The Winter Olympics have come to a close, but Southern Baptist missionaries are just getting started!
While athletes competed for the gold, silver and bronze across northern Italy, Southern Baptist volunteers, International Mission Board missionaries and local Italian believers shared the gospel with thousands of spectators and athletes from around the world — planting seeds of hope that will continue to bear fruit long after the Games have ended.
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During the course of the Olympics, volunteers and missionaries held more than 6,750 gospel conversations, engaged at least 90 different nationalities and saw more than 20 professions of faith.
Gospel moments
Volunteers recounted vivid moments of seeing God at work.
Aiden Ratcliffe, a student volunteer with the South Carolina Baptist Convention, shared about his experience leading someone to Christ for the very first time.
“I had the opportunity to share the full gospel with Hugo and Maria, and Hugo came to faith in Jesus Christ,” Ratcliffe said, describing the moment. “It was amazing, it was awesome, and it was so Spirit-filled and so joyous.”
John Hurd, a volunteer from Porter Memorial Church in Lexington, Kentucky, had the opportunity to talk to people from all over the world — including some from countries closed to traditional missionary presence.
“I went through the plan of salvation with a man from Iran, and he was so receptive and so interested in the Bible and God, and in what Jesus said,” Hurd said of his encounter with the man. “He prayed to receive Christ, and we just thank the Lord and praise Him for His goodness.”
One group of volunteers from Connection Church in Belle Fourche, South Dakota, shared the gospel with dozens of people their very first day in Italy.
“Our first full day we were just humbled by what God is doing in this area,” said one of the volunteers. “We got to share the gospel with around 50 people from 10 different countries, and to our surprise they were so open to having conversations with us.”
Many of the volunteers also took part in the Olympic tradition of pin trading, opening the door to hundreds of gospel conversations. Volunteers and missionaries used specially designed pins to point to Jesus with a QR code leading to gospel resources in multiple languages.
“One of the cool benefits about pin trading is people walk right up to you to trade,” said Nathan Alix, a volunteer with the South Carolina Baptist Convention. “It’s a good way to leverage the conversation for the sake of Jesus.”
Some volunteers even had the chance to share the gospel with athletes.
Jerry Johnson and Nuno Norberto from Porter Memorial Baptist Church in Lexington, Kentucky, traded pins with the Belgium short track speedskating team which led to further conversation and prayer.
“So, this is not only a pin, this is something to really think about,” Norberto described one team member’s response after hearing him share the gospel. Johnson and Norberto are praying the Belgium team will use the QR code connected to the pins to explore the gospel message even further.
‘Wrong turn’ becomes opportunity
Another volunteer described a wrong turn that became an opportunity to share Christ.
“We went to the U.S. versus Switzerland hockey game, and as we were exiting, we made a wrong turn which put us in a queue for a public bus,” explained Stephen Harris, a volunteer from First Baptist Church in New Orleans, Louisiana.
When they got on the bus, the volunteers pulled out their pins to trade with some students and had the opportunity to have gospel conversations with several people.
“What we thought was a mistake, God used for His purposes,” Harris said.
As the games wrapped up, missionaries expressed their thankfulness to work alongside Southern Baptists and their hope that outreach done during the Olympics will spur fresh gospel work in Italy for generations to come.
“It’s an amazing opportunity to have more laborers here to share the gospel,” said IMB missionary Dylan Lancaster, who hosted volunteer teams from two U.S. church partners during the Olympics.
Now, as the tremendous task of following up with people who heard the gospel during the Games begins, pray for IMB missionaries in Italy, and around the world, whose long-term presence ensures this gospel moment is not fleeting, but rooted in the eternal work of Christ.
EDITOR’S NOTE — This story was written by Kristen Sosebee and originally published by the International Mission Board.
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