This summer, at the Iowa State Fair, something remarkable happened. A man on our Home Office prayer team served faithfully again at the Gideon Bible booth, where free Bibles are placed into hungry hands. By the fourth day of the ten-day fair, the booth was completely out of Bibles. Almost 6,000 copies have already been given away.
He called the national office in desperation—what do you do when thousands more are still coming, searching, asking? By a miracle, they re-stocked. And by the close of the fair, nearly 10,000 Bibles were gone.
Here’s what amazed him most:
That word—thirst—ought to grab us.
A Generation Hungry for Truth
Surveys and headlines confirm it: Gen Z and Millennials are spiritually restless. A recent Barna study found that 77% of young adults say they are actively searching for meaning and purpose. Another Lifeway report showed that Bible engagement among young adults’ spikes when Scripture is placed directly into their hands in personal, practical ways.
At the Iowa State Fair, it wasn’t just older churchgoers picking up free Bibles—it was teenagers, college students, and young adults. Many of them had never owned a Bible before. The Gideon booth wasn’t just giving away paper and ink; it was handing out living hope.
It mirrors what we’ve seen in larger movements too. As Charlie Kirk has pointed out in his campus events, young people are no longer satisfied with empty slogans or surface-level answers. They are asking deeper questions about identity, morality, and truth. And when truth is presented with clarity, courage, and conviction, crowds of students lean in.
The younger generation isn’t running from truth—they’re running toward it when they see it lived out authentically.
What TIME Has Seen
At TIME Missions, we see the same story unfolding. When young men and women step onto the mission field—whether in the dirt of Mexico, the streets of Santo Domingo, or the neighborhoods of Cabrera—they taste something that can’t be faked.
• They work shoulder to shoulder with pastors who shepherd their communities with faith and grit.
• They hug children who crave attention and love.
• They mix cement and raise walls that become homes or churches.
• They stand with a translator and share their first sermon, trembling but alive with the Spirit.
It’s in those moments that the thirst becomes obvious: they don’t want hype, they want Him.
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A Call to Pray
The Gideon booth at the Iowa State Fair was just one snapshot. Almost 10,000 Bibles disappeared into eager hands in just ten days. That’s not decline. That’s not apathy. That’s a generation crying out for something real.
So, here’s a simple challenge: Pick a meal. Skip it. And pray instead.
Open up to God and ask, as the first followers of Jesus did:
“Lord, teach me to pray.”
Then wait. Be patient. God may not answer you right away. But He will.
And when He does, He’ll teach you not just how to pray for this next generation—He’ll shape your heart to see them as He does: thirsty hearts, longing for living water.
As the Psalmist says:
“O God, you are my God; earnestly I seek you; my soul thirsts for you; my flesh faints for you, as in a dry and weary land where there is no water.” (Psalm 63:1)
