is that talking about me?”
Buck replied, “Do you know God?”
“Well I’ve had experiences,” Anthony said, referring to moments of crying out to God, such as the night he had tried to end his life.
When Anthony returned to his jail cell that evening, he pulled out his personal journal and wrote, “This is as free as I’ve felt my entire life.”
Buck then pulled out a New Testament and pointed to the series of passages in Romans that explain God’s plan of salvation. Anthony followed along with Buck, reading, and letting God’s Word speak truth into his soul. There in that jailhouse on April 19, 1983, Anthony prayed to receive Jesus as his Lord and Savior. It was the day before his birthday.
When Anthony returned to his jail cell that evening, he pulled out his personal journal and wrote, “This is as free as I’ve felt my entire life.”
Buck and Anthony’s friendship continued to grow during those jailhouse Bible studies. Finally, Buck asked, “Anthony, why are you locked up?”
Anthony could not provide a simple answer, so he handed Buck his journal, in which he had been writing his life’s story. Buck was so moved after reading the experiences of Anthony’s life, he asked Anthony if he could share the journal with his daughter, who was an English teacher. Buck suggested she could edit Anthony’s story, and they could share it with other people in the community.
Anthony wasn’t sure where this would lead, but he trusted Buck. “Sure,” he replied.
It just so happened Buck was also discipling another young man in town who worked as an attorney. He shared Anthony’s story with the attorney and returned to the jail a few days later with a plan. The attorney drew up a petition to release Anthony from his sentence, based on his change of heart and profession of faith in Jesus as his Lord and Savior. However, he would still need enough signatures from people testifying on Anthony’s behalf that he was a changed man.
Buck circulated the petition. Anthony’s mom, his two aunts, and Nanny all signed. But it wasn’t enough. Thankfully, Buck had several more people in mind—the Gideons and their wives leading the jail Bible studies, who had also come to know Anthony and had seen the change in him since accepting Jesus. They also signed the petition, for a total of 18 signatures, in addition to the signatures from Anthony’s family.
The day of sentencing came. The attorney approached the judge, handed him the petition, and requested Anthony be released into the custody of Buck. The judge saw the list of names, all testifying they believed Anthony was a changed man. The judge looked up at Anthony and the others in the courtroom. “I don’t have a problem with letting this man go. Case dismissed.”
When Anthony stepped outside of the jailhouse that evening, Buck and Peggy were there to greet him. Now freed from jail and freed from sin by Jesus, a new life was beginning for Anthony far from anything he could have imagined only weeks earlier.
For Anthony, Buck was the first steady Christian role model in his life. Buck modeled what Jesus taught—love for God and love for neighbors. He modeled values of honesty and reliability.
For the next three years, Anthony stayed in Hattiesburg and cared for Nanny until her passing. Buck continued to disciple Anthony and helped him pick up various jobs to earn money.
For Anthony, Buck was the first steady Christian role model in his life. Buck modeled what Jesus taught—love for God and love for neighbors. He modeled values of honesty and reliability.
Anthony continued to grow in his faith, and he eventually felt the Lord calling him to go back to school and enter into full-time ministry. He learned there was a Bible college in Fort Wayne, Indiana, where he needed to go to study. He shared the news with Buck, who was proud to see Anthony take such a huge step of faith. Buck wrote a check for Anthony’s bus ticket and gave him some pocket money as well.
anthony pursues the ministry
In Fort Wayne, Anthony stayed in the basement of his mom and stepdad’s house as he began Bible college. He also got a job at a factory. Buck continued to check on Anthony, calling him regularly to see how things were going. He even provided funds to cover the down-payment on a car to help Anthony get to work and school.
Reverend Payton with his wife, Sandy
During this time, Anthony began attending a Missionary Baptist Church in Fort Wayne. While serving in their bus ministry, he met a young Christian lady named Sandy. The two fell in love and eventually married.
After college, Anthony started working as a machine operator in an engineering company, while still planning on entering the ministry full-time. Each day, the company’s owner, a Christian man named Jack, would walk by and watch Anthony work. One day, Anthony was called to Jack’s office. Anthony thought Jack was perhaps going to fire him.
Instead, Jack said, “I like you, Anthony. You seem to be committed to what you believe. I need someone who has ethics and believes in doing what’s right. I’d like to make you my plant manager.” Anthony was surprised since his formal education was centered around preaching God’s Word, not running a business. However, with a wife and now a child, Anthony realized the offer was a blessing that would help provide for his family, and he accepted the position.
Jack helped Anthony progress at the factory, and under Anthony’s leadership, the company experienced great growth. It was a job Anthony really enjoyed and for which he was well compensated. However, Anthony began to feel like he was off-purpose from his calling to serve as a full-time pastor, so he gave Jack his resignation. Impressed with Anthony’s giant step of faith, Jack let him keep his company car. He also gave him a very generous severance package, which would allow Anthony time to pursue his calling in terms of finding a full-time pastor position.
Anthony received a call from a mental health hospital that wanted to interview him for a counseling position. He hadn’t studied psychology, so he was reluctant to interview. However, the recruiter was aware of Anthony’s background and pleaded for him to come interview. Anthony interviewed and was immediately offered the job. He accepted.
Anthony loved the opportunity to help people overcome the same addictions that nearly killed him. Such a role was preparing Anthony for the next step in his spiritual journey.
During that time, gangs were growing in the area. Kids were dying senselessly. A new pastor came to town, and he wanted to bring Anthony on staff to serve. Anthony accepted as the church teaching pastor, and the Lord blessed his faithfulness. The church grew from 20 people to about 1,500 people in just three years. Their outreach to the street gangs in the community was having a great impact.
Reverend Payton with his youth group during a missions trip in Brazil.
One Step of Faith Too Many?
In 1995, Anthony was invited to be a guest speaker at a very small church across town. As soon as he walked into the church building, he felt the Lord saying it would be his first church to serve as senior pastor. The congregation only had 12 members. Though he had not been offered a position, Anthony felt convinced the Lord had plans for him to begin serving there immediately. He took a huge step of faith and resigned from his counseling position at the mental health facility.
His supervisor was shocked and tried to persuade him to stay. Anthony resisted, saying he needed to go away for a few days with his family for a vacation. He was certain by the time he returned to town, he would be coming back to serve full-time at the small congregation.
Reverend Payton’s book reveals how God uses challenges to develop great leaders.
Sandy never questioned Anthony’s decision, as he had always been right about hearing the Lord’s call. They packed up the car and headed north for a few days of vacation. The days passed by, and no job offer had been made. There was one day left before they had to drive back to Fort Wayne. Had Anthony finally taken one step of faith too many? Memories of growing up and his own dad not supporting the family began to haunt him.
