Chinese-Style Olympic Outreach
As Olympic fever continues to heat up China, it's almost impossible to walk through Beijing without seeing every type of Olympic paraphernalia imaginable- hats, stuffed animal mascots or action figures, and limited-edition Olympic Bibles.
The United Bible Societies has partnered with the Nanjing Amity Printing Co. in order to produce 50,000 Gospel pamphlets in English and Chinese, 10,000 Chinese-English Bibles, and 30,000 Chinese-English New Testaments.
Despite earlier reports that China would distribute Bibles in Olympic hotel rooms, it's highly unlikely that these 90,000 Christian materials will be available for visitors staying in the 130,000 available Beijing hotel rooms. Instead, the Bibles will primarily be distributed throughout the Olympic village, but will also go into churches and other venues by members of the China Christian Council and Three-Self Church.
Beyond these Christian materials, athletes will also be able to attend a variety of religious services, or receive spiritual guidance from one of the sixty Chinese Olympic chaplains.
For many Christian organizations, these religious gestures in an officially atheist country, are an extremely positive development. Just thirty years ago, any Bible would have been illegal, but today the Nanjing Amity Printing Company in China is the largest Bible printing press in the world, producing about one Bible per minute.
On the other hand, some ministries, which have traditionally had a very active presence in the Olympic village, are not able to have the same type of access this August. Rather than having international chaplains and ministries representing different countries, the Beijing Olympic Committee has approved sixty Chinese chaplains to cater to the athletes' religious needs.
These regulations have struck a painful blow for many ministries, but they've also caused them to be more creative. Rather than having flashy media blitzes, crusades, or mass evangelistic efforts, many ministries will depend on a more old-fashioned approach: prayer.
This past March the Religious Liberty Partnership, including ministries like Christian Solidarity Worldwide, the China Aid Association, Open Doors International, and Voice of the Martyrs established the Zurich Statement on the Church in China. One of key components included a commitment "to pray, and mobilize our constituents to pray, in the lead up to the 2008 Beijing Olympics, culminating in 24 hours of prayer on August 8, 2008, the day of the Opening Ceremony of the Summer Olympics."
Dan Britton, senior vice president of ministries for the Fellowship of Christian Athletes (FCA) says that these Olympic regulations could actually have a positive effect for ministry. "You might not have thousands of hands raised and check-boxed cards and pieces of literature distributed, but you’re going to see significant ministry," says Britton.
"Maybe, just maybe, this might be the most significant Olympics for ministry because it’s not done the way we normally think successful ministry is done." He says the lack of international chaplains and ministries could actually encourage Christian athletes and coaches, who already have strong relationships with other athletes, to provide spiritual guidance for their teams.
While sports ministries won’t necessarily have the same high-profile presence that they’ve had at past Olympic Games, there are still legal ways that they can minister to Olympic athletes and visitors.
Athletes in Action has produced a DVD called "Struggle and Triumph," which has been legally approved in China. Versions of the DVD have been produced in multiple languages and distributed worldwide. The Chinese version will be available in Beijing and other Chinese cities hosting Olympic Games, though not within the Olympic village.
Between the Bibles and Christian gospel booklets within the Olympic village, Christian DVDs and other religious materials throughout China, and extensive prayer from Christians worldwide, it’s quite possible that even without violating any Chinese laws, this Olympics could have a far greater Christian presence than any years past.