VANCOUVER, British Columbia—Caitlin Woodard long will remember watching downhill skier Lindsay Vonn win an Olympic gold medal for Team USA. But an even more memorable, and meaningful, experience was seeing another student in Vancouver commit her life to Christ.
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Howard Payne University students (left to right) Caitlin Woodard, Nathan Gilbert and Amanda Burley stand in front the Olympic Torch in Vancouver. The students were on a mission trip with Action Ministries International during the Winter 2010 Olympics.
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Woodard, along with fellow Howard Payne University sophomores Nathan Gilbert and Amanda Burley, spent 10 days at the Winter Olympics working with sport chaplains through Action Ministries International.
While they attended the games, they focused on sharing the gospel through the popular Olympic pastime of pin trading. Fans at the games often trade lapel pins representing their countries, organizations or corporations.
The pins AMI volunteers traded featured a globe with a torch in the center, bearing the name Jesus, and stripes of black, red, white, green and gold. The colored stripes provided any easy way to explain how to become a Christian—black representing sin, red standing for Jesus’ blood shed on the cross, white showing a life cleansed from sin, green standing for new growth and gold symbolizing eternity in heaven with Jesus.
“Using the pin to share with people was a great thing for me because it took away the conversation starter that I always had trouble getting out,” Burley said. “I was able to share with whoever wanted to hear, and I truly believe that God used me in people’s lives.”
The Howard Payne students stayed in a hostel on a busy street near the Olympic Village. They found opportunities to witness practically on their doorstep.
While evangelizing on the streets, Gilbert learned to “not underestimate the power of the Holy Spirit, and to always be ready for God to use you to touch somebody.”
“We never knew if someone had actually been thinking of accepting Christ for a while, or if they had never even thought about if there was a God,” he said. “We had to be ready for any kind of reaction and respond back with the love of Christ.”
The trip changed the HPU students’ perspective on evangelism, making them more aware of the fact many still need to hear the gospel message.
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“On the trip, we looked at everyone we saw as an opportunity to share God’s message, and I realized that I need to be more intentional about my conversations with people on a daily basis,” Woodard said.
“If Christ really is the most important priority in my life, then he should be reflected in my conversations.”
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