The last day of the vacation, he received a call from the church. “Anthony, we would like you to come serve full-time as our pastor.” He said, “Yes.”
As they all sat down to discuss the church’s financial situation, Anthony found out what the church planned to pay him—$25 a week. How was he going to provide for his family? This would take a toll on his life savings.
In the middle of these challenges, Anthony was scheduled to speak at a major Christian event in front of thousands of men. Anthony stood on the stage and launched into his story of Buck Mann. He told how Buck had been instrumental in leading him to the Lord, mentoring him, and even providing for him financially.
After his presentation, Anthony arrived at the merchandise table, and he was speechless. All the merchandise was sold out. Suddenly, he had invitations to speak all over the country. Those opportunities provided financially for his family in ways far beyond what he ever imagined. “God opened up doors for us that were incredible,” says Anthony, who for over twenty years has been the lead pastor at that same church, known today as Come As You Are Community Church.
“If you are faithful toward what God has called you to do, he will provide for you. In the words of David in Psalm 37:25, ‘I have been young, and now am old, yet I have not seen the righteous forsaken or his children begging for bread.’”
A pair of shoes launches a dream
When Anthony first arrived in Fort Wayne, he had one pair of shoes. It was the pair of black dress shoes he’d been given years earlier by his mom and Nanny as a ninth-grade graduation gift. Through all Anthony has gained and lost, that pair of shoes is the one possession Anthony has held on to over all the years.
The shoes represented Anthony’s childhood dream to own his own shoe company. A friend of Anthony’s in Brazil, whom he met on a mission trip, was aware of Anthony’s dream. The friend asked a man there who owned a product design company if he could design a shoe prototype. He explained it was for a friend back in the USA named Anthony Payton.
“Anthony Payton!” the man replied. “Is he a pastor?”
The friend said, “Yes. Do you know him?”
The Anthony Payton Signature Shoes brand offers creative kids in the inner city a chance to achieve dreams the Lord has placed in their hearts.
The man said, “No, I’ve never met him, but I watch his sermons online.” The man was more than happy to create a prototype for the shoe, and the design was well-received.
In 2016, the Anthony Payton Signature Shoes brand was launched. The shoes are handmade and hand-painted. Anthony says the brand is all about continuing to touch lives for Christ.
The goal is to offer creative kids in the inner city a chance to achieve dreams the Lord has placed in their hearts.
Young people from Fort Wayne are selected for a competition in which they travel to Brazil to work with artisans to design a shoe. The students come back to the USA and present the design and marketing plans to a team to select the shoe design and marketing plan they believe is best. The winning shoe goes into production and 50% of the proceeds goes toward that young person’s college education, 25% goes to a local charity, and 25% goes toward the continuation of the program.
a call to stay on mission
Anthony stays focused largely by staying on task with his own mission statement: “I exist to recognize, inspire, and promote the purpose of God in an individual and collective life.”
“That is what Buck did with me,” says Anthony. “It’s all about building the relationship. That’s what changes people.”
“Christians have to get back to accountability, in terms of who we are and what our mission is. We’ve allowed ourselves to get so divided on other things and we’ve missed the main thing—making disciples.”
Speaking in front of thousands of guests at the Pastors Banquet during the International Convention this summer in Kansas City, Anthony shared how that relationship with Buck resulted in the Gospel touching lives even beyond his own. “Buck was the first person in my life who held me accountable as a saved man,” said Anthony. “He passed the baton on to Jack.”
“Christians have to get back to accountability, in terms of who we are and what our mission is. We’ve allowed ourselves to get so divided on other things and we’ve missed the main thing—making disciples.”
Buck and Peggy Mann have gone on to be with the Lord. The last time Anthony saw them was in their nursing home.
Anthony and the congregation at Come As You Are Community Church still welcome Gideons to make a presentation each year. Anthony has a message for Gideons and Auxiliary serving today. “You may not think you’re making a difference, but you are. There’s an Anthony out there waiting for you.”
“There are people in Brazil who have received the Gospel because Gideons went to a jail in Hattiesburg. There are professional athletes with whom I have been able to share the Gospel, because Gideons went to a jail in Hattiesburg. No opportunity I get is a result of Anthony. It’s a result of those Gideons being faithful to what God called them to do.”
Reverend Payton ministers as he prays with a stranger in the park.
A young woman receives a New Testament from a Gideon in Kansas City, during July’s International Convention.
As Christians who believe the truth of God’s Word, members of The Gideons International are passionate about sharing Scriptures and telling others about what God has done in their lives.
So, when 2,233 of our members from 92 countries, territories, and possessions, gathered in Kansas City, Missouri this past July for our International Convention, many took time to talk about Jesus with the people they encountered in hotels, restaurants, and on the sidewalks. Here are just a few testimonies from those conversations.
lorraine
Joanne, an Auxiliary from Pennsylvania, leads Lorraine in a prayer to receive Jesus.
Lorraine has experienced some difficult times in life. Joanne Sanders, who serves as an Auxiliary with the Blair South Camp, Pennsylvania, saw Lorraine on the sidewalk in Kansas City and offered her a New Testament. Joanne took time to share how Jesus loved her enough to die for her sins, and He offers salvation to those who place their trust in Him. This was welcome news to Lorraine. With Joanne’s help, she prayed to receive Jesus as her Lord and Savior.
john
John, a hotel desk clerk in Kansas City, signs the New Testament he received from a Gideon. Moments earlier, John prayed to receive Christ.
Justo Escobar, who serves as a Gideon with the Live Oak Camp, Florida, asked the desk clerk at his hotel if he had received a New Testament from The Gideons that week. The clerk, John, said indeed he had. Justo shared how John could be one hundred percent sure he would go to heaven at the end of his life by accepting Jesus into his heart. He then asked John if he would like to make that decision, and John welcomed the opportunity.
brian
Vicki with Brian as he signs his New Testament noting his decision to receive Christ.
On Tuesday, Vicki Wettig, an Auxiliary with the Lancaster Central Camp, Pennsylvania, saw a security guard walking down the hall of the convention center. “I determined in my heart if he walked back by me, I would share a New Testament,” says Vicki. The guard, Brian, did walk back by and Vicki followed through on her commitment, pulling a New Testament from her handbag.
She showed Brian the New Testament and landed on the back page, which reveals God’s plan of salvation. Vicki told Brian the New Testament answered life’s most important question of where we will spend eternity.
“I asked him if he would like to receive Jesus as his Lord and Savior, so he could have the assurance of spending eternity in heaven,” said Vicki. Brian replied, “Yes.”
