Our ministry was organized in Italy in 1965 and since then over nine million Scriptures have been distributed there through The Gideons International. The country is a heavily saturated in very traditional Roman Catholicism, which over 80% of the population claims as their religious affiliation.

This Scripture blitz in November covered the metropolitan city of Rome and its surrounding areas. The primary focus for this blitz was to distribute God’s Word to high school students and around the campuses of multiple large universities. Reception to the Gospel was more difficult with college students as many refused the free gift offered by visiting Gideons. However, the Holy Spirit used these opportunities to reach hearts in unique ways.

Renato Attorri, a Gideon member from the area, had an opportunity to speak with a philosophy student for over an hour as they debated over the Word of God. While the Gideon engaged the philosophy student in conversation, another student waiting for her bus nearby was following along and reading her own New Testament intently.

Another student who received a Scripture on his college campus, opened the book and began reading it immediately. One of the Gideons began talking to the young man and found out the student was a Muslim, who shared he could not read the Koran in Arabic, but he was excited to read the New Testament in Italian. Praise God for His transcending all languages and cultures.

God’s Softens Hearts

“You have to leave immediately!” Giovanni Bruno heard these words as he was sharing New Testaments with passing students at the main entrance of the Mathematics and Science Department of a local university. Bruno asked the officer if he had received a copy of the New Testament.

The officer said he had received one the previous day while outside the Engineering Department. He added that he gave the book to his wife, who was a frequent reader of the Bible. Bruno then asked if he would like another copy. While he was still thinking whether to accept the gift or not, Bruno wrote a dedication in the front of the New Testament and presented the officer with the book.

However, the officer’s face softened as Bruno promised he would pray regularly for his family. Tears came to the officer’s eyes, and he allowed the Gideons to stay and continue the distribution on school grounds.

God’s message always gets through through your prayers and support. The international team had selected Isaiah 6:8 as its theme verse: “And I heard the voice of the Lord saying, “Whom shall I send, and who will go for us?” Then I said, “Here I am! Send me.”

The team believed this verse through every opportunity to share God’s Word during the blitz, and we join with them in praising God for the almost 25,000 Scriptures distributed in and around Rome that week. Please share our blog with others you know today as we continue our world tour in 2016.

Up to 90 people attended Aberdeen Branch’s 50th Anniversary Event held on the 19th Nov 2015. A number of former members who have moved south or retired joined us, along with some of our Friends and others who had been invited to come along. Some of the Zone 1 Cabinet also attended.

The Guest speaker was Bill Thomas our International President who gave a very encouraging and challenging address about the Good News in a world full of bad news. Bill reminded us of this window of opportunity to share God’s Word. He encouraged us with his experiences of answered prayer, and how people have responded in many countries he has visited of late to receiving a Gideon Bible or Testament. He illustrated his address with many pictures from his travels, showing boys and girls, men and woman gladly receiving the Word of God.

The evening included a local update of the Branch’s work and emphasised how those not involved in the Gideon Ministry could get involved by becoming Friends or joining as Members. Many people signed up as Friends on the evening and a number are considering membership. Local members intend to follow up those who are considering joining as members.

Please pray for the work in Aberdeenshire that doors will remain open and that God will bless the placements of His Word as He calls boys and girls, men and women to repent of their sins and come to a saving faith in Christ.

What started off as a request from one gentleman for a Large Print New Testament & Psalms, resulted in 3 Nursing Homes being filled with the Word of God. This was the report we received from the Gideon member who was sent the initial request:

“Just to let you know that, as a result of this contact, I was able earlier today to deliver a total of 50 large print testaments and 10 medical testaments to three different Rest Homes in Brighton and Hove.

I wasn’t able to meet the gentleman in person, but I despatched a member of staff with a large print copy for him: apparently the Home had found him a book of hymns and prayers, but no Bible until today.

Fortuitously, he was moving between Nursing Homes on the day we were first contacted, so that gave an opening to two Homes  –  and the third was a ‘divine appointment’ with the Manager of another Home who happened to be present while I was making one of my deliveries!

Just thought you’d like to hear the initial results of passing the message down the line  –  of course what will be achieved as those testaments are read and responded to, we may never know!”

