Last week, Gideons conducted the 2016 Botswana International Scripture Blitz. Early counts place the total number of Scriptures distributed at around 70,000. The Blitz team members witnessed as more than 700 people prayed to receive Jesus as their Lord and Saviour.
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 a full Bible 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 Saviour,” says Dave.
After praying, 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 that it is really a powerful book.”
Finding an encouraging testament in a hotel
Dear Gideons,
Prompted by the front page of the Bible you kindly placed in my hotel room, I would like to write in thanks for the work you carry out continuously and which has become an institution.
Before I set out on my journey to Glasgow from Inverness yesterday I looked in vain around the local charity shops for a detective novel or similar with which to while away the hours on the train and to keep me company in the hotel restaurant or in my room. Having spent the evening instead watching a football match on TV, followed by the inevitable series of human horror stories that constitute the News, I awoke this morning, my mind filled with the sense of our enslavement to the corporate world.
At 6.30 am I was wide awake with the thought that there may be an answer for my headache in the drawer of the dressing table. And there it was, reliably, offering me a myriad of other, much more encouraging thoughts. In particular 2 Corinthians 9. I find myself less than 3 weeks away from retirement, as everyone is asking what my plans are. It concerns me that I have none so far, and I also found a couple of your suggested verses helpful, but I think I am going to start with Proverbs 16:3, “Commit to the Lord whatever you do, and he will establish your plans.”
Thank you for reading this and please continue your work. My son, who is now 17 and considering his future, reads the Bible in the modern way – by daily reading on an App I think! He was impressed, as I was as a school child, with the gift he received of a New Testament. I rediscovered my own copy when on holiday last year in Sardinia. We have a house there as it is my husband’s home country. I was alone and I had an accident, falling from a ladder and breaking my knee cap. Finding help proved tricky but to cut a very long story short, I ended up reading that little Bible constantly, finding strength and comfort and a renewed faith in God. This has continued.
Thanks again!
Mrs L Carloss
Finding hope on a work residential course
Dear Sir/Madam
I have been considering extending my giving for the work of the Lord and have been nudged by the Holy Spirit in the direction of The Gideons, for whom I have a long standing affection.
Ray, a former colleague who happened to be a Gideon, brought me back to faith in the early 80s. It is still with deep shame I recall how rude I was to Ray when he first witnessed to me in the staff canteen during our lunch break. However, Ray saw my need and ploughed through my anger and rebellion. Then by chance, I was sent on a residential course by my boss and feeling unsure and lonely I found a Gideon Bible in the bedside cabinet of my room. The rest is history.
When I got back to work and spoke to Ray, he knew instantly that God had won me back and that I was saved – it was truly remarkable. Ray gave me a Gideons pocket New Testament in which I wrote my commitment to God.
Yours faithfully
Mrs Reeves
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“Keep Doing What You Do”
Hello,
I was sharing my testimony with a bunch of Christians earlier this week, and the starting point to it all was a Gideons New Testament I received from your organisation many years ago. The people I shared with encouraged me to tell you my story in the hope of encouragement to you to keep doing what you do, and as a thank you, because I don’t know what my faith journey would have looked like otherwise…
When I was in Year 7 in high school, in 2007, two people came from Gideons into a school assembly. I can’t really remember what they said to us if I’m honest, but I remember receiving a little, red book, containing the New Testament and Psalms. I didn’t have very many friends in high school, and I spent many break times and lunch times alone. I always had the little, red book in my blazer pocket and I decided to start reading it just to help me feel a little less lonely. I read through Matthew and Mark, not really thinking too much about the fact I was reading about God, but I was just intrigued by the story.
There’s prayers in the front of the book, and I committed some of them to memory, and at the end of each day I would say the Lord’s prayer, and a prayer of forgiveness of sins, not really to anyone in particular, I just said them for myself.
In 2009, in my geography lessons, I ended up sat on a table with four Christians, and they mentioned they’d seen me reading this Bible and asked if I believed in God. I wasn’t really sure so I started asking them questions about Him, and from there they invited me to their church youth group, where I continued to question things for the next two years.