Vicki then led Brian in a prayer to confess his sins and accept God’s forgiveness. “Afterwards, he kept hugging me, and thanking me for caring enough to talk to him,” said Vicki. As they finished their conversation, Vicki encouraged Brian to seek out a Bible-believing church.
hannah
Chuck Smith, a Gideon with the Herman Bay Camp, Florida, was having lunch with three other Gideons. Their server was Hannah. They asked Hannah how they could pray for her. Hannah told the men about a number of challenges she was facing and confessed she was extremely conflicted about her purpose in life.
One of the Gideons shared about her namesake in the Bible. Hannah, the mother of the prophet Samuel, was a woman who also had her share of challenges.
The men continued to talk with Hannah. They showed her more verses using a New Testament. Hannah agreed it was time to give her life to Jesus. “Holding hands, she prayed with us to receive Jesus,” said Chuck. “We then went to other tables of Gideons in the restaurant and introduced them to our new sister in Christ.”
theo
During the week of International Convention, Gideons, including the one seated on the left in this photo, explained the message of the Gospel as they shared copies of God’s Word with those they encountered around Kansas City.
Dr. Wallace Donaldson, who serves as a Gideon in the Sunnyside Camp, Washington, met Theo, who was waiting to catch a bus ride to work. The two began to talk and the conversation turned to spiritual matters. Theo said he had attended church with his grandparents while growing up. As an adult out living on his own, he was not involved in a church. Wallace gave Theo a New Testament and began to lead Theo through the plan of salvation printed in the back. “I told him about God’s great love for him,” said Wallace. Theo then made a personal decision for Christ. Wallace encouraged him to connect with a Bible-believing church where he could continue to grow in his faith.
sydney
Dr. Kim Powell, a Gideon with the Toledo East Camp, Ohio, was dining with other members of The Gideons International at a restaurant. He asked their server, a young lady named Sydney, if she had any prayer requests as they blessed their meal. She asked if they could pray for her father who was undergoing cancer treatment. Having recently graduated from art school, she also asked for prayers for her future career endeavors. They lifted Sydney’s requests up in prayer. After the meal, Sydney returned to their table with the check and Dr. Powell offered her a New Testament. He then engaged her in a conversation about God’s Word. “I briefly shared my testimony and asked her if she knew for sure where she was going when this life was over,” said Dr. Powell.
Sydney responded she wasn’t sure but would like to know. Dr. Powell then shared the Gospel with her, extending an invitation for her to receive Jesus as her Lord and Savior. Sydney accepted that opportunity and invited Jesus into her heart.
Christopher
Ron Hopkins, who serves in the Tazewell Camp, Illinois, and Craig Dunn of the Merrimack Valley Camp, Massachusetts, were walking along the sidewalk in Kansas City and encountered two men engaged in a spiritual discussion. Ron and Craig presented the two men with New Testaments. One of the men, Christopher, quickly became interested in the verses printed in the back explaining God’s plan of salvation. Craig began leading Christopher through the verses explaining how the writer of the Gospel of John was a fisherman who had left his nets at the Lord’s invitation to follow him. “Christopher identified with that example,” said Craig. “In the course of our conversation, he said, ‘That’s it! That’s what I need!’” Christopher then signed his New Testament, confirming his decision to follow Christ.
allen
Bonita Montes serves as an Auxiliary with the Baybay Camp in the Philippines. She arrived at the historic City Market in Kansas City, joined by two other Christians who support The Gideons International as Friends of Gideons. All three bowed their heads and asked God to lead them to the person with whom they should share the Gospel. Moments later in the food court, they were prompted to talk with a man sitting alone on a bench. “Can you recommend a good place to eat?” they asked. The man suggested a nearby restaurant, and Bonita continued talking with him.
The man’s name was Allen. Bonita asked if he knew Jesus. “Yes,” he replied. She mentioned how short life is, and he agreed. “I asked Allen if he was sure what would happen to him if his life suddenly came to an end. He was not sure, so I pulled out the New Testament I was carrying,” says Bonita. “I explained to him the verses in the front of the New Testament, then I turned to the back pages and shared God’s plan of salvation which reveals how to establish a relationship with Jesus in order to go to heaven.” Bonita shared how Allen could be saved, as Jesus was God’s Son who came and died for our sins, then was buried and arose on the third day. Allen listened sincerely and kept nodding his head and saying, “Yes, ma’am,” as Bonita asked if he understood the Scripture passages.
“Allen, would you be willing to trust Jesus and receive Him into your heart?” Bonita asked. She explained that the moment he received Jesus, he would become a child of God and he would go to heaven when his life on earth was over. Allen agreed to let Bonita lead him in prayer to receive Jesus as his Lord and Savior.
Bonita Montes, an Auxiliary from the Philippines, leads Allen in a prayer to receive Jesus as his Lord and Savior.
“Afterwards, Allen smiled, and his gloomy eyes lit up,” she said. She told him to read God’s Word as his daily spiritual food. “He nodded, looking at me attentively. He smiled, and then we said goodbye,” said Bonita. “To God be the glory.”
Greg Blood enjoys sharing about Native American history and artifacts—almost as much as sharing about what the Lord has done in his life. On any given day, he can be found sorting through some of his greatest hobbies, from gardening to archaeology. For most of his life, Greg has loved being outdoors. “From a young age, I have been blessed with a creative ability, the gift of working with my hands, and I’ve never been afraid of labor,” says Greg—Papa to his grandchildren. Though his passion for life and the Lord is evident to anyone who knows him, the journey to where he is today has been nothing short of rocky.
Greg grew up in a broken home in Los Angeles, California. By the age of 13, he had seen and committed more crime than any child could imagine. As a teenager, most of his time was spent on the run. Greg wanted to go anywhere with anyone who would let him join along. At one point, he traveled with a band to a concert they performed. Greg remembers hearing the Gospel message, but he swept the words away as quickly as they came. “My life was void of family, purpose, and satisfaction. I was in darkness, and I didn’t know it,” says Greg.
While trying to catch a ride one day, a car passed by and began to slow down. Not knowing this homeless teenager, an elderly lady behind the wheel rolled down her window just enough to reach out her hand. She gave Greg a New Testament from The Gideons along with a simple statement, “God told me to give this to you.” Before he could thank her, she drove away. Inside the New Testament was a US$20 bill, which could not have come at a better time. He thumbed through the New Testament and put it in his bag. Periodically, he would open it and read a few verses. “It was just something to do,” he remembers. However, God was using those verses to begin softening his heart.
At age 17, he discovered his mother was living in Houston, Texas, so he made his way to her home to stay for a while. She would take him to different odd jobs with family members in an attempt to keep him occupied. A friend from her church spent some time with Greg, and shared about Christ from time to time. Those conversations began stirring something inside of Greg’s heart and mind. Contemplating his life and what he had been told about the Lord, he knew it was time to accept Christ to be his Savior. Walking down the sidewalk of Bunker Hill Road in Houston, Greg fell to his knees, confessed his sins, and prayed to receive Christ.
