Closing out the Games

I left Whistler today. We had our last worship service inside the Athletes Village, said our "good-byes" to people we have gotten to know in the past three weeks, and then headed down the Sea to Sky Highway from Whistler to Vancouver. We took a bus for the first hour of the trip to the town of Squamish, then jumped in chaplain Nick's Mitsubishi Delica for the second hour the rest of the way to Vancouver. We dropped Lindsay off with her friend, and then went to Nick's house.

On the ride down to Vancouver, the USA v Canada men's gold medal hockey game was on. Lindsay and Nick kept getting updates via text messages and iphone apps on the score. Canadians love hockey. The game was not quite over when we arrived to Nick's house, so we watched the overtime period. Congratulations to Canada. Now, what's such a big deal about hockey? It's not the only sport to follow.

Two of Nick's kids had a good time talking to Kim, Andy and Emma Grace via Skype. We also looked at lots of photos of my family on my computer. I'm grateful for Nick opening up his home to me for a night. This is host home #3. Tomorrow night's host home = LaGuardia aiport. My flights get me to NYC tomorrow night, then a short flight to Boston on Tues AM, then a short flight to Saranac Lake airport after that. Andy told me today that he hopes the school has a snow day on Tuesday so he can be home when I get home. That's my boy!

I posted all of my Olympic photos on my Facebook page if you'd like to see them.

The closing ceremonies were tonight. I watched them on CTV. One of the exciting parts of the closing ceremonies was to see Adam Pengilly be introduced for his newly-elected position as one of the Athlete Representatives on the International Olympic Committee. May God use Adam in that position of influence to be a light for Christ there. Well done, Adam, on a successful campaign! The LORD puts people right where HE wants them to be.

Tomorrow I will blog about my most lasting memories of the Games.

Perseverance

"LORD, give me the strength to do the things You want me to do today."

Today was the first day that I felt tired when I woke up. My schedule is pretty long each day, with lots of walking, talking, praying, encouraging, etc. So I needed an extra prayer for strength as I began my day.

I enjoyed a great devotion with the mission team from GA. It was written by Dr. Tom Blackaby and shared with us by Kelly Seckinger. It was about being salt. It beautifully described our opportunity as believers to be catalysts for change in others, if we let God use us to show love and compassion to others. Another Kelly - Kelly Manire - who is on staff with the Canadian National Baptist Convention planting churches on college campuses, led in prayer. He prayed that God would use us all today to touch lives for the kingdom of God, to be salt to the people we would meet.

I felt a bit more energized after the time of devotion and prayer with the team.

My last morning at Starbucks (sigh). Before leaving, I left two copies of the book Soul Cravings for the staff that I have met over these last few weeks. I pray they will take the time to read it.

It was raining at the lower end of the Whistler Village Stroll, but as I walked up the rain turned to snow. Wet snow, however. So we jumped on the gondola (my favorite Australian chaplain - Matthew - and me) and started for the start line grandstands for the four-man bobsled race. In line we connected with some orange-poncho-ed folks from Oregon, and had a great time walking to the start with them, explaining bobsled along the way. It turns out they were believers, and that they were praying that God would connect them with Christians along their journey to the Olympics.

During the first heat, we sat beside John's mom, and he joined us for part of the race. The folks in the stands kept handing me their cameras to get a picture with him. We watched the first heat of the race from the start, then headed down to the finish area, thinking we would get a seat on the grandstands.

Not. Going. To. Happen.

We did manage to get a spot standing, with a great view of the video screen, right near the finish line. If it were not for the thousands of people in front of us we would have had a clear view of the finish line.

We were met by two other folks from our Multi-Faith Centre for the second heat, Lindsay (one of our office coordinators) and Mohammed (one of the imams). Mohammed lives in Vancouver, is originally from India, and has never seen bobsled before. It was a lot of fun to watch the race with them.

