One Spirit, One Mind, and One Vision(Sunday, 11/15/20 by Elder Matt Herring)

Gideons International is a group of born-again Christian business and professional men who have been sharing the gospel with the world since 1899.

There are almost 300,000 Gideons and Gideon Auxiliary worldwide – Gideons wives make up the Gideon Auxiliary 100,000 Auxiliary. Today, GIDEONS INTERNATIONAL is organized in 200 countries and distribute Bibles in 95 languages. Gideons place Bibles in places like hotels, hospitals, Medical Offices, Nursing homes, Jails & Prisons, Elementary Schools, & High Schools. Gideons Auxiliary (place bibles in nursing homes, hospitals, medical offices); into the highways and byways of life. Gideons International Mission Statement: The Gideons International is an Association of Christian business and professional men and their wives dedicated to telling people about Jesus through associating together for service, sharing personal testimony, and by providing and distributing Bibles. While we are often recognized for our work with hotels, we also place and distribute scriptures in strategic locations so they are available to those who want them, as well as to those who may not know they need them. A UNIQUE FOCUS - One Spirit, One Mind, One Vision, Striving Side by Side for the Faith of the Gospel. We are God-called members, brothers and sisters in Christ, husbands along with our wives striving side by side to effectively and joyfully reach the world with the Good News.

One Vision means working in one spirit and one mind with these three groups: • Christian business and professional men • Our wives - as a testimony to the Biblical institution of marriage • Protestant, evangelical churches and assemblies as partners in the Great Commission (YOU). We place bibles in hotels – and countless numbers of souls have been saved by reading God's word in hotel rooms. I have given several testimonies about people checking into hotels with the intent to commit suicide only to find the Bible and the plan of destruction destroyed. I believe GOD will use whatever means necessary to win souls for his kingdom. Military Bibles USS Nimitz is an aircraft supercarrier of the United States Navy - the lead ship of her class. One of the largest warships in the world. 1,092 feet in length - 90 jet fighters and helicopters onboard the ship. During their last deployment their Navy Chaplain distributed over 1,500 bibles all donated by Gideons International. God tells us His word will not return void. His Word will touch many and many will come to the saving knowledge of Jesus Christ.

Finding Bibles "by accident" or is it divine intervention? Meet Rebecca. She found a bible on the sidewalk. She took it home. She said, "God I am going to believe in you, read this bible, and pray to you for a month. You've got a month to show me that you are real." Guess what? She found that God is real and gave her life to Christ. In Massachusetts, Vicky was passing through a small town where an old historic hotel was being torn down and out front they were selling items from the hotel in a yard sale. She purchased a Gideon-placed Bible and kept it because it looked old or “vintage”. Little did she know that six weeks later she would start reading that Bible and give her life to the Lord! A man in Brazil was tarring a roof. He found a Bible and threw it off the roof. Jose was on the sidewalk below pleading with God to show him a sign that He was real. The Bible fell and hit him on the head.

AUXILLARY – Given to a Nurse Gideon's Auxillary members gave Elizabeth a Bible at the nursing home where she worked. Elizabeth found herself in deep despair and didn't want to live anymore. She sat down and wrote three notes to the doctor, the police and the person who would discover her body. She took out a gun, cocked it and placed it in her mouth. But then, out of the corner of her eye she saw the white Bible she was given earlier that day. She put the gun down, opened the New Testament and asked herself, “Is there anything in this little book that can give me hope?” Yes, she did find hope in that book – through Jesus Christ. SCHOOLS Port St. Joe Gideons give out Bibles to 5th graders every first week in December. Luke Chapter 2 Page 102. A Gideon Camp in south Florida visited two Muslim Schools and 268 students were given Bibles. AROUND THE WORLD Gideons in Germany have been visiting and distributing Bibles in a Muslim refugee camp.. God’s Word goes anywhere and seeks everyone JEWISH - Born into a Jewish family, Terry Land experienced a traditional Jewish upbringing including nine years of Hebrew school and celebrated all of the Jewish holidays. As a young adult, Terry became jealous of a friend of his who experienced great joy through his relationship with God. Terry began to desire having the same type of relationship. In adulthood, a Gideon gave Terry a Bible and attempted to lead him to Christ but was unsuccessful. Terry kept that Bible with him and read it while he was traveling. Several years later he was on a flight to California and Terry pulled out his bible and began reading. A woman sitting next to him said. “Now I know why I packed my Bible in my suitcase,” She told Terry she normally carried her Bible on board, but this time the Lord told her to pack it away. The woman listened carefully as Terry shared recent events in his life that led to his seeking the Lord. After talking for some time, the woman who was a Gideon Auxiliary member asked Terry “Are you ready to accept the Lord into your heart?” Terry paused and thought for a moment. “Yes, I am.” Somewhere between Oakland, California, and Tacoma, Washington about 30,000 feet in the air Terry turned his life over to OUR LORD & SAVIOR JESUS CHRIST. IN SPACE - In December 1968 Gideons Bibles circled the moon The Gideons donated bibles to the crew of the Apollo 8 spacecraft. The year was 1968 and at 9.30pm on the evening of December 24th, people all over the world tuned in for the live TV broadcast from the Apollo 8 crew’s historic lunar orbit. As viewers watched the grainy black and white images of the moon’s surface, they heard the voice of Major Bill Anders breaking through the static. “For all the people back on earth, the crew of Apollo 8 has a message that we would like to send to you.” Anders then began reading from Genesis 1:1. He read through the end of verse four and then Captain Lovell took over reading with, “And God called the light Day, and the darkness He called Night…” After Lovell finished with verse eight, Colonel Borman picked up. “And God said, “Let the waters under the heaven be gathered unto one place.” He continued through the end of verse 10, “And God called the dry land Earth; and the gathering together of the waters He called Seas: and God saw that it was good.” On that Christmas Eve, Scripture read from a Gideon-placed Bible was read live to an estimated ONE BILLION people in 64 countries, one of every four people on the planet at that time. No single event had ever drawn such a large TV viewing audience. When Apollo 8 left Earth, it was carrying three bibles and that Christmas Eve in 1968, in the dark expanse of space, two missions came together. While the world watched, many heard about and celebrated the birth of a Savior who came to earth to redeem us from our sins; the greatest mission of all. Through partnerships with local churches: 2 billion Bibles distributed since (1908) - 1 billion Scriptures since 2002 On Average, two bibles are distributed per second - One million bibles are distributed every four days.

Still, millions of people have never heard of Jesus Christ Many will never be able to own a personal copy of Scripture unless given to them.

Maybe you are wandering how you can help change a life; save a soul. There are a couple of ways you can help …. PRAY we need your prayers, pray for funds to print bibles to be distributed. PRAY for those countries that will not allow God’s word to be distributed. PRAY for God to expand our membership.

GIVE …. You can make a donation to Gideons International.

100% of the money you give goes to print bibles and new testaments. Cost of just $1.30 for a small New Testament. Costs $5.00 to print a hotel Bible (reaches approximately 2300 people/6yrs). Because of the generosity of individuals just like you, lives are being touched through the reading of God’s Word.

1 Corinthians 3:6 says God's word plants powerful seeds that God can use in his timing. You can be a part of planting those seeds. That is what the Gideons are called to do.