What is the power of God’s Word?
A favorite verse of Christians, including Gideons is Isaiah 55:11
So shall my word be that goeth forth out of my mouth: it shall not return
unto me void, but it shall accomplish that which I please, and it shall
prosper in the thing whereto I sent it.
In September of 2008, a Gideon named Vinny went to a college distribution in
New Jersey. A young student named Rob came up to him very upset that the
Gideons were giving away New Testaments. He yelled at the Gideon and asked
argumentative questions which the Gideon tried to answer, but Rob was not
interested in answers. The Gideon told him that if he would read the New
Testament, it would change his life. Rob took it and promised that he would
burn it! Then he left.
The next year the same Gideon came back to that college for another
distribution, and while there, saw a young man staring at him. The Gideon
approached him to give him a New Testament, and the student stopped him and
asked, “Are you Vinny?” and the Gideon said, “Yes.” He then stated, “My name
is Rob. Do you remember me?”
Vinny was in shock…Rob wasn’t angry. He began to say he was sorry for giving
Vinny a hard time last year and asked if Vinny would forgive him. Vinny did
forgive him and then asked Rob if he read that New Testament. He said he did
and that he accepted Jesus Christ as his Savior.
God’s Word is still working miracles in people’s lives! Amen!
She was told that she was going to die. In 2007, a woman that I know was
told by her doctor that she was terminally ill and that there was no point
in performing additional medical tests because she would soon die. She found
a Bible purchased with donations from Christians and placed by the Gideons
in her hospital room. She turned to the account of King Hezekiah being in
great fear because he was surrounded by the Assyrians.
And in 2 Kings 19:32-35 she read: Therefore thus saith the LORD concerning
the king of Assyria, He shall not come into this city, nor shoot an arrow
there, nor come before it with shield, nor cast a bank against it. By the
way that he came, by the same shall he return, and shall not come into this
city, saith the LORD. For I will defend this city, to save it, for mine own
sake, and for my servant David’s sake. And it came to pass that night, that
the angel of the LORD went out, and smote in the camp of the Assyrians an
hundred fourscore and five thousand: and when they arose early in the
morning, behold, they were all dead corpses.
This message of deliverance from certain death motivated her to request to
be sent to a different hospital. There she received additional testing that
led to a correct diagnosis and effective, life-saving treatment. This woman
is still with us today. The ending of this story may have been very
different if she had not received the message of hope from the Bible that
was purchased with donations from Christians and placed in that hospital by
the Gideons.
The Gideons International is an association of born-again Christian men and
their wives dedicated to bringing lost souls to Christ through personal
witnessing and the distribution of Bibles and New Testaments. We are
currently organized in 195 countries and distribute scriptures in 95
languages. Last year, the Gideons placed and distributed 84 million
scriptures. That is over two and a half Bibles and New Testaments per
second! Since 1908, the Gideons have placed more than 1.7 billion scriptures
around the world.
Most people know of the Gideons from the Bibles that we place in hotels and
motels around the world. You may not know that the Gideons distribute Bibles
and New Testaments in schools where permitted, colleges, prisons, jails,
hospitals and nursing homes. We also provide scriptures to the military,
police, fire and medical personnel. Places where the Lord’s message of
salvation is likely to encounter lost souls, or provide a message of hope
and encouragement to a Christian in distress. Like other Christians, Gideons
witness to the lost and use these Personal Worker Testaments as a witnessing
tool. When used for this purpose, these Testaments are purchased by the
Gideons themselves.
It is difficult to measure how many lives are affected by one of these
Bibles. Every year, the Gideons receive many letters from people thanking
them for these Bibles and New Testaments that the Holy Spirit used to bring
them to Christ. And, for every letter received, there are certainly many
others who were saved, but who did not write to us.
Gideons are members of local churches and volunteer their time to this
ministry. All administrative costs associated with the Gideons ministry are
paid for by the annual membership dues. All of the money donated to the
Gideons is used for the purchase and distribution of scriptures. Scriptures
distributed in other nations are distributed by local Gideons who volunteer
their time.
In addition to distributing scriptures, Gideons meet weekly to pray for our
churches and pastors, for the salvation of the lost, as well as for our
ministry. We know the power of prayer and depend upon the prayers of people
like you for the success of this ministry. Please pray for the Gideon
ministry. Pray that we will have funds to purchase scriptures. Pray for
opportunities to distribute these scriptures to the lost, and pray for the
salvation of the lost.
You can also assist the Gideons by purchasing Gideons expression cards. With
these cards, you send the card to the person you wish and tell them of the
number of Bibles that were purchased in their name. Each Bible purchased is
$5.00.