Results of the race were:

* Gold medal - USA1, driven by Steve Holcomb

* Silver medal - GER1, driven by Andre Lange

* Bronze medal - CAN1, driven by Lyndon Rush (who was beaten by 0.01 seconds - the slimmest margin possible in bobsled)

By winning the gold in four-man bobsled, the USA ended a 62-year drought. Since 1948, no USA four-man bobsled team had won a gold medal. Congratulations to "Team Night Train" - Steve Holcomb, Justin Olsen, Steve Mesler, and Curt Tomasevicz!

We walked down the ski slope one last time from the bobsled track. The lines for the gondola and buses were way too long. Then I headed back to the house to wash clothes and rest. I had been invited to come over to the USA House for the four-man bobsled victory celebration.

At about 8:30 people, I boarded #1 bus to go the USA House. It was great to hear the speeches by the athletes and coaches. All the "Night Train" team thanked their coaches and staff. They thanked Geoff Bodine for his commitment to the USA bobsled program. Geoff just humbly smiled.

It was pretty emotional at times. A few years ago, Holcomb was diagnosed with a degenerative eye disease and he officially retired, but head coach Brian Shimer located a surgeon who attempted an experimental surgery that has brought healing to Holcomb's eyes. Holcomb came out of retirement and is now an Olympic champion! That's perseverance.

Also, praise God for HIS healing. He uses surgeons in amazing ways!

We had some good food and good conversations at the bobsled victory celebration. I was able to meet some of the family members of the athletes, and they were appreciative of our ministry to the athletes. And, I was able to congratulate the team and the coaches. Some of the USOC staff who I had met three weeks ago were very great to talk to. Relationships develop over time. They take perseverance.

Teresa was at the USA House, of course, being her usual cheerful self. She is always so encouraging to everyone. She did share a couple of prayer requests with me, so when you think about it pray for Teresa and the two prayer requests. Pray that she will persevere til the end of her time in Whistler, with joy and effectiveness.

Tomorrow is my last shift at the Village, and then I go down to Vancouver for the evening to spend the night with Nick, one of our chaplains. Then I fly out on Monday, on my way back home (Yay!)

Pray that God will give us a great day tomorrow, and that our time of worship at the Village (tomorrow is Sunday) will be Christ-exalting in every way!

All of the athletes will be leaving the Whistler Village tomorrow to go to the Closing Ceremonies in Vancouver. Pray for God's protection.

God's Plans

The 5th grade students at Keeseville Primary School were great to talk to this morning. I had a Skype interview with them and they asked a lot of great questions about the Olympics. It was fun telling them about what has been going on from my perspective, and telling them about some of the local North Country athletes who are in the Games. Their teacher, Mrs. Melinda Preston, is a member of our church - thanks for setting that up, Melinda.

I had another Skype interview later on in the morning, where I got to share about what the LORD is doing through the chaplaincy ministry inside the Village.

A little while later, as I drank a Venti bold black coffee - with just the right amount of sugar - I began reading Soul Cravings, one of the books the More Than Gold groups are giving away to people who are interested. The first couple of chapters were pretty good. I really liked the way the author said something like this, and I'm paraphrasing: we Christians really believe that every single person has the ability to change. We believe that God can change each person's life. They are not stuck because of their pedigree, or social status, or economic status, or anything. God can change their life, and He can change their destiny. I like that.

It was time to go meet some friends and head up to the grandstands at the Start for the four-man bobsled race. I had a long conversation with a guy named Christopher from Ohio as we sat and waited for the race to start. Beside us sat some folks from Germany, behind us some fans from the USA. The folks from the USA were the family of Steve Langton, one of the guys who slides with John. They were nice enough to give me a "Team Napier" red-white-and-blue cap and t-shirt.

The weather was SNOWY! Huge flakes of snow fell from the sky. The track crew and volunteers were working extra hard to keep the bobsled track in drive-able condition.

Unfortunately for many nations, the track proved too difficult today. Out of the 25 sleds that started the race, 7 sleds crashed either on heat 1 or heat 2, ending their dreams of a medal. Our own Team Napier was one of the sleds that crashed. All of the guys who crashed were banged up, but no one sustained major injuries (praise God). We are proud of all of the teams - they are Olympians!

