Latest / Community Spotlight / Beyond the Nightstand
Transcript
- 1 00:00:00.600 --> 00:00:02.850 <v 0>The Light FM presents Community Spotlight,</v> 2 00:00:02.940 --> 00:00:06.810 a program designed to focus on what's important to you in your community. 3 00:00:07.200 --> 00:00:10.170 Now here's Braxton with today's community spotlight. 4 00:00:10.710 --> 00:00:14.250 <v 1>So nine times out of 10, probably nine and a half times out of 10,</v> 5 00:00:14.250 --> 00:00:16.620 when you go to a motel or a hotel, you open the drawer. 6 00:00:16.630 --> 00:00:19.740 In the nightstand of the bed you'll find a Gideon Bible. 7 00:00:20.430 --> 00:00:25.230 But the Gideons are so much more than Bibles and drawers at 8 00:00:25.230 --> 00:00:28.470 hotel and motel rooms. That's why Bob Achin, 9 00:00:28.500 --> 00:00:31.080 the president of the Asheville Gideon Camp, 10 00:00:31.080 --> 00:00:33.060 is with me today to talk all about the Gideons, 11 00:00:33.060 --> 00:00:35.730 what you're doing locally as well. Bob, appreciate you being here. 12 00:00:36.060 --> 00:00:38.220 <v 2>Braxton. Thank you. It's a joy to be with you,</v> 13 00:00:38.220 --> 00:00:40.500 and I appreciate this opportunity. 14 00:00:40.500 --> 00:00:45.150 <v 1>Absolutely. That's the view that many have about the Gideons,</v> 15 00:00:45.390 --> 00:00:48.300 the Bibles, and the drawers, but there is so much more behind it, 16 00:00:48.300 --> 00:00:53.070 but also I myself don't even know how the Gideons 17 00:00:53.070 --> 00:00:53.620 started. 18 00:00:53.620 --> 00:00:58.590 So give us a quick synopsis of how this ministry began and then we 19 00:00:58.590 --> 00:01:00.450 can transition into what's happening now. 20 00:01:00.900 --> 00:01:04.050 <v 2>Braxton, to answer that in a real short answer,</v> 21 00:01:04.110 --> 00:01:08.970 you can see the hand of God directing it from the very first inception. 22 00:01:09.420 --> 00:01:12.240 There were two traveling salesmen that, 23 00:01:12.300 --> 00:01:15.900 and this was back in 1898. 24 00:01:16.440 --> 00:01:17.520 <v 1>So it's an old ministry.</v> 25 00:01:17.520 --> 00:01:22.020 <v 2>It's been around for over 125 years. But there were two traveling salesmen.</v> 26 00:01:22.020 --> 00:01:26.250 There was a gentleman named John Nicholson and 27 00:01:26.280 --> 00:01:27.390 Samuel Hill, 28 00:01:27.840 --> 00:01:32.580 and they had met at the Central House Hotel in 29 00:01:32.580 --> 00:01:37.230 Bosco, Wisconsin. And the hotel was full that night, 30 00:01:37.680 --> 00:01:41.670 and the clerk told the men that they were going to have to double up in a room. 31 00:01:41.670 --> 00:01:45.090 There were two beds, but if they were willing to share the room, 32 00:01:45.390 --> 00:01:48.330 the gentleman that came in late would have a room to stay in. 33 00:01:48.570 --> 00:01:50.940 And they had known each other. They had met each other in traveling. 34 00:01:50.940 --> 00:01:54.600 They knew they were salesman. And so they agreed and shared the room. 35 00:01:54.600 --> 00:01:56.820 And that night, one of 'em had brought his Bible with him, 36 00:01:57.300 --> 00:02:01.080 and once he had finished his sales reports, he opened his Bible, 37 00:02:01.080 --> 00:02:03.810 began to read it. The other gentleman in the other bed, Samuel Hill, 38 00:02:04.050 --> 00:02:05.970 got excited. He said, 39 00:02:05.980 --> 00:02:09.390 please read out loud. I want to share the devotion with you. 40 00:02:09.570 --> 00:02:11.400 So they prayed and read the scriptures, 41 00:02:11.400 --> 00:02:16.320 and they were reading out of John chapter 15 about the vine and the 42 00:02:16.320 --> 00:02:20.340 branches. And one of the verses that really jumped out 'em was verse 16, 43 00:02:20.340 --> 00:02:22.710 where it says, you have not chosen me, 44 00:02:23.280 --> 00:02:28.110 but I have chosen you and ordained you that you should go and bring 45 