There are few things more thrilling than placing a copy of God's Word into the hands of a person who has never owned, never held, and never read the Bible or the New Testament. We do that so routinely that periodically I have to stop and thank God for the privilege of being the person who delivers the "greatest of all gifts" to these people. From October 18 through 25 I had the opportunity to be one of 50 Gideons who placed 128,500 New Testaments into the hands of young men and women in Monterrey and Saltillo, Mexico. The group included 6 Gideons from the United States and 45 Gideons from Mexico who dedicated one week of their lives to participate in this extraordinary event.
Monterrey is a modern city of about 3 million people located in central Mexico north of Mexico City by about 500 miles. Saltillo is located to the west of Monterrey by about 70 miles and has just over one million people. Our purpose was to place over 120,000 New Testaments into the hands of the people of these two cities, concentrating our efforts on their fine colleges and schools. Wake up calls were scheduled for 4:30a.m. each morning except for Tuesday when we would be covering Saltillo; on that splendid day we were able to rise at 4:00a.m. to begin our day. Each day began with prayer and reading of scripture in the hotel room of our group leader for the event. The six Gideons from the U.S.A. were Orvin from northern California, Ed from Tennessee, Randy from Kentucky, myself from southern California, Erskin from Mississippi, and Don who spends 6 months in northern California and 6 months in Saltillo, Mexico. These men were assigned to six teams led by Mexican Gideons. Each team consisted of 6 or 7 Gideons who worked as a unit throughout the week.
Three things always stand out in my mind when I participate in these large scale distributions whether here in the United States or in another country.
1. The people to whom we give scriptures would normally never own a New Testament or Bible unless we made that specific trip and physically placed the scripture in their hand. That realization has caused me many times to pause and think about the awesome responsibility and opportunity we have as I look into the faces of the young men and women accepting this "free gift" from these strangers who have come to their neighborhoods. To think that these people would perhaps never hold a copy of God's Word unless I were standing in that exact spot on that specific day when they walked past me.
2. The friendliness and acceptance of the people is marvelous. Oh, I've occasionally been pushed up against fences as young students scramble to get a scripture. But, generally it is just one delightful experience after another as they receive their "free gift." The recipients often open the pages of the New Testament and begin to read immediately. I've seen them sitting while waiting for buses or cars and read their New Testaments for 20 or 30 minutes. Their interest in and attachment to their "free gift" is amazing.
3. The appreciation of the local pastors, missionaries, and Christians for what we do is deep and strong. We do what they cannot do, we give what they cannot give. We have the finances, the manpower, the organization, and the dedication to accomplish something that many of them have prayed for but never thought could happen. Just imagine yourself being a pastor, missionary, or Christian in an impoverished neighborhood where even getting decent songbooks for your church was an impossibility, let alone purchasing and placing 100,000 scriptures in the community. When we arrive with scriptures and begin the process of placing them into the hands of people in the local community, their gratitude is overwhelming. I have looked into many tearful faces, have been embraced by many church leaders, and have been prayed for by many local Christians who have all thanked God for those who made possible the placement of the Word of God.
Who makes these distributions possible? It is truly a partnership among God's people. First, someone is concerned about the spiritual welfare of a community. They begin to pray and are burdened to reach the people. Next, pastors and parishioners have opened their churches and their wallets to the Gideon ministry so that there are funds available to buy the scriptures. Then, Gideons take time from their businesses and families to actually make the distributions. Lastly, there is that great network of Christian clergy and laity that prays, counsels, encourages, explains, and nurtures those people who have received the scriptures and have responded to the urging of the Holy Spirit. I have planted many fruit trees in my lifetime. I always eagerly await the development of the tree so that at the proper time I can pick the fruit. God's Word is like that. Some of us plant, some of us water, some of us till the ground, and some pick the fruit. We are all God's laborers in the harvest field. Let us be faithful to our task.
Monterrey is a modern city of about 3 million people located in central Mexico north of Mexico City by about 500 miles. Saltillo is located to the west of Monterrey by about 70 miles and has just over one million people. Our purpose was to place over 120,000 New Testaments into the hands of the people of these two cities, concentrating our efforts on their fine colleges and schools. Wake up calls were scheduled for 4:30a.m. each morning except for Tuesday when we would be covering Saltillo; on that splendid day we were able to rise at 4:00a.m. to begin our day. Each day began with prayer and reading of scripture in the hotel room of our group leader for the event. The six Gideons from the U.S.A. were Orvin from northern California, Ed from Tennessee, Randy from Kentucky, myself from southern California, Erskin from Mississippi, and Don who spends 6 months in northern California and 6 months in Saltillo, Mexico. These men were assigned to six teams led by Mexican Gideons. Each team consisted of 6 or 7 Gideons who worked as a unit throughout the week.
Three things always stand out in my mind when I participate in these large scale distributions whether here in the United States or in another country.
1. The people to whom we give scriptures would normally never own a New Testament or Bible unless we made that specific trip and physically placed the scripture in their hand. That realization has caused me many times to pause and think about the awesome responsibility and opportunity we have as I look into the faces of the young men and women accepting this "free gift" from these strangers who have come to their neighborhoods. To think that these people would perhaps never hold a copy of God's Word unless I were standing in that exact spot on that specific day when they walked past me.
