NAMB missionary serving as Olympic chaplain

North American missionary Derek Spain is serving as one of the official Vancouver Olympic Committee chaplains at the Athletes Village in Whistler, B.C. As a chaplain, Spain will be available to pray with and minister to the athletes competing at the 2010 Winter Olympics. Spain is pastor of Lake Placid Baptist Church and director of  North Country Ministries, a ministry focused on the athletes who live and train in Lake Placid, N.Y.

To keep up with Spain, follow him on Twitter (@derekspain) or on his blog.

Day 4, Vancouver, B.C.

 It's Monday in Vancouver, British Columbia.

At the corner of West Cordova and Burrard Street in downtown Vancouver the seagulls fight for positions atop lamp posts, flapping and cawing at ravens, pigeons and each other.

From this intersection one sees the nations mingle with a city living its Monday morning, even though so much of its rhythms are set to the beat of this most prestigious of Vancouver events since the World Expo of 1986.

Canadians and Croatians alike mount the sidewalk from buses whose sides read Vancouver 2010. Some countries go to work today, and some are just beginning their celebration of global competition and camraderie.  

Vancouver is grand without the Olympics, its mountains rising snow capped at the ends of alleyways and vessels cutting wakes through Coal Harbor. But now a new world of expectations and anticipation turns every Skytrain stop and street corner into an intersection with possibility.

This is the Vancouver Southern Baptists enter with their mission of making the Gospel of Christ known among nations.

Yesterday, Quillian Mercer shared a More Than Gold pin with a family at events in Whistler. “They were just so excited just to get the pin. Then I gave them the card that explains it,” said Mercer, a student pastor at Bethany Baptist Church in McDonough, Georgia. “Some people just wanted to hear my accent. I never thought God would use my accent as a way to talk about Him.”

Olympic pins, hot chocolate, coffee and accents are all part of seed planting among the nations in Vancouver.

“There’s a lot more happening here than just sports events,” says Jeff Wagner, North American Mission Board resort and special ministries coordinator. Jeff sees a man with a book full of pins from many Olympics. “Where there might be hesitancy to talk to me about Jesus on any other day, sharing a pin or a cup of hot chocolate shows that we’re interested in them on a human level.”

This is day four and only the beginning as we watch God work in the lives of His people here in Vancouver!

Years in the making

From an apartment window at 26 stories we watch fog fill distant hills and traffic stir the streets of Surrey, a town just 20 minutes from Vancouver on the Skytrain. Loss of a slider from the Republic of Georgia's luge team creates mixed emotions as a city builds toward tonight's festivities and more than a thousand Christian volunteers gear up for