00:02:28.110 --> 00:02:31.470 forth fruit, and that your fruit should remain 46 00:02:33.120 --> 00:02:38.010 and whatsoever you shall ask him, the Father in my name, he may give it to you. 47 00:02:38.220 --> 00:02:40.800 And that verse just really resonated with them. 48 00:02:41.160 --> 00:02:44.280 They actually talked to the wee hours of the night. They said it was just, 49 00:02:44.670 --> 00:02:49.650 they knew that God had really ordained that meeting and they decided to 50 00:02:49.650 --> 00:02:54.390 be in prayer for a whole year and even do fasting through the year to determine 51 00:02:54.570 --> 00:02:59.440 why God had so specially ordained that meeting. They had another gentleman 52 00:02:59.440 --> 00:03:04.060 join them, and they met in A-Y-M-C-A there in a city there in Wisconsin, 53 00:03:04.070 --> 00:03:08.760 and they had invited 30 of the men to come, but it was just the three of 'em. 54 00:03:09.370 --> 00:03:11.680 And so they still went into prayer season of prayer, 55 00:03:12.040 --> 00:03:16.390 and they felt like God was leading them to create a ministry 56 00:03:16.780 --> 00:03:21.490 that would hold traveling salesman to be 57 00:03:21.490 --> 00:03:24.850 responsible to their Christian faith and their Christian walk. 58 00:03:25.360 --> 00:03:28.330 And they decided that that prayer meeting that had called it the Gideons, 59 00:03:28.330 --> 00:03:32.620 because God was going to take a small group to do a mighty work and men of 60 00:03:32.630 --> 00:03:35.890 faith. And from that, it began to grow. 61 00:03:35.890 --> 00:03:39.400 It was primarily just traveling salesman to hold these men. 62 00:03:39.400 --> 00:03:41.020 They were called drummers at the time, 63 00:03:41.030 --> 00:03:45.850 and they had a reputation of being drinking and gambling and womanizing 64 00:03:45.910 --> 00:03:47.830 because it was really rough environments. 65 00:03:47.830 --> 00:03:51.970 Those hotels were saloons very rough environments. And they were away from home 66 00:03:51.970 --> 00:03:55.810 sometimes for a week or two or three at a time, and they were just known to be 67 00:03:57.580 --> 00:03:58.413 a rough sort. 68 00:03:58.570 --> 00:04:02.380 But the Gideon Ministry had such an amazing impact on the sales profession, 69 00:04:02.740 --> 00:04:07.660 and we'd wear their little emblem on their lapel and their reputation for 70 00:04:07.660 --> 00:04:09.760 honor and integrity and 71 00:04:11.290 --> 00:04:13.570 upright lifestyles spread. 72 00:04:13.630 --> 00:04:16.360 And it really altered the image of salesmen, 73 00:04:18.190 --> 00:04:21.760 and it helped them also in their business too. But it grew, 74 00:04:21.760 --> 00:04:26.350 we expanded beyond salespeople to other professions. It is a men's ministry, 75 00:04:26.350 --> 00:04:28.690 it's a men's association with our wives, 76 00:04:28.870 --> 00:04:33.760 and the wives referred to the auxiliary. So the very next year in 1899, 77 00:04:33.760 --> 00:04:38.410 they formed the Gideons and began to have fellowship in meeting and grow. 78 00:04:38.410 --> 00:04:41.230 And it's now in 200 countries around the world, 79 00:04:41.590 --> 00:04:46.180 over a quarter of a million men and women and who all pay our own 80 00:04:46.180 --> 00:04:47.260 expenses. And. 81 00:04:47.920 --> 00:04:48.940 <v 1>Now you told me, Bob,</v> 82 00:04:48.940 --> 00:04:53.620 that it's only about five ish percent of what you do are the Bibles in the 83 00:04:53.620 --> 00:04:56.680 drawers. So what up makes up the other 95? 84 00:04:56.770 --> 00:04:59.770 <v 2>That's a good question. And you're right. Almost everywhere you go,</v> 85 00:04:59.770 --> 00:05:03.100 you tell someone you're get in. Oh, the Bible's in the rooms. Yeah, yeah, yeah. 86 00:05:03.550 --> 00:05:07.540 And the interesting thing about that is we have hundreds and hundreds of 87 00:05:07.540 --> 00:05:11.740 testimonies that come in all the time of people in a motel room 88 00:05:12.310 --> 00:05:15.880 that are just, many of them are planning to end their life. 89 00:05:16.480 --> 00:05:20.680 And that Bible does make a huge difference. Very interesting. 