Anti-terror rules force Canada’s Gideons to cut international ties
GUELPH, ON - Federal legislation aimed at making sure charitable donations going out of the country are not used for illicit purposes has forced The Gideons International in Canada to end a partnership with its U.S.-based parent organization that began in 1911.
"It's always sad to walk away from a 100-year-old relationship," says executive director Paul Mercer. "But we live in a post-9/11 era and the flow of money will always be a concern to the government. We understand. We're just trying to follow the rules."
Canada Revenue Agency (CRA) rules now require every charity to exercise direct supervision and control over the funds it sends to organizations in other countries, including how that money is to be used. It is concerned that such funds could be used to fund terrorist activities.
Up to now, the Gideons in Canada–known for taking God's Word to places such as hotels, prisons and hospitals–had been sending up to $3 million a year to The Gideons International in Nashville, Tennessee, to help pay for sending Bibles and New Testaments in over 90 languages into 194 countries.
That international role effectively ended in January when Canada's Gideons voted to bring their association's bylaws in line with CRA regulations. Since that threw them out of sync with the laws governing their ministry partners, Gideons International decided it had no choice but to cut its ties with Canada.
Mercer insists the decision was made prayerfully and in a spirit of mutual understanding and respect.
"They have a constitution and bylaws as we do, and we all need to live up to those governing documents," he says. "When you're governing a ministry in 194 different countries, there needs to be a unity of effort. It just makes sense to us."
Within Canada, the ministry will continue much as before, using the same name and logo. But its work overseas - where more than two-thirds of the Gideon Bibles are distributed - will change significantly, as it seeks to enlist new Canadian partners.
"Talks are just getting underway with ministries who desire our strengths in Scripture distribution and personal witnessing," Mercer says. These partnerships are expected to be announced over the next few months.
"I know there's a great hunger for Scriptures around the world," he says, "so we feel the difficulty will be that the opportunities for partnerships will be so many that there will have to be some picking and choosing, because we have limited resources."
As for the laws that made these changes necessary, Mercer says the Canadian Council of Christian Charities (CCCC) "tells me there's really no hope that the government's going to relax those rules."
"This has been an area of focus for the Canada Revenue Agency in recent years," Heather Card, the council's chief operating officer, wrote in an e-mail. "CCCC suggests that charities look carefully at their activities outside Canada to ensure they are meeting CRA guidelines in order to maintain their charity status."
The Gideons estimate that over the years, its grassroots network of close to 300,000 members has handed out 1.6 billion Bibles and New Testaments across the globe.
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