A teacher joined our high school and set up a Christian Union and at this point I was so used to hanging round with the Christians I just went. I kept asking questions there, always wanting to find out more and weigh up if I believed in God or not. Then the teacher that ran the CU invited us all to hear him preach at his church the next Sunday. We went as a group, and it was great, I enjoyed the service. But it wasn’t until the end, whilst we were worshiping that I felt God’s presence; and in that moment I realised all the things I’d learnt about God were true. I knew in my head that He loved me, but it wasn’t until that moment that I realised in my heart…
That was May 2012, and many things have changed since then. I now study at a theological college and feel God may be calling me into ministry, so I’m in the process of discerning that with others.
Sorry to have written so much. My hope is that this will in some way encourage you to keep sharing the Gospel, and to keep giving out Bibles to all sorts of people. I am thankful for the work that you do, and the way that has changed my life. Even before I came to know God, the difference it made to be able to read something and take away the fact I felt lonely was massive.
May God bless you and the work that you do,
Yours in Christ,
LJ
Drugs to pastorship
“I have vivid memories of being about eleven years old and standing in line with the rest of my school year to receive a Gideons New Testament and Psalms. We shuffled along under the watchful eye of our teach and politely received that little red book. I was unaware of the power of the Scriptures that I held in my hand! When I got home, out of curiosity, I flicked through its pages and put it away on my book shelf; and there is stayed for the next six to seven years.
As I entered my teenage years, I became more and more dissatisfied with my life; I transformed from a quiet, thoughtful child into an arrogant and rebellious adolescent. Frequently drunk, I began to experiment with illegal drugs like LSD, amphetamines and even abused household products; anything that would change my reality. I had become involved in the Occult and started to practice the Wiccan form of withcraft. My curiosity in spiritual things also drew me into Eastern Mysticisim, Transcendental Meditation and ISKCON (Hare Krishna movement.)
One day I phoned an old college friend of mine, to see if she would like to go out for a drink. Her reply both surprised me and intrigued me. She said that she didn’t go to pubs anymore, but if I liked, I could come to her church that Sunday. Out of the depths of my confusion, misery and desperation, I heard myself say, “yes!”
As I sat in the hard pew and considered the words that were prayed, preached and sung – I became aware of the presence of God. It was as if everybody in the whole building disappeared and there was just me and the Lord! I gave my heart to the Lord Jesus Christ that night and wept like a baby as “the burden of my heart was rolled away.”
When I returned home, I lay on my bed and allowed the enormity of what had just happened to sink in.
It was then that I remembered; wait a minute! I’ve got a Bible! After some routing around my book shelf I found the Gideon New Testament that I had been given at school. How I devoured that book! I read the whole of the New Testament in just over a day! It formed the framework of my Christian life and I have no doubt that God used it, even in those early days, to give me a hunger for the pure milk of the Word. The grace of God and the power of the Holy Spirit have enabled me to teach and preach that Word to others and have set the course of my life and my subsequent call into the ministry. Thank you God, and thank you Gideons!”
Pastor Paul Jennings, Stockport Evangelical Church
30,000 Feet Up
“This morning in Stockholm a couple discussed over breakfast the thoughts that they recently had about religion and things spiritual.
They flew into London Heathrow and then sat next to me on my flight to Miami en route to Jamaica.
We enjoyed good conversation over the ten hour flight and towards the end of it I offered them a truly wonderful souvenir of their trip to Europe, namely a Gideon Bible each and one for the man’s mum with whom he lived.
When I told them of the Gospel and God’s love for them by sending His Son to die for us it became apparent that God had appointed the three of us to meet in the sky and share the Good News! They both, together, responded to God’s call and trusted Him for their salvation.
They were so impressed with the Scriptures and kept on looking at the ‘Helps’ section in the Gideon New Testaments saying how useful it would be for them and were eager to sign the believers prayer at the back. The three of us were just blow away by it all! They were so enthusiastic about their future and the promises that we all have about that. We all prayed as we approached landing and I leaned towards them to be heard over the engine.
