A report from Gene

  Last evening, at the Quality Inn, we had our monthly Camp Meeting.  As advertised it was a great time of food, fellowship, instruction in the Gideon Ministry and prayer.  After Howard and Jan retired, following our Christmas Tri-Camp meeting,Chaplain Don Turner; took on the mission of finding another caterer and he found us a good one in Mr. Wayne North.  Please come next month if you missed it, and join us in a very good meal.  
Our program was about the Gideon International Convention and the many blessings received by attending the convention.  In addition to the remarks in the program, several of our members told us of their personal experiences.  In every case the experience was worth the trip to the convention.  The International Convention is in Orlando this year from July 23 to 28.  Our State convention is fast approaching.  The convention is in Florence, AL March 8 to 10 with the blitz on the 7th.  Please check "the connection" for registration information.  Over the past several years Carolyn and I have always been very proud of the number of members from our camp who attend the convention and we always have a great time.  If you have never been and need some additional information, please contact another member or me for assistance. 
  There are a few items that are of great and immediate importance. Every member can positively impact each of these issues.  First is the issue of dues.  Please ensure that your dues, both Gideon and Auxiliary, are paid up to date.  This year the end date for dues is March 31.  After that date, your membership will be suspended.  Be assured that even if you cannot be as active as you would like, there are still many ways that you can contribute.  If paying your membership dues is all you can do, you should know that, that membership touches lives all around the world and leads people to Jesus Christ. $40.00 a year works out to under 11 cents a day.  I can't think of a better way to spend that 11 cents.  Please don't step back from the Gideon Ministry. It feeds a world of lost and spiritually hungry people who are counting on you.
  The February meeting is our Annual Membership Dinner.  Gary Walker is working hard on this, but he needs our help to make it a success.  Please invite any professional and/or business people, involved in a local Church that you know will make a good Gideon, to the meeting.  If you know someone and are not able to make direct contact, give Gary the information and he will handle it.  We must all be active in this.  
Remember, the 100 day countdown is over around the end of February.  Make your donations to our treasurer, and I will offer our Camp donation at the State Convention in March.
I will do my best to keep you all informed, Please contact me if you have any item you feel would be of interest to our members.  Thank you for being a Gideon.  Gene

January Gideon Newsletter

Reason for the Season

Never forget the reason for the season. 

Happy birthday to Jesus and thank you for coming to save us and promise eternal life.

a moment of silence

Our hearts, thoughts and prayers go out to all who are suffering.

Christmas in Ozark

We had a God Filled evening last night at our Tri Camp Christmas Gathering.  If you were there, I know you were blessed several times over...if you were unable to attend, be assured that we missed you and look forward to seeing you soon.  Our speakers, Margie McCall and David Miller were both inspirational.  Their talks not only helped each of us to stay focused on our special Gideon and Auxiliary mission, they led to a very giving Faith Fund donation.  Our Faith Fund goal for the evening was $1000.00...we currently have an unofficial count of over $1625.00.  If that wasn't enough of a blessing, Howard and Jan, our caterers from Country Foods, gave us a special price for our meal.  This was the last catered event that we will enjoy from Howard and Jan before they retire at the end of this month.  The special price was so good that each camp present at the Tri Camp meeting should receive additional funds to go into their respective Faith Fund ministries.  Our special music was truly special and touched every giving heart at the meeting.  If you have a special event that needs some great, Christian entertainment, please contact them through Margie.  Again, I send a heartfelt thank you on behalf of all those lives that will be forever changed because someone prayed, someone gave, someone went, and someone placed a bible in a needful life...you are that someone. Merry Christmas and a God-Filled New Year.  Check out the slideshow at the right to see some scenes from the dinner on December 13, 2012.
 Gene

Prayer List

Please check the prayer list page each day to add these individuals to your prayers.

