Fine, I’m going home!  These were the words a woman said to her boyfriend in the Central Republic of Africa.  It all started as a man prepared to take a business trip.  He had an important decision to make should he take his wife or should he take his girlfriend.  He decided to take his girlfriend.  Upon arriving at the hotel where he would be staying they went up to the room.  The man sat down as she set about unpacking.  He noticed a book on the nightstand, it was a new testament placed there by the Gideons.  I don’t know what chapter or verses he read but his heart became convicted.  Just as his girlfriend announced that she was finished unpacking he said this is wrong, we can’t be here like this.  To which she said fine I’m going home.  She packed her things called a cab and left.  Now the man did not leave he had to stay for his meetings but every spare minute he had he spent reading from God’s Word.  Upon returning home he found a pastor of a local church who confirmed what he had been reading.  This man then gave his life to Christ.  His testimony doesn’t end there as this man now serves in the Gideon ministry.

 

Who are the Gideons?  Simply put we are an association of Christian businessmen and professionals, who along with our wives in the Gideon auxiliary are devoted to bringing others to a saving knowledge of Christ through the personal placement of God’s Holy Word in their hands.  We are an extended missionary arm of your church: Our sole purpose is to win men, women, boys and girls to a saving knowledge of the Lord Jesus Christ.

 

Pay attention to this: Our sole purpose is to win men, women, boys and girls to a saving knowledge of the Lord Jesus Christ.

 

This is Important: Our sole purpose is to win men, women, boys and girls to a saving knowledge of the Lord Jesus Christ.

 

If I ask you after the service and ask what is the sole purpose of the Gideon ministry?

The answer is: to win men, women, boys and girls to a saving knowledge of the Lord Jesus Christ.

 

The fact that I stand here before you this morning speaks volumes about the mission mindedness of your church.  I need to thank you.  You have chosen to let God work.  You have supported the Gideon ministry with your prayers.  You have given your financial support.  And by following God’s commands you have provided the training and implanted the desire in the people here at Tower Presbyterian Church equipping them to step into the mission field serving as Gideons and in the Gideon auxiliary.

 

God says in Isaiah 55:11

So shall My word be that goes forth from My mouth; It shall not return to Me void, But it shall accomplish what I please, And it shall prosper in the thing for which I sent it.

 

Everyone here has probably at one time or another found a Bible placed by the Gideons in a hotel or motel room.  Gideons who are local in that area of the country or part of the world placed each of these bibles.

We also are a tool God uses to systematically distribute His Word:
in Hospitals, Doctors offices, Funeral homes, Jails and Prisons

On Airplanes, Trains, University and College campuses.  Last year we distributed 1200 new testaments on the Grove City College campus.

Gideons distribute among Military, police and emergency service personnel.

You may be interested to know that you have helped to place 100’s of thousands of testaments in the Middle East including Iraq.

We also provide New Testament’s to school age children.  Unfortunately in this country our ability to enter schools and distribute Gods Word has mostly disappeared.

We are blessed in our area that we are still able to distribute scriptures on the public sidewalk that surrounds the Middle School in Grove City.  The administration at that school has not yet resisted our efforts.  Earlier this year we handed 237 New Testaments to 7^th and 8^th graders.

Today there are more than 160,000 Gideons around the world in 181 different countries carrying out the exact same ministry of placing God’s Word printed in 83 languages, in the crossroads of everyday secular life.  It is in these places that the Holy Spirit often works forever changing the eternal lives of souls in severe crisis.

 

In El Salvador a group of Gideons were handing out new testaments at a local school.  The School had separate morning and afternoon sessions.  The morning session went well and as the men were returning for the afternoon distribution they discovered some papers on the ground.  Upon examining them they found they were pages torn form one of the new testaments.  Well they gathered up the pages they could find and completed the afternoon distribution.  On the way home some of them stopped at a local store.  Sitting on the doorstep was a young man he was crying.  In his hand was a single page torn from a new testament.  He asked them “Can you tell me about this man named Jesus?”  A couple of the Gideons stayed to talk with him and the others went inside the store.  Behind the counter they found a man crying.  “That’s my son out there he said, I've never seen him cry before.”  That day both father and son received Christ as their savior.

 

We all would agree it is important for people to have the word of God.  Such a simple idea giving a new testament to someone or placing a Bible in a hotel room, yet it is an incredibly effective way to share the love of God.  Like the night Elliott Osowit made plans to kill him-self.  It was Christmas Eve his wife had locked him out of the house, but who could blame her.  Elliott had not been much of a father or husband.  For years he had traveled the world in pursuit of his own success and indulged in all kinds of immoral activities.  He was away from home even as his wife struggled to raise two of their grandchildren and cope with breast cancer all at the same time.  …. So there was Elliott in a hotel room on Christmas Eve with a gun ……….  But on the TV was an open Bible.  Now that infuriated Elliott he knocked the Bible to the floor and tried to kick it under the bed, but it wouldn’t go the bed frame was solid right down to the floor.  And the Bible …….. was still open.  As Elliott picked it up he read John 14:27 Peace I leave with you, my peace I give unto you: not as the world giveth, give I unto you.         Let not your heart be troubled, neither let it be afraid.  Elliott spent 3 days in that hotel room reading that Bible on Sunday he attended church with his wife and gave his life to Christ.  But that is not the end of the story Elliott Osowit was called by God into ministry and is now a pastor in North Carolina.