90 00:05:20.680 --> 00:05:22.360 The Holiday Inn, some years back, 91 00:05:22.360 --> 00:05:25.900 probably 60 years ago now when it was still in vogue to make a statement like 92 00:05:25.900 --> 00:05:26.650 this, 93 00:05:26.650 --> 00:05:30.400 corporate Holiday Inn made a statement that they believe the Bibles in the rooms 94 00:05:30.700 --> 00:05:33.280 curtailed suicide by over 50%. 95 00:05:34.060 --> 00:05:37.090 I was down at to DoubleTree in Biltmore Village, 96 00:05:37.330 --> 00:05:39.370 shared that story a few years back, 97 00:05:39.380 --> 00:05:42.880 and the manager of the hotel stopped me and he says, you're exactly right. 98 00:05:42.880 --> 00:05:47.710 He says, I've managed large hotels in major metropolitan cities near airport. 99 00:05:47.740 --> 00:05:49.030 And that was a real problem. 100 00:05:49.030 --> 00:05:49.690 <v 1>I was going to say,</v> 101 00:05:49.690 --> 00:05:53.230 I bet you that number probably still holds true or have grown today. 102 00:05:53.500 --> 00:05:56.980 <v 2>I think it's groan because of the despair that we're seeing.</v> 103 00:05:56.990 --> 00:06:00.200 It's not talked about. I bet you it has grown. It's not talked about. 104 00:06:00.800 --> 00:06:02.690 And the other thing about the Bibles of the motel rooms, 105 00:06:02.690 --> 00:06:05.450 we take 'em out of the motel room every six to eight years, 106 00:06:05.660 --> 00:06:10.520 replace 'em with a new one, and then we give that Bible a life sentence. 107 00:06:11.180 --> 00:06:13.280 We put 'em into prisons and the jails. 108 00:06:13.850 --> 00:06:15.980 And so that Bible's going to have a long life. 109 00:06:16.520 --> 00:06:19.700 And we have the largest jail in prison ministry in the world, 110 00:06:19.700 --> 00:06:22.280 and people don't know us as a jail in prison ministry. 111 00:06:22.730 --> 00:06:24.920 We're not just in prisons. We're also in many, 112 00:06:24.920 --> 00:06:28.130 many jails and all the countries we're in. 113 00:06:28.130 --> 00:06:30.920 And so we had the largest jail and prison ministry in the world. 114 00:06:31.160 --> 00:06:35.600 We put Bibles on college campuses. And that's a real joy for me. 115 00:06:35.600 --> 00:06:37.940 I love being out on college campuses, 116 00:06:38.600 --> 00:06:43.130 and there's a lot of despair on college campuses today. When I came through in 117 00:06:43.130 --> 00:06:46.700 the middle seventies, it was the epitome of optimism. 118 00:06:47.150 --> 00:06:49.490 We were going to change the world. Now, 119 00:06:49.490 --> 00:06:54.230 the students on college campuses are discouraged and disillusioned, 120 00:06:55.550 --> 00:06:58.940 but the thing we've noticed in the last two, three years, Braxton, 121 00:06:59.300 --> 00:07:04.190 is they're asking the right questions again. And it's so encouraging. 122 00:07:04.550 --> 00:07:07.670 They're starting to ask the questions we ask back in the Jesus revolution. 123 00:07:08.420 --> 00:07:11.690 We were looking in the wrong answer, wrong place for the answers a lot of times. 124 00:07:11.690 --> 00:07:14.720 But many turn to Christ during that. And we're seeing that again, 125 00:07:15.080 --> 00:07:18.920 that kids are more willing to talk with us, to pray with us. And boy, 126 00:07:18.920 --> 00:07:23.750 we have a number of students every time we were on the UNC Charlotte campus this 127 00:07:23.750 --> 00:07:26.210 fall and gave out over 4,000 Bibles, 128 00:07:26.360 --> 00:07:29.510 and we are on the ab tech. 129 00:07:29.690 --> 00:07:33.140 Some colleges restrict you to a freedom of speech area where we used to be able 130 00:07:33.140 --> 00:07:34.370 to be all over the campus, 131 00:07:34.370 --> 00:07:39.020 and hopefully the campuses will open back up. Some campuses like the UNC 132 00:07:39.020 --> 00:07:41.510 Charlotte are on public streets, public sidewalks, 133 00:07:41.870 --> 00:07:45.110 so we have access to those students on those public sidewalks. 