Gideon League
| International Gideon Association in Germany | |
|---|---|
|
|
| legal form | Registered association |
| founding | 1956 |
| Seat | Wetzlar |
| Managing directors | Johannes Wendel |
| Members | 4800 |
| Website | www.gideons.de |
The Internationale Gideonbund (English Gideons International) is an international association of Christians with professional responsibility. The Gideonbund is best known for the multilingual dark blue Bibles that are displayed in hotel rooms around the world.
The Gideons were founded in the USA in 1899. The German branch is called "Internationaler Gideonbund in Deutschland eV" and was founded in 1956. In 2018, 267,000 Gideon members volunteered in 199 countries. In Germany around 4,800 Christians are involved in 220 local groups.
The international office of the Gideonbund is located in Nashville , Tennessee (USA), the German office in Wetzlar, Hesse .
history
International
In 1898, businessman John H. Nicholson from Janesville , Wisconsin (USA) was looking for a hotel room in the city of Boscobel on a business trip . In a hotel, due to overcrowding, he was offered to share a double room with another guest - Samuel E. Hill. Nicholson agreed. During the first conversation they both discovered that they were Christians. Looking back on this encounter, they later wrote that the idea of founding an association of Christian businessmen arose that evening.
On May 31, 1899, Nicholson and Hill founded this association together with the merchant Will J. Knights. The Old Testament judge Gideon was chosen as the namesake . The logo - a jug with a flame - is reminiscent of an episode from the Book of Judges in which Gideon wins against the Midianites ( Judge 7 LUT84 ). In the episode in question, Gideon's fighters are armed only with ram horns and empty jugs with torches in them.
In the early years the idea arose to display a Bible at the reception of every hotel. The Gideonbund became known worldwide through the later practice of laying out Bibles in every hotel room free of charge.
Over the decades, branches of the Gideonbund were founded from the USA. The first Gideon ministry outside the United States was organized in Canada in 1911. In 1950, Japan was the first country in the Far East and South Africa, the first African country. In 1989 the first groups in the former Eastern Bloc were added. There are now 280,000 Gideon members volunteering in over 190 countries and giving away Bibles in over 100 languages.
By 2016, over 2 billion Bibles had been passed on worldwide, including over 24 million in Germany.
German-speaking area
The German branch of the International Gideon Association was founded in 1956 as a non-profit organization in Wuppertal. Initially supported by the USA, the German Gideon branch became financially and organizationally independent in 1980 as an “independent national association”.
The Gideons have been active in Austria since 1957 and in Switzerland since 1961.
In 2006, Federal President Horst Köhler received the 16 millionth Bible passed on in Germany . Bibles were given to Federal Presidents Johannes Rau , Roman Herzog , Richard von Weizsäcker and Karl Carstens beforehand. In 2010, the 20 millionth Bible was handed over to the President of the Bundestag, Norbert Lammert .
In 2019, Bundestag President Wolfgang Schäuble received the 25 millionth Bible passed on in Germany.
target
The aim of the Gideon Association is to acquaint people with the basics of Christianity . They try to do this by displaying Bibles free of charge (in the form of the New Testament with psalms and sayings) in hotels, hospitals, old people's homes and by distributing Bibles to schools, prisons, police stations and barracks. The Bibles that are laid out and passed on are intended to stimulate Bible reading and arouse curiosity about the Bible.
The cost of making Gideon Bibles is covered by donations from members and private supporters. According to its own information, the Gideonbund uses 100% of the funds donated for the purpose of procuring and printing the Bibles; all administrative expenses are met by the members of the Gideon Association themselves.
membership
Christians with professional responsibility can become members of the International Gideon Association. The members should act as multipliers for the Christian faith due to their prominent professional and social position. Furthermore, their wives can also become members of the Gideon Women's Service. A prerequisite for both is membership of the Protestant church , a free church , community or assembly. Anyone who feels connected to the goals of the Gideon Association can register for the Circle of Friends.
| place | Members | Local groups |
|---|---|---|
| Worldwide | 267,000 | 12,212 |
| Germany | 4800 | 219 |
| Austria | 270 | 12 |
| Switzerland | 1250 | 37 |
Bible distribution
In Germany the Gideonbund gives away the Bible (always New Testament with Psalms and Proverbs) in different colors and formats for different areas of application. The so-called “Testimony Bible” in brown is available for everyday personal transmission; this is passed on to people by Gideon members as a personal gift. These pocket Bibles are also purchased by the respective member themselves, i.e. not financed by donations. The Bibles in jeans look are intended to be passed on to students. The Bibles are green for students. Pocket Bibles in gray covers are passed on to employees in the medical field. The multilingual edition (German, English, French) with a dark blue cover is often found in hotels. Large print editions can be found primarily in doctors' offices, hospitals and retirement homes.
