by Joseph Smith
“They crashed into us quite literally with their hands stretched out for scriptures,” says Australian Gideon worker, Allen Warren, of the primary school children he encountered in his 2001 trip to Tanzania. “It was a riot…they almost knocked us off our feet. What was more frightening was that the children in the front began to be crushed by others. I saw real signs of panic and even terror as some were pushed and even knocked over by this tide.”
Such behaviour is testimony to the thirst that people worldwide have for knowledge of God’s word. Thankfully, such scenes weren’t repeated during the recent trip that Australian Gideon member, Stuart Wolf took to Zambia this past June. A team of 31 men from 10 different countries distributed 425,000 scriptures in two weeks. In conjunction with Zambia’s local Gideons the team visited schools, the university, and the hospital and police headquarters in the capital city, Lusaka.
“The eager desire and openness of students, teachers, principals and hospital staff to the gospel was astounding and sensational,” Mr Wolf says. “While many people in Zambia have an underlying faith and belief in Jesus from the teaching of missionaries and the local church, few have ever had a Bible of their own. To receive a Bible from us, free of charge, was obviously one of the most exciting events in their life.”
It has been said that ‘from the motel room to the classroom – no one escapes the Gideons’, but Gideons Northern New South Wales Regional President, Barry Hammond, disagrees. “I love that quote but frankly it is untrue. It may be that there is some truth in it for Western developed countries but it is untrue elsewhere. Even in developed countries like France, there is huge opposition to the reception of scriptures,” he says.
However, in South America, “some amazing things” are occurring. “In April 2003 an international team of Gideons distributed nearly a million scriptures in Columbia and there were over 70,000 professions of faith,” Mr Hammond said.
The work of Gideons is having an impact in Australia too. Moore College student Andrew Bain had no church background, but started reading a Gideons New Testament during a boring holiday for “something to do”.
“I read through Matthew and Mark’s Gospels and quickly became convinced that the Jesus presented in the gospels really was who he claimed to be,” Mr Bain says.
With no Christian friends to guide him, it was reading Galatians and Romans that helped Andrew fully understand salvation. “One day in early 1992 the penny finally dropped – I didn’t have to live the perfect life for God, because Jesus had already led the perfect life for me,” he says.
On September 10 the Gideons produced and distributed its one billionth scripture since 1908, the year it was established. But more funds are needed for the production of the scriptures.
“Locally our challenge is for churches to help fund scriptures and also to pray that the Spirit of the Lord will lead people to read them,” Mr Hammond says. “Please pray that we are able produce and distribute our next billion scriptures by the end of the next decade.