All’s well until I get to Miami to find the two hour queues to get processed made me miss my flight and then on top a two and three quarter hour wait to sort out immigration and tracing my luggage took another hour of queuing.
But you know I would just love to go through all that again. I said to them after all that I could go home mission accomplished! I asked them to write their names in my book so I, we, could pray for them and I have just looked it up and I see they have written “best flight ever!”
Their names are Cali and Veronica and they live in Costa Rica. Cali’s sister and brother in law are Christian missionaries; been praying for them no doubt…so should we!
May God bless you and all honour and glory go to Him…WOW God is great!”
Sharing Peace By Sharing God’s Word
While earning his degree at South Texas College, Daniel Silguero received a New Testament from a Gideon participating in a Scripture distribution. Already a believer, he thanked the Gideon, slipped the New Testament into his backpack and promptly forgot about it.
On 24 July 2015, Daniel was diagnosed with leukemia. The news came as a terrible shock to him and his family. “You are never prepared to hear something like that,” says Daniel, who now lives with his family in Weslaco, Texas. “It was devastating. I did not know how to comprehend the news.”
He began to consider what the road ahead would look like and how the cancer would affect the remainder of his life, as well as the lives of his wife, Maricela, and his two young children, Danielle and Andrew. Just as he was beginning to lose hope, Daniel came across the New Testament that had been handed to him years earlier.
He read the New Testament cover to cover and was surprised by how much encouragement it brought him. “I cannot express how helpful that New Testament was,” he says. “It was small enough that I was able to carry it with me everywhere. The more I studied it, the more it continued to bring me closer to God. It was a frightening time but the Word gave me hope. I knew that no matter what, I needed to have faith that God would see me through it.”
Sixteen days after his diagnosis, Daniel went into remission. It was a miraculous turn of events that left his oncologist stunned. For the Silguero family, it was a humbling demonstration of the incredible power of prayer. “God is mighty,” says Daniel. “Matthew 17:20 tells us that faith as small as a mustard seed can make great things happen. I am living testimony that this is true.”
Daniel’s experience convinced him that he needed to be more intentional about witnessing to others so they could experience the same peace he is experiencing. He decided one way to do that was to sign up to become a Friend of The Gideons. As a Friend, Daniel has opportunities to participate closely with Gideons in reaching the lost with God’s Word. He also receives regular updates about the impact Gideons are making throughout the world.
“After everything I have been through and all the battles I fought, I have realised that there is a tremendous amount of need,” he says. “So many people either do not know God or are too involved in their daily routine that they forget about how He can deliver them from their pain and hardships. The Gideon New Testament was given to me so that I would have it in my most desperate time of need, and it gave me peace when I needed it most. In return, I would like to continue spreading His Word by providing people with New Testaments.”
Daniel plans to take New Testaments to the cancer centre he visits so he can provide them to the patients undergoing treatment. He explains, “When you get news like the news that was given to me, it is devastating. The people undergoing treatment are in a lot of pain, both physically and emotionally. I know that receiving a New Testament will be a real blessing, just like it was to me.”
“I feel connected to The Gideons by being a Friend,” says Daniel. “I am thankful for the opportunity to be part of this Association, because I know that we are making a difference in the world.”
As a Friend of The Gideons, you can impact the next generation where they are – in the classrooms of 200 countries around the world. Your gifts make sure when students fill school rooms, the hands of each student are also filled with a copy of the Word of God.
Since the introduction of Friends Testaments two and a half years ago, copies of the New Testament and Psalms that registered Friends of The Gideons can purchase, over 25,000 copies have been handed out by Friends of The Gideons in the British Isles.
Become a Friend of The Gideons today and watch God use you to reach many in His name. Click here and sign up today.
“When you pass through the waters, I will be with you”
Dear Gideons,
I recently had cause to be on an overnight ferry going to mainland Scotland. In my cabin I found myself reading through a copy of your New Testament and Psalms, the blue hardback version. While I’ve never considered myself to be a Christian in the proper sense I have always had a firm belief in God, though my knowledge of the Bible would be somewhat limited.