In German-speaking countries, the Bible translation " NeueLuther " is mainly given away.
The modern translation of the Bible, “ bibel.heute ”, is used for the jeans-look Bibles . This is justified by the clear and concise language of this translation, which is intended to make it more accessible, especially for young people.
Since 2019 the "luther.heute" has also been passed on. The basis of this translation of the Bible is the copyright-free Luther translation from 1912. It was scientifically and linguistically revised by theologians of the Bibelseminar Bonn and adapted to a German that is understandable today. All rights belong to the Gideonbund.
Controversy about disclosure in German police stations
In February 2015, the Humanist Alternative Bodensee (HABO) submitted the petition “Against religious advertising in the public service” to the state parliament of Baden-Württemberg . This was preceded by the practice established in 2007 of distributing Bibles free of charge in various police stations in the country or of laying them out to take away. This was approved by the Interior Minister of Baden-Württemberg, Heribert Rech (CDU), following a prior written request from the Gideon Association . Against the background of the petition, the police presidents of the state of Baden-Württemberg were asked on February 2, 2015 by the then Interior Minister Reinhold Gall (SPD) to no longer agree to the distribution of Bibles and religious writings in the departments. The state parliament rejected the petition on November 26, 2015. The HABO dissolved in September 2016.
literature
- Johannes Wendel (Ed.): I forgave my daughter's murderer ... and other personal reports. Christliche Verlagsgesellschaft, Dillenburg 2010. ISBN 978-3-89436-830-2
- Paul J. Koch: Kidnapped, raped, expelled ... and other stories from the former Soviet Union and the Near and Middle East. International Gideon Association, Wetzlar ³2011.
- Johannes Wendel (Ed.): My life was like garbage ... and other personal reports. Christliche Verlagsgesellschaft, Dillenburg 2013. ISBN 978-3-86353-424-0
- Johannes Wendel (Ed.): Escaping the dark forces ... and other personal reports. Christliche Verlagsgesellschaft, Dillenburg 2016. ISBN 978-3-86353-424-0
Web links
Individual evidence
- ^ J. Gordon Melton: Gideons International . In: Encyclopedia of Protestantism . Facts On File, New York 2005, ISBN 978-0-8160-5456-5 , pp. 246 .
- ↑ a b data and facts. The Gideons, accessed July 11, 2018 .
- ↑ How a district administrator advocates the distribution of Bibles , idea.de, article from April 29, 2019.
- ^ Reinhard Hempelmann: Handbook of evangelistic-missionary works, institutions and communities . Christian publishing house Stuttgart, Stuttgart 1997, ISBN 978-3-7675-7763-3 , p. 190 .
- ↑ In 2016, 742,129 New Testaments were passed on. Evangelical news agency idea, January 22, 2017, accessed on August 29, 2017 .
- ↑ Public Relations. The Gideons, accessed August 29, 2017 .
- ↑ Gideons give the President of the Bundestag 25 millionth Bible. Accessed November 5, 2019 (German).
- ↑ About us. The Gideons, accessed August 30, 2017 .
- ↑ Donate. The Gideons, accessed August 30, 2017 .
- ↑ Keyword: The Gideon Association. DIE RHEINPFALZ, accessed on August 30, 2017 .
- ↑ Circle of Friends. The Gideons, accessed September 4, 2017 .
- ↑ Gideons give Bibles to the Thuringia clinics. In: press releases. Thüringen-Kliniken, March 14, 2017, accessed on August 30, 2017 .
- ↑ The New Luther Bible, buonanovella.com ( Memento from April 14, 2015 in the Internet Archive )
- ↑ Karl H. Vanheiden: NeÜ Bible. Today. 1st edition. Christliche Verl.-Ges., Dillenburg 2010, ISBN 3-89436-851-9 .
- ^ Against religious advertising in police stations. Humanistic Press Service, February 6, 2015, accessed August 29, 2017 .
- ↑ a b c Petition 15/4804 on the interpretation / distribution of Bibles in police stations. State Parliament of Baden-Württemberg, November 26, 2015, pp. 8–9 , accessed on August 29, 2017 .
- ↑ "Humanist Alternative Bodensee" (HABO) dissolves. Hochrhein-Zeitung, September 1, 2016, accessed on September 5, 2017 .