The Ministry of The Gideons International - Spain

Dear Prayer Warriors, At the beginning of this new year, we are reminded that in the Western world it is becoming a growing predicament to place Scriptures in the traffic lanes of life. This secular generation is not too worried if we stay in our churches, but when we go out with the Good News, the protests come thick and fast.

What compels us to continue is that men, women and children are desperately hungry for the Bread of Life, and to make no attempt to  offer this bread contradicts His instructions.

The only goal of the Gideon ministry is to win men and women, boys and girls to a saving knowledge of Jesus Christ. We do this with confidence because we know that we belong to an “unshakeable kingdom” (Heb.12:28), whatever the future may bring. 

New Camp – Since last summer another another camp has been opened in Spain, in Ciudad Real. This town is the capital of La Mancha, the area South of Madrid, where Cervantes` novel about Don Quijote was based. We thank the Lord for raising up a team to commence Scripture distribution in this large rural area. Please pray for cities like Lleida and Girona in Catalonia where the possibilities of opening new camps are being investigated. 

Distributions – In October a Blitz of Scriptures took place in Fuerteventura, one of the Canary islands. Like the one that was held the previous year in Gran Canaria, the main island, the distribution concentrated on the hotels. A small team of Gideons from Germany went to help the local Gideons.Please pray that those who stay in the hotels, in their time of relaxation, may find time to read the Bible on their bedside table. 

The St. Jame's Way Pilgrimage – 

In October  2009 the distribution continued in the hostals covering the 100 miles from Burgos to Leon, across the agricultural plains of Old Castile.  

Our log book  records that 138 hostals have been visited to date, of which 86 agreed to take Scriptures. Only 11 have actually refused the offer of placing  Bibles in Spanish, English, French and Geman, as the others had no-one to take the responsibility to accept Scriptures.

Please pray for the pilgrims, who come from so many different countries, that they will take the opportunity of reading God´s Word, and allow it to speak to them. In fact, one hostal manager told us he had received a young visitor from Mongolia!

In total 846 Scriptures have been placed for which we give God the glory.

From April onwards, when the new season starts, we shall continue visiting the hostals, and we hope to reach Santiago before the end of the year.

Prayer Points

• Blitz - Fuerteventura
• St. Jame's  Way Pilgrimage
  
• New Camp - Ciudad Real

National Conference – 2010

The National Conference will take place near Malaga, a city on the Mediterranean coast  at the end of February. Please pray for the Conference Committee, as they finalise preparations. The conference speaker will be Craig Warner, who will become the Executive Director of The Gideons International, later this year.

Conclusion

Bill Fay, the author of the book on personal witnessing, “Sharing Jesus without fear”, in an another article he wrote in The Gideon magazine last year,  told how he was travelling on a plane on September 10, 2001 when he handed the flight attendant a tract. The moment the seat  belt light went off she went to his seat and asked him why he had given her it. She said he was the sixth person  in 2 weeks to do that.  “What does God want from me?” she said. He answered, “Your life”. They went to the galley where she gave her heart to the Lord. The next day she was a flight attendant on the plane to Pittsburgh that crashed in a field in Pennsylvania, killing everyone on board.

"The greatest tragedy in life, is not unanswered prayer, but un-offered prayer."  F.B. Meyer

  Page updated 9th Feb 2010