Sowing Over A Half Million Seeds Of Hope In Argentina

On Saturday, May 4th, 23 men who serve in The Gideons International arrived in Buenos Aires, Argentina to help carry out an International Scripture Blitz in which they would share copies of God’s Word and spread the hope of eternal life found only in Jesus Christ. The men came from the U.S., Sweden, Finland, the British Isles, South Africa, Republic of China and Japan. They would be working with men and women who serve as Gideons and Auxiliary in Argentina.

Trusting In God To Overcome The Challenges

Many of the Gideons in Argentina who would be instrumental in the organization of the blitz were new members and had no experience in regards to carrying out an International Scripture Blitz.

However, where man sees challenges, God sees opportunity to grow the faith of His followers. The members in Argentina sought God’s divine guidance in planning for the event. By the time members from around the world were arriving in Argentina for the blitz, preparations for the two-week event were all in place.

One prayer concern on the list was the need for a translator to accompany the distribution team to Escobar, just outside of Buenos Aires. Just one week prior to the beginning of the blitz, one of the Argentina Gideons spoke at a church service. After the service, a young man named Adrian approached the Gideon and inquired about serving in The Gideons International. That week, Adrian met with the local Gideon camp president. During the conversation, Adrian shared that he had, in fact, been working as an English translator. And thus, a new translator for the team was now in place. The blitz hadn’t even begun, but God was clearly answering prayers.

Prayers were also being lifted up for God’s intervention in a looming teachers’ strike, as the majority of distributions scheduled for the blitz were to take place at schools. There were also many prayers for the health and stamina of the blitz team members, as they would need to endure the 15-hour days of loading, unloading and distributing Scriptures. The Lord blessed all of those prayers. The teachers’ strike was averted, and the team remained healthy and energetic for the duration of the blitz.

“Whenever a problem arose, a solution always followed when we just lifted up the situation in prayer and trusted the Lord to handle it,” said one team member after the blitz.

One day, one of the team’s vehicles was experiencing some mysterious electrical problems which caused the navigation unit to fail. However, the team was able to quickly utilize the electrical know-how of a team member who had just arrived. He was able to rig up the GPS unit so it could operate directly off the car battery.

The local Gideons really took ownership of this event and the new members jumped into action. Each evening after the distributions, the teams would reconvene to review the progress made that day, and then they would reconfigure their distribution plans for the following day for maximum impact. Their reliance on God for the wisdom to carry out His will was being rewarded.

The Seeds That Fell On Good Soil

As the Gideons went out each day and shared copies of God’s Word while witnessing to the lost, the Holy Spirit was at work. Team members were returning to the hotel in the evenings sharing salvation testimonies of people receiving Scriptures that day. These daily victories kept the Gideons’ hearts on fire, inspiring them to get up the next day and go out again.

The Man Who Bicycled Around The City To Find Gideons

During a secondary school distribution, a man named Raul rode up on his bicycle and asked for a New Testament.

Raul said a Gideon had given him a New Testament years ago. However, he had since lost it. That Testament was so important to him that he told his nine sons that each of them should receive a New Testament directly from a Gideon, as he had.

One of Raul’s sons received a New Testament from a Gideon during a distribution at his school. When Raul learned of this, he became so excited that he got on his bicycle and rode around the city of Escobar to find the Gideons.

Upon hearing Raul share this story, one of the Gideons asked, “So are you now a Christian?”

Raul paused a moment and replied, “I don’t know.”

The Gideon then began to share the Gospel with Raul, and walked him through the plan of salvation in the back of his New Testament. It was then that Raul prayed to receive Jesus as his Lord and Savior. After the prayer, the Gideons cheered and shared hugs with this new brother in Christ.

Week Two Moves To Mar Del Plata And Rosario

After a week in Buenos Aires, the teams divided up to cover more ground during week two. One group traveled south to Mar Del Plata and another group went north to Rosario in the Santa Fe Province. Because of the Lord’s provision, both teams would find adequate driver and interpreter support to help carry out their distribution activities each day.

