Barnes in Common

the magazine of Churches Together in Barnes
January/February 2006

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Gideon activities in the Borough

The Gideons work to distribute Bibles and New Testaments in various institutions and organisations, as well as to individuals, in order that people who may not otherwise have access to a Bible have the opportunity to read it for themselves and to discover God in a personal way. Below is a report on their recent activities in the Borough.

During the Summer term we made visits to Grey Court (200), Whitton (180), The Mall (24), Shene School (165), Twickenham Prep (30), Harrodian School (30) and Denmead (30). The visit is planned to meet the wishes of the school. For example, Whitton like us to be present at Assembly when everyone is there, whereas Shene School prefers the offer to be made after a 45 minute period with classes of about 30, so we make about 6 separate visits.

The Autumn term programme includes Christ's School (120), Colet Court (60) and St Catherine's (50), Orleans Park (180). The Lady Eleanor Hollis (12) and The Royal Ballet School (40) and Bible Help Notes for St James' School (40). St James prefers to use their Patron Saint's version of the bible (Gideons use the New International Version), but Gideon Bible Helps are useful to students who want to learn the history of the bible and to find their way about it.

There are 52 Residential Care Homes in the Borough, some with nursing care and some without. They range from the very big such as the Royal Star and Garter (172), the big such as Lynde House (Twickenham) (72) and Cecil Court (Kew), Dalemead (Twickenham), Gifford House (Twickenham) and Viera Gray House (Barnes) all of which have 40-50 places, down to the midgets with 3 or 4 places (there are 27 Homes with under 10 residents).

Most of the homes accept large print testaments which are available in bookcases in lounges. Some decline them because their residents have learning difficulties and cannot read, although some homes in this category want them because the nature of the disability often makes it difficult for visitors to carry on a conversation, and visitors like to read a bible story to their loved ones instead. The compreh-ensive indexing of topics in the Gideon testaments makes them particularly suitable for this purpose.

We visit each home with testaments each year to see if replacements are needed, and sometimes we are invited back to read to the residents. A rewarding feature of these visits is the number of staff who ask for a personal testament for themselves and families which we make as a gift.

If you would like to lend moral support to our activities, why not become a Friend of the Gideons? Nigel Hepper can tell you more (020 8940 5308 or nigel.hepper@btopenworld.com)