The bobsled team of USA1 (driven by Steve Holcombe) sits in first place right now, hoping to earn the first USA four-man gold medal in 62 years! Canada1 (driven by Lyndon Rush) is in second place, followed by Germany1 (driven by Andre Lange). It should be an exciting conclusion tomorrow. By the way, if you didn't catch the video of Lyndon Rush sharing his testimony of his faith in Christ, you can view it HERE.

After the race, I headed over to the Multi-Faith Centre, connected with the chaplains who were there (they were all glued to the nearby TV watching the Canada/Sweden curling finals, then on to the Canada/Slovakia hockey game). We did have time during commercials to talk about some of the ways we have seen God at work during the Games, and to begin to think about ministry in Sochi, Russia in four years.

When I arrived back at the host home, I talked with everyone in the house for a while. Each person has been used by God to point people to Christ. They are seeing how they are part of His plan during these Olympics. The team from GA all served as official VANOC volunteers today at the bobsled track (called the Whistler Sliding Centre officially). They have great souvenir uniforms to bring home with them.

Today in Numbers I was reading about how God had chosen the literal land for His people to live on in the Promised Land, and how He divided it out for them. It reminded me of how God has every detail of our lives planned out. We need to seek Him, listen to Him, and obey Him. He knows the plans He has for us, for tomorrow and for the future. God knows the big details and the little details. We need to walk closely to Him so we know and obey His plan.

More Than Gold - Update

Teams of people from churches in Canada and from many states in the USA have joined together with several Christian ministries under the umbrella of More Than Gold to provide "Radical Hospitality" to people throughout Vancouver during the Olympics.

My friend Pastor Rick Wilburn from Tupper Lake Baptist Chapel (NY) has been blogging about his experiences. You can read his blog and see some photos HERE.

Also, here is an update of some of the ministries from More Than Gold's Janet Campbell:

I wish we could be sending you all daily updates, but things have been moving at a fast pace and it hasn’t been possible. Thanks for your prayers though!

We have had report after report of volunteers having conversations with spiritually open people - conversations that have led to people giving their lives to Jesus. Praise God! The More Than Gold pin has continued to be our most popular item to give away – most people have turned into enthusiastic pin collectors during the Olympics, as happens in all Olympic cities. Our volunteers have found it easy to start conversations by offering a free pin.

Others have prayed with people, encouraged them, and delighted them with free hot chocolate on cold mornings and evenings. People are SO appreciative of the hot drinks at the transit stations. We’ve got people in some places at 4:30 a.m. and other places til 12:30 a.m. at night. Even our B.C. premier (like a state governor) commented on the service of the volunteers - he had personally noticed it as he went around the city.

Most volunteers have come and gone, but we still have several teams here serving away. We had 2 volunteers who, in separate incidents, fell last night, leading to trips to Emergency, but nothing serious. We had 2 people last week who had to go home suddenly due to deaths in the family. Please especially hold up in prayer the family of Barbara Webb from GA (a More Than Gold volunteer) whose 8-year-old grand-daughter was killed in a car accident.

Many of you contributed to the welcome kits and care kits. Just today a load of the care kits was taken to the Union Gospel Mission, probably the best-known ministry to homeless and low-income people downtown. The people they care for are receiving the beautiful hand-knit scarves made by many of you (along with many other items in the kits)! Thank you again.

Local churches have been busy. My church had a children’s program one day and had several new-to-us families participate. Both Kevin’s church and mine are “perking locations” for More Than Gold – ie the kitchens are in use as sites for making the coffee and hot chocolate that are served at nearby transit stations. Other churches in our Association have had children’s programs, held big-screen viewing parties, taken shifts at the More Than Gold beverage stations, and more.

