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Ministry of Gideons International has touched many
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Published: November 14, 2008
Come along with me on a stroll down memory lane. The year was 1974. Richard Nixon had just resigned from the presidency of the United States. Muhammad Ali regained his heavyweight championship by knocking out George Foreman in the eighth round. As a fifth-grader at China Grove Elementary School, I remember some of these events. Another event, during the same year, went totally unnoticed by most of the world.
All the fifth-graders were presented a small New Testament by the Gideons. I remember standing in line, waiting with great anticipation. I finally got to the front of the line and one of the Gideons presented me with my copy and shook my hand. I don't remember his name or what he said, but I do remember the feeling of confidence and assurance that radiated from him. I now understood that the answers to all of life's problems and challenges could be found within the pages of this book. I remember proudly taking a pen and scribbling my name on the front page.
This week I had the privilege of attending the Pastor Appreciation Banquet hosted by the Gideons of Iredell County. It's nice to be appreciated, but I want to take this opportunity to thank the Gideons and to share some important information about their ministry.
The Gideons are an association that works with many Protestant evangelical churches. Their members come from many denominations, live all over the world and share a desire to see the lost come to Christ. The local Gideons are part of an organization that spans the globe, reaching into 187 nations. All Gideons hold certain core beliefs: The Bible is the inspired, infallible, inerrant Word of God and the Lord Jesus Christ is the eternal Son of God. What a great organization for local churches to partner with!
They distribute the Scriptures one by one to students, prisoners, police officers, firefighters, medical workers and military personnel. Scriptures are also placed in hotels, motels, hospitals, nursing homes, medical offices, prisons, jails and domestic violence shelters.
Each Bible placed in a hotel room has the potential to reach up to 2,300 people in its estimated six-year life span. Hotel industry research shows that approximately 25 percent of travelers read the Bibles in their hotel rooms.
One of the speakers at the Gideon banquet was Pastor Dean Mattern from the High Point area. In the early 1970s, Mattern landed in the Escambia County Jail, on the Florida-Alabama line, on trespassing charges. Mattern found himself holding a Bible for the first time in his life. He only wanted it because the pages were thin and he was tearing them out to roll cigarettes, but he started reading the Book of John so they wouldn't take away his rolling papers.
Pastor Mattern said, "God first came to me through His word and has continued to come to me through His word. I scarce remember that sad, lonely lad, who once scavenged cigarette butts off the jail house floor and held onto a Bible just to roll his own from those thin pages."
God's Word does change lives.
For more than 100 years, millions of lives have been changed through the ministry of the Gideons International. The local Gideons are made up of pharmacists, landscaping contractors, farmers, business owners and professionals from a variety of fields. They support the ministry themselves. Every dollar that is raised through the local churches goes toward providing Bibles and New Testaments. From the pastors of Iredell County and the surrounding area, thank you Gideons for all that you do! God has said that His Word will not return void. Keep up the good work!
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