Blitz
Eagerness for the Gospel in The Philippines
When God’s faithfulness aligns with the obedience of His people, amazing things unfold. Earlier this year, nearly 250 Gideons and Auxiliary from 30 camps in The Philippines welcomed an international team of 22 Gideons to Quezon City for the 2024 Philippines International Scripture Blitz (ISB). For two weeks, the teams would visit schools, college campuses, military installations, and other approved venues to share copies of God’s Word and win others for the Lord Jesus Christ.
Planning for the event began nearly a year prior. Late in the planning process, challenges began to arise that could have been very discouraging. The Lord was faithful, and so were Gideons and Auxiliary. The Lord made a way for His Word to go forth despite events that could have derailed the team’s plans such as a potential Scripture supply shortage and a 7.4-magnitude earthquake off the shore of Mindanao. After much prayer and consultation, blitz leaders agreed to redirect 300,000 Scriptures originally intended for Davao City to Manila.
Striving Side by Side in The Philippines
Blitz teams started each day with prayer at 4:30 a.m. in the hotel lobby. Local camps were well represented by many younger members. Auxiliary were also very active, serving eight days during the event.
Getting to and from distribution points in The Philippines can be a challenge. Gideons and Auxiliary from the area provided valuable transportation each day, helping the international teams get to their distributions, to restaurants for meal breaks, and back to the hotel at night. Each evening, the teams would encourage one another as they shared testimonies of how they saw the Lord show up during the day.
“Because the primary blitz location was Quezon City, many of the Manila area camps were taking us to distribution locations with which they were not familiar,” according to Bob, a Gideon from Indiana and the blitz team leader. “Their dedication to working outside of their camps was instrumental to the blitz’s success.”
Young Students Welcome Gideons
As Gideons arrived at the school campuses, many of the school authorities enthusiastically opened the doors for the teams to enter the classrooms to share copies of God’s Word. Prayers being lifted to the Lord for the blitz efforts were being answered. Students were thrilled to see Gideons bringing them copies of God’s Word.
“Many of the students interacted with us as we went to each classroom. You could see the eagerness in their smiles and eyes as they accepted the Testament.”—Terry, a Gideon from Tennessee
Neal, a Gideon from Tennessee, saw eagerness for the Gospel at one school. He says, “At least six students signed the signature line in the back of their Testaments after the Gospel was presented. As I was exiting the classroom following my presentation, I overheard the teacher tell his students to open their Testaments, and he then began teaching from God’s Word.”
A Gideon from Australia, named David, expressed how blessed he felt to be in The Philippines to share the love of Jesus with the youth. One of those youth was Allen, who received Christ after David share the Gospel and a Scripture with him.
Our Great God Delivers Great Results
Another camp was busy with the Armed Forces and The Philippines National Police. “All of the commanders wanted Scriptures for their troops!” said Matt, a Gideon from Washington and a retired colonel. Gideons met with chaplains in every service branch of the military and with the police. Approximately 100,000 Testaments were shared with the Armed Forces of The Philippines during the two weeks. Gideons also placed Scriptures in the Armed Forces hospital, after which they took time to pray with patients.
Despite some of the challenges that arose before the blitz, the Lord blessed the two-week effort, enabling Gideons and Auxiliary to reach over 800,000 people with the hope of the Gospel. It was mentioned more than once how the energy of the international team members was inspiring local Gideons to continue the work after the international team returned home.
“In all of this, God showed His sovereignty and grace.”—Norman, a Gideon leader in The Philippines.
“In all of this, God showed His sovereignty and grace,” says Norman, a Gideon leader in The Philippines. “Prayers and last-minute coordination efforts helped keep everything moving in a direction that the Lord was ready to bless in ways only He could.”
We praise the Lord for the dedication of all those who participated in the blitz. Also, we are grateful for the prayers and support of churches, donors, and others—they continue to help us win others for the Lord.