 

Millions of people have never herd the Good News of Jesus Christ.  Many will never be able to have a copy of God’s Word unless one is given to them.

 

Consider the testimony of a prisoner in Bella Ruse.  He received a New Testimony from a Gideon and valued it so much that he copied a chapter to send with each letter he wrote his wife.  This continued until at last his wife had a complete handwritten copy of her own.  Both of them came to trust Jesus Christ and are now members of a local church.

 

It is so easy for us to obtain copies of God’s Word it is hard for us to understand how precious Bibles are to people around the world.  In countries such as Tie land the children bow there heads and extend both hands as they accept their copies.  In other countries New Testaments given by the Gideons may be the only book some children have to read.  Such is the case in Ghana where a group of Gideons distributed more than 300 thousand New Testaments in just 2 weeks.  After the distribution a teacher told the Gideons they will read and understand this Bible because I am their reading teacher this will be their textbook.  The New Testament will be the first book they can call their own.  I know God must have sent you today when are you coming back?  There are more than 500 schools yet to be visited in that one city in Ghana.  We estimate there are at least 600,000 additional school children there waiting for New Testaments.

 

When will we be back?  Where will we go next?

 

One of the basic requirements in the Gideons is that a man must be in good standing in his own local church and have the endorsement of his pastor.  From that viewpoint, then, the work of the Gideons is very much an extension of the mission outreach of the local churches.

The fact that you here at Tower Presbyterian Church participate in this joint ministry is the reason I am able to stand before you this morning reporting to you the fruits you helped produce.  The Gideon ministry systematically distributes over 70 million Bibles and New Testaments this past year.  That is over 1 ¼ million /week!  Gods’ word is being carried into a lost world at a rate of 133 copies/minute, every minute of every hour of every day.  This is GREAT NEWS!  Yet the US Census Bureau estimates the world population is increasing at 141 souls/minute.  We are falling behind at a rate of 8 people/minute.

 

You can help in 3 ways:

1 Continue to pray.

God had blessed this ministry because everything we do is bathed in prayer.  We Gideons pray for the work of the Holy Spirit any time we are handing out scripture.  We meet together on Saturday mornings for prayer each week.  If you pray for our ministry you will be joining in prayer over 250,000 Gideon and auxiliary members plus many more who pray for our ministry.  Pray for open doors for our ministry.  Pray for the Holy Spirit to soften hearts of those who will hear the good news

 

2 Consider if God is calling you to join as a Gideon member.

I share more about this in a minute.

 

3 Of course your financial support is needed.

Today each hotel bible costs $5 and each of the different editions of the New Testaments average out to about $1.30.  If you would like to support the Gideon ministry today you can place your offering in an envelope found in the pews and write Gideons on the envelope.

 

One excellent way to support the purchase of scriptures is by using the Gideon memorial Bible program.  In the tower entrance of the church is a stand containing beautiful cards.  These cards are available rear round.  You simply pick out an appropriate card and send it to your loved one letting them know that you are placing Bibles in their name.  There is an envelope addressed to the Gideons place your contribution in that envelope that corresponds to the number of bibles you want placed.  There are cards available to mark a special occasion, to remember a loved one who has gone home to be with the Lord, or just to let someone know you are thinking of them in a very special way.

You can also participate financially by placing a contribution in the regular offering marked Gideons.

 

I want to remind you that 100% of every contribution goes to the purchase and placement of Scriptures.  Not one penny goes to any administrative or organizational expenses.  The members of the Gideons through our local dues meet all of those costs.

 

I would like to share one final testimony.  It’s a personal testimony, including the mix-up between Orchard Manor and Grove Manor at my first meeting, including how God has blessed me through serving in this ministry…

 

 

 

IN CLOSING:

Thank you to Reverend Culp for having me here today.  It has been a privilege and honor for me to share with you this morning some of the ways God has recently been using the folks here at Tower Presbyterian Church in their ministry, with the help of local Gideons and Gideons around the world, through the work of the Holy Spirit to bring others to a saving knowledge of Christ.

 

PRAYER:

Heavenly Father, I give you praise and thanks.  You are perfect.  Help us as we try to obey your will and reflect your great love.  Thank you for the faithful here at Tower Presbyterian Church who are so supportive of your Gideon ministry.  Thank you for this opportunity to report back to them just a couple of the many ways you have blessed the Gideon ministry through their support.  Thank you for your blessing on this ministry.  I pray dear God that you will richly bless each one here as they share the great love made perfect in them through our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ.  In His name I pray.  Amen