134 00:07:45.710 --> 00:07:46.550 Other things we do, 135 00:07:46.550 --> 00:07:49.550 and we got coming up here real soon as we'll be on the sidewalks down at the 136 00:07:49.580 --> 00:07:51.110 Civic Center right here in town, 137 00:07:51.440 --> 00:07:55.610 giving out Bibles to not only the graduates for colleges and high school 138 00:07:55.610 --> 00:07:56.443 graduations, 139 00:07:56.600 --> 00:08:01.160 but also all the other students attending the graduations from fifth grade, 140 00:08:01.160 --> 00:08:02.960 fourth, fifth grade through college. 141 00:08:03.590 --> 00:08:08.000 And we'll give out close to 600 Bibles to students for each of the 142 00:08:08.000 --> 00:08:09.110 graduations. 143 00:08:10.870 --> 00:08:15.080 And that is such a joy to be out there just loving on these kids. 144 00:08:15.380 --> 00:08:17.450 And even the ones that don't want to get loved on, 145 00:08:18.200 --> 00:08:21.770 it's even more fun to love on them. But you'll be surprised, 146 00:08:21.780 --> 00:08:24.920 the ones that'll let you pray for their direction in life. 147 00:08:25.730 --> 00:08:29.510 And then our little New Testaments have a helps section in the front where to 148 00:08:29.510 --> 00:08:30.710 find help when, 149 00:08:31.310 --> 00:08:35.780 and we all have life challenges. And so those little helps really 150 00:08:35.900 --> 00:08:39.530 connect with the person you're talking to and it has the page number to turn to, 151 00:08:39.920 --> 00:08:43.760 whether it's anxiety or bereavement or whatever it may be, 152 00:08:43.760 --> 00:08:44.990 they're tempted with. 153 00:08:45.530 --> 00:08:49.010 And they can turn to the Bible for that resource and that help. 154 00:08:49.190 --> 00:08:51.680 And I encourage 'em to start in the Gospel of John. 155 00:08:51.680 --> 00:08:54.320 And then I'll also turn to the very back of the little Bible, 156 00:08:54.320 --> 00:08:57.480 the little New Testament, and this is our GPS, 157 00:08:58.290 --> 00:09:02.880 which is God's plan for salvation. And in our motel Bibles and so forth, 158 00:09:02.880 --> 00:09:07.830 that's in the front of the Bible. So they have a way to build a, find the Lord, 159 00:09:07.830 --> 00:09:12.810 and we just receive thousands of testimonies of people who've come to know 160 00:09:12.810 --> 00:09:16.860 Christ through the reading of his word. His word is powerful. 161 00:09:17.010 --> 00:09:19.140 It's sharper than any two edged sword, 162 00:09:19.800 --> 00:09:24.510 and it does cut to the very heart of someone and divide the soul and the 163 00:09:24.520 --> 00:09:25.353 spirit. 164 00:09:26.190 --> 00:09:26.520 <v 1>Now,</v> 165 00:09:26.520 --> 00:09:30.450 when somebody is listening to this bob and they're hearing the kind of impact 166 00:09:30.460 --> 00:09:34.560 that you have locally on the community, civic center, college campuses, 167 00:09:34.560 --> 00:09:37.200 high school students, hospitals. Yes. 168 00:09:37.380 --> 00:09:37.620 <v 2>On the.</v> 169 00:09:37.620 --> 00:09:38.640 <v 1>Nose, so many,</v> 170 00:09:40.020 --> 00:09:44.730 what can someone do to be involved in the community with the Gideons? Oh, yeah. 171 00:09:44.730 --> 00:09:47.220 <v 2>Yeah. Thank you. That's a beautiful question. Matter of fact,</v> 172 00:09:47.230 --> 00:09:50.070 we got several things. We partnered with churches, 173 00:09:50.070 --> 00:09:52.770 and that started back in 1902, 174 00:09:52.770 --> 00:09:56.700 and then it became very acceptable that churches would have a Gideon income and 175 00:09:56.700 --> 00:09:57.660 share what we were doing. 