“On the day I got saved, I was born again,” said Greg. “I didn’t just pray a prayer—God changed me instantly. I was praying in the presence of the God who was forgiving me, and that’s how I’ve prayed ever since.”
No Trace of Wrongdoing
Greg found strength in his newfound faith, and he wanted to pay the consequences for the crimes he had committed. He made his way back to Los Angeles, and tried to turn himself in at a local jail. They turned him away because the jail was full. After several more attempts to confess what he had done, Greg learned his record had been cleared when he turned 18.
Through reaching out to a cousin and an uncle in Texas, Greg was connected to a boys’ home in Corpus Christi. He stayed there for several months, growing in his faith as a believer and studying that New Testament regularly.
In 1981, Greg married his wife, Nacole, who he met in the Corpus Christi area. She was also a believer. Not having any example of a good father, Greg felt inadequate and fearful to start a family. However, this made Greg completely trust the Lord for direction each step of the way. Today, their three children have all been saved and seek to follow Christ.
While he considers his family one of his greatest accomplishments, Greg is most fulfilled by how the Lord continues to use him. “My greatest achievement is to be able to lead people to Jesus. I witness to people wherever I go.” He admires the ministry of The Gideons International and the powerful ways God reaches people through His Word. He does not know where or how that lady got the New Testament, only that it became one of his most prized possessions. “We should take every chance we can to share the Word of Life. The reward is eternal,” said Greg.
“I am always blessed to see that God is faithful, and I praise Him for the truths and promises of Scripture.” —Greg Blood
Thinking back to that woman who stepped out of her comfort zone to give him a New Testament, Greg credits that single act as “the greatest act of love I’ve ever known.” What seemed to be a book he did not know much about became a treasure of indescribable value.
Greg’s life is a powerful demonstration of how God arranges people and circumstances to lead people to eternal life. The pages of Scripture contain the greatest gift anyone could ever receive. May those who serve through The Gideons International faithfully continue reaching others for Christ through sharing a personal word of witness along with God’s Holy Word—trusting He will produce the harvest.
The song “God Will Make A Way” has been sung by millions during worship in churches throughout the world. While you may know the song, what you may not know is the story behind it.
The song was written by Don Moen, a Dove Award-winning songwriter in Nashville, TN whose songs and recordings have sold millions of copies. In addition to leading worship on six continents, Moen has also performed with other Christian artists including Chris Tomlin, Laura Story, and Michael W. Smith.
Don recently visited the headquarters of The Gideons International and led the staff in worship during the morning devotion time. During his visit, he shared how he came to write the song.
“The song ‘God Will Make A Way’ was written for a very tragic situation in my family,” says Moen. Years ago, the Moen family received a phone call from a relative. The young son of Don’s sister-in-law was killed in a car accident as the family was traveling from Oklahoma to Colorado. The boy’s parents, Dr. Craig Phelps and his wife, Susan, serve in The Gideons International Elk City Camp, Oklahoma.
Seeking spiritual comfort as he traveled out to Oklahoma for the funeral, Don spent time reading Scripture. One passage he read on the airplane was Isaiah, chapter 43. He was then led by the Lord to pen the lyrics to what became, “God Will Make A Way.”
While visiting with Craig and Susan, Don sat down at the piano in their living room. “This is a song the Lord gave me, and I want to play it for you,” he told the grieving couple. He then played the song. When he finished singing, he could see the couple was visibly moved.
“I knew there would be days to come when they would feel lonely,” says Don. He left them a copy of his performance of the song to listen to in such times. He says the song is meant to bring hope to people who feel they are in a hopeless situation.
“To see how God will take a song and impact not only people, but nations, that’s always the most humbling thing.”
It wasn’t until about two years later that Don would play the song again. First, during a worship service at a church, and then while he was leading a staff worship service at his music publisher’s offices. After the service, one of those in attendance approached Don and asked, “Why haven’t you recorded this?”
“It’s become one of my most well-known songs, yet I didn’t write it with the intention of recording it,” he says, having now played the song for millions around the world. “To see how God will take a song and impact not only people, but nations, that’s always the most humbling thing.”
“I’ve always prayed God would let me write songs that would help me touch people in their spirit, not their intellect. When I see that happening I can only say, ‘Thank God.’”
In the years since their son’s death, the Phelps’ have been able to reach out to others who’ve experienced personal tragedies and share Christ’s love with them. After the song’s success, Craig told Don, “Because of your song, Jeremy has probably reached more people through his death than he ever could have through his life.”
Don not only admires Craig and Susan for their continued faithful service in The Gideons International, but he also is inspired by the entire membership of The Gideons. “What I love about The Gideons is that they always seem to stay true to the mission of getting the word of God into people’s hands.”
“As the Lord tells us in Isaiah 55:11, when you put His Word in someone’s hands it will not return void, but it will accomplish that purpose whereunto it was sent,” says Don.
Now God Will Make A Way: A Time for Prayer, A Time for Unity, A Time for Healing is a full musical which Don is taking on tour, complete with choirs and musicians. He says the idea for the musical was inspired by the division he’s seeing in the USA and beyond, and how that division has spread from the political arena to the church.
“The devil’s strategy is to divide and conquer,” says Don. “If he can divide us as a church, he can divide us as a nation. We’ve got to come to agreement on the things we can agree upon, including the truth of God’s Word. What we need as a nation is a revival, a visitation from God. It’s time to bring people together.”
As Christians, we are called to make disciples. In ministry through The Gideons International, Gideons and Auxiliary accomplish this calling by associating together for service, sharing personal testimonies, and placing and distributing copies of God’s Word. Our ministry requires steps of faith. We never know how the Lord will use a single copy of His Word to touch lives, but we trust He always will.
Over the past several months, a number of countries have hosted International Scripture Blitzes, including Madagascar and Spain. While these are two countries with seemingly different cultural perspectives on the value of God’s Word, the Lord used Gideons and Auxiliary in both to reach others with the Gospel.
No problems in Madagascar
Madagascar is a mostly rural country. With a per capita Gross Domestic Product (GDP) of US$1,500, it is also one of the poorest countries in the world. The Gideons International first organized in Madagascar in 1979. Today, there are 75 Gideon camps with a total of 585 Gideons and 481 Auxiliary in Madagascar.
The blitz committee in Madagascar was chaired by Dr. Raminoelina from Madagascar’s Antananarivo Analakely Gideon Camp. “Dr. Raminoelina was undoubtedly the Lord’s man for this job. He inspired, encouraged, and challenged me every day,” says blitz team leader Dennis Donnelly with the Osage Gideon Camp in Kansas.