Next Meeting, Nov. 8, 2012

This Month’s Camp Meeting will be this Thursday, November 8th, at 6:30 PM, at the Quality Inn in Ozark.
To All Our Camp Members,
Many of us have heard about, or possibly even experienced, examples of God’s perfect timing as He’s worked to touch hearts and lives through the Gideon ministry.  Often Gideon testimonies are how God can bring about the world-wide growth of his kingdom as He puts the right people in the right place…at exactly the right moment.  During our training session, Around the Clock, Around the World, you will hear heart-touching reports from members and moving testimonies from people who turned to Christ through a Gideon-placed scripture.  Many lives were radically changed as a result of God’s perfect timing.      $3080.00.  That’s the total of our Faith Fund offering for our past Pastor Appreciation Banquet.  As you remember, our goal was $3000.00…a goal that some of us thought was more than the abilities of our camp.  God continues to bless our camp and the distribution efforts of our Gideon ministry.  Lives will be touched and changed and souls will be won to an eternal life with Christ because of what you do as a member of this camp.       We have several other challenges currently facing us, and I am asking everyone to be involved in stepping up to each challenge.  If you are a church representative and you have not yet secured a service, please do so as soon as possible.  So far this year we have had 21 services and have received $10,301.00 in contributions, and while we are where we should be for the year, we must stay on track and focused on our church partnership.       February 14 will be our New Member Dinner, and we need contacts.  Please continue to cast your net toward Gideon prospects.  Our goal this year is to grow by a net one Gideon and Auxiliary…we can only do that if we collectively and regularly reach out to member prospects.	I encourage each of us to pay our dues and to keep our membership active.  Each member’s dues has a dramatic impact on the effectiveness of our camp as we reach our through Bible distributions to lead the lost to Christ.       I hope to see each of you at our monthly Camp meeting.  Our meetings are always times of wonderful fellowship and sharing, and the information gained at our meetings helps each of us to stay focused on our ministry mission and to be better prepared when we are called to witness.  Thank you for being a Gideon.  Gene Greetings Auxiliary Sisters,       Ladies, God is good.  Have you enjoyed this wonderful cool fall weather?  Do you have a great family?  Is your health ok?  If the answer is yes to any of these questions then thank God for ALL your many blessings.  Everything we have we owe to our Lord and Savior.      Our Gideon President, Gene Nelson, touched base on our training session this month.  Let’s get together and hear the moving testimonies.      Looking forward to seeing each of you this Thursday.      Thanks to each of you for all that you do in this ministry, in the church and in the community. “Let us come before him with thanksgiving and extol him with music and song.”  Psalm 95:2 God Bless You and Your Families, Lynn

Message from the President

Last evening we enjoyed a great time of fellowship with our camp members, special guests, and pastors and their wives at our annual PAB at Ozark Baptist Church.  The food was wonderful and as usual, there was plenty of it.  Our program of special music by Dr. Frank Jacobs and Cheryl Brown, auxiliary report by Mrs Faile, a touching testimony by fellow Gideon Edsel Bonds, and a banquet message by John Faile led up to the Faith Fund donation as the evening closed.  Our camp had set a Faith Fund goal of $3000.00, and our current Faith Fund total stands at $2880.00...just $120.00 from our goal.  I encourage you to make your Faith Fund contribution today to our treasurer at PO Box 291 Ozark 36361.  I hope to send out another email soon with the news that we reached our goal.  We need to also give a special thanks to our camp VP Art Warren, auxiliary president Lynn Price, and all the camp members that were involved over the past few months in getting and keeping the PAB on track. 

Tomorrow, Wednesday 10 October, we have a distribution opportunity serving with the Pike County Gideon Camp and their distribution at Troy University.  Several of us are meeting at the Quality Inn parking lot at 5:45 AM.  We will go from there to Troy University for a breakfast and a meeting before beginning the distribution.  This has always been a special opportunity to share God’s word with the young people at the university.  I hope to see you at the Quality Inn at 5:45 or the Baptist Center at Troy University at 6:30. 

Our next meeting will be November 8 at the Quality Inn...see you there.

Thank you for being a Gideon.   Gene

September Camp Meeting

Last evening at the Quality Inn we enjoyed another evening of warm fellowship and spiritual renewal.  We had several members there who have been unable to attend for the past few months...it was great to see them...we hope to see you at the PAB if you weren’t there last night.  Please remember that our October meeting will be the PAB and will be held at Ozark Baptist Church at 6:30 PM on October 8.  Our Vice President has been working steadily to make this a special event for both our guests and our camp members.   At last evening’s meeting we enjoyed a very informative program on the Metro Blitz.  The program discussed the history of the Metro Blitz (starting in 1984) and testimonies from blitz participants encouraged each of us to seek out a blitz in our area of the country and to step up to a distribution.  As blitz participants spoke of the friends they made while getting ready for and actually doing the blitz, I was reminded of the new and special relationships that always await me at our monthly meetings, faith fund rallies, speaking opportunities, PAB and membership dinners, conventions, and every other activity where Gideons, Auxiliary, and fellow Christians meet and share. 

