In November 1908, 25 Bibles were placed in the Superior Hotel in Iron Mountain, Montana, USA.
This was the first Scripture placement carried out by the Gideons, the Association having been formed a few years earlier in July 1899. 2008 marked 100 years of worldwide Gideon Scripture distribution, with over 1.3 billion copies of the precious Word of God placed and presented around the world.
188 countries
The United Kingdom became a ‘Gideon’ country in 1949, and by 1975 was a self-supporting National Association. Only 12 of the 188 ‘Gideon’ countries in the world today are ‘self-supporting’; the remainder rely on financial assistance from other nations to them to purchase the Scriptures they distribute. Each year Gideons in the UK helps in this way, with the generous support of many churches, fellowships, assemblies and Gideon supporters, known as ‘Friends of the Gideons’.
