Olympic Outreach
China's restrictions force ministries to retool their efforts.
Lisa Parro
May 19, 2008
About 10,500 athletes from more than 200
nations will be in Beijing this summer for
the 2008 Olympic Games. Unlike previous
games, however, there won't be a single
foreign Christian missionary in the
Olympic Village.
The Fellowship of Christian Athletes
(FCA) won't be sending chaplains to the
games, because only Chinese chaplains
approved by the government will be
allowed into the village, where athletes live.
Distribution of Christian literature and
large-scale Christian gatherings will likely
not be allowed, either.
However, these restrictions haven't
stopped FCA from planning an Olympic
outreach campaign. The Kansas City, Missouri–
based organization is encouraging
Christian athletes at the games to minister
to other athletes. It's also enlisting former
Olympic athletes, such as retired swimmer
Josh Davis, who won three gold medals
and two silver medals at the 1996 and 2000
games, to serve as unofficial, de facto
chaplains.
"This is evangelism in its truest form,
not the mass evangelism of counting heads
that we're used to in the Western world,"
said Dan Britton, FCA's senior vice president
of ministries. "It's not about huge
rallies. It's about a player praying with
another player. These Olympics are forcing
us to simplify."
International evangelist Luis Palau
encourages Christian athletes and those
who attend the games to contact established
Christian ministries, such as bookstores
and house churches, while travelling
in Beijing. Christian bookstores in China
are stocked with Bibles and other evangelistic
material, he said, pointing to his latest
book as an example. A Friendly Dialogue
Between an Atheist and a Christian, which
recounts Palau's conversations with a
Chinese government official, has sold well
in China.
"Young people in the university district
of Beijing are very open to talking to foreigners,"
Palau said.
He said Christians who share their
beliefs in discreet discussions with others
are unlikely to be arrested, deported, or
otherwise punished while the world is
watching. His hope, he said, is that the
international spotlight shining on China
during the games will open the country up
politically, creating future opportunities for
evangelism on a larger scale.
"That's what happened in Mexico, in
Spain," Palau said. "My dream is to [someday]
hold an open-air rally at Tiananmen
Square."
Copyright © 2008 Christianity Today.
Click for reprint information.
Related elsewhere:
Evangelist Franklin Graham made headlines earlier this month by saying he "would not support any illegal activity" during the Olympics, including illegal evangelistic activity.
Our recent China coverage also includes:
Great Leap Forward | China is changing and so is its church. How new urban believers are shaping society in untold ways. (May 9, 2008)
Audio Slideshow: Changing China | The Chinese church is growing in size and influence (May 19, 2008)
Watching the Spirit Move | Some extraordinary moments in ordinary settings. (May 19, 2008)
Hungry for Jesus | A Chinese pastor on how he was 'called out of Egypt' to a thriving urban ministry. (May 9, 2008)
Inside CT: The China Paradox | 'Embattled and thriving' Christianity in China. (May 9, 2008)
From Mao to Moses | Artist He Qi, born again in China's Cultural Revolution, is painting a new peaceful identity for the Chinese church. (April 25, 2008)
The Dragon in the Belly: Patriarchs, Judges, and Kings | The Old Testament meets Beijing Opera in He Qi's art. (April 25, 2008)
A Friendly Dialogue Between an Atheist and a Christian
is available from ChistianBook.com and other retailers.
Subscribe to the FREE CT Newsletters
Get CT headlines direct to your mailbox!
|
CTDirect (daily)
| CTWeekly
|
| |
 RSS Feed RSS Help |
|
| 
Find similar articles
Print this article
E-mail this page
Bookmark this article
