Watch the story of how a young man in the US Navy discovers the gripping truth of God’s Word while hundreds of feet below sea level.
You can provide more service men and women like Michael a life-changing experience with God by giving to The Gideons International. To start making a difference today, click here.
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Pastor Tim Mattox
Tim Mattox was born and raised by his mother in the USA, where he lived a fairly normal life until he reached his early teens. Struggling with adolescence, Tim began experimenting with alcohol and drugs to gain the acceptance of his peers.
At age 16, he lost his mother to cancer. Tim was angry and disillusioned with life and turned to stronger drugs to numb the pain. As Tim reached his early twenties, he lost all sense of self-worth, and his life was filled with whatever was necessary to maintain his drug habits. This eventually landed him in jail.
In his jail cell, he became clear-headed for the first time in years. Tim began to realize who he had become and felt a crippling sense of hopelessness. One day, he found a small Gideon-placed New Testament in his cell and began thumbing through the pages, landing in the book of Matthew. While he struggled at first to understand the words, soon Tim was captivated as the pages narrated the extraordinary life of Jesus Christ. Soon, Tim’s understanding of a better life led him to a fully surrendered heart.
Choosing Life
Tim realized God was offering him a brand new start. He understood what God was saying through the words, “Seek first the Kingdom of God and His righteousness… do not worry about tomorrow,” (Matthew 6:33-34). Tim’s conviction was strong. He confessed his sins to God that day and invited Jesus to be his Savior and Lord. The painful, empty, and visionless life he had led was replaced with joy, purpose, and a future. Ephesians 2:4-5 taught him, “But God, who is rich in mercy, because of His great love with which He loved us, even when we were dead in trespasses, made us alive together with Christ.”
Tim saw only one reasonable response to what God had done for him: to tell anyone who would listen about the life-changing power of Jesus. It was during this time Tim began doing ministry with youth and the elderly. The simple and solid commitment to the study of God’s Word revolutionized Tim’s relationship with God. Working in him and through him, the Lord was gracious in using this unfinished vessel to reach others with His love.
Reaping the Harvest
In 1994, Tim went on a 10-day mission trip to Moscow, where God confirmed His call on Tim’s life to work in the mission field long term. Later that year, Tim returned to Moscow to reach people on the streets with Jesus’ love, work with local churches, and disciple young believers. During the 8 years spent in Moscow, Tim met and married his wife, planted a church, and received his pastor’s ordination.
Pastor Tim and his wife Darlene, along with their daughters, currently live in Cyprus, where he serves as the pastor of Calvary Chapel Paphos. Pastor Tim and his wife disciple a multicultural community of believers from all corners of the globe.
It is with an everlasting love and kindness our God draws us to Himself (Jeremiah 31:3). Pastor Tim’s story gives us hope by reminding us no one is beyond salvation and God’s plan is perfect for those who accept his Lordship.
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We recently received this testimony from a Gideon in Pennsylvania. It shows how the Lord can orchestrate divine appointments when you least expect it:
When I joined The Gideons International in the 1980’s, it was to win men, women, boys, and girls to Christ. Soon after joining, I volunteered through my church to assist with a Bible school which was located in a housing project with a high crime rate.
After Bible school one day, I was leaning against a wall, and a young boy named Marcus came over. We started talking and I gave him a New Testament. I spent time reviewing it with him and showed him the Plan of Salvation in the back. I then walked him to his home.
It was some time later before I returned to look for Marcus. I was certain I could find him since I knew his name, and he had a birthmark on his hairline with gray hairs. I knew I could easily describe him to others who might be able to help me find him. I asked some of the neighborhood kids about him. One knew him and told me he moved away.
Twenty-five years passed, and one day as I was driving to my church, I saw a man walking on the street. I like to witness to people I encounter, and felt I needed to talk to him. I turned at the next side street, and as he walked by, I offered him a New Testament.
I said, “Sir, you can’t go any further on Lincoln Way without a New Testament.” He told me he was a Christian and that he had a New Testament just like the one I offered him. He then said, “I will share it with another,” and asked if I could recommend a good church.
