Eric Reece
Did you know that Graham County has a Gideons International Camp?
The Gideons recently held their annual pastors’ breakfast and it was one of the best breakfasts around.
The Gideons are a business and professional men’s group dedicated to sharing the Gospel of Jesus Christ by giving and providing Holy Bibles and New Testaments. They are not a church, but are men from local churches who work to share the good news.
Over the years, I have had a number of members and friends who were Gideons. They pray for the churches and pastors in their area.
It started when two traveling salesmen met at the turn of the 20th century. They thought it would be great if there was some association of traveling businessmen dedicated to evangelism.
The men held a special prayer time to select the name of their association and one said, “We shall be called Gideons.”
He proceeded to read the story of Gideon from the book of Judges. The Gideon symbol is a clay pot with the torch coming out. This is from where Gideon and his men blew the trumpets and broke the jars with the smothering torches that flamed causing the enemy to flee.
During their travels, they started giving testaments and then placing Bibles in hotel rooms. Since then, more than two billion Bibles and New Testaments have been given around the world. The Gideons have camps in some 200 countries, territories and possessions.
They offer scriptures in 108 languages. Once, a church member’s mother moved in with her. Her mother was German and she asked me if I knew where to get a German language Bible. I called the local Gideons and shortly they presented her with a German Bible. It was reported back to me how much she enjoyed reading it.
Through the work of the Gideons, Bibles are made available in a number of ways. The most well known is in hotel rooms. They are also placed in hospitals, waiting rooms, nursing homes, jails and are made available to members of the U.S. Armed Forces. I received a testament as a young lad in school and another as a college student. On average, more than one million Bibles and New Testaments are distributed every four days.
The Bibles are printed in the United States and funded by donations. One way this is done is through the Memorial Card programs. Memorial, Get Well and Thinking of You cards are provided to churches free of charge. You can donate to give one or more Bibles and send a card.
Another way to support this ministry is to ask the pastor to invite a Gideon speaker to come to your church. Whether it’s in a small group setting or five minutes during the worship service, Gideons will be happy to share a word about how God uses Bible distribution to share good news. One hundred percent of gifts given for Bibles are used to print Bibles.
The Graham County Gideons meet every fourth Tuesday of the month at 6 p.m. at Southern Gals.
For details, email Jason Hall at jasonhall@mcneelyco.com, or go to gideons.org.
Eric Reece is the faith columnist for The Graham Star. He is pastor of Robbinsville United Methodist Church and can be reached via email, ereece@wnccumc.net.