The Auxiliary members continued to create new ways of outreach into their communities. They were integral to the distribution of Scripture to new nurses as they finished their schooling, bringing God’s Word to even more people across the country.

1949 logo

The 10-millionth copy of Scripture was presented to the Lieutenant Governor of New Brunswick, the Honourable Hédard J. Robichaud. 500 members gathered in Moncton to participate in the celebration.

This year held two more special events. While head office had moved several times within Toronto up to this point, it made the move out to Guelph, Ontario where it remains to this day.

The Scripture Overseas Witness program was introduced as a response to those wanting to honour someone living for special occasions such as a birthday or anniversary. Those wishing to donate would use the card available from the display and a “to honour you” card would be sent to the honouree.

1979 logo

Douglas Walker was elected president of the Gideons International In Canada and later that year authored an article for the Canadian Gideon where he introduced a strategic plan he called “Mobilizing for Growth.”

“There is a need to renew our understanding that personal witnessing and the distribution of Scriptures are the main reason for the ministry to exist. We will embark on several key initiatives that will energize and mobilize the ministry to achieve the national objective and address some of the issues we face.”

The Memorial Bible Plan was officially renamed the Gideon Expressions Card Program. The program was expanded to better meet the needs of the ministry and was part of a larger international program. Despite the changes over the years, the goal of the program remained the same: to reach many more people with the Word of God. Three lines of cards were introduced: occasion, In Honour/Sympathy/Memory, and seasonal.

With changes in Canada regarding ministries and organizations with headquarters outside of the country, the decision was made to become fully autonomous from The Gideons internationally. With this decision, the ministry was reshaped by inviting women into full membership, and people of all vocations into sharing the gospel with innovative new Scripture resources alongside local church partners.

This led to the development of Scripture magazines (Hope in 2012, Redemption in 2013, Light in 2014, and Spark in 2017) and a digital app called NewLife in 2012 to introduce people to the gospel of Christ in a new way. These innovations not only energized the domestic ministry, but also helped propel new international work, starting with the first Gospel Outreach (GO) Trip to Peru.

International ministry continued to expand as another GO Trip was organized, this time to Ukraine. GO Trips are an opportunity for Christians to be mobilized and to work with local churches to mobilize their members to evangelize their communities.

The Women’s Auxiliary officially retired in 2012 as women were able to join with the men as full members.

To make personal evangelism easier for members and other believers, the Gospel of John resource was developed and distributed as part of ministry outreach. It was particularly useful in the GO Trip to Zambia, the first to Africa. It was also in this year that ministry expanded into East Asia through proxy partners to keep believers in the region safe.

As the ministry continued to expand quickly, the Global Church Partnership (GCP) program was created to partner with churches around the world. It acts to support churches and believers with Scripture resources and connect with more non-believers in their communities. With so much happening so quickly, a new website was launched to better reflect the direction of the ministry.

The ShareWord Global name and logo were launched to represent the ministry’s expanding international work. Our new ministry model was gradually taking shape and churches around the world were experiencing new energy and growth as a result. The ministry organized its first GO Trip to South Asia, bringing along a newly contextualized Light magazine with a hope to introduce more people to God. Pastors and churches were working together, and the gospel was changing lives.

International outreach expanded to Malawi and an additional region of South Asia through proxy partners, bringing the gospel to even more people around the world including Haiti with the first GO Trip to the country.

As more resources are made available, the ShareWord Network was launched, acting as a way for members to easily find support for outreach and event planning. It also allowed chapters to organize events and request Scripture resources.

The first GO Trip to Nicaragua ran this year, which was the start of a massive campaign to provide Scripture to every student in the country.

Personal, relational evangelism becomes the standard means within which the gospel and Scriptures are shared with people through the ministry. To help believers feel comfortable in sharing their faith and testimony, our evangelism training was developed and utilized across the country and around the world.

With the expansion of the evangelism training, more church partners were requesting additional resources to supply new believers through outreach events.

This year was also the first GO Trip to Kenya, building on already exciting ministry work in Africa, and now with the support of new training. The first GO Trip to Chile was run this year as well, bringing the gospel to even more people in Latin America.

Ministry work expanded to an additional region in South Asia, working through proxy partners and with contextualized Scripture resources.