There are seven Gideon camps in the city of Antananarivo, and each camp had four teams working each day. Commitments from 103 Gideons and 72 Auxiliary to help with the blitz, resulted in 28 teams.
The unofficial name of this blitz could be the “No Problem Scripture Blitz.” When Donnelly met with the local blitz committee, the first question he asked Dr. Raminoelina was, “The goal is 200,000 Scriptures, which is a large goal. Can we make the goal?”
“No problem,” Dr. Raminoelina replied.
“Do we have a car, driver, and interpreter to go with each team every day?” Donnelly then asked.
Dr. Raminoelina responded again, “No problem.”
“Does every team have a list of at least six schools to visit each day?”
“No problem.”
“Have the Scriptures been pre-delivered to the schools?”
“No problem.”
“Have appointments been made with each school so they know when we will be coming?
“No problem.”
In every instance, Dr. Raminoelina’s assurances proved true for accomplishing the mission. Teams were assigned cars, drivers, and interpreters; appointments were made with every school where distributions were to take place, and the Scriptures were pre-delivered, secured in storage, and waiting for Gideons when they arrived.
“We visited 763 schools, and as far as I know, we had no problems,” says Donnelly.
Schools welcomed Gideons with open arms. In most cases, as Gideons arrived, students were gathered together in one assembly, which allowed Gideons to present the Gospel message and distribute personal copies of God’s Word to each student, all in a single gathering.
Many team members expressed how humbled they felt to be used by God to reach so many students at once.
Distributions at university campuses were just as successful. Five Gideons were distributing Scriptures at one large university. The team was originally supplied with 2,500 New Testaments, which were distributed in one hour, averaging 41 people per minute receiving a Scripture. Many students sincerely thanked the Gideons for what they were doing.
A request for more Scriptures was sent to others on the team, and another 2,500 New Testaments were soon delivered. Students received all of those, too. That day, in less than three hours, 5,000 New Testaments were distributed by five Gideons.
a strong finish
By the end of the week, 300,629 Scriptures were placed and distributed by Gideons and Auxiliary at schools, universities, hotels, hospitals, jails, and other approved locations. The majority of those who received a Scripture would likely never have the financial capacity to purchase one.
Bjorn Berg, a Gideon from Germany who served on the blitz team, was excited for the receptivity to the Gospel in Madagascar. It was a sharp contrast to the challenges he experiences in terms of sharing God’s Word at schools in his homeland.
“It is incredible that the school gates here are widely open for us to distribute God’s Word.” Berg was further encouraged that the Madagascar school headmasters asked Gideons to come back to their schools for future distributions.
It was a marvelous experience for me to be able to give New Testaments to the Malagasy people,” says Berg. “Now there are 300,000 more road signs in Madagascar leading to Christ.”
Steve Stanley from the Grand Mesa Camp in Colorado, who also served on the team, was overjoyed in regards to the response. “I was truly amazed at how open and eager to receive God’s Word the people of Madagascar were. Their attitude was completely different than what I encounter in the USA.”
a different world in spain
Madagascar and Spain are just over 5,000 miles apart. However, they are much further apart in terms of culture and economic conditions.
More than half of Spain’s population of 48 million people identifies as Roman Catholic. Evangelical Christians account for a very small percentage of the population. The first Gideon camp was organized in Spain in 1968. Today, there are 247 Gideons and 109 Auxiliary serving in 47 camps in Spain.
This past April, Spain hosted an International Scripture Blitz in the city of Granada. Standing on a street corner, the sight of new cars and people dressed in modern attire make it apparent the overall culture in Granada is significantly different than that of Madagascar. With a per capita GDP of US$36,500, the people of Spain enjoy a high standard of living.
Gideons throughout Spain travelled to help blitz efforts in Granada. They came from Seville, Cordoba, Jaén, Algeciras, Almeria, Bilbao, Valencia, Zaragoza—just over seven hours away—and Madrid—roughly four hours away.
José Maria Bermejo from the Madrid South West Camp serves as church ministry coordinator for The Gideons International in Spain. He was very instrumental in the blitz planning. Bermejo says there is a real lack of interest for God’s Word in Spain’s Roman Catholic community and a pervasive indifference to all things related to God throughout Spain. He says those two factors make it very difficult to share God’s Word with the people of Spain.
However, Gideons were faithful to do their part during the blitz week. Scripture distributions took place at 12 schools, 16 universities, and at the offices of the national and local police, as well as the civil guard.
Security personnel on university campuses kept a close eye on the distributions. In accordance with local university policies, as well as our own Association policies, Gideons faithfully shared copies of God’s Word with those students who were open to accepting one. As they had opportunity, Gideons shared their own personal testimonies, further explaining to students how the Lord had worked in their lives.
While there were reports of many students refusing Scriptures, and even in some cases handing them back, Gideons remained positive throughout the distributions. They were encouraged by positive comments from university professors who thanked them for doing an extraordinary job in sharing God’s Word with the students.
A sweeping vista of Granada, Spain
Granada’s Pastors and churches show support
Pastors of the evangelical congregations in Granada were very supportive of Gideons serving in their community. Pastor Manuel Cabrera provided housing for several Gideons who had traveled from other parts of Spain. One church also provided a new van for Gideons to use during the week.
Gideons gave presentations in eight churches in Granada, and every church was generous in their giving to provide for God’s Word. A Pastors Appreciation Banquet was also held, which allowed pastors to hear how the Lord was working through the ministry of The Gideons International in their communities.
Gideons in Spain diligently work to strengthen relationships with local evangelical churches, as Gideons do worldwide. These partnerships result in more people receiving a copy of God’s Word. “We are sure that the Holy Spirit is working in the hearts of people throughout the city of Granada,” adds Bermejo.
Different Number, Same Strong Finish
At the end of the blitz in Spain, the team rejoiced that over 22,000 more Scriptures were in the hands of people in Granada than had been there days before.
These two blitzes were complete opposites on many levels, yet God worked through Gideons and Auxiliary to accomplish the single purpose of sharing the Gospel. “We’re called to go and be witnesses,” says Donnelly. “In each blitz, we did what we were called to do.”
A smoky haze filled the North Korean forest. Minutes earlier, a barrage of mortar rounds struck the area, each one as deafening as it was destructive. William and his platoon were on the receiving end, and they were frantically trying to regroup. It was just before dawn and visibility was poor, but they could see soldiers moving in their direction. Whether they were friend or foe, it was impossible to tell. As they peered through the trees, one G.I. panicked and shouted, “Don’t shoot! We’re G.I.s!”
His cry was answered by the unmistakable sound of a machine gun bolt slamming forward. The noise gave William chills. He knew what that meant. “I immediately turned left and started up the face of the mountain,” he remembered. “I only got six or eight feet up before an extended burst of bullets sprayed the area. I felt a sharp pain in my right foot and knew I had been hit.” He stumbled, but two of his men grabbed him under the shoulders, and together they escaped up the rocky slope.