 

The big event in our camp’s near future is the PAB next month.  Please give Art Warren, our camp VP, a call at 706-201-1512 or email him atestnarthur@aol.com to let him know you will be there so he can get a close count on the meals.  If you could let him know by 1 October, I know he would appreciate it.  Additionally, we have set a Faith Fund Goal of $3000.00 for the banquet.  John 9:4 says “I must work the work of him that sent me, while it is day:  the night cometh, when no man can work”.  If you can’t be there, please make your Faith Fund and Camp contributions directly to our treasurer at P. O. Box 291 Ozark AL 36361.  The cost of the meal for the PAB will be around $17.00 per person.  The amount paid by our members over that amount will go to offset the cost of the meals for our pastors and other program guests.  The PAB is one of our biggest events for the year and often serves to cement those special relationships we have come to enjoy with our local churches.  Please set this date aside for your special attention. 

 

Some other events to look forward to this year include a local speaker qualification for our local area hosted by our camp at the Quality Inn tomorrow morning following our regular prayer time. 

 

October 21 will be our Camp Rally Day with a Consecration Breakfast at the Quality Inn at 8 AM.  If you are not a church speaker, we desperately need prayer partners for each of our services.  We hope to see you there on the 21st.

 

This year we host the Tri Camp Christmas Meeting (this will also be our regular monthly Camp Meeting).  It will be at 6:30 PM on the 13th of December.  The actual location has yet to be determined, however it will be in Ozark, and I will let you know as soon as a decision is made.

 

Please guide potential Gideon members to our camp.  Our ministry is constantly expanding (International Regions just went from seven to eleven, and we are now in 195 countries).  Our membership goal for this year is one “net” new member.  We all need to pay our dues, even if we can’t be as active as we’d like, and actively seek out new members.

 

Please be in prayer for all Gideon activities, and on behalf of the millions of people each your who would have never known of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ, thank you for being a Gideon/Auxiliary.

A Message from the President

Sorry for the delay this month.  Our regular camp meeting at the Quality Inn was held last Thursday at 6:30 PM, and we had a great meeting.  It was one of two meetings this year when the Auxiliary meets separate from the Gideons and talks about issues specific to them.  We had a room full of members, we had our usual wonderful fellowship before the meal, two inspiring testimonies, and a timely program about church relations.  If you were there, I know you were blessed (several said it was the best program we have had in a while), if you were unable to attend, you were missed, and we look forward to seeing you next month (Sept 13...mark your calendar).  The program brought out several aspects of the Gideon/church relationship...from the pastor’s point of view.  The bottom line of the program was that we should continue to be diligent in our efforts to establish good, deep, and permanent relationships with all our churches.  Such activities as attending evening and mid-week services, being in prayer for the pastors, speaking at church activities other that the traditional service, and being an inspirational voice in church outreach were just a few of the points brought out in the program.  We were each challenged to go out over the next month and actually apply what we learned as we interact with our pastors.

 

There are several new distribution approaches that came out of the recent International Convention in Dallas.  One involves the Auxiliary and is available at “The Connection”.  The other one is an innovative approach to the introduction and distribution of scriptures to children in schools.  Unfortunately, the Word of God is seen as something controversial in many schools, and we are blocked in our distribution efforts.  However, a new program that allows for the passing out of part of the New Testament by students themselves has met with great success and will be introduced in our area.  Please be in prayer about both of these programs as we use them to further our mission of spreading God’s Word through scripture distribution. 

 

One last item...and something that we can all be proud of.  Following the International Convention, I was contacted by our International office about what we are doing to be so consistently successful in our church relations.  Our camp was identified as one of the camps with a consistent strength in this area, and I was questioned about how we do such a good job.  I stressed how we are in prayer for our pastors and our churches and how we let the pastors know about our prayers for them.  I also related how we as a camp are all active and positive about the relationship we enjoy with our churches.  We regularly go that extra length to let the church know that we partner with them in their outreach missions, and that we are not just a group that shows up once a year to get a donation.  I thought you would like to know about that and to encourage each of us to keep strong in our church ministry. 

 

Our PAB is on track and scheduled for Oct 8 at Ozark Baptist.  Thank you for all that you do...and thank you for being a Gideon and Auxiliary.  Gene