One of the initiatives within the Gideon ministry – as part of our mission to win souls for Christ – is Mission in Action events (MiA).
These were to be frequent events in communities across Australia with a focus on Scripture distributions and street witnessing. Due to COVID, these events have been postponed for over a year. However, The Gideons recently conducted an MiA in Hamilton, VIC.
The response was incredibly encouraging, with very few locations rejecting the offer of free Scripture placements. We had a wonderful response from the placement at Hamilton hospital with a Bible put at every bedside – they even loaned a wheel chair!! Emergency services all welcomed Scriptures with more to come.
Praise the Lord for 60 hospital Testaments, 9 Bibles and 15 medical Testaments.
Below is some feedback from a member regarding the hospital placement:
“We praise God for the miraculous response to placing New Testaments in the bedside lockers at the hospital. Staff shared how they notice the importance of having Scriptures available for patients to read. Staff graciously accepted a Testament when acknowledged and thanked for the difficult year due to COVID-19.” ~ Sheryl
55 locals attended a ‘Share Jesus Without Fear’ seminar. This seminar is designed to embolden the church in telling others about the Gospel of the Lord Jesus. There was also great reception at hotels and aged care.
Positive feedback from the minister of St Andrews Presbyterian Church:
On the last Saturday in February we were privileged to host the event ‘Sharing Jesus Without Fear.’ This was an event run by The Gideons for all the churches in Hamilton. Mr. Charles Foster spoke with great clarity and conviction from the Word of God and from his many years of experience in evangelism. What for me was so encouraging was the simplicity of the presentation and its emphasis on the work of God rather than on ourselves.
He presented three simple memorable steps that one could use in any witnessing opportunity or situation.
- Step One: Use questions that determine where God is working.
- Step Two: Let the Bible speak.
- Step Three: Close with key questions.
This outline with the questions provided is an approach anyone of us could use at any time.
After the presentation we were all given the opportunity to walk around Hamilton putting into practice what we had learnt. We were encouraged to take one of the Gideon Bibles to hand out. I think there were some 60 New Testaments handed out on the day. Those who were able to come back for the last session and debrief shared their stories for the encouragement of everyone present.
Thank you to Gideons for coming to Hamilton and encouraging us to do the work of evangelism. My prayer is that we will build on this event, and keep putting into practice what we have learnt praying to the Lord of the harvest to give us much fruit to His glory.
‘so is my word that goes out from my mouth: It will not return to me empty, but will accomplish what I desire and achieve the purpose for which I sent it.’
Isaiah 55:11