Greetings in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, the anniversary of who’s birth we will be celebrating in less than a month’s time!!

Secular activities attached to Christmas are now well underway. The Christmas Lights are already lighting up most high streets across the country and the Christmas trees are being decorated! Up and down our land folk are flocking to Christmas markets. The largest German Christmas Market outside Austria and Germany is held annually in Birmingham. It is a dazzling affair that involves 180 stalls and is described as the centrepiece of the city’s festive event calendar. Here you will find jewellery, decorations, handmade toys, delicious German fare and of course the ever popular Gluhwein

During the five weeks of this market over 1 million people from all parts of the country will visit Birmingham with the aim of coming away with either something special or a bargain. Wouldn’t it be wonderful if that “something special” was a new found faith in the Lord Jesus Christ. It could happen because Gideon members in the Birmingham area, with the support of members further afield are planning to be at the market on 10^th and 17^th December between 3 and 7pm to mingle with the crowds and offer Testaments to all who will receive one. Up to 4,000 Testaments will be available to be given free of charge and for many who will accept a copy this could be the first time they will have read the Christmas story for themselves.

For this witness to be effective your prayers are needed. Please pray! Here are some suggestions of things you could pray for.

• A good number of members able to be at one or both of the chosen dates.
• For a dry afternoon and evening that will bring out the crowds.
• For freedom to wander and speak to the shoppers.
• For an openness on the part of the shoppers to accept a copy of the New Testament and Psalms that they are offered.
• For good conversations that allow a word of witness to be shared.
• For an outpouring of the Holy Spirit on those who read the Testaments.
• That many will come to know Jesus in a new and personal way.

This morning one of the team at National Office had a meeting with a gentleman called Greg and gave us this report afterwards:

“Greg began our conversation by saying “I have a great respect for The Gideons. It was one of your Testaments that changed my life”.

He went on to share that when he was 12 and at a school in Gerrards Cross, two Gideon members arrived at an assembly and one of them pulled out of his pocket a Testament that had a bullet hole in it and went on to tell how this had saved someone’s life. Determined not to get shot, Greg put his Testament in his top pocket and there it stayed, “just in case” for 6 weeks.

It was then that he broke his arm and could not play rugby for a while. Having to stay in class when his mates were on the rugby field was difficult especially with nothing to read. He then started to read the Testament that was in his pocket and continued to do so. Six months later he became a Christian.

Today his whole family are Christians and Greg is currently leading an international Christian organisation reaching people for Christ through sport. Praise the Lord!”

Bolivia is a beautiful country in South America surrounded by a long stretch of the Andean mountains. It makes you think of Psalm 27:4, “…to gaze upon the beauty of the Lord.”

It was also the next stop on the world tour of Scripture blitzes for The Gideons International.  The blitz objective was simple: share the Gospel of Jesus Christ with as many people as possible in a one-week period. There are over 600 members of The Gideons International and their wives living in Bolivia. They were joined by a few more Gideons traveling to Bolivia to participate in the Scripture blitz. Said Gideon Geoff Severin visiting from Australia, “The people’s genuine interest in talking about Jesus was encouraging with everything going on in the world today.”

Getting the Word Out

Gideons were granted a special invitation into individual classrooms of schools across the capital city of La Paz, and were also allowed to speak about the importance of reading God’s Word. On some occasions, teachers and students were so moved by hearing the message of repentance and salvation, they accepted Christ readily with tears streaming down their faces.

Gideons also distributed Scriptures to the Bolivian military stationed in the nearby city El Alto. Not only did over 270 soldiers receive their own copies of God’s Word, they also were presented with the Gospel message as Gideons spoke about the power of the Scriptures to overcome all trials in life.

By the end of the week, Gideons had placed over 158,000 copies of God’s Word into the hands of not only students and the military, but also in hospitals, jails, and to police units. As opportunities for personal witnessing followed Gideons throughout their week, God opened the hearts of many to receive His Word. One such occasion caught up with Indiana Gideon Bob Hubler during a taxi ride.