I found reading your New Testament and Psalms a most comforting, and most illuminating experience, which ended up occupying some four or five hours of my time, all told. In particular I thought your introduction and your suggested readings and references very helpful.
Your version, with its encouraging words and references is exactly what I need, as I’m not “Biblically literate” and I’d like some help in getting started.
Yours Sincerely
Martin
Equipping The World’s Military For Spiritual Battle
The Gideons International officially began distributing Scriptures to soldiers in 1941 at induction centres under the motto, “arm them with the Gospel too.” While Gideons are mostly known for placing God’s Word in hotels, reaching the lost with the Gospel includes the distribution of Scriptures at the military installations of a number of countries include the USA, The British Isles, The Republic of China, Korea, Latin America, West Africa and Japan. Last year, Gideons placed and distributed over 1.7 million Service Testaments.
As Christians, we are all called into a spiritual battle. Ours is a fight for the hearts of men, women, boys and girls. By sharing God’s Word with the military, Gideons are equipping servicemen and servicewomen with the greatest weapon of all:
For the word of God is living and active, sharper than any two-edged sword, piercing to the division of soul and of spirit, of joints and of marrow, and discerning the thoughts and intentions of the heart. Hebrews 4:12
Just In Time For Pearl Harbor
In 1940, Charles J. Pietsch, a members of The Gideons International, felt led to contact the Chief Chaplains of both the U.S. Army and Navy. He was seeking permission to give a copy of the New Testament to every man and woman in the armed forces of the US who wished to receive one.
Navy Chief Chaplain R.D. Workman met with Mr. Pietsch in Washington DC and immediately granted approval to the proposal to offer Testaments to naval personnel.
So in January 1941, the decision to supply armed forces with copies of God’s Word was approved by The Gideons International and 50,000 Testaments were ordered.
On December 2 1941 some of the fist Service Testaments from The Gideons were distributed to the US Navy personnel at Pearl Harbor. Five days later, Pearl Harbor became ground zero for a date that would live in infamy.
Years later, in 1949, US General Douglas MacArthur sent a telegram to The Gideons International asking that a representative of The Gideons International be sent to Japan to “Make first hand survey of situation [sic]” in regards to distributing New Testaments to the people there stating that, “Your assistance will be of inestimable value.” The Gideons responded to the request and in 1950 the first Gideon Camp in Japan was established.
God’s Word Brings Peace, Even In War
Veteran Carl Crisp received his New Testament from The Gideons at an induction centre in Houston, TX. Crisp served in the US Army as a UH-1 helicopter crew chief during the Vietnam war. “I carried my New Testament with me at every duty station during my time in Vietnam. It was a comfort to me – a constant reminder of God’s love and of my salvation should I not return home.” Carl says he remembers his comrades also held onto their New Testaments and often saw his fellow servicemen reading the Scriptures. Today, Carl serves the Lord as a Gideon in the Palestine Camp, Texas.
One way The Gideons International has been able to reach servicemen and servicewomen is by working through military chaplains throughout the world. Michael Kelly, Chaplain at Fort Jackson, SC, knows just how great the need for spiritual guidance is among soldiers. “With every new group of soldiers that comes through for training, I get to see an entire cross-section of American and really from around the world. They come from all walks of life, with the same problems we all face, most of them looking to fill a void. It is at this moment that they reach out and we place a book in their hands – the New Testament provided by Gideons.”
Answering Another Call To Active Service
While disembarking from the U.S.S. Breckenridge after its return from the Korean War, serviceman Orv Room received a New Testament from The Gideons. “Over 50 years later, I still have it in my possession,” says Orv. He says its message transformed his life. In fact, Orv began serving in The Gideons in 1956 and his wife, Corine, joined a year later in 1957. They still serve in the Sacramento North Camp, California.