176 00:09:57.960 --> 00:10:01.050 And a hundred percent of their church contributions go to just printing and 177 00:10:01.050 --> 00:10:05.580 shipping the Bibles and our own dues cover a large 178 00:10:05.580 --> 00:10:09.960 percentage of the overhead. And then individually, 179 00:10:09.960 --> 00:10:11.970 we cover our own expenses, but someone, 180 00:10:11.970 --> 00:10:16.650 we are looking for business professional men who are 181 00:10:16.650 --> 00:10:20.610 members of evangelical Protestant church. In my case, 182 00:10:21.030 --> 00:10:22.140 I was active in my church, 183 00:10:22.140 --> 00:10:26.490 but I was really looking for something that would give me a very effect outreach 184 00:10:26.790 --> 00:10:31.170 into jails, prisons, colleges, communities, high schools, so forth, 185 00:10:31.170 --> 00:10:32.003 fairgrounds. 186 00:10:33.000 --> 00:10:37.800 I wanted to be out carrying the gospel into my community 187 00:10:38.400 --> 00:10:42.720 and just was uneasy just being in church. 188 00:10:42.750 --> 00:10:44.700 And that was it. So the Gideons does. 189 00:10:44.760 --> 00:10:48.240 We do look for business professional men who that God's word is inert, 190 00:10:48.300 --> 00:10:51.390 and it's fallible that Jesus Christ is eternal God, 191 00:10:51.990 --> 00:10:54.510 that we have to believe too, 192 00:10:54.520 --> 00:10:59.520 that marriage is between one biological man and one biological woman and members 193 00:10:59.530 --> 00:11:02.460 of evangelical church. We must be born again. 194 00:11:03.090 --> 00:11:07.080 And so there's those spiritual qualifications. And then on the business side, 195 00:11:07.080 --> 00:11:11.010 we look for men that have managerial experience and have a good understanding 196 00:11:11.010 --> 00:11:13.830 and appreciation for management because our ministry is very managerial, 197 00:11:13.830 --> 00:11:17.670 intense. And then also men that have good public relations experience, 198 00:11:17.850 --> 00:11:19.380 we deal with senior management, 199 00:11:19.770 --> 00:11:23.520 whether it's the president of a college campus or the executive director at the 200 00:11:23.700 --> 00:11:28.350 Bohemian Hotel or Biltmore Estate or senior pastors, 201 00:11:29.250 --> 00:11:31.320 et cetera, prison wardens and so forth. 202 00:11:31.380 --> 00:11:34.440 <v 1>How do they contact you to get.</v> 203 00:11:34.440 --> 00:11:36.900 <v 2>More? Right, love to have 'em contact me,</v> 204 00:11:37.350 --> 00:11:40.260 and they could certainly give me a call. And my number's 205 00:11:40.800 --> 00:11:45.060 8 2 8 8 0 8 5 9 9 9. 206 00:11:45.450 --> 00:11:47.700 I'd be glad to talk to 'em more about what we're doing. 207 00:11:47.820 --> 00:11:51.210 They can go to gideons.org, which is our website, 208 00:11:51.300 --> 00:11:52.860 the gideons.org. 209 00:11:53.320 --> 00:11:56.830 And there's a lot of information there about what membership means, 210 00:11:57.010 --> 00:12:00.880 or if somebody just wants to support the ministry, they can contribute that way. 211 00:12:01.390 --> 00:12:03.430 We do have the Friends of the Gideons, 212 00:12:03.580 --> 00:12:07.210 and that's a very unique program where people that may not qualify, 213 00:12:07.210 --> 00:12:08.320 may be a single woman, 214 00:12:08.320 --> 00:12:12.730 may even be a church or a congregation can join the Gideons as a friend of the 215 00:12:12.730 --> 00:12:17.350 Gideons, and they can just Google Friends of the Gideons and doesn't cost, 216 00:12:17.500 --> 00:12:21.040 but they can actually purchase our little New Testaments that do not have any 217 00:12:21.040 --> 00:12:22.330 reference to the Gideons, 218 00:12:22.540 --> 00:12:26.440 but they can buy them at wholesale to use on their mission trips for their 219 00:12:26.440 --> 00:12:30.820 outreaches. And we have a program called Conversations. 220 00:12:30.850 --> 00:12:31.870 Conversations. 