When William looked back, all of the G.I.s behind him were dead.
William Funchess grew up on a farm in Orangeburg County, South Carolina. The oldest of three children, his boyhood days were largely spent helping his father maintain their massive fields of cotton, corn, and peanuts. The work was hard, but rewarding, and William enjoyed it so much he planned to study agronomy in college.
Statue of Thomas Green Clemson, founder of the college known today as Clemson University
He decided to attend Clemson College, a military college since its founding in 1889. By the time William graduated high school in 1944, the United States was assisting its allies in the Second World War, and William was unsure if he would be drafted before completing his education. So, he joined the Reserved Officers’ Training Corps program and received his first taste of military life.
In 1948, William received his diploma along with a commission as 2nd Lieutenant in the United States Army and an assignment to Fort Jackson. Shortly after, he was reassigned to a base in Japan. He was newly married to his high school sweetheart, Sybil, and the two were excited to embark on the adventure together.
But on Sunday, June 25, 1950, some 90,000 North Korean troops pushed across the 38th parallel, and the United States was once again called to war. William was on amphibious maneuvers near the southernmost island of Japan. He was immediately ordered back to base, and on July 4, the 19th Infantry Regiment boarded a Landing Ship Tank (LST) and set sail for Korea. “I thought it was only a police action,” said William. “On the LST we were happy, jubilant even. We thought, ‘we’ll be home in three or four weeks.’”
It didn’t take long after disembarking in South Korea for the G.I.s to realize the situation was far worse than anticipated. “We were in a desperate plight,” William recalled. “The South Korean army was in disarray, and they were fleeing from the Soviet trained and equipped North Korean Army. They had no means of stopping them.”
After the Battle of Pusan, William was promoted to 1st Lieutenant and given command of 1st Platoon, Company C. He was charged with orders to cross the border into North Korea. “We met relatively little resistance at first, but on November 4, 1950, just outside of the city of Anju, my men reported seeing Chinese soldiers crossing the river not far from us. I contacted battalion headquarters, but they assured me I was mistaken – there were no Chinese troops in North Korea.”
William led his platoon to a vantage point, hoping to confirm the reports were a mistake. Instead, he saw hundreds of enemy troops charging his position. “They were all in a fast trot. As they reached the river, they removed their shoes and clothing, held them above their heads, waded across the frigid, shoulder-deep water, and dressed again. In an instant, they were again in a fast trot,” said William.
Mortar and gunfire soon accompanied the attack, and before long, two men were helping a wounded William stumble up a mountainside in retreat. Suddenly, the man on William’s right was shot, and he fell back down the slope, taking William’s weapon with him. The G.I.s limped steadily on until they reached the edge of a deep canyon. They had two options: jump to certain death, or face the dozens of enemy soldiers forming a semi-circle around them. They decided to take their chances, and they surrendered.
As William shivered in the darkness,
he felt something in his chest pocket. It was a New Testament bearing the Gideon emblem.
William was searched by Chinese soldiers and added to the hundreds of prisoners of war (POWs) taken that day. As he sat among his fellow G.I.s, he contemplated the reality of his situation. “I realized many men in my platoon had either been killed or captured,” recalled William. “No immediate help and no counterattacks by the United States or South Korean armies were forthcoming. We were alone, and we were prisoners of a hostile enemy in a hostile country.”
As night approached, a bitter cold began to settle in. William shivered in the darkness, and as he clung to his thin summer jacket, he felt something in his chest pocket. It was a New Testament bearing the Gideon emblem, handed to him by an Army Chaplain shortly before he entered North Korea. The New Testament also included Psalms and Proverbs. “The first thing I did was open to Psalm 23,” said William. “When I was growing up, my mother always told me to read it when I was in trouble because it would give me a certain amount of peace and make me capable of handling any situation. I needed all the help I could get.”
The POWs were forced to march north toward the city of Pyoktong. Snow was beginning to fall on the mountainous terrain, and the icy conditions made a hard journey all the more difficult. The bullet that tore through William’s right foot shattered several bones, and he struggled to keep up. “I fell hundreds of times. It wasn’t long before bruises covered both knees and both elbows. Frozen blood crusted both my sleeves and pant legs,” remembered William. “I was always the last man to enter the camp at night, but I knew that if I stopped they would execute me, and I wasn’t going to give up.”
The captives marched for seventeen nights before finally reaching their destination. It was a remote, snow-covered basin a few miles outside of Pyoktong. The only sign of civilization was a group of mud huts and shacks, which were connected by several dirt paths. The small community sat on the banks of the Yalu River. It was dark and uninviting, and the soldiers neither knew nor cared about the true name of the place.
They simply called it, “The Valley.”
The POWs were divided amongst the dilapidated shacks. They found conditions to be primitive at best. There was no running water, no heat, and no blankets. Many men lost fingers and toes to frostbite. “There was nothing we could to do stay warm but to cling to each other,” recalled William. “Looking back, it’s a wonder any of us survived the first month.”
The shack that housed William also housed 11 other soldiers, all of whom were wounded. “They were the most downcast men I had ever seen. The men tried to be brave, but I heard sobbing at night,” he said. “Some called out for their mothers. There were screams when the wounds became too painful to bear. There were nightmares when they slept.”
As he lay among the men, William began to read from his New Testament. After a while, he asked the others if they would like him to read out loud. Each man replied with an enthusiastic yes, and William read Psalm 23 to the room. “When I finished, they asked, ‘please, read some more.’ So, I did.”
“I began to love my New Testament, and I was determined to not let the soldiers take it away from me.”
The words brought an extraordinary sense of peace to the room and somehow gave the men a respite from their suffering. William read to the soldiers every night, each time beginning with Psalm 23, and then continuing with other chapters in the New Testament. “Those men were so enthusiastic when I was reading. I began to love my New Testament, and I was determined to not let the soldiers take it away from me,” said William.
The Chinese soldiers often searched for and discarded anything they considered contraband. On two occasions, William watched as his New Testament flew out the door of his shack and landed on a pile outside. If he were caught retrieving it, it would mean sever punishment or possible death, but William didn’t care. “When the guards weren’t looking,” he said, “I gently slid the New Testament with my foot farther away from the pile and stood on it until the inspection was over. Then, I leaned over, feigning exhaustion, and placed it in my pocket.”
For William, his New Testament was more than just a book; it was a lifeline. He was held captive for 34 long and terrible months – nearly 3 years. He and his fellow prisoners suffered relentless interrogations, beatings, and humiliations. If they were able to walk, they were subjected to hard labor. Their diet consisted primarily of small portions of millet seed or sorghum. It wasn’t long before William weighed less than 100 pounds. The deplorable sanitary conditions were a breeding ground for vermin and lice, which soon found their way into beds, hair, and clothing. Many men attempted to escape. None succeeded.