After graduating from the University of Houston, Jim Blunk joined the military. He attended flight school and became an Army helicopter pilot. While serving overseas in Operation Desert Storm, he noticed a chaplain bringing boxes of New Testaments into the mess tent. Jim witnessed lives being transformed and baptisms taking place in the middle of the desert. Though his father was a pastor and had always taught him about the Lord while growing up, Jim admits he didn’t fully understand what it meant to be a Christian until he was an adult.
In the mid 1990s, Jim was recruited for a different type of service by a retired colonel who also served in The Gideons. Since 1997, Jim and his wife Lannis, have served with the Granbury Camp of The Gideons in Texas, helping to reach lost men, women, boys and girls with God’s Word.
When we introduce soldiers to Scripture, we’re introducing those who are ready to make the ultimate sacrifice for their nation to the One who sacrificed his life for the sins of the whole world.
What’s Happening In The British Isles?
Over recent years we have witnessed a number of our traditional areas of Scripture Distribution in decline and therefore it has been necessary to consider how we can reach those to whom the door is now closed in another way.
The development of Badged Testaments has given us the opportunity to reach people who we wouldn’t usually have access to with the normal Service Testament. Badged Testaments have allowed us to offer Scriptures to people that are often hidden behind protocol, security and other barriers.
In the past few years, over 270,000 Badged Testaments have been given to members of the Armed Forces, Emergency Services, Veterans and other personnel by members of The Gideons International in the British Isles. We have received reports from Padres in the British Army who have told us that soldiers are carrying these Testaments as if they were part of their uniform. It is our responsibility to ensure that no soldier is missing this vital piece of kit.
We thank God for bringing so many from the trenches to His side through the reading of His Word. Please continue to pray for the safety of the men and women in uniform around the world and for the chaplains who serve them.
God Brings a Harvest in Uganda
The Gideons International partners with churches in 200 countries, territories and possessions to reach lost men, women, boys and girls with God’s Word, so that lives may be transformed by the Gospel as they receive Jesus as their Lord and Saviour. One of the countries where Gideons place and distribute God’s Word is Uganda.
This June, The Gideons hosted the 2016 Uganda International Scripture Blitz in the cities of Hoima and Masindi. Gideons from the USA and the British Isles also came to Uganda to help carry out the distributions.
“When you talk about the uttermost parts of the world, this is it,” says blitz team leader Gary Richardson of the West Wilson Camp, Tennessee. “It leaves you with a sense of how far-reaching The Gideons International is.”
Gideons in Uganda did an excellent job of planning for the blitz. Transportation, which can be a big challenge in such rural areas, was in place and Scriptures were boxed up and waiting for distribution.
Some roads the teams drove on had not seen any automobile traffic in weeks or months.
“We encountered washed out roads that were virtually impassable by any standard in the USA or Europe,” said one Gideon on the blitz. “We can literally feel the prayers from people all over the world for us. There’s no other way we could continue to move forward under these conditions.”
Worshipping With The Uttermost
The first Sunday in Uganda, one team member presented at a local church that partners with The Gideons International. In these churches, it is not uncommon to see people bringing produce such as bananas or mangos as their offering.
A collection was taken for The Gideons International and the total amount was about 40,000 shillings, which equals about $15 USD. Given that the annual wages for 60 hours of labour a week in Uganda would likely be less than $500, the collection total was an example of people giving abundantly, even in their lack.
Going In Faith
Dwight Carter, a Gideon from Tennessee, ran into some early problems securing his visa. Someone asked him, “Aren’t you worried?” “Nope” replied Dwight. “The Lord put this team together. I just follow through with what I’m supposed to do and let the Lord take care of the rest.”
Tim Thuemling is a Gideon from the Waukesha West Camp, Wisconsin/Upper Michigan. As a partner in a manufacturing company, he shifted his focus from his busy schedule to help out in this Scripture Blitz.
One of the blessings Tim experienced occurred as the Word of God was placed at a large health clinic. By the end of the placement, 21 souls had received Christ. “What a joy, as these people came in search of physical healing, and instead left the clinic with the pure spiritual healing that only Jesus Christ can provide,” says Tim.