Kevin and I went up to Whistler last week one day and were able to briefly visit with a couple of mission team members there, plus our chaplain working within the Athletes’ Village. All had good reports of ministry opportunities and spiritual conversations. There is another group in Whistler right now – they will be working as official VANOC volunteers Friday and Saturday so please pray for them that they will “let their light shine”!

We have been blessed to have “extra-special” helpers who have been tireless in their service behind the scenes this week, last week, or both. From Texas, Georgia and Colorado: Dan & Joanne Crawford, Les and Darla Dobbins, Peggy Colbert, Beth Ann Williams, Steve Hoekstra, Jeff and Ruth Wagner. From here in Metro Vancouver: Kelly and Jeanne Manire, Gary and Carol Oaks, Marsha Davidson and others as called upon! What a great support team. Thank you all. We could NOT have done this without you!!

We are tired, but happy with all of the wonderful reports of open doors, “stretched” (in a good way!) Christians, and new believers. We have greatly enjoyed meeting the mission teams face to face after so many months of emails and calls. And we’ve enjoyed seeing our city come alive – the people on the streets and buses are excited and much more open to talking with strangers than usual.

More after the dust settles….meanwhile, send us your stories of what you have seen God doing. Thanks!

Medals Ceremony

Up early for the morning shift at the Athletes Village alongside chaplains Nick (from North Vancouver - called "North Van") and Dr. Lawrence (from Boston, MA). Nick is a pastor in the North Van area, and Dr. Lawrence is a retired pastor who nows works part-time as a chaplain on cruise ships.

On my way in to the Multi-Faith Centre I saw some of the USA bobsled coaches and congratulated them on their bronze medal from the day before. Also, I saw the USA Nordic Combined (cross country skiing and ski jumping) team on their way to their competition. I saw Billy Demong and told him "Congratulations" for his medal earlier in the week. Little did I know he was on his way to earning a gold medal in the competition today! Congrats Billy!

An alpine skier joined us for Bible study this morning, which focused on John 6:68. Nick led a good Bible study and then we prayed for the athletes, for the volunteers, for the spectators, for the workers, and anyone else we could think to pray for.

I had a good conversation with one of the workers inside the Athletes Village today. She said her family has never really attended church, and she didn't know much about the Bible. But she said if I wanted to bring her a Bible she would check it out. I brought her a "More Than Gold" New Testament and showed her where the Gospel of John was. I explained how the New Testament is 27 short books so you don't have to necessarily read it from page 1 to the end. Pray that she will read it, and that God will draw her to Himself. Pray that for all of the people we've given Bibles to.

Ever since the tragic accident and death of Nodar, the luge athlete from the Republic of Georgia, we have had a "book of condolences" for volunteers, staff, athletes and coaches to sign. We've kept it in the Multi-Faith Centre so that everyone could have access to it, and so that people could take a private moment to pray for his family as they sign the book and write him a note. But, now that the Games are almost over, we decided to move the book inside the Athletes Cafeteria so that everyone who has not had a chance to write in it can do so conveniently. The VANOC staff moved it over today. There is quite a protocol that must be followed for something like that to be moved to a new location. Pray that the words people wrote will help to comfort Kodar's family and that God will show them His love, mercy and grace.

In the afternoon I caught up with Erin Pac's family & friends to go to the Medals Plaza for the Medals Ceremony. It was pretty exciting. I was standing near Erin's family & friends, Elana's family & friends, and Shelly Ann's family & friends. They let the family & friends get really close to the stage for great pictures. When they put the medals on the medalists, you could see the happiness on their faces and the tears of joy in their eyes. They awarded many medals for events from the past two days. Some took place in Whistler (where we are) and some in Vancouver (which they showed to us live on the big screen).

If you'd like to read an article from BP News about Erin and Elana's bronze medal performance - and what role God had in their victory - click HERE.

After the Medals Ceremony, we boarded a bus to take us to the USA House for a celebration in Erin & Elana's honor. The USA House is a house rented by the USOC to be used for these types of celebrations as well as meetings, interviews, etc that need to be done away from the Villages. Teresa McAlpin, a member of our church and USOC staff, is one of the front-desk workers at the USA House. She and the rest of the team greeted us, got us signed in, etc. It was great to see her. Teresa showed me some verses of Scripture that the Lord had laid on her heart that she had written down to be an encouragement to the Christian athletes.