2. The friendliness and acceptance of the people is marvelous. Oh, I've occasionally been pushed up against fences as young students scramble to get a scripture. But, generally it is just one delightful experience after another as they receive their "free gift." The recipients often open the pages of the New Testament and begin to read immediately. I've seen them sitting while waiting for buses or cars and read their New Testaments for 20 or 30 minutes. Their interest in and attachment to their "free gift" is amazing.
3. The appreciation of the local pastors, missionaries, and Christians for what we do is deep and strong. We do what they cannot do, we give what they cannot give. We have the finances, the manpower, the organization, and the dedication to accomplish something that many of them have prayed for but never thought could happen. Just imagine yourself being a pastor, missionary, or Christian in an impoverished neighborhood where even getting decent songbooks for your church was an impossibility, let alone purchasing and placing 100,000 scriptures in the community. When we arrive with scriptures and begin the process of placing them into the hands of people in the local community, their gratitude is overwhelming. I have looked into many tearful faces, have been embraced by many church leaders, and have been prayed for by many local Christians who have all thanked God for those who made possible the placement of the Word of God.
Who makes these distributions possible? It is truly a partnership among God's people. First, someone is concerned about the spiritual welfare of a community. They begin to pray and are burdened to reach the people. Next, pastors and parishioners have opened their churches and their wallets to the Gideon ministry so that there are funds available to buy the scriptures. Then, Gideons take time from their businesses and families to actually make the distributions. Lastly, there is that great network of Christian clergy and laity that prays, counsels, encourages, explains, and nurtures those people who have received the scriptures and have responded to the urging of the Holy Spirit. I have planted many fruit trees in my lifetime. I always eagerly await the development of the tree so that at the proper time I can pick the fruit. God's Word is like that. Some of us plant, some of us water, some of us till the ground, and some pick the fruit. We are all God's laborers in the harvest field. Let us be faithful to our task.
SATURDAY, OCTOBER 18, 1997
I arrived at Los Angeles International Airport (LAX) at 6:30am with one carry-on suitcase. I've learned that you travel light, very light when you are on a working assignment. The American Airline flight to Dallas (DFG) was about as routine as can be. Upon arrival at DFG it was a quick trip to the departure gate to the Monterrey connecting flight where I joined Orv who had just arrived from Sacramento. Fellow team members Ed from Nashville, Tennessee and Randy from Campbellsville, Kentucky would be flying in on later flights. Erskin was already in Monterrey and Don was already in Saltillo. These were the six "gringo's" that would make up the USA part of the team.
We arrived at the Monterrey, Mexico airport about 1:30pm and went through customs. I pushed a button and got a "green light" and didn't have to unpack, but Orv got a "red light" and his suitcase was opened and examined. We waited for about 1 hour and then saw Erskin striding into the airport lounge with the Monterrey Gideon who was in charge of the Scripture Blitz. From the airport it was a 20 minute drive into the center of Monterrey where we exited to a first class modern hotel where we were to headquarter for the week. There was a Carl's Jr. across the street as well as a drug store connected to a "back home" restaurant similar to a Denny's. Obtaining food on this expedition was not one of our major problems. In fact we probably ate more food than we needed.
Saturday was spent unpacking and moving from one floor to another as the hotel (which was oversold) tried to find rooms for us. I ended up on the 4th floor in Erskin's room with Ed as my room mate while Erskin moved down the hall to another room. Randy and Orv found a room on the 2nd floor. Everyone hoped that the "other" guy didn't snore.
Thus ended the first day - and it was good!
SUNDAY, OCTOBER 19, 1997
Sundays are always set aside for Gideons to speak in church services secured by the local Gideons. Training is always a part of a Gideon assignment, and demonstrating how to give a church report is a part of the training. You always want to give people the opportunity to give an offering to support of the placement of scripture. I was assigned to speak at Calvario Bautista. The service was arranged by Joel (pronounced Ho-el) Villareal who was an elder in the church. I am always amazed that when people start singing a familiar song in a foreign language, I absolutely forget the English words to the song. So I lustily began singing "Wonderful Words of Life" in Espanol.
After the service it is always a pleasure to stand with the pastors and greet the people as they leave. At this church, one of the men motioned to me that he wanted to talk. I extended my hand and he placed a twisted, gnarled hand into mine. He was a young lawyer who had contracted some disease that had disfigured his hands and extremities. He had become despondent and found his way to a hotel room in Vera Cruz where he encountered a very special book. It was a book with a jug on it just like the one on my lapel - it was a Gideon placed scripture. There in that hotel room he found hope for his tomorrows and a friend who would walk with him through his difficult times. He took the scripture with him, found his way to a church, and today fellowships with the people at Calvario Bautista - another trophy of the King because someone prayed, someone gave, someone went, someone lifted another box and placed another scripture beside a bed in an empty hotel room. This is one great ministry, isn't it?
After church we were all invited out for a very special luncheon where the specialty of the city was served, "el cabrito" or "the little goat." Now when you are a guest in another country and they are paying for your meal, you learn to eat whatever is placed before you. I found many bones of the "el cabrito" but was hard pressed to find a lot of meat. My seat mate seemed to have received most of the meat. In any event, the fellowship was great and there must have been several hundred people flowing through this Sizzler style restaurant. "Cabrito" is big in Monterrey.