“My New Testament was a connection to home, and more than that, it was a connection to God. It gave all of us a feeling of great comfort,” William remembered. The Scripture reminded him of an omnipotent God whose goodness and mercy supersedes all evil, even the hostility of his enemies. He was not forgotten, and he was not alone. God was with him. He was stripped of all worldly comforts and denied his freedom, but he had an eternal hope that gave him the strength to survive. In the moments when it seemed easiest to give up, he remained resilient.
The POWs attended mandatory propaganda sessions designed to intimidate them into renouncing their countries and their faiths. “The Communists suppressed Christianity in every way possible,” recalled William. “It was as if they felt their battle was half won if we stopped believing.” But their tactics fell short. “They would say, ‘Where is your God now? Why don’t you ask your God to feed you? If you asked Stalin or Moa Tse-Tung to feed you, perhaps you would not be starving.’ Not one man asked Stalin or Moa to provide food. I was proud of the American soldier.”
“My New Testament was a connection to home, and more than that, it was a connection to God. It gave all of us a feeling of great comfort.”
Usually, William sat quietly and patiently until the session came to a close. One day, however, the Chinese brought out large black and white photos of the mass graves at the City of Anak. “I went into that city before I was captured,” said William. “They kept shouting, ‘this is proof of the atrocities committed by the Americans!’ I took it as long as I could, but then I stood and shouted that it was a lie. They asked how I knew, and I foolishly responded that I was there, and I saw what happened.”
The repercussions were immediate. Two guards grabbed William and dragged him to an isolated building. They had him undress and stand at attention outside. Inside, several North Korean officers held a trial, and William was the defendant.
The results of the trial were a mystery until September 5, 1953. The war was over, and an Armistice Agreement had been signed in July. Both sides agreed to release POWs over the course of a thirty-day period, and September 5 was the last day. “Each day I listened for my name, and each day I was disappointed,” said William. “I asked an officer, and he said the release was over. I asked, ‘How could it be over? I am still here!’ He replied, ‘You are not a POW. You are a war criminal and you will not be released.’”
When William asked what he did, the officer responded, “Remember Anak?” Suddenly, it all made sense and William returned to his room, devastated. He had been found guilty of war crimes in Anak, even though he was innocent. What would happen now? He envisioned being locked in a dark prison, never to be seen or heard from again. But rather than dwell on those thoughts, he opened his New Testament and prayed for a miracle.
The next day, soldiers loaded him into the back of a truck. William was imagining where they might be taking him when the truck stopped abruptly, and he was ordered to get out. They shouted at him to start walking into an open field. “This is it,” thought William. He anticipated a bullet in the back or the detonation of a land mine at any given moment. Yet, he kept putting one foot in front of the other, until he noticed a United States Army ambulance and two uniformed men waiting for him. When he climbed in the back, one of them patted his back and said, “You don’t know how lucky you are, son. Last night both sides agreed to release war criminals.”
William smiled. He was free at last.
But rather than dwell on those thoughts, he opened his New Testament and prayed for a miracle.
Sybil, William’s wife, excited to welcome him home
By the time the plane carrying William home approached the airport in Columbia, South Carolina, a large crowd was gathered at the gate to welcome him home. In the front of the crowd, was Sybil. “She was wearing a bright red dress so I would be sure to see her, remembered William. “She was smiling and waving her hand.”
On January 20, 1954, the day after he was released from the hospital, William was separated from military service. “It was time to start a new life,” he said.
William went back to Clemson to earn his master’s degree in agronomy, and he worked over 30 years as a District Extension Leader and Associate Professor for the Clemson Extension Service. He and Sybil had three children, and they celebrated 67 wonderful years of marriage together before her passing in May 2017. In both hardship and happiness, William approached each circumstance with the same grit and faithfulness that saw him through his time as a prisoner of war. Today, he remains confident in the promise found in the New Testament and the assurance found in the words of Psalm 23:
The Lord is my shepherd; I shall not want.
He maketh me to lie down in green pastures: he leadeth me beside the still waters.
He restoreth my soul: he leadeth me in the paths of righteousness for his name’s sake.
Yea though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil:
for thou art with me; thy rod and thy staff they comfort me.
Thou preparest a table before me in the presence of mine enemies: thou anointest my head with oil; my cup runneth over.
Surely goodness and mercy shall follow me all the days of my life: and I will dwell in the house of the Lord for ever.
Nothing else I’ve done has helped me as much as Scripture memory and Biblical meditation. When I’m in the grip of worry, I turn to my internalized passages and begin repeating them to myself. When I don’t know what to say to another, I recall a passage to quote. When unsure of a decision, I let the Word of God circulate through my brain, and insight always comes. When traveling by air, tired, eyes blurry, I can lean against the window of the plane, close my eyes, and start reciting God’s Word verse by verse. Each passage is timely and timeless, affordable and invaluable, faultless and fathomless, purer than gold and sweeter than honey.
Many Christians in America and around the world are forfeiting the habits of Biblical memorization and meditation. Three reasons are to blame:
People have never been so busy. The digital revolution has propelled us into a constant state of urgency, and we’ve lost the stillness that accommodates memorization and meditation.
We have total and constant access to Scripture. We have Bibles on our smartphones and multiple printed copies at home, so we no longer feel a need to memorize it.
The eastern mystics have popularized a transcendental form of meditation, and many Christians are afraid to even use the word “meditation,” though it occurs repeatedly in the Bible. Recently a woman told me she wasn’t going to read my book, Reclaiming the Lost Art of Biblical Meditation, because meditation was “new age” and evil. Even when I pointed out what the Bible said about meditation, she remained unconvinced.
Biblical meditation is very different from the New Age techniques of the world. Biblical meditation is letting the Word of Christ dwell in us richly. It’s the powerful habit of pondering, personalizing, and practicing Scripture. Meditation is the process by which God’s thoughts become our thoughts, letting us see things in His terms, from His perspective, with His wisdom.
The Bible Expects Us to Meditate on Its Words
Meditation isn’t simply a helpful technique. It’s a Biblical requirement. We’re commanded to fill our minds with Scripture and ponder it constantly. When Joshua was commissioned to lead Israel to conquer the Promised Land, God gave him a simple battle plan: “This book of the Law shall not depart from your mouth, but you shall meditate on it day and night, so that you may be careful to do according to all that is written in it. For then you will make your way prosperous, and then you will have good success.” (Joshua 1:8).