221 00:12:32.470 --> 00:12:37.450 And these are trained Gideons that'll come in and about three hour program will 222 00:12:37.450 --> 00:12:41.890 train your church members on how to witness through conversation. 223 00:12:42.520 --> 00:12:46.930 And we do have little Bible apps that people can download the Bible on their 224 00:12:46.930 --> 00:12:50.980 phone, close to 2200 languages on their phone, 225 00:12:50.980 --> 00:12:53.980 and many of 'em will read to you or you can read to it, 226 00:12:55.870 --> 00:12:59.740 but they can get involved in a number of ways through being friends of the 227 00:12:59.740 --> 00:13:00.573 Gideons. 228 00:13:00.850 --> 00:13:05.650 Another thing that's a very strong tool that we launched a little over 10 years 229 00:13:05.650 --> 00:13:07.450 ago, and it's called The Life Book. 230 00:13:07.960 --> 00:13:09.340 <v 1>Yeah, yeah, yeah. I'm familiar with that.</v> 231 00:13:09.340 --> 00:13:13.390 <v 2>Yeah. And it has become a tremendous tool. As people know,</v> 232 00:13:13.660 --> 00:13:16.870 many of our public schools, especially in your metropolitan areas, 233 00:13:17.140 --> 00:13:20.320 are no longer allowing the Gideons to distribute Bibles. 234 00:13:21.250 --> 00:13:25.300 And some schools are now opening back up to try to help curtail some of the 235 00:13:25.540 --> 00:13:29.530 chaos, confusion and suicide that's on the rise in our public schools. 236 00:13:30.010 --> 00:13:34.270 But the Little Life book is what we give to the church, the youth of the church, 237 00:13:34.630 --> 00:13:37.210 to take into middle schools and high schools, 238 00:13:37.360 --> 00:13:41.890 and they can give these life books out, which one's the Gospel of John One's, 239 00:13:41.890 --> 00:13:42.940 the Gospel of Mark, 240 00:13:43.060 --> 00:13:46.840 and they can give 'em out as long as they don't disrupt instructional time. 241 00:13:48.040 --> 00:13:48.820 Braxton, 242 00:13:48.820 --> 00:13:53.710 we have now given out over almost 55 million life books 243 00:13:54.070 --> 00:13:58.900 into the public schools of America through about three and a half 244 00:13:58.900 --> 00:14:01.420 million evangelical youth. 245 00:14:01.750 --> 00:14:05.950 So you're teaching that youth how to be a little soul winner in middle school 246 00:14:05.950 --> 00:14:06.783 and high school, 247 00:14:07.180 --> 00:14:11.620 and the Life Book has four teenagers asking questions as they read through the 248 00:14:11.620 --> 00:14:13.360 gospel of the mark or the Gospel of John, 249 00:14:13.510 --> 00:14:17.800 and as adult answering the questions. What we've found with if a youth group 250 00:14:17.800 --> 00:14:21.670 will really take this and study it and assign different students to play the 251 00:14:21.680 --> 00:14:23.650 role in other students, to read the scriptures, 252 00:14:24.040 --> 00:14:27.910 that the kids really get into it and they begin to listen to God speak to them 253 00:14:27.910 --> 00:14:28.660 through the Word, 254 00:14:28.660 --> 00:14:33.400 and they'll write their own questions down so that you teach them to internalize 255 00:14:33.410 --> 00:14:37.780 the word and to listen to God. And then once they've internalized it, 256 00:14:37.780 --> 00:14:40.690 they can take this as a little tool to share. 257 00:14:40.960 --> 00:14:43.000 The first year we launched it here in Asheville, 258 00:14:43.000 --> 00:14:47.170 I was real active with my youth groups and several of them jumped on it. 259 00:14:47.530 --> 00:14:51.830 And that first year we placed over 6,500 of these in our high schools and middle 260 00:14:51.830 --> 00:14:54.260 schools in Asheville, in Buncombe County, 261 00:14:54.860 --> 00:14:57.650 two high schools and two middle schools were totally saturated, 262 00:14:57.650 --> 00:15:00.620 even down to the kitchen workers, everybody. 