Sunday evening we had a special church service at a local Presbyterian church. Our former International President (Randy) was to give a church report for the edification and training of the local Gideons. Well, it turned out that it was "Gideon" night so we all found our way to the platform, about 10 of us. Randy gave an A+ presentation, the church service was excellent, and everyone had a great time. What a bunch of friendly people we met. A large number of these people are classically trained musicians. It is not unusual to discover in some rather "poor" looking churches, people who would compare very favorably with anyone performing at some of our major USA churches.
It is late, but we decide to cap off the night with a little repast at the corner restaurant. Tomorrow, and for the rest of the week, it is up at 4:30am for our 5:00am prayer meeting in Erskine's room prior to our 6:00am meeting with the Mexican Gideons who have already been moving scriptures into place.
Thus ended the second day - and it was good!
MONDAY, OCTOBER 20, 1997
My, my - 4:30am sure comes early! And the shower didn't work either. But there was hot coffee downstairs and that helped out a lot. Unfortunately, we were told on Wednesday by the hotel staff that they would appreciate it if we would not drink the coffee and eat the cookies that were reserved for the airline pilots and crew who stayed at the hotel.
Each USA Gideon has been assigned to a team of five Mexican Gideons so we have 30 to 40 Gideons in six teams assigned during the day to primarily cover colleges and schools. On this day my team will be covering schools, what we would call junior high or middle schools where the students are between 10 and 15 years of age. My driver is Joel whom I will become very close to during the week. We will literally spend 12 to 14 hours together each day for the rest of the week.
We arrive at the school at 6:30am because these schools operate on two (sometimes three) shifts. The first group of students starts at 7:00am, the second group starts at 1:00pm. The key phrases are "un rogalla" (a gift), "no dinero" (no money), "gratis" (free), and "la biblia" (a little book/Bible). These phrases help distinguish us from other religious groups who are not well received by the local population.
Soon the kids begin to arrive. First they come in ones, twos and threes. But then they come by the tens and twenties. We extend our hand with a scripture and they take them with a smile. The teachers and administrators and janitors and security guards all take a copy because they do not want to be left out. The empty boxes begin to pile up one by one until there are empty boxes everywhere. That is always a good sight to see. By 10:00am it is time to leave the school and repair to a local eating establishment for some "cafe" and "leche" before returning for the 1:00pm crowd.
We arrived back at the school as the morning shift was leaving for home and lunch. There would be about a 1 hour break before the 1:00pm shift arrived. Soon I was engulfed by a sea of bodies. The kids who were going home wanted more New Testaments for their brothers, sisters, mothers, fathers, friends or neighbors. They were soon joined by the 1:00pm students coming from the other direction. I was pushed up against the fence while trying to prevent the crowd from trampling several smaller students who were knocked to the ground.
Finally, in order to promote safety (namely my own) I emptied the box onto the ground and refused to open another until order was restored. A visual, poignant moment when you realize the value of a free gift to people who don't receive very many free gifts in life.
Once order was restored and the morning students were sent on their way, our distributions continued to the afternoon students until everyone had received their special gift, a free New Testament from the Gideons. We completed our distribution and left the school about 2:00pm. The warehouse where the scriptures were kept was close by so we stopped to drop off our empty boxes. The storage facility is actually the manufacturing plant owned by one of the Monterrey Gideons. After scouting around for late afternoon distributions (and finding none) my team, "grupo cinco," returned me to the hotel. Later that evening the USA Gideons gathered for dinner and rehashed the days events. Tomorrow, it is up early at 4:00am as we are traveling one hour west to the city of Saltillo.
TUESDAY, OCTOBER 21, 1997
Wow, 4:00am sure does come early! No time for coffee, we are in the car and on our way to Saltillo before the sun pops its head over the horizon. The Saltillo Camp is in charge of our activities today. We haven't met these Gideons yet, so look forward to a good day with them. Saltillo is about 5,000+ feet above sea level. It is over 400 years of age and used to be the capital city of the Mexican territory that included Texas, New Mexcio, and Arizona before the 1850's.
It is cold and dark when we arrive in Saltillo about 6:00am. We will be distributing scriptures at a University for Engineering and Drafting students. Across the street is a law school that another group of Gideons will be covering. About 12 of us are placed in front of the main entrance as the students begin arriving for their 7:00am classes.
I really enjoy these college and university placements. Students are the same around the world, typically 18 to 24 years old, anxious about their classes and getting good grades so they can graduate and succeed in life. Then we show up early in the morning with our breath creating little puffs of steam and hand them a copy of the only book that can guarantee them a good graduation and success in "eternal" life. This placement goes very well as we are situated on a major intersection where students have to cross a large open area to enter the university. We catch almost all of them before we take our 10:00am morning break at the restaurant across the street.