I suggested he ride with me to my church since that’s where I was headed. As we rode together, he explained that a man gave him a New Testament many years ago, and he had then become a Christian because of it.
I looked closely at him. “Is your name Marcus?” I asked. Then, I saw that birthmark.
I said, “I gave that New Testament to you twenty-five years ago!” We rode on to my church where we sat and reminisced. I apologized for not coming back sooner to help him after he made his commitment. He said it was okay because his family moved soon after he received the New Testament. He added that I “planted the seed.” His brother also accepted the Lord, and was later murdered. Marcus was grateful that his brother had turned to Christ before his tragic death.
As we walked back to my car, I felt like I was on walking on clouds instead of asphalt. I was so thankful to God that he allowed me to meet Marcus again after all these years.
Robert Cozad
White Oak, PA
Edited by The Gideons International
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By the age of 27, Phil DelRe was a cocaine addict and a major cocaine dealer in the Chicago area. He survived three overdoses that should have killed him. After one overdose, he looked up to the heavens and said, “Father, I know what I’m doing is wrong, but I can’t stop it.” Three days later on November 10, 1981, a team of special agents from the Drug Enforcement Administration raided his home and arrested him for conspiracy to deliver cocaine.
At the time, Phil’s case represented the largest cocaine seizure in Illinois’ history. He was facing a sentence of six to 30 years in the state penitentiary. One morning, while locked up inside the Cook County Jail, Phil turned around and saw a little brown book on a table. It was a New Testament placed by The Gideons International. God now had his attention. To see what happened next, watch Phil’s inspiring testimony recorded this July at our International Convention.
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For 27 years, a Gideon visited Pat Shelton in jail. Each time, the Gideon told Pat, “Jesus loves you, and I love you.”
One day, Pat decided to read the Bible the Gideon gave him, and God changed Pat’s heart. Today, Reverend Pat Shelton leads a prison ministry that has seen over 500 prisoners surrender to the Lord. Watch Reverend Pat’s story about the power of compassion and persistence of Gideons who serve the Lord through jail ministry.
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Alan Robison grew up attending church with his mom and dad every week. However, as he grew into an adult, he fell into alcoholism. On the outside, he appeared fine. He had a good job and provided for his wife and children. But on the inside, he was empty.
One Christmas Eve at home, Alan happened to run across a New Testament distributed through The Gideons International. Watch his testimony to see how the Lord used that Scripture to begin speaking to Alan’s heart.
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During the 1970s, Bill Saye ran the largest drug operation in the USA. However, his criminal activity carried devastating consequences for him and his family. He escaped five attempts on his life, his wife was murdered, his son was kidnapped, and his daughter was severely beaten.
Bill was eventually arrested. One day in prison, with all hope seemingly lost, he heard God speak to him: “Bill, you’ve had everything this world has to offer and look where it got you.”
Broken by the consequences of a lifetime of making the wrong choices, Bill walked to the prison chapel where he spotted something lying on a table in the chapel library. It was a Gideon-placed New Testament. Watch his testimony to see how that New Testament would set him on a path to change his life.
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The Gideon-placed hotel Bible that inspired a father to write a special love letter to his son.
On the outside, it looked like one of millions of other hotel Bibles placed by The Gideons. However, when Rodney Jones, a Nashville-area Gideon opened it, he discovered this copy of God’s Word contained an extra message–one that would bring him and many others to tears.
It was a Saturday evening and Jones was in his guest room at a motel in Gatlinburg, TN. He was preparing for a message he would be delivering as a guest speaker at a church service the next morning. He needed a Scripture and opened the nightstand drawer to retrieve the Gideon-placed hotel Bible.
When he opened the Scripture, he discovered someone had written a note on the inside back cover. It read:
Dedicated to the memory of My Precious Son, Christopher, Age 4, who departed this life to be born in Heaven, April 20, 1992.