Joshua only had a portion of God’s Word, the books of Moses. But the Lord told him to spend his days and nights thinking about everything written in Genesis, Exodus, Leviticus, Numbers, and Deuteronomy, and, having read and meditated on it, to obey it. That was his key to victory.
How Do We Meditate?
Meditation begins with hearing, reading, and studying Scripture. Memorization isn’t absolutely necessary because we can meditate on a passage with an open Bible before us. But Scripture memory makes meditation portable. Wherever we are, we can recall Scriptures we’ve learned by heart.
My own practice is simple. I spend a few minutes during my morning devotions learning or reviewing Scripture memory verses, which I’ve written down in a small loose-leaf notebook. Today, for example, I worked on re-memorizing 1 Corinthians 13, and I think soon I’ll have that passage nailed down for good.
As I wrote in my book, 100 Bible Verses Everyone Should Know By Heart, when we memorize Scripture it sinks into our conscious minds, into our subconscious thoughts, and even into our unconscious minds. It’s like burying a radiation chip in the middle of our brains. Even so, simply memorizing Bible verses is not enough. We meditate on Scripture with a view of putting it into practice in our attitudes, deeds, and words. As we internalize God’s inspired Word, it conveys wisdom, strength, guidance, and peace.
Recently a woman told me, “When I was eleven, a pastor visited our home with a Bible ministry on tape. I was interested in that; and from age eleven, I started listening to Bible tapes on an old reel-to-reel tape recorder. I heard many of Bible verses over and over again, and to this day I can recite many of those verses by heart. I was also encouraged to memorize Scripture and to keep a Promise Notebook.
“In my early twenties,” she said, “I faced a particular crisis and struggled to know what to do. I took many walks along a nearby river, and all those Scriptures flowed through my mind like water—that flood of Bible verses I’d learned in my childhood and teenage years. It was as if the Holy Spirit was shouting the truth of Scripture at me and I could do nothing to stop the flow of information, nor did I want to. There in my heart and mind and with each step along the riverbank, those verses brought guidance and truth.”
The Bible teacher likely never knew the impact his tapes had made on an eleven-year-old girl; and the Gideons can never fully calculate the impact their 2 billion copies of Scripture are making on our world. Remember, the work of a Gideon Bible or New Testament doesn’t end when a person is saved. That’s the beginning. The same Book that makes us wise for salvation through faith in Jesus Christ also provides teaching, reproof, correction, and training in righteousness so that we may be complete, equipped for every good work.
The Holy Spirit has a marvelous way blessing us as we hide God’s Word in our hearts. That’s why we can say with the Psalmist: Oh, how I love your law! It is my meditation all the day (Psalm 119:97). Let me encourage you to reclaim the lost art of Biblical meditation today.
Edited by International Headquarters
Pastor Morgan’s new release, Reclaiming the Lost Art of Biblical Meditation,
is available through most major booksellers.
The town of Superior is nestled in western Montana among a series of gulches along the Clark Fork River. When the historic Mullan Road was created back in the 1800s, it was the first wagon road to allow travelers to pass through the Rocky Mountains into the Pacific Northwest. The road ran through Superior.
In the early 1900s, a railroad expansion into Superior opened a new route for more goods and people to flow in and out of town. One of the people working on that expansion project was Archie Bailey, an accountant for a railroad contractor. Archie was a regular guest at the Superior Hotel. He was also a Gideon.
Archie believed in the power of God’s Word. In the autumn of 1908, he got off the train, walked across the bridge into Superior, and entered the hotel. He approached Edna Wilkinson, the hotel’s proprietor, to see if he could place a Bible there at the hotel desk clerk’s station.
Superior Hotel in the early 1900s
Edna countered with a bigger proposition: could Archie actually place a Bible in each of the guest rooms? Archie agreed. On November 9, 1908, Archie placed an order to The Gideons for the first 25 hotel Bibles. That was more than 2 billion Scriptures ago.
“A single copy of God’s Word in a hotel or motel room has the potential to touch up to 2,300 lives during its six-year life span.”
Archie nor Edna may have fully understood the significance of that Bible placement. Similar to how Mullan Road and the railroad expansion opened new routes for travel and commerce through Superior, Archie was opening a new route for God’s Word to travel into Superior and throughout the world.
Why hotels? A single copy of God’s Word in a hotel or motel room has the potential to touch up to 2,300 lives during its six-year life span. Over the years, there have been many testimonies of individuals who checked into a hotel and came to a saving knowledge of Jesus Christ as a result of reading a Bible placed there by Gideons.
You can still see the Old West frontier influence around Superior. The tin roofs and tall facades of old historic buildings have helped preserve the rustic charm of the community.
Sadly, the Superior Hotel burned to the ground in 1940. An automobile business was later constructed on the property. However, the significance of that location has not been forgotten. Today, if you stop at that property at Mullan Road, you will see a historical marker attached to the building’s cinder block wall, commemorating that first hotel Bible placement.
Gideons Still Place Bibles In Superior
Richard Clark is a Gideon who lives in Superior. At 77 years of age, the agriculture industry retiree says he loves placing Bibles in hotels. He placed hotel Bibles at a large hotel a few miles away the last weekend of October. “It just brings tears to your eyes when you do the work of the Lord at those hotels,” he says. For years, Clark has been placing and distributing Scriptures in Superior. In fact, he helps maintain the Scripture supply at the motel that stands just a few hundred feet away from where the Superior Hotel once stood.
Kreg Worrest of the Missoula Camp, Montana has spoken on behalf of The Gideons at churches in Superior on multiple occasions. “It’s very exciting to share the story of The Gideons, especially at churches in the town where that first hotel Bible placement occurred,” he says.
As a manufacturing consultant, several years ago Kreg actually helped a supplier of skateboard and bicycle helmets secure a location at the exact spot where the Superior Hotel once stood. It was then that he first noticed the commemorative plaque on the building’s wall. Little did he know, he would end up serving as a Gideon a few years later.
“Even though it’s been over a hundred years since that first placement, God’s Word still has the same relevance, because His Word is eternal.”
Michael David Houlihan is the camp president of the Missoula camp, which serves the Superior community. He is proud of the local heritage The Gideons share with the community. “Even though it’s been over a hundred years since that first placement, God’s Word still has the same relevance, because His Word is eternal,” he says.
Each year, more than a million Scriptures are placed in hotels through The Gideons International. No one this side of heaven knows how many lives have been changed as a result of reading those Scriptures. However, the Lord knows. And that is what truly matters.
Vicki with Brian as he signs his New Testament noting his decision to receive Christ.
During the week of International Convention, Gideons, including the one seated on the left in this photo, explained the message of the Gospel as they shared copies of God’s Word with those they encountered around Kansas City.
Statue of Thomas Green Clemson, founder of the college known today as Clemson University