There are about 40 of us for breakfast; Gideons from Monterrey and Saltillo as well as the gringo's from the USA. After a hearty breakfast we load into the cars for the 1 hour drive to the respected Agricultural University. This well known university specializes in animal and agricultural education. Students come from throughout the Central and South American countries for study. It is about 6,000 feet above sea level and in the countryside. My carload of Gideons is dropped off at a student bus stop - the university is so large that students must use buses to get from one area to another. This is an ideal location for us. Distribution is casual and easy, plus we have the opportunity to talk to the students as they wait for their bus, sometimes for five or ten minutes. And they are always interested in listening to someone speak English to them because so many of them want to practice speaking the English language. It is so very natural to talk about "Jesuchristo en mi corazon" in spanglish while having a very competent Mexican Gideon standing by to really penetrate the language barrier once they are focused.
In every scripture Blitz there is one distribution that really stands out in your memory as the months fade into history. I was privileged to have several this trip. One of those "standout" events took place as we left the Agricultural University. We traveled into Old Saltillo! This part of the city is 400+ years old. The streets are twisted, the sidewalks are narrow, the people are poor, the houses are squalid - in short, this is not a vacation destination for tourists. But, this is where real life and real people are born and live and die. It also is where young boys and girls will never own their own personal copy of God's Word unless we bring it to them.
And so we park the car on the busy narrow street and begin to carry boxes to what has been identified as a school. You can't tell from the outside. The adobe walls come right up to the sidewalk. There is only 3 or 4 feet of sidewalk between the school wall and my posterior hanging out into the street (where the pedestrian is a target). Frankly, I am assuming several hundred kids attend this school and we will make short work of the situation. Boy, was I in for a surprise; in retrospect, a very, very pleasant surprise. There was only one exit. Once through the gate, the students had to either turn left or right because there was a metal guardrail which kept pedestrians on the sidewalk and out of the street. Ten feet from the exit gate at each end of the guard rail stood Gideons armed with boxes of scriptures. By the time it was over, we had covered over 2,000 students who were leaving or entering the school. I believe we gave a New Testament to over 99% of that student population during our 2 hours at the school. Poor children in impoverished schools have always had a soft spot in my heart because I know that in the normal course of life, these are the people who will never receive a free copy of the Word of God. With them, it is only because we were there that some of them will find Jesus. When you know that "you" are the only one who will impact a person's life it makes a difference.
Their faces become a blur and they will not remember who handed them a testament. But, for most of them I looked into their face and their eyes and I suspect that there is imprinted forever in each of our memories a snapshot taken in a milisecond of eternity that will be revealed again as we recall the instant in time when I stuck my hand out and offered them a little free blue book. Folks, we are involved in one very, very, very important ministry.
The long drive back to Monterrey is full of many wonderful memories.
WEDNESDAY, OCTOBER 22, 1997
I have never had a day like today before in my life. This day is so special that I want to let you know how special it is before I describe it. This day we will place 50,000 New Testaments at a university from 7:00am to 7:00pm, from before the sun comes up to after the sun goes down. The action was nonstop and that means I had no "potty-break" all day and I ate a sandwich at lunch with my left hand while continuing to hand out testaments with my right hand. We were on our feet for the entire time, running here and there to catch every student, with no time to sit down and meditate on what we were doing. At 6:30am we started with 50 or 60 boxes. By 11:00am these were all empty and I thought we would be relieved for lunch, but the truck came by and unloaded another 50 or 60 boxes. By 4:00pm these were all empty and I thought we would be finished for the day, but the truck came by and unloaded another 50 or 60 boxes. When that last truck came by, I admit I was disappointed. My feet hurt, my back hurt, I had to go to the bathroom, my speech was occasionally slurred, and I was just flat tired. My partner in crime for the afternoon was Randy who has a rather serious arthritic condition and like the Energizer bunny he just kept on going and going and going, so I was forced to at least keep up with him and smile as we hit the last lap of the race.
Why was this such a special distribution? First there is just the sheer volume of people who received a copy of scripture. Most of these students (maybe 90%) rely on buses to get to and from school. We were stationed at one of the bus stops. I am not talking about one bus arriving every 15 minutes. I am talking about busses arriving every 1 or 2 minutes and disgorging 10, 20, 30, and 40 students at a time. What a wonderful way to distribute scriptures.
Second, so many Christian students would stop during the day and tell me how much our distributions would impact their school. Already, during the day students were asking them about "the little book" these men were passing out. It was an opportunity for the campus Christians to engage in ministry. Several Christian students stopped and looked into my face to very clearly and specifically let me know the great impact this was going to have in their university. Have you ever tried to guess how many conversions take place when 50,000 scriptures are placed? Will 5% be converted, or 10%, or 25%? Do you realize that that would translate into 2,500 or 5,000 or 12,500 people? What an opportunity and what a responsibility!
Third, this was a day when I really appreciated the 45 Gideons involved in this assignment. Like going on combat duty, every soldier-Gideon got a full dose of hand to hand combat and I believe formed a very special and unique bond. I know that I will never forget this day and although I will grumble about the hard work and uncomfortable work conditions, I would not trade this Wednesday for anything. This was a "memory-maker."
Needless to say, going to sleep this evening was not too difficult.