Early in the blitz, one of the distribution teams drove their truck into a huge mud hole. If the truck got stuck, it could create a serious dilemma in reaching many of the schools scheduled to receive Scriptures. After three attempts to power the truck out of the mud, the Gideon behind the wheel of the vehicle told the other three Gideons in the vehicle their best hope was to pray. The team prayed and the driver made one more attempt. “This time it felt as if there people from behind pushing the vehicle out of the mud,” said one of the Gideons. “We just drove right up onto the road.”
Gideons Sow and Witness The Harvest
Schools were just starting back for the summer and for the first few days,student attendance was very light. By the end of the week, attendance was back to normal. As Gideons made their distributions the students bowed after receiving their Scriptures as a sign of respect.
In Masindi, Gideons arrived at a military base to distribute Scriptures at two schools inside the base. When they approached the officials, the team was turned away because they did not have all of the required authorisations. That night at the hotel, the team shared their experience with some of the other Gideons. A Gideon employed by Uganda’s Department of Defense, accompanied the team the next day as they returned to the base. As the other Gideons prayed for an open door, the Gideon was able to speak with the military officials and secured the opportunity to distribute Scriptures. Those open doors allowed about 1,600 students and faculty to receive Scriptures that day.
At a prison in Masindi, Gideons distributed over 1,300 Scriptures to inmates and were able to deliver a full presentation of the Gospel. When they offered the prisoners an invitation to receive Christ, 44 inmates came forward ready to place their faith in Jesus.
Gideons saw evidence that other Gideons had been to Uganda’s uttermost areas years ago. They met one woman who received a Scripture at a school when she was a child. It let to her receiving Jesus as her Lord and Saviour. Today, she is the director of a school. They also met another woman who grew up in a Muslim home in Uganda. As a child, she received a New Testament from Gideons. After reading it, she placed her faith in Jesus and today she is a school teacher.
Gideons Return Home Eager to Continue Sharing Christ
Representing the UK, blitz participant John Coldwell has operated a travel agency for the past 20 years in the British Isles. While he has made travel arrangements for many other Gideons on International Scripture Blitzes, this blitz in Uganda was his first to participate in himself.
“I was greatly impressed by the children,” says John. “They were polite, courteous, obedient, joyful and thoroughly charming.” At each distribution, John told the children how precious they were, how much God loved them and how much He desired they love Him back.
“The experience had made a deep impression on me. The people and children in Uganda were, almost without exception, some of the kindest and most hospitable I have ever met, making it easy to witness to them.” John, who attends a church in the village of Dinnington, says it also reminded him that the people of the UK are just as precious to God, although they are not as easy to witness to. “I must redouble my efforts to reach them in whatever way I can. In a sense, I have received a gift from Uganda – seeing anew God’s love for mankind through these wonderfully gentle people.”
Blitz participant Tim Thuemling is a member of Highview Evangelical Church in Wisconsin. He says this experience left him with a deeper conviction and love for the lost in his hometown. “Sometimes we can forget about the people who live close to us but this trip reinforced to me the truth that the Gospel must be shared with everyone and that my busy schedule should not hamper that.”
While Gideons rejoice that so many in Uganda received Scriptures and made public decisions to receive Christ, they also know many more lives need to be reached with the Gospel. That thought has been weighing heavily on one of the Gideons who shared, “We would be at a school giving out Scriptures to students in fifth grade. We would see some of the younger children watching us from behind trees or through school windows, wishing they were old enough to receive a copy of God’s Word. I just wonder, will someone be able to reach them with a copy of God’s Word in the years to come?”
Blitz Results
By the end of the blitz, 80,717 copies of God’s Word were sown in Hoima and Masindi. We praise God for the open doors and receptivity the Gideons experienced during this blitz. We pray that as men, women, boys and girls read the Scriptures received, they will place their faith in the Lord and continue to draw closer to Him. We thank the pastors, churches, donors and others who supported this blitz through their prayers and donations.