No Room At the Inn…Again
In the autumn of 1898, two traveling salesmen, John H. Nicholson of Janesville, Wisconsin, and Samuel E. Hill of Beloit, Wisconsin, both arrived at the Central House Hotel at Boscobel, Wisconsin, for the night. The hotel was crowded, harkening back to a story with which the two Christian men were well-aware: “there was no room at the inn.” Though strangers, the weary travelers agreed to share the only room left and, during the subsequent forced togetherness, soon discovered their shared faith and decided to have their evening devotions together. During their prayer time, both felt a distinct tugging on their hearts to form an association of Christian traveling salesmen. Meeting together again several months later in May 1899, they decided the purpose of their Association would be to “band Christian commercial travelers together for mutual recognition, personal evangelism, and united service for the Lord.”
Only three men were present at the meeting in the first “official” meeting, held July 1, 1899 in the Janesville, Ohio Y.M.C.A.: John H. Nicholson, Samuel E. Hill, and another Christian salesman by the name of Will J. Knights. Hill was elected president, Knights vice president, and Nicholson secretary and treasurer. They then proceeded in prayer to determine the name of their newly formed association. After several minutes, Knights rose from his knees and said simply, “We shall be called Gideons.”
Gideon’s story could be found in the book of Judges. He was approached by an angel of the Lord during a time great hardship and persecution. The Midianites continuously decimated the Israelites’ crops, slaughtered their livestock, and ravaged their settlements. By the time we meet Gideon, the Israelites were impoverished, hiding in caves and mountain clefts in fear. It’s not surprise that, when the angel declared the Lord’s presence with him, Gideon responded: “But sir…if the Lord is with us, why has all this happened to us? Where are all his wonders that our fathers told us about when they said, ‘Did not the Lord bring us up out of Egypt?’ But now the Lord has abandoned us and put us into the hands of Midian. The Lord turned to him and said, ‘Go in the strength you have and save Israel out of Midian’s hand. Am I not sending you?” (Judges 6:13-14)
In light of the plight and destitution facing his people, Gideon rightly asked where God was. He asked God to do something.
And God responded….by sending him.
Though Gideon’s clan was the weakest in Manasseh and himself was the least of his family (verse 15), Gideon stepped out in faith, following God’s instruction and delivering Israel from the Midianite oppression (you can read the whole story in Judges 6-7). As the newly formed Gideons organization later explained: “Gideon was a man who was willing to do exactly what God wanted him to do, regardless of his own judgment as to the plans or results. Humility, faith, and obedience were his great elements of character. This is the standard that The Gideons International is trying to establish in all its members, each man to be ready to do God’s will at any time, at any place, and in any way that the Holy Spirit leads.”
Membership in the Gideons began to grow, and the organization started to seek out ways in which their group could make a meaningful difference for God’s kingdom. Naturally, nearly all members during these early years were traveling salesmen, which was both an asset and liability for their cause. The men were spread out all across the United States, giving them a chance to spread the gospel from California to New York. But, the work was often solitary and lonely. It was hard to witness on an empty spiritual tank.
During a meeting in Louisville, Kentucky in 1908, one trustee brought up the idea of supplying a Bible for each bedroom of every hotel in the United States. The off-hand remark seemed crazy, not to mention impossible, but it quickly gained traction. What better way to strengthen and encourage the faith of traveling Christians–while also spreading the gospel to non-believing tourists–than by making God’s Word readily available on the nightstand of every inn?
Just two months after the 1908 Louisville Convention, Gideons National Secretary Frank Garlick and Mr. A.B.T. Moore attended a meeting of the Ministerial Union. There, Garlick delivered a short yet inspired speech advocating for the need of Bible distribution. At the close of his brief address, Mr. Moore’s own pastor, Dr. E.R. Burkhalter, arose and moved, “…that Gideon Bibles be placed in all local hotels and that the Ministerial Union be responsible for the funds.” The motion was unanimously carried and a committee appointed to allocate the cost to the churches, according to their strength.
“The Bible Project,” as it came to be known, was officially in full swing. And on November 10, 1908 the first Gideons’ Bibles were placed in the room of the Superior Hotel in Superior, Montana. Since then, over two billion bibles have been distributed not only to hotel rooms, but to members of the military of various countries, to hospitals, nursing homes, prisons, and students. Membership in the organization has surpassed over 250,000 and Gideons can be found in 200 countries. Even now, in a post-Christian world where people can carry a Bible on their phone or tablet if they choose, physical copies of the Bible–supplied by Gideons–can still be found in over 60% of hotel rooms across the United States.
