On to the Olympics...What an awesome adventure! I have never been pushed beyond my limits like I have during these few weeks. On the volunteer side, I used a radio for communication, lead my own team of volunteers, interacted with IPP's (Internationally Protected Persons), monitored access points, directed spectators, checked tickets and said "Hello" and "Thanks for coming" around 5000 times. I wasn't really looking forwards to the idea of using a radio because it is broadcast to 100s of volunteers in the venue and they had a specific code for interactions. All that worrying was for nothing because I was comfortable with it after a day. I wasn't even supposed to be a team leader either. I got that position because someone was a no-show and I had experience with a radio so they chose me.
On the mission's side, the Olympics were even awesomer! I had quite a few solid conversations with people of various religious beliefs. I talked to Abdul, a Muslim from Sudan, about the difference between Islam and Christianity. The cool thing about this conversation is that we started talking about religion within the first 5 sentences! I challenged him to address God as "My Creator" instead of "Allah" and to ask him to reveal his true identity to him. I had a similar experience in my life where I believed in intelligent design but I had no idea if that designer was the one mentioned in the Bible. I prayed a prayer that addressed "My Creator" to reveal his identity, whether it be Allah, Yahweh, or some other random god I haven't heard about. Evidently, my creator revealed himself to me as Yahweh, so I follow him.
I had a conversation with a man who didn't know where to go in his life and asked that we would pray for him as a Kaleo group. He had some belief in God but he said that everything that happens in life could also be a coincidence. I challenged him to examine these coincidences further and to try and see God's handiwork. The next day, he had a sweet chat with a guy who offered him a job that he would love to do and he said that he believed that God caused it to happen. Sweet stuff eh? I had many more conversations than that but the main point is, God was preparing the hearts of those who would interact with us. He gave us the words to speak and the right times to speak them. I have never seen people so open to hearing about my perspective on religion! The Olympic committee tried to shut God out by not allowing organizations to represent him and to prohibit religious views from being expressed. Quite arrogant to shut out an all-powerfull deity eh? GOD RULES!
I had a conversation with a man who didn't know where to go in his life and asked that we would pray for him as a Kaleo group. He had some belief in God but he said that everything that happens in life could also be a coincidence. I challenged him to examine these coincidences further and to try and see God's handiwork. The next day, he had a sweet chat with a guy who offered him a job that he would love to do and he said that he believed that God caused it to happen. Sweet stuff eh? I had many more conversations than that but the main point is, God was preparing the hearts of those who would interact with us. He gave us the words to speak and the right times to speak them. I have never seen people so open to hearing about my perspective on religion! The Olympic committee tried to shut God out by not allowing organizations to represent him and to prohibit religious views from being expressed. Quite arrogant to shut out an all-powerfull deity eh? GOD RULES!
Thanks for your prayers as they made a very big difference in this mission,
Trent
Here are some pictures to cure your curiosity