We had some good food to eat at the USA House. My wife Kim would have been proud of me for trying some food that I've never eaten before. It was all delicious.

At the USA House I was able to connect with a lot of the bobsled coaches, staff, and administration. I saw some friends who are going to the four-man race tomorrow and we made plans to meet up and hike to the Start line grandstands together. It was a privilege and a blessing to be there at the house.

A couple of last thoughts. The best part about the Medals Ceremony (from an earthly perspective) is to see the celebration and joy of people being together, celebrating the accomplishments of someone else. Everybody was getting along, so many different countries, all of whom had just been hours earlier competing against each other, now were applauding those who were the winners. But it is true in saying that all who compete are winners.

From a sociological point of view, it was interesting to see how much people love music, dancing and celebrating. It makes me think that we as Christians need to think about that in worship services because there are ways to do all those things in a Christ-honoring way. That brings me to my last thought. It's going to be pretty amazing in heaven when we get to enjoy music, and dancing, and celebrating, and being rewarded, and getting to place our crowns at the feet of Jesus. That's a Medals Ceremony that you should be really looking forward to!

Women's Bobsled Finals

The morning began quite early, with a 4:20 AM alarm to make sure I was ready for my Skype appointment with the Fellowship of Christian Athletes group from Little Mill Middle School in Cumming, GA. A guy who was in my youth group when I served as a youth pastor in GA, Jimmy Woodward, is a teacher and the FCA leader at this school. I had a great time telling the students and parents all about some of my experiences at the Olympics, about some of the Christian athletes, and answering the great questions they asked. The Skype call was 7:45 AM for them, which was 4:45 AM for me. But it was worth it!

The early-morning Skype call made me so tired that I went back to bed for a few hours and caught up on some sleep. Everyone in my house keeps giving me a good-natured hard time about the long hours I am out every day and night. But I guess I am just blessed with an extra amount of energy. (Dad & Mom, was I this way as a kid??) The LORD gives me the strength I need to do all that He wants me to do each day. Every conversation, prayer time, text message, etc that I spend with people here is worth it to advance the kingdom of God.

The mission team staying at the house with me told me their devotion started at 9:30 AM, so I headed upstairs at 9:27. I heard two people praying, one of them praying for my family & me specifically, and it was very encouraging. After their prayer time was over I sat down to hear the devotion only to discover they had started early and I missed the whole thing! Oh well, at least the prayers were good.

I was scheduled to Skype with students from Keeseville, NY but a big snowstorm caused their school to be cancelled. Hopefully we can do that Skype call on Friday.

An hour at Starbucks allowed me to catch up on emails and post a couple of links on Facebook highlighting other ministry going on around Whistler and Vancouver. My friend Debbie Wohler was highlighted in one article, and my friend Sid Hopkins "The Pin Man" in another. Before I left the coffee shop I ran into Amanda Moreley from the Canadian bobsled team. She was the alternate on this year's team, just missing the Olympics. She is a dynamic follower of Christ. She is the person who helped to get our Athletes Bible Study in Lake Placid connected with FCA years ago. I also got to meet her mom and sister at the coffee shop.

The weather was turning a bit rainy/snowy so I headed back to the house for a quick change into my snow pants instead of jeans, then off to meet my friends Otis Jones and Betsy Napier to watch the women's bobsled finals. Before the race began, we had some great conversations with the folks around about bobsled, Olympic chaplaincy and more. I also had a chance to pray with Erin Pac as she came up to the Start area.

I'll get right to the results. Erin and Elana slid very well today, and so did the Canadians. Overall, the Canadian bobsled teams earned the gold and silver medals, and we are so proud of Erin and Elana for earning an Olympic bronze medal!! They are going to be on The Today Show on Thursday morning if you get a chance to watch. Pray that God will give these two Christian bobsledders just the right words to say. The silver medal Canadian bobsled team includes Shelly Ann Brown, who is a devoted follower of Christ also. Pray that her opportunities through the media will allow her faith in Christ to shine brightly too!