THURSDAY, OCTOBER 23, 1997
I'm sore and my feet hurt. It gives us something to talk about as we crawl into the cars at 6:00am for our last day of distributions. I'm slightly fearful of another day like Wednesday, but am told that we are "only" going to do one community college today. The routine is the same: in order to distribute scriptures, you first have to unload them. So, we start stacking 40, 50, 60 boxes in neat little rows against the wall next to the main gate where every one must enter. At 6:30am the early birds begin to straggle in and it looks like a great day. There are only 2 or 4 or 6 students spaced out at polite 20 foot intervals as they arrive; a piece of cake as we say.
But then life is never simple, is it? Now they are coming by the 20's and 50's and 100's. There are only three of us and our hands are flying as the empty boxes begin to pile up. It soon becomes a race to get the scriptures out of the boxes faster than the students can get past the gate. More nonstop wonderful adventure as God's Word is placed. These things remind me of a buffalo stampede across the Montana plains in 1850. Around 10:00am the stampede stops and we take 80+ year old Dr. Frieas home for the day while Joel and I repair to a local eatery where I am able to order what turn out to be unique pancakes.
Then, it is back for the 1:00pm crowd and we start all over again. What fun. Finally we retire for the afternoon and Joel takes me to the American Airline office to exchange my Saturday return ticket for a Friday return ticket (at a cost of $50.00, ouch).
We return for the late afternoon and evening students. And here I discovered the pain of running out of scriptures. In 22 years of distributing scriptures, I have always had more scriptures than I had people. But here, after spending the morning and afternoon at the school, at the end of our four days of distributions, I was watching our empty boxes pile up until finally I was holding the last scripture from the last box. During the last 5 minutes I thought about the faces passing me, knowing that I would be giving a scripture to some, but not to others. Soon I would be picking and choosing who was going to receive a New Testament and who would not. I would make a difference as to whether someone would have (or not have) God's Word to take home with them. I might make a choice as to whether someone would find Jesus, and another would not. If you looked at 20 college students and you had one New Testament left, how would you choose the one to receive the gift. What would you say to the 19 who won't receive theirs?
When the last scripture was given and the students still kept coming through the gate and I had no more to give them I had a lump in my throat and a pit in my stomach. Oh, we said that the local Gideons would be back, maybe next week, next month, or? But, I hurt for those who did not get their New Testament. Would they really get another chance? I hope so, I really hope so.
THURSDAY EVENING , OCTOBER 23, 1997
The troops assemble for dinner tonight. It is time to report on the goodness of God, to share testimonies, and to say our good-byes. It is a unique moment. This group of men will never gather together again. Together, in 4 days they placed 128,500 scriptures into the hands of 128,500 people. An adventure in the mysteries of eternity. Some of the local Gideons are tearful as they talk about the impact this week has had on them. They too have been challenged and changed as they "launched out into the deep" of their personal and Gideon journey.
It is a good evening together. The bard may have caused Romeo to say, "parting is such sweet sorrow" and I think he may have captured the moment. It was time to go home, but these men represented some very intense and unforgettable moments in our lives that can only be recaptured as memories now. But, how sweet the memories are.
Finally, it is off to bed. Tomorrow, Randy is off to the airport before the sun comes up with Ed and Orv soon to follow. Don is back in Saltillo where he will stay at his orphanage for a month and then come to California delivering my boots on his way (cf "I Left My Boots In Monterrey"). Erskin and I head for the airport together in mid-morning, he to catch a flight going back to Mississippi and me to California.
You know, this is happening all over the world. Every day - day after day after day. In 175 countries other Gideons are doing what I was doing during this week.
It's a lot of work, isn't it? Is it worth it to do what we do? Well, I have my own opinion. What do you think? Thus ended the last day, and they were all very, very good.
I arrived at Los Angeles International Airport (LAX) at 6:30am with one carry-on suitcase. I've learned that you travel light, very light when you are on a working assignment. The American Airline flight to Dallas (DFG) was about as routine as can be. Upon arrival at DFG it was a quick trip to the departure gate to the Monterrey connecting flight where I joined Orv who had just arrived from Sacramento. Fellow team members Ed from Nashville, Tennessee and Randy from Campbellsville, Kentucky would be flying in on later flights. Erskin was already in Monterrey and Don was already in Saltillo. These were the six "gringo's" that would make up the USA part of the team.
We arrived at the Monterrey, Mexico airport about 1:30pm and went through customs. I pushed a button and got a "green light" and didn't have to unpack, but Orv got a "red light" and his suitcase was opened and examined. We waited for about 1 hour and then saw Erskin striding into the airport lounge with the Monterrey Gideon who was in charge of the Scripture Blitz. From the airport it was a 20 minute drive into the center of Monterrey where we exited to a first class modern hotel where we were to headquarter for the week. There was a Carl's Jr. across the street as well as a drug store connected to a "back home" restaurant similar to a Denny's. Obtaining food on this expedition was not one of our major problems. In fact we probably ate more food than we needed.
Saturday was spent unpacking and moving from one floor to another as the hotel (which was oversold) tried to find rooms for us. I ended up on the 4th floor in Erskin's room with Ed as my room mate while Erskin moved down the hall to another room. Randy and Orv found a room on the 2nd floor. Everyone hoped that the "other" guy didn't snore.
Thus ended the first day - and it was good!
