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March 1998

Sports Ministry

Athletes in Action (AIA), headquartered in Cincinnati, Ohio, U.S.A., came early with the athletes to prepare for the '98 Nagano Winter Olympics. AIA is an international and interdenominational sports ministry group which is the athletic branch of Campus Crusades for Christ. The ministry focuses on athletes at the professional, college and Olympic level to help them know Jesus Christ and/or grow in their faith.

Athletes in Action has staff located in 29 countries and are supported by friends, churches and businesses in the U.S. In Japan there is a Campus Crusade office, but not an AIA office. Back in Cincinnati there are 69 full-time staff members. The Asia Lutheran spoke to one of the eight AIA members working at the Religious Center, Roxanne Robbins, who has attended three Olympic Games: Seoul, Atlanta and Nagano. In Atlanta she worked as one of the media directors, more specifically as the press conference manager in the Olympic Village.

At the Nagano Religious Center Robbins worked as a "Chaplain". The Organizing Committee for the XVIII Olympic Winter Games, Nagano 1998 (NAOC) never permitted use of the word chaplain, but insisted everyone be called Religious Center Staff. When asked why she changed roles from working with the media, she replied, "I think it's important for Christians to work with the media. I have a heart for the media but I don't speak any languages besides English, so I thought chaplaincy would be the best role for me here. And it's been more fulfilling for me to work as a chaplain compared to my experience in Atlanta. I've had more time to pour into the athletes instead of working in an office."

At the Cincinnati office Robbins works in the resource and marketing department. They put together different sports videos like football and hockey with professional athletes sharing their faith stories. They use the videos for outreach at large sporting events such as World Cup Soccer, baseball games, the National Football League, the Superbowl and Pro-bowl in Hawaii. Athletes in Action also has a home page and prepares materials combining sports, the Bible and how people can learn about the Bible while watching sports. The Jesus Film is a video available in 30 different languages based on the book of Luke to give to athletes who request it. (home page: http:// www.crusade.org/aia/)

The NAOC didn't allow outright evangelism in the Athlete's Village, but Roxanne said, "I understand the reason for that, I think it's important. But we've had a lot of opportunities to share our Christian faith because of the number of athletes who have come to us in the Olympic Village." She then shared the news about 13 athletes who came for five nights in a row from Kazakhstan, Russia, Belarus and the Ukraine. "They came and asked if we had a VCR, and asked if they could watch the Jesus Film. So they would come and watch half of it and have a discussion. They came for five nights to learn about Jesus. That was their own initiative."

Athletes in Action believes that athletes are strong role models all over the world and they work to bring athletes who have a positive message into different places to speak. Before the Atlanta Olympics, Roxanne worked for a year leading Bible studies for competing athletes. She took them to schools and churches to share their faith. In other non-Christian countries it might be difficult to share the gospel even through athletics. But Robbins thinks it is effective. "I think everybody is touched in different ways. For me, I like to spend time with the athletes. If someone were to hand me a piece of material, I don't think I'd be likely to read it. But other people are, so I think there is a need for different types of evangelism."

Athletes in Action hopes to reach out to more athletes and spectators at the upcoming year 2000 Sydney Summer Olympic Games. Roxanne would like to be there too, depending on what God has in store for her.

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