263 00:15:01.190 --> 00:15:02.870 And some of these churches, 264 00:15:02.870 --> 00:15:07.760 their youth launched Bible studies in those schools that launched it by 265 00:15:07.760 --> 00:15:09.440 the Life Book and then kept it going. 266 00:15:09.440 --> 00:15:13.820 So it's been a tremendous tool to grow youth departments and to reach our 267 00:15:13.820 --> 00:15:14.653 community. 268 00:15:14.900 --> 00:15:19.760 <v 1>So there's just a little bit more beyond the nightstand at the motel.</v> 269 00:15:19.850 --> 00:15:23.240 There's a little bit more to the Gideons. It's just incredible. 270 00:15:23.300 --> 00:15:25.820 <v 2>We didn't even talk about the military, but huge.</v> 271 00:15:26.000 --> 00:15:30.860 We've placed over 2.2 million Bibles into the Ukrainian army and their refugee 272 00:15:30.860 --> 00:15:32.530 camps in less than two years. Wow. 273 00:15:33.200 --> 00:15:34.033 <v 1>Man. The impact.</v> 274 00:15:34.070 --> 00:15:36.620 <v 2>Oh, the impact globally. Thousands are coming to the Lord in there.</v> 275 00:15:37.280 --> 00:15:41.900 We've given out millions into the Russian military and the Ukrainian military. 276 00:15:42.200 --> 00:15:45.860 Those were organized in 1989, as soon as the Iron Curtain came down. 277 00:15:46.430 --> 00:15:48.890 The thing about our ministry, it's very, very nimble. 278 00:15:49.250 --> 00:15:51.800 We don't have a lot of overhead because everybody pays their own way. 279 00:15:51.980 --> 00:15:55.550 We just got to get Bibles to 'em. So when the Iron Curtain came down in 89, 280 00:15:56.360 --> 00:15:58.700 we'd already registered our trademarks and names, 281 00:15:59.000 --> 00:16:01.290 knew the translations we were going to use, and we're very, very, 282 00:16:02.240 --> 00:16:03.920 very strict on translations. 283 00:16:04.250 --> 00:16:08.120 They have to be translated by true expert 284 00:16:08.570 --> 00:16:09.403 translators, 285 00:16:09.680 --> 00:16:14.270 the best translators available who have the highest regard for the 286 00:16:14.270 --> 00:16:16.130 inerrancy of the original languages. 287 00:16:16.220 --> 00:16:19.070 And those bibles are translated from those original languages, 288 00:16:19.460 --> 00:16:22.700 and we're just real sticklers for good translations. 289 00:16:23.330 --> 00:16:28.310 But within no time, we were placing 300,000 a month, 500,000 a month, 290 00:16:28.460 --> 00:16:33.380 up to 600,000 a month behind the Iron Curtain and opening camps 291 00:16:33.470 --> 00:16:38.120 throughout that region of the world. And for more than almost 10 292 00:16:38.120 --> 00:16:42.290 years, we were losing a very high percentage of our Gideons in Eastern Europe. 293 00:16:43.760 --> 00:16:47.960 They were becoming pastors because they were going and putting God's word in the 294 00:16:47.960 --> 00:16:50.150 regions where God's word had not gone in years, 295 00:16:50.150 --> 00:16:53.870 and there was no churches and people were coming to Christ and they didn't know 296 00:16:53.870 --> 00:16:54.740 who to turn to. 297 00:16:54.740 --> 00:16:59.510 And so they turned to the Gideons and asked Gideon to come and be their pastors. 298 00:16:59.990 --> 00:17:03.620 And so we were losing quite a large percentage of our Gideons for a while. 299 00:17:03.950 --> 00:17:06.770 That's not a bad thing. They were becoming pastors. 300 00:17:07.790 --> 00:17:11.570 The stories from around the world are just remarkable. 301 00:17:11.570 --> 00:17:13.940 When we hear of children in schools, 302 00:17:13.940 --> 00:17:17.150 and I had a good friend of mine that went on an international scripture, 303 00:17:17.150 --> 00:17:18.440 bits to Malawi, 304 00:17:19.460 --> 00:17:23.900 we give out hundreds of thousands of scriptures in a couple of weeks period with 305 00:17:23.900 --> 00:17:26.750 Gideons from around the world. That team up with the local Gideons. 