SUNDAY, OCTOBER 19, 1997
Sundays are always set aside for Gideons to speak in church services secured by the local Gideons. Training is always a part of a Gideon assignment, and demonstrating how to give a church report is a part of the training. You always want to give people the opportunity to give an offering to support of the placement of scripture. I was assigned to speak at Calvario Bautista. The service was arranged by Joel (pronounced Ho-el) Villareal who was an elder in the church. I am always amazed that when people start singing a familiar song in a foreign language, I absolutely forget the English words to the song. So I lustily began singing "Wonderful Words of Life" in Espanol.
After the service it is always a pleasure to stand with the pastors and greet the people as they leave. At this church, one of the men motioned to me that he wanted to talk. I extended my hand and he placed a twisted, gnarled hand into mine. He was a young lawyer who had contracted some disease that had disfigured his hands and extremities. He had become despondent and found his way to a hotel room in Vera Cruz where he encountered a very special book. It was a book with a jug on it just like the one on my lapel - it was a Gideon placed scripture. There in that hotel room he found hope for his tomorrows and a friend who would walk with him through his difficult times. He took the scripture with him, found his way to a church, and today fellowships with the people at Calvario Bautista - another trophy of the King because someone prayed, someone gave, someone went, someone lifted another box and placed another scripture beside a bed in an empty hotel room. This is one great ministry, isn't it?
After church we were all invited out for a very special luncheon where the specialty of the city was served, "el cabrito" or "the little goat." Now when you are a guest in another country and they are paying for your meal, you learn to eat whatever is placed before you. I found many bones of the "el cabrito" but was hard pressed to find a lot of meat. My seat mate seemed to have received most of the meat. In any event, the fellowship was great and there must have been several hundred people flowing through this Sizzler style restaurant. "Cabrito" is big in Monterrey.
Sunday evening we had a special church service at a local Presbyterian church. Our former International President (Randy) was to give a church report for the edification and training of the local Gideons. Well, it turned out that it was "Gideon" night so we all found our way to the platform, about 10 of us. Randy gave an A+ presentation, the church service was excellent, and everyone had a great time. What a bunch of friendly people we met. A large number of these people are classically trained musicians. It is not unusual to discover in some rather "poor" looking churches, people who would compare very favorably with anyone performing at some of our major USA churches.
It is late, but we decide to cap off the night with a little repast at the corner restaurant. Tomorrow, and for the rest of the week, it is up at 4:30am for our 5:00am prayer meeting in Erskine's room prior to our 6:00am meeting with the Mexican Gideons who have already been moving scriptures into place.
Thus ended the second day - and it was good!
MONDAY, OCTOBER 20, 1997
My, my - 4:30am sure comes early! And the shower didn't work either. But there was hot coffee downstairs and that helped out a lot. Unfortunately, we were told on Wednesday by the hotel staff that they would appreciate it if we would not drink the coffee and eat the cookies that were reserved for the airline pilots and crew who stayed at the hotel.
Each USA Gideon has been assigned to a team of five Mexican Gideons so we have 30 to 40 Gideons in six teams assigned during the day to primarily cover colleges and schools. On this day my team will be covering schools, what we would call junior high or middle schools where the students are between 10 and 15 years of age. My driver is Joel whom I will become very close to during the week. We will literally spend 12 to 14 hours together each day for the rest of the week.
We arrive at the school at 6:30am because these schools operate on two (sometimes three) shifts. The first group of students starts at 7:00am, the second group starts at 1:00pm. The key phrases are "un rogalla" (a gift), "no dinero" (no money), "gratis" (free), and "la biblia" (a little book/Bible). These phrases help distinguish us from other religious groups who are not well received by the local population.
Soon the kids begin to arrive. First they come in ones, twos and threes. But then they come by the tens and twenties. We extend our hand with a scripture and they take them with a smile. The teachers and administrators and janitors and security guards all take a copy because they do not want to be left out. The empty boxes begin to pile up one by one until there are empty boxes everywhere. That is always a good sight to see. By 10:00am it is time to leave the school and repair to a local eating establishment for some "cafe" and "leche" before returning for the 1:00pm crowd.
We arrived back at the school as the morning shift was leaving for home and lunch. There would be about a 1 hour break before the 1:00pm shift arrived. Soon I was engulfed by a sea of bodies. The kids who were going home wanted more New Testaments for their brothers, sisters, mothers, fathers, friends or neighbors. They were soon joined by the 1:00pm students coming from the other direction. I was pushed up against the fence while trying to prevent the crowd from trampling several smaller students who were knocked to the ground.
Finally, in order to promote safety (namely my own) I emptied the box onto the ground and refused to open another until order was restored. A visual, poignant moment when you realize the value of a free gift to people who don't receive very many free gifts in life.
Once order was restored and the morning students were sent on their way, our distributions continued to the afternoon students until everyone had received their special gift, a free New Testament from the Gideons. We completed our distribution and left the school about 2:00pm. The warehouse where the scriptures were kept was close by so we stopped to drop off our empty boxes. The storage facility is actually the manufacturing plant owned by one of the Monterrey Gideons. After scouting around for late afternoon distributions (and finding none) my team, "grupo cinco," returned me to the hotel. Later that evening the USA Gideons gathered for dinner and rehashed the days events. Tomorrow, it is up early at 4:00am as we are traveling one hour west to the city of Saltillo.