Dear Christopher, it’s hard to believe it’s been almost seven years since you died. It seems almost like a lifetime ago. I miss you still and know I always will. I will miss all the fun we would have had together and perhaps Cameron, your nephew, will fulfill some of those lost memories. You would like Cameron, He’s terrific, and you would be very proud of your sister Kim and Kevin. They have turned out so well. I know you know all about what’s going on, but it’s not the same as having you here. I will see you again one day and maybe then we can catch up on lost time. I still love you with all my heart and will never forget you.
Love, Dad 4/10/99.
As Jones read the letter, tears began rolling down his cheeks. He kept the Bible, and immediately put in a request for a replacement copy for the room.
He began carrying that copy of God’s Word to churches where he visited to guest speak on behalf of The Gideons International. As he shared testimonies with congregations of lives changed after encountering a Scripture placed by The Gideons, he included the story of how he believed this copy of God’s Word provided comfort and peace to a father who lost a son.
One day, he was talking with a pastor of a church where he was planning to speak. He began telling the story of this Bible. After he read the letter penned by the dad, Jones looked up to see an expression of amazement on the pastor’s face.
“I know who wrote that,” the pastor said. “He and his wife attend this church!”
That Sunday, Jones stood in the front of the church, knowing that the father who penned the letter was sitting in the audience.
As Jones shared the story and read the father’s note, many in the congregation began to recognize the names and the events in the story. Afterwards, the pastor announced that this note was, in fact, penned by the father in the audience. By that time, most of the congregation was in tears.
At the conclusion of the church service, the father and his wife talked with Jones, thanking him for sharing the story, and encouraging him to continue sharing the story in hope that others may find comfort from it as well.
Edited by The Gideons International
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On April 17th, Mary Kay Beard passed into the presence of the Lord. As a frequent speaker at events of The Gideons International, she shared the powerful testimony of how Jesus changed her life. And there’s no doubt her story will continue to inspire those who hear it.
As a notorious safecracker and bank robber, Mary was on the FBI’s Most Wanted list by the age of 27.
On September 22, 1972, the law caught up with Mary and she was arrested. While awaiting trial from her Alabama jail cell, she noticed one of the Bibles placed there by Gideons.
When Mary opened that Bible, she read the following passage:
“A new heart also will I give you, and a new spirit will I put within you: and I will take away the stony heart of your flesh, and I will give you a heart of flesh. And I will put my spirit within you and cause you to walk in my statutes, and ye shall keep my judgments, and do them.” – Ezekiel 36:26-27
Lying restless in her bunk in the middle of the night, Mary began reviewing her life. The memories were painful.
She had left home at the age of 15 after suffering a nervous breakdown brought about by her intense hatred of her alcoholic father. A few years later, she married a man she had only known for nine days. She later discovered he was a criminal and eventually she became one, too.
Reflecting on her poor choices while behind those prison bars, the passage from Ezekiel echoed in her mind.
Desperate and broken, Mary slid down from the metal bunk and onto the cold, cement floor. Kneeling she prayed, “Lord help me. I’ve made such a mess of everything. If your promise is true, and if You love me as John 3:16 says, then take my life and make it whatever You want it to be.”
Mary later recalled what happened after that prayer. “As tears streamed unchecked down my face, a flood of joy filled my whole being. I felt light, as though I’d been loosed from a mighty anchor.”
“Since becoming a child of God, I have learned that many people out there in the free world are prisoners in way that is worse than my confinement,” Mary wrote from her prison cell in 1978. “They’re prisoners of lust and greed, of drink and drugs, of hatred and selfishness, and of a thousand other things. They are slaves of their own passions, neither happy nor free. I know because I have been one.”
Mary’s experience behind bars also helped her to understand the loneliness of those in confinement. After she was released from prison, she founded the Angel Tree ministry to help prisoners and their families draw closer together by drawing them to Jesus. For more than 25 years, she served in ministry, reaching the lost by showing God’s love.
As we praise God for Mary Kay Beard’s testimony, our thoughts and prayers are with her friends and family.
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