The first Olympic Games in Greece in 776 b.c. were staged to honor Zeus. In 2004, Southern Baptists will be in Greece to point people toward God.
According to the Book of Acts, Greece was the first European country to be evangelized. Today, Christianity’s role in Greece is primarily cultural rather than spiritual. Although more than 97 percent of the population claims Greek Orthodoxy as their affiliation, only 2 percent of the population attend church regularly.
Alabama Baptists will participate in missions opportunities at the Olympics through such organizations as International Mission Board (IMB), Woman’s Missionary Union and individual churches.
The slogan for the more than 500 IMB volunteers at the Olympics will be “Proclaiming the ‘Unknown God’ to the peoples of the world,” which is reminiscent of the sign the apostle Paul found in Athens, prompting his well-known sermon to the amazed audience.
Evangelizing in Greece today may be as difficult as it was in Paul’s day.
Because of legal restrictions on proselytizing and resistance from citizens, Olympics missions volunteers will participate in various tasks to spread the message.
The estimated 38 teams began arriving in March for advance work, with the last teams to arrive after the games to help with cleanup. The first team began setting up a welcome center and arranging housing for later volunteers.
Ministry opportunities
Later teams will continue developing and providing resources for the welcome center, which will serve visitors with a place to rest, get a cool drink and obtain information.
During and after the Olympics, teams will perform such functions as distributing water, cleaning up streets, holding sports clinics, training national Baptists in evangelism, prayer walking and cafe and street evangelism. The two main sites for volunteer work will be Athens and Thessaloniki.
At least one team will include volunteers from Alabama. Mike Nuss, director of the office of collegiate and student ministries at the Alabama Baptist State Board of Missions, will travel to Greece in August with a team of 15, four of whom are from Alabama. The plan, Nuss said, is to “participate in several projects in conjunction with Olympic events, as well as in general one-on-one personal evangelism efforts.”
The group, which is working through the IMB, will work primarily with national Baptist churches in Greece. The Alabama volunteers will join others from the Greater Boston Association and other Impact Northeast states. Nuss described the trip as a “once in a lifetime opportunity.
“To be able to share Christ with people and athletes from Greece and all over the world is an exciting opportunity,” he said. “We are praying that God will use this team of college students and leaders to lead others to Christ and open doors of ministry.”
While missionaries and national Baptists in Greece have many prayer needs, the most urgent requests center around the Olympic needs and for wisdom in follow-up after the Olympics. Here are some of specific requests shared by IMB missionaries.
Pray that thousands would commit to praying for this opportunity to reach the thousands of athletes, sponsors, families and tourists who will then return to their homes to reach many thousands more.
Pray for the locals in Greece. The Olympics will open many opportunities for ministry to take place in neighborhoods.
Pray that as locals hear the gospel they will be open to its message and accept Jesus Christ as their Lord and Savior.
Pray that as many accept Christ, they would be willing to be a part of a fellowship of believers, organized and developed into new churches.
Pray that missions personnel and volunteers will be ready for this opportunity to reach many different people of the world.
Pray that ministry opportunities would be ready, as they are needed, from now to the end of 2004.
Pray for volunteers to come as evangelism coaches to train the Greek people in evangelism, sports clinics, exhibition sports teams, water sports, drama, music and mass media.
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