2016 Regular Session ENROLLED
SENATE RESOLUTION NO. 70
BY SENATOR LONG
A RESOLUTION
To recognize April 28, 2016, as The Gideons International Day at the State Capitol.
WHEREAS, The Gideons International was founded in 1899, serves as an extended
missionary arm of the church, and is the oldest association of Christian businessmen and
professional men in the United States of America; and
WHEREAS, in the fall of 1898, John H. Nicholson of Janesville, Wisconsin, came
to the Central Hotel at Boscobel, Wisconsin, and, because the hotel was full and crowded,
he was asked to take a bed in a double room with Samuel E. Hill of Beloit, Wisconsin; and
WHEREAS, the two men soon discovered that both were Christians, and after their
evening devotions together and on their knees before God, the thoughts were given which
later developed into an association; and
WHEREAS, on May 31, 1899, the two men met again at Beaver Dam, Wisconsin,
where they concluded to band Christian commercial travelers together for mutual
recognition, personal evangelism, and united service for the Lord; and
WHEREAS, they decided to call a meeting in Janesville, Wisconsin, on July 1, 1899,
in the Y.M.C.A.; and
WHEREAS, only three men were present at that first meeting: John H. Nicholson,
Samuel E. Hill, and Will J. Knights; and
WHEREAS, they organized with Mr. Hill as president, Mr. Knights as vice president,
and Mr. Nicholson as secretary and treasurer; and
WHEREAS, much thought and prayer was given to what the name of the association
should be, and after special prayer, Mr. Knights arose from his knees and said, "We shall be
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called Gideons", he then read the sixth and seventh chapters of the book of Judges, which
explained the reason for adopting that name; and
WHEREAS, almost all of the Gideons in the early years were traveling men, and
when the question arose regarding how they might be more effective witnesses in the hotels
where they spent so much of their time, one trustee suggested that the Gideons furnish a
Bible for each bedroom of the hotels in the United States, and this began the "Bible Project";
and
WHEREAS, it has been just over one hundred years since The Gideons International
placed the first Bible in a hotel room in Montana; and
WHEREAS, Bibles and New Testaments are placed in hotels, motels, hospitals,
convalescent homes, medical offices, domestic violence centers, prisons, and jails, and are
personally distributed by members of The Gideons International to groups such as students
in the fifth grade and above, prisoners, police, fire, medical, military personnel, and anyone
else the Gideons witness to individually; and
WHEREAS, today there are over 300,000 Gideons and Auxiliary members (wives
of Gideons) in more than eleven thousand nine hundred local groups worldwide, and
organized in more than one hundred ninety countries around the globe; and
WHEREAS, Bibles and New Testaments are printed for distribution by The Gideons
International in more than ninety languages; and
WHEREAS, between 1999 and 2013, over one billion scriptures were shared, which
were more scriptures than in the previous ninety years; and
WHEREAS, over two billion Bibles and New Testaments have been distributed
worldwide since 1908, more than one billion Bibles and New Testaments were distributed
in the last fourteen years, and more than eighty-eight million copies of God's Word were
distributed just last year; and
WHEREAS, with the support of The Gideons International, the Louisiana Gideons
have more than fifty Gideon camps in the state of Louisiana; and
WHEREAS, the success of the state of Louisiana, the strength of our communities,
and the overall vitality of American society depend, in great measure, upon dedicated
individuals and organizations like the Gideons.
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THEREFORE, BE IT RESOLVED that the Senate of the Legislature of Louisiana
does hereby recognize April 28, 2016, as The Gideons International Day at the State Capitol.
BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that a copy of this Resolution be transmitted to the
Louisiana Gideons and The Gideons International.
PRESIDENT OF THE SENATE
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