Canadian Gideons blitz Toronto with Bibles
TORONTO, ON—More than 200 members of the Gideons International in Canada descended on Toronto recently to hand out free Bibles and New Testaments during a three-day "Bible Blitz."
Gideons' director of strategic planning and training, Neil Bramble says that volunteers travelled to Ontario from across Canada to participate in the March 31-April 2 event. Throughout the blitz, they shared their faith with strangers, handed out more than 100,000 pocket size New Testaments at train stations, public squares, universities and high schools, and placed new Bibles in some 17,000 hotel rooms.
Scriptures were also placed in medical waiting rooms, doctors' offices, police stations and fire halls.
The event was held as part of a new outreach strategy adopted by the organization "to reach our communities for Christ," Bramble says, adding, "we see the Bible Blitzes as one way of helping to do that."
The outreach strategy is part of a strategic plan for the Gideons in Canada that includes a new mission and vision statement.
"The motivation [for the outreach strategy] is to breathe new life into the association and then focus the mission more sharply and make a stronger effort, particularly on the personal evangelism side of it," Bramble explains.
"In a sense, we're going back to our roots. We've always had personal witnessing as one of the ways we reach others, but we're really focussing on it now, and more and more giving our members some training."
Cross-cultural impact
During the handout, a number of people reportedly decided to become Christians. "I was really impressed with the cross-cultural receptivity to the Testaments," says Bramble. "People from all ethnic backgrounds took Testaments quite readily. It was surprising and really a blessing to see who took them."
This was the third such blitz for the organization. The first took place in Montreal in the fall of 2003, and the second in Halifax in the spring of 2004. The Gideons hope to hold a similar event in Vancouver next year.
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