After the race and after saying "Congratulations!" to Erin & Elana, I walked down from the sliding track with Erin's family & friends. They of course are incredibly proud of her and Elana. I tried to find Shelly Ann to say "Congratulations!" to her, but there were too many Canadians in the way!

;-)

I arrived back at the host home before 9:00 PM, which is actually pretty early for me during these Games. The ladies from the mission team had made some yummy meatloaf and mashed potatoes, and I enjoyed a tasty dinner. After watching some of the Olympic Games from the day on TV with the mission team, it was time for bed.

One other quick praise: the mission team from Hebron Baptist Church (Dacula, GA) applied a few weeks ago to be official volunteers with VANOC, and they were all accepted. They will be official volunteers at the four-man bobsled races on Friday and Saturday. Pray that the LORD will use them to be a witness for Christ with all the volunteers and spectators that they meet.

Praying for Protection and Blessing

Every day is different.

Today I worked the morning shift at the Multi-Faith Centre. Our group of chaplains met for a specific time of prayer for all of the athletes in general and for the bobsledders in particular as the women's (competition) and four-man (practice) bobsleds were sliding today. Later, I dropped in on the PolyClinic to check on the staff. They thanked me again for how our team of chaplains were there to help on the day that Nodar died.

After stopping at the PolyClinic, I dropped by "The Living Room" (a nice room with large open windows, nice couches and chairs, and lots of coffee tables). The Living Room is also the place to get a cup of coffee, a muffin, or some Vitamin Water. The young lady who works behind the counter, Jessica, is always very nice to us chaplains when we stop by for a coffee and a chat.

In the afternoon, I met up with Matthew from Australia and we headed to the women's bobsled race. (On the way I stopped to chat for a couple of minutes with two of the ladies from Hebron Baptist Church who are here on a mission trip.) Matthew & I went early to the race to get a good seat at the Start in the grandstands. It's a pretty good hike up the bobsled track hill. Lots of exercise! Our seats put us in the German/American/Australian section. Next to me sat the boyfriend of German bobsled driver Cathleen Martini. She is a very good driver, but so are the Canadians and Americans. Our friends Rob and Matt from GA joined us at the Start grandstands too.

Before the race, I always take a moment to bow in prayer to the LORD, asking Him to protect the athletes, and to bless them, and to draw them to Himself. A huge praise is that earlier in the day training/practice had gone really well, and also that during the women's race no sleds crashed! Thanks be to God for answering the prayers for protection and blessing.

I saw several of my friends from Canada and America who are serving on the jury for the bobsled race. I know them from our ministry in Lake Placid at World Cup Bobsled & Skeleton races. It was good to see all of them.

Our friends Erin Pac and Elana Meyers raced well today. After 2 heats, they are in 2nd place. Pray that the LORD will be with them tomorrow during their finals, blessing them, helping them to do their best, for HIS glory. I saw Erin's boyfriend, Peter Blumert, and a lot of their family & friends at the race. Peter has been a friend of our family for years, and stays with us when he comes to Lake Placid.

After the bobsled race, we decided to avoid the lines at the gondola and the buses, and just to walk down the ski slope to get back to the Village. That seemed like a good idea. We were doing OK until we made one wrong turn, and we walked about a mile farther than we needed to. We did run into Peter and his family on the Village Stroll and Matthew, Rob & Matt got to meet them. If you'd like to see some good photos of the bobsled races by a local Lake Placid photographer Todd Bissonette, visit www.usabobsledphotos.com.

Dinner was good pizza. Then a quick look at the "Fire & Ice" ski/snowboard show, along with a live drum band and more, then off to our host home.

Tomorrow I am scheduled to Skype with two schools, one from GA and one from NY, about my experiences here. That should be fun.