“Why?”

Blitz team leader Jim Lake was distributing Scriptures at one of the college campuses when two English-speaking Argentine female students asked him, “Why do you come so far to do this?”

He explained that he, and other Gideons who travel there, do so at their own expense to distribute God’s Word and share the hope found only in Jesus Christ.

Next, he shared with them how Christ wanted to have a relationship with his followers. He asked if they wanted to have that relationship. Two of the young women, Mary and Yvonna, agreed and then prayed to receive Christ. At which point, Jim then shared with them the importance of joining a church that preached from the Bible. He then taught these two new sisters in Christ a classic hymn…

“I have decided to follow Jesus

I have decided to follow Jesus

I have decided to follow Jesus

No turning back

No turning back” *

Local Auxiliary Brought Much Support

Under the guidance of the Holy Spirit, the apostle Paul wrote, “Be anxious for nothing, but in everything by prayer and supplication, with thanksgiving, let your requests be made known to God…” (Philippians 4:6). The local Auxiliary offered great support in the important role of lifting up requests for the success of the blitz in prayer. They also participated in distributions of Scriptures.

The National Director for The Gideons International in Argentina, Peter Tchakerian, was very appreciative of all that the local Auxiliary was doing on this blitz. Especially given that many of them were new members. “The Auxiliary was there lifting us in prayers as we were going out on distributions. And they helped us share God’s Word,” says Tchakerian.

Lives Changed

By the end of the two weeks, more than 528,000 Scriptures had been distributed at a number of venues including schools, universities, hospitals, nursing homes and police stations.

The distribution teams recorded 91 one-on-one salvation testimonies. Also, more than 1,900 people indicated they prayed to receive Christ upon hearing Gideons present the Gospel within group settings. While it’s only known in heaven how many people truly gave their lives to Christ during this blitz, we pray that the people whom we encountered were sincere in their faith decisions and that they will join Bible-believing churches where they can grow in their faith and service to the Lord.

Though the 23 men who traveled to Argentina have returned to their homelands, the work of The Gideons International will continue by the Gideons and Auxiliary who live there. Argentina has nearly 3,000 men and women serving in The Gideons International. Our ministry there was first organized in 1959 and has placed and distributed more than 32 million Scriptures to date.

Mark McNett, who participated in this blitz, encourages new members to get involved in their camp’s distribution events. He said that he recently met with one of his camp’s new members and told him, “If you’ve never had the opportunity to see someone come to Christ, the place to get that opportunity is on a Scripture blitz.” McNett himself has had many of those opportunities and says, “To have a new brother or sister in Christ is the most joyous experience any person could have in life besides their own salvation experience.”

240 Little Hands Reaching For Heaven

At a private secondary school sponsored by Christians which caters to many children who come from broken homes, the school administrator allowed a team of Gideons to visit classroom by classroom to distribute New Testaments. In each class, the team would ask what subject was being taught and then they would share the Gospel with references to history, science, and math. As they finished with the last class, the administrator was so impressed, she asked the Gideons to stay so they could call an assembly at which the distribution team could share the Gospel.

So all the classes gathered, and a Gideon shared the plan of salvation. He then asked, “Do you want to receive Jesus today?” The children responded—240 boys and girls raised their hands. Please pray that God’s Word will continue to help these precious children grow in the knowledge of His love and mercy.

Please pray for the others who received Scriptures during this two-week event. Pray that they and others who are yet to be saved may come to know Jesus as their Lord and Savior.

The blitz team thanks all of our members and supporters who prayed and provided the Scriptures for this blitz, as well as the many pastors and churches in Argentina who partnered with us in making the event a success. And of course, we give all glory and praise to God for all that He did during those two weeks and all He will do in hearts and lives of those who received His Word during this blitz.