TUESDAY, OCTOBER 21, 1997
Wow, 4:00am sure does come early! No time for coffee, we are in the car and on our way to Saltillo before the sun pops its head over the horizon. The Saltillo Camp is in charge of our activities today. We haven't met these Gideons yet, so look forward to a good day with them. Saltillo is about 5,000+ feet above sea level. It is over 400 years of age and used to be the capital city of the Mexican territory that included Texas, New Mexcio, and Arizona before the 1850's.
It is cold and dark when we arrive in Saltillo about 6:00am. We will be distributing scriptures at a University for Engineering and Drafting students. Across the street is a law school that another group of Gideons will be covering. About 12 of us are placed in front of the main entrance as the students begin arriving for their 7:00am classes.
I really enjoy these college and university placements. Students are the same around the world, typically 18 to 24 years old, anxious about their classes and getting good grades so they can graduate and succeed in life. Then we show up early in the morning with our breath creating little puffs of steam and hand them a copy of the only book that can guarantee them a good graduation and success in "eternal" life. This placement goes very well as we are situated on a major intersection where students have to cross a large open area to enter the university. We catch almost all of them before we take our 10:00am morning break at the restaurant across the street.
There are about 40 of us for breakfast; Gideons from Monterrey and Saltillo as well as the gringo's from the USA. After a hearty breakfast we load into the cars for the 1 hour drive to the respected Agricultural University. This well known university specializes in animal and agricultural education. Students come from throughout the Central and South American countries for study. It is about 6,000 feet above sea level and in the countryside. My carload of Gideons is dropped off at a student bus stop - the university is so large that students must use buses to get from one area to another. This is an ideal location for us. Distribution is casual and easy, plus we have the opportunity to talk to the students as they wait for their bus, sometimes for five or ten minutes. And they are always interested in listening to someone speak English to them because so many of them want to practice speaking the English language. It is so very natural to talk about "Jesuchristo en mi corazon" in spanglish while having a very competent Mexican Gideon standing by to really penetrate the language barrier once they are focused.
In every scripture Blitz there is one distribution that really stands out in your memory as the months fade into history. I was privileged to have several this trip. One of those "standout" events took place as we left the Agricultural University. We traveled into Old Saltillo! This part of the city is 400+ years old. The streets are twisted, the sidewalks are narrow, the people are poor, the houses are squalid - in short, this is not a vacation destination for tourists. But, this is where real life and real people are born and live and die. It also is where young boys and girls will never own their own personal copy of God's Word unless we bring it to them.
And so we park the car on the busy narrow street and begin to carry boxes to what has been identified as a school. You can't tell from the outside. The adobe walls come right up to the sidewalk. There is only 3 or 4 feet of sidewalk between the school wall and my posterior hanging out into the street (where the pedestrian is a target). Frankly, I am assuming several hundred kids attend this school and we will make short work of the situation. Boy, was I in for a surprise; in retrospect, a very, very pleasant surprise. There was only one exit. Once through the gate, the students had to either turn left or right because there was a metal guardrail which kept pedestrians on the sidewalk and out of the street. Ten feet from the exit gate at each end of the guard rail stood Gideons armed with boxes of scriptures. By the time it was over, we had covered over 2,000 students who were leaving or entering the school. I believe we gave a New Testament to over 99% of that student population during our 2 hours at the school. Poor children in impoverished schools have always had a soft spot in my heart because I know that in the normal course of life, these are the people who will never receive a free copy of the Word of God. With them, it is only because we were there that some of them will find Jesus. When you know that "you" are the only one who will impact a person's life it makes a difference.
Their faces become a blur and they will not remember who handed them a testament. But, for most of them I looked into their face and their eyes and I suspect that there is imprinted forever in each of our memories a snapshot taken in a milisecond of eternity that will be revealed again as we recall the instant in time when I stuck my hand out and offered them a little free blue book. Folks, we are involved in one very, very, very important ministry.
The long drive back to Monterrey is full of many wonderful memories.
WEDNESDAY, OCTOBER 22, 1997
I have never had a day like today before in my life. This day is so special that I want to let you know how special it is before I describe it. This day we will place 50,000 New Testaments at a university from 7:00am to 7:00pm, from before the sun comes up to after the sun goes down. The action was nonstop and that means I had no "potty-break" all day and I ate a sandwich at lunch with my left hand while continuing to hand out testaments with my right hand. We were on our feet for the entire time, running here and there to catch every student, with no time to sit down and meditate on what we were doing. At 6:30am we started with 50 or 60 boxes. By 11:00am these were all empty and I thought we would be relieved for lunch, but the truck came by and unloaded another 50 or 60 boxes. By 4:00pm these were all empty and I thought we would be finished for the day, but the truck came by and unloaded another 50 or 60 boxes. When that last truck came by, I admit I was disappointed. My feet hurt, my back hurt, I had to go to the bathroom, my speech was occasionally slurred, and I was just flat tired. My partner in crime for the afternoon was Randy who has a rather serious arthritic condition and like the Energizer bunny he just kept on going and going and going, so I was forced to at least keep up with him and smile as we hit the last lap of the race.
