ALEXANDRIA – When Steve Lloyd isn’t selling wireless telephone service,
he’s giving away Bibles, except for the hours he’s leading his church
to more than double its Sunday school attendance.
Friends, coworkers and his pastor say Lloyd is good at everything he
does – Sunday school director and sound man at Homewood Baptist in
Alexandria, president of the Alexandria camp of Gideons International,
and personal communications specialist – aka inside sales agent – at a
Centennial Wireless office in Alexandria.
“The church has been blessed since the Lord led Steve to Homewood in
his sweet spirit and willingness to serve the Lord in any capacity,”
said Homewood Pastor Jimmy Koonce. “He and wife Marilyn have been
a great asset to our church and we especially appreciate his work with
the Gideons.”
Fourteen years ago Lloyd’s landlady got him to go to church; that was the start of his new life, Lloyd said.
“I love the fellowship and camaraderie of being with Christians and
being a part of their activities,” Lloyd said. “Our church, for
example, has fish frys.
“After we fry the fish we visit and have a great old time,” Lloyd
continued. “You don’t have to get drunk to have fun when you’re a
Christian.”
A member at Homewood for about a year, Lloyd recently was named Sunday
school director for the congregation where about 45 people participate
in Bible study each Sunday. Lloyd’s goal is to “break100” in Sunday
school by next August, and he has a plan to achieve that goal.
“The biggest problem churches have with attendance is that nobody
asks,” Lloyd said. “If you want people to come to church and Sunday
school you’ve got to ask them.”
Church members will be encouraged to bring family, friends, neighbors
and coworkers to Homewood Nov. 26 for High Attendance Day, during which
the Mackie Willis Family will be guest leaders. That day will be the
kickoff day for a three-month press for increasing membership.
Members will receive points for each visitor they bring; the people
with the most points at the end of three months will receive prizes.
Those prizes are as yet undetermined.
“I like the coordination involved in being Sunday school director, the
running of it to make sure that it is successful,” Lloyd said. “It’s
not going to be successful if you don’t have the support and work of
your staff; they do most of the work!”
Lloyd has a similar “coordinating” job as president of the Alexandria Gideons camp.
“The purpose of the Gideons is to witness and bring people to know the
Lord,” Lloyd said. “We do this through personal witness and testimony,
and the distribution of scriptures.”
Members of The Gideons International place and distribute scriptures in
181 countries in 82 languages – more than 1 million copies of the Word
of God given away every day in one of five primary areas:
• Hotels and Motels
• Hospitals, Nursing Homes, and Domestic Violence Shelters
• Schools, Colleges, and Universities
• The Military, Law Enforcement Personnel, Firefighters, and
EMTs
• Prisons and Jails
“The demand for Scriptures in these areas far exceeds our supplies that
we are able to purchase through our donations,” according to the
website www.gideons.org. “Much more could be done – if funds were
available.”
Lloyd’s work as president of the Alexandria camp involves coordinating
the work of men (and their wives) who do fundraising – usually through
speaking in churches – and Bible distribution.
“All the Gideons have gifts,” Lloyd said. “Not all are gifted speakers.
… We just had a huge distribution at the Parish Fair; we passed out
more than 2,400 New Testaments there. …
“We had a gentleman who made a profession of faith at the fair because
we were there, passing out testaments,” Lloyd continued. “It’s just an
awesome feeling when you’re a part of that. I wasn’t the one who led
him to the Lord but I was out there, passing out scriptures. … Only God
knows how many responded. We [the international organization] get
letters, testimonies – thousands of them – of people led to the Lord
because of a Gideon-placed Scriptures.”
Area pastors and their wives are invited Oct. 27 to a pastor
appreciation banquet at the Best Western in Alexandria, on MacArthur
Drive.
“It’s something we do every year to show how much we appreciate the
pastors for letting us into their churches, giving their members a
chance to know what the Gideons is all about,” Lloyd said. “The Gideons
is very important to me, because I feel that’s where God has called me.
It’s an opportunity for me to witness, share the gospel and perhaps
through this some lost soul might come to know the Lord because of my
commitment – hopefully more than one.”
Lloyd first became a Gideon about three years ago, at the suggestion of
his pastor. The organization has requirements: members must be
professionals, businesspeople, who are active men at their church and
who believe the Bible is the Word of God. Dues are $40/year, plus
another $20 if a man’s wife wants to be part of the Gideons’ Auxiliary.
The dues support the organization; all donations fund the purchase and distribution of Bibles and New Testaments, Lloyd said.
“It’s one of the few nonprofit organizations that don’t use some of the
money they get from donations for administration,” Lloyd said. “Last
year we passed out more than 65 million Scriptures worldwide.”
Lloyd’s job at Centennial Wireless provides an income as well as
training that helps him better minister through his involvement at
Homewood and the Gideons.
“I love it,” Lloyd said about the job he’s had for about three years.
“I like getting to meet people, developing relationships with them,
helping with their communication issues, and it’s an awesome place to
work. They bend over backward to train us … [and] put together
promotions to help us reach our goals.”
His main goal is to be Christian, Lloyd said.
“It’s exciting to walk with the Lord because you know that some day
I’ll get to meet Him face to face, and the feeling you get when you
lead someone to the Lord is something you can’t describe,” Lloyd
said. “I feel the Lord is coming soon and I want to lead as many
people as I can to Him before it’s too late.”