SLS 15RS-501 ORIGINAL
2015 Regular Session
SENATE CONCURRENT RESOL UTION NO. 62
BY SENATOR LONG
COMMENDATIONS. Commends The Gideons International for its contributions and the
role it has played in Louisiana and in supporting the Louisiana Gideons.
1 A CONCURRENT RESOL UTION
2 To commend The Gideons International for its contributions and the role it has played in
3 Louisiana and in supporting the Louisiana Gideons.
4 WHEREAS, The Gideons International was founded in 1899, serves as an extended
5 missionary arm of the church, and is the oldest association of Christian businessmen and
6 professional men in the United States of America; and
7 WHEREAS, in the fall of 1898, John H. Nicholson of Janesville, Wisconsin, came
8 to the Central Hotel at Boscobel, Wisconsin, and, because the hotel was full and crowded,
9 he was asked to take a bed in a double room with Samuel E. Hill of Beloit, Wisconsin; and
10 WHEREAS, the two men soon discovered that both were Christians, and after their
11 evening devotions together and on their knees before God, the thoughts were given which
12 later developed into an association; and
13 WHEREAS, on May 31, 1899, the two men met again at Beaver Dam, Wisconsin,
14 where they concluded to band Christian commercial travelers together for mutual
15 recognition, personal evangelism, and united service for the Lord; and
16 WHEREAS, they decided to call a meeting in Janesville, Wisconsin, on July 1, 1899,
17 in the Y.M.C.A.; and
18 WHEREAS, only three men were present at that first meeting: John H. Nicholson,
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1 Samuel E. Hill, and Will J. Knights; and
2 WHEREAS, they organized with Mr. Hill as president, Mr. Knights as vice president,
3 and Mr. Nicholson as secretary and treasurer; and
4 WHEREAS, much thought and prayer was given to what the name of the association
5 should be, and after special prayer, Mr. Knights arose from his knees and said, "We shall be
6 called Gideons", he then read the sixth and seventh chapters of the book of Judges, which
7 explained the reason for adopting that name; and
8 WHEREAS, almost all of the Gideons in the early years were traveling men, and the
9 question arose regarding how they might be more effective witnesses in the hotels where
10 they spent so much of their time; one trustee suggested that the Gideons furnish a Bible for
11 each bedroom of the hotels in the United States, and this began the "Bible Project"; and
12 WHEREAS, it has been just over one hundred years since The Gideons International
13 placed the first Bible in a hotel room in Montana; and
14 WHEREAS, Bibles and New Testaments are placed in hotels, motels, hospitals,
15 convalescent homes, medical offices, domestic violence centers, prisons, and jails, and are
16 personally distributed by members of The Gideons International to groups such as students
17 in the fifth grade and above, prisoners, police, fire, medical, military personnel, and anyone
18 else the Gideons witness to individually; and
19 WHEREAS, today there are over 300,000 Gideons and Auxiliary members (wives
20 of Gideons) in more than eleven thousand nine hundred local groups worldwide, and
21 organized in more than one hundred ninety countries around the globe; and
22 WHEREAS, Bibles and New Testaments are printed for distribution by The Gideons
23 International in more than ninety languages; and
24 WHEREAS, between 1999 and 2013, over one billion scriptures were shared, which
25 were more scriptures than in the previous ninety years; and
26 WHEREAS, approximately one billion nine hundred million Bibles and New
27 Testaments have been distributed worldwide since 1908, more than seven hundred fifty
28 million Bibles and New Testaments were distributed in the last ten years, and more than
29 eighty-one million copies of God's Word were distributed just last year; and
30 WHEREAS, it is estimated The Gideons International will distribute its two billionth
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1 Bible in 2015; and
2 WHEREAS, with the support of The Gideons International, the Louisiana Gideons
3 celebrated its fifty-fifth consecutive state convention in April 2015 and now have more than
4 fifty Gideon camps in the state of Louisiana; and
5 WHEREAS, the success of the state of Louisiana, the strength of our communities,
6 and the overall vitality of American society depend, in great measure, upon dedicated
7 individuals and organizations like the Gideons.
8 THEREFORE, BE IT RESOLVED that the Legislature of Louisiana does hereby
9 commend The Gideons International for its contributions and the role they it has played in
10 Louisiana and in supporting the Louisiana Gideons.
11 BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that a copy of this Resolution be transmitted to the
12 Louisiana Gideons and The Gideons International.
The original instrument and the following digest, which constitutes no part
of the legislative instrument, were prepared by Tammy Crain Waldrop.
DIGEST
SCR 62 Original 2015 Regular Session Long
Commends The Gideons International for its contributions and role it has played in
Louisiana and in supporting the Louisiana Gideons.
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