306 00:17:27.080 --> 00:17:30.440 And the students in this area of Malawi had never seen a Bible before, 307 00:17:30.440 --> 00:17:33.740 never held a Bible, and they were so appreciative of Gideon, 308 00:17:33.740 --> 00:17:35.600 their own Bibles that the young girls, 309 00:17:35.600 --> 00:17:39.770 many of 'em would drop to their knees and crawl the last four to six feet with 310 00:17:39.770 --> 00:17:44.630 their hands held up, take God's word and kiss it and hold it to their chest. 311 00:17:46.160 --> 00:17:49.410 And my friend had told me he, Bob, 312 00:17:49.410 --> 00:17:52.950 we started noticing that the children were smelling their bibles, and we'd say, 313 00:17:53.160 --> 00:17:55.860 what are they doing? And we asked the local Gideons, what are they doing? 314 00:17:56.490 --> 00:17:59.220 And they said, they've never smelled anything new before. 315 00:18:00.840 --> 00:18:04.860 And one of the teachers came around the corner and Terrell offered her a whole 316 00:18:04.870 --> 00:18:06.660 Bible, and she grabbed it, 317 00:18:06.660 --> 00:18:11.100 and she held it up and just started praising God and thanking the Lord and got 318 00:18:11.100 --> 00:18:14.670 louder and louder. She would just overcome with emotions and fell to her knees 319 00:18:14.670 --> 00:18:18.510 and elbows and just wept, thanking the Lord. When she got up, 320 00:18:18.510 --> 00:18:21.120 there was a big puddle of tears on the ground. 321 00:18:21.810 --> 00:18:23.960 She grabbed Terrell's hands and she says, SIRS, 322 00:18:24.570 --> 00:18:27.810 y'all don't understand all of my life. 323 00:18:27.810 --> 00:18:30.450 I've only seen three or four pages of this book, 324 00:18:30.840 --> 00:18:35.430 and I have prayed for years that God would allow me to see a whole 325 00:18:35.440 --> 00:18:40.170 Bible before I died. And today you've given me my own Bible. 326 00:18:40.590 --> 00:18:42.870 And she started crying and praising the Lord again. 327 00:18:42.870 --> 00:18:47.160 And we don't understand the greatest hunger in the world is the hunger for God's 328 00:18:47.160 --> 00:18:50.400 word. And man does not live by bread alone, 329 00:18:50.940 --> 00:18:55.470 but by every word that precedes from the mouth of God and God's words 330 00:18:55.560 --> 00:18:56.393 factual. 331 00:18:57.000 --> 00:19:01.890 It is sufficient to bring men unto salvation and to grow men 332 00:19:02.220 --> 00:19:04.080 into the full statue of Christ. 333 00:19:05.490 --> 00:19:08.370 We can't imagine not being without our Bibles, 334 00:19:08.880 --> 00:19:12.360 but there's a whole world there that can't even imagine there being a Bible. 335 00:19:13.530 --> 00:19:14.940 <v 1>You say gideons.org?</v> 336 00:19:15.300 --> 00:19:17.280 <v 2>Gideons dot the gideons dot.</v> 337 00:19:17.280 --> 00:19:19.920 <v 1>The gideons.org. Yes. He's Bob Achin,</v> 338 00:19:19.920 --> 00:19:23.580 the president of the Asheville Camp. 339 00:19:23.580 --> 00:19:24.390 <v 2>Gideon Camp.</v> 340 00:19:24.390 --> 00:19:26.610 <v 1>Asheville. Gideon Camp. That's right. Yes. Well, thank you, Bob.</v> 341 00:19:26.880 --> 00:19:27.990 <v 2>Thank you, Braxton.</v> 342 00:19:28.470 --> 00:19:32.610 <v 1>Previous episodes of Community Spotlight are available right now@thelightfm.org.</v> 343 00:19:32.910 --> 00:19:36.900 Also special thanks to our sponsor, Turner Business Appraisers and Matthews, 344 00:19:36.900 --> 00:19:40.260 North Carolina, and online@turnerbusiness.com. 345 00:19:40.860 --> 00:19:42.990 <v 0>We hope you enjoyed today's community spotlight,</v> 346 00:19:42.990 --> 00:19:45.930 covering issues that matter to you in your community. 347 00:19:46.350 --> 00:19:48.840 If you have a suggestion for a future program, 348 00:19:48.840 --> 00:19:52.740 just call 803 3 0 96 48. 349 00:19:52.920 --> 00:19:56.770 That's 803 3 0 9 6 4 8. 350 00:19:57.190 --> 00:20:01.380 Be sure to join us next week for another community spotlight with Braxton on the 351 00:20:01.380 --> 00:20:02.220 Light fm.