Why was this such a special distribution? First there is just the sheer volume of people who received a copy of scripture. Most of these students (maybe 90%) rely on buses to get to and from school. We were stationed at one of the bus stops. I am not talking about one bus arriving every 15 minutes. I am talking about busses arriving every 1 or 2 minutes and disgorging 10, 20, 30, and 40 students at a time. What a wonderful way to distribute scriptures.
Second, so many Christian students would stop during the day and tell me how much our distributions would impact their school. Already, during the day students were asking them about "the little book" these men were passing out. It was an opportunity for the campus Christians to engage in ministry. Several Christian students stopped and looked into my face to very clearly and specifically let me know the great impact this was going to have in their university. Have you ever tried to guess how many conversions take place when 50,000 scriptures are placed? Will 5% be converted, or 10%, or 25%? Do you realize that that would translate into 2,500 or 5,000 or 12,500 people? What an opportunity and what a responsibility!
Third, this was a day when I really appreciated the 45 Gideons involved in this assignment. Like going on combat duty, every soldier-Gideon got a full dose of hand to hand combat and I believe formed a very special and unique bond. I know that I will never forget this day and although I will grumble about the hard work and uncomfortable work conditions, I would not trade this Wednesday for anything. This was a "memory-maker."
Needless to say, going to sleep this evening was not too difficult.
THURSDAY, OCTOBER 23, 1997
I'm sore and my feet hurt. It gives us something to talk about as we crawl into the cars at 6:00am for our last day of distributions. I'm slightly fearful of another day like Wednesday, but am told that we are "only" going to do one community college today. The routine is the same: in order to distribute scriptures, you first have to unload them. So, we start stacking 40, 50, 60 boxes in neat little rows against the wall next to the main gate where every one must enter. At 6:30am the early birds begin to straggle in and it looks like a great day. There are only 2 or 4 or 6 students spaced out at polite 20 foot intervals as they arrive; a piece of cake as we say.
But then life is never simple, is it? Now they are coming by the 20's and 50's and 100's. There are only three of us and our hands are flying as the empty boxes begin to pile up. It soon becomes a race to get the scriptures out of the boxes faster than the students can get past the gate. More nonstop wonderful adventure as God's Word is placed. These things remind me of a buffalo stampede across the Montana plains in 1850. Around 10:00am the stampede stops and we take 80+ year old Dr. Frieas home for the day while Joel and I repair to a local eatery where I am able to order what turn out to be unique pancakes.
Then, it is back for the 1:00pm crowd and we start all over again. What fun. Finally we retire for the afternoon and Joel takes me to the American Airline office to exchange my Saturday return ticket for a Friday return ticket (at a cost of $50.00, ouch).
We return for the late afternoon and evening students. And here I discovered the pain of running out of scriptures. In 22 years of distributing scriptures, I have always had more scriptures than I had people. But here, after spending the morning and afternoon at the school, at the end of our four days of distributions, I was watching our empty boxes pile up until finally I was holding the last scripture from the last box. During the last 5 minutes I thought about the faces passing me, knowing that I would be giving a scripture to some, but not to others. Soon I would be picking and choosing who was going to receive a New Testament and who would not. I would make a difference as to whether someone would have (or not have) God's Word to take home with them. I might make a choice as to whether someone would find Jesus, and another would not. If you looked at 20 college students and you had one New Testament left, how would you choose the one to receive the gift. What would you say to the 19 who won't receive theirs?
When the last scripture was given and the students still kept coming through the gate and I had no more to give them I had a lump in my throat and a pit in my stomach. Oh, we said that the local Gideons would be back, maybe next week, next month, or? But, I hurt for those who did not get their New Testament. Would they really get another chance? I hope so, I really hope so.
THURSDAY EVENING , OCTOBER 23, 1997
The troops assemble for dinner tonight. It is time to report on the goodness of God, to share testimonies, and to say our good-byes. It is a unique moment. This group of men will never gather together again. Together, in 4 days they placed 128,500 scriptures into the hands of 128,500 people. An adventure in the mysteries of eternity. Some of the local Gideons are tearful as they talk about the impact this week has had on them. They too have been challenged and changed as they "launched out into the deep" of their personal and Gideon journey.
It is a good evening together. The bard may have caused Romeo to say, "parting is such sweet sorrow" and I think he may have captured the moment. It was time to go home, but these men represented some very intense and unforgettable moments in our lives that can only be recaptured as memories now. But, how sweet the memories are.
Finally, it is off to bed. Tomorrow, Randy is off to the airport before the sun comes up with Ed and Orv soon to follow. Don is back in Saltillo where he will stay at his orphanage for a month and then come to California delivering my boots on his way (cf "I Left My Boots In Monterrey"). Erskin and I head for the airport together in mid-morning, he to catch a flight going back to Mississippi and me to California.
You know, this is happening all over the world. Every day - day after day after day. In 175 countries other Gideons are doing what I was doing during this week.
It's a lot of work, isn't it? Is it worth it to do what we do? Well, I have my own opinion. What do you think? Thus ended the last day, and they were all very, very good.
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