“Every street is either uphill or downhill,” said Hubler. “As I travelled with my fellow Gideons from Bolivia, our taxi driver, Hugo, became very excited about hearing the Gospel. However, we encouraged him to keep his eyes on the road.” Once they pulled over, Hugo shared he was separated from his family. Hugo saw in the front of the New Testament the Helps section and his eyes went to the Scriptures dealing with loneliness. With the car safely in park, Hugo was anxious to accept Christ and his spirits were immediately lifted.

The Next Generation

Gideons visited one school where students filled the courtyard for a break from their studies. One young man, Marcos, approached a Gideon and asked where he was from. As the two continued in conversation, the young man’s friends began to gather and listen in. The Gideon took the opportunity of the gathering crowd to share about Jesus. At the end of his message, twelve students went through the plan of salvation in the back of their New Testaments. Then, each young man signed his own name as having accepted Christ. In this turbulent world, God’s Word is still “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)

Among the many students who received New Testaments, Maria felt led to give Gideons a gift in return. She handed one of the Gideons a drink and a small plastic bag of corn chips. It was her lunch, and as the Gideon turned it down, Maria explained she wanted to thank them for coming to her school and giving her and her friends God’s Word. She was thanking all our donors and supporters as well.

The Spirit of the Lord continues to flow through the cities of La Paz, El Alto, and Viacha. With every Scripture blitz, and with each New Testament given out, Gideons around the world pursue a common goal of reaching men, women, boys, and girls for the Lord Jesus Christ. Please continue to pray for hearts to be opened to the Gospel message and for lives to be changed by reading His Word.

For this week’s Friday Blessing we are thrilled to be able to share with you a wonderful story from The Gideons International in Germany:

1,000 Arabic Bibles per week

The Gideons International in Germany currently sends out 1,000 Arabic pocket Testaments to the different Gideon camps. We just had to re-order 15,000 copies. There is also a great demand for other foreign language Bibles for refugee and asylum seekers’ hostels.

In this picture are two Christian refugees, who had just kissed their Arabic Testaments out of appreciation and gratitude moments before the picture was taken.

On the 10th November, the Chief Constable of Durham Police accepted a presentation Bible from the Durham and Darlington branches.  A supply of badged New Testament and Psalms were also supplied bearing the crest of the Durham Force.  On Remembrance day, the Police Commissioner, Ron Hogg, was similarly presented with a Bible by Irene Munro of the Durham Branch.   After the presentation Adrian Gatrill, the Senior Force Chaplain, wrote the following:

“Thank you very much for presenting us with the badged New Testaments, and for the formal presentations made to the Chief Constable, Michael Barton and the Police Commissioner, Ron Hogg. We are very grateful for the support this shows for our Constabulary, and especially for all who work for the police throughout the county.

You will be encouraged to know that there has been much positive feedback already: I have had to open the second box – and this is before any ‘organised’ distribution! I have had numerous requests for New Testaments as I have wandered around Headquarters, with some very encouraging conversations attached! A very good way in to a conversation is to ask people whether they remember their little red Gideon Bible from school. They do! One lady in particular (she was at the presentation on Tuesday) told me yesterday how she’s been reading the birth narrative in Luke and is clearly very excited about what she is discovering. This is the first time she has read the Scriptures. Praise God.

So even in these early days, I can tell you that the availability of these badged New Testaments is having a positive effect within the Constabulary, and providing a catalyst for good engagement with the staff.

Thank you, again, for your generosity and your support.”

Following similar visits in recent years, Peter and Ruth Keel and Paul Trotman were welcomed to the Mayor’s Parlour in Andover by the current Mayor of Test Valley Borough Council, Councillor Iris Andersen, who was delighted to receive a Presentation Bible and a Personal Worker Testament

If you are planning a school placement or if you have just completed a school placement I hope the note below which we received from a 12 year old girl encourages you in your work.

Dear Gideons,

Hello, I am 12 years old. Yesterday a man from The Gideons came into my school and told us the story of Gideon and God guiding him. I found the story very interesting and it made me think more about God. We were all given a New Testament and Psalms book; I have started reading it and intend to keep reading it. I think The Gideons is a very good organisation and the reason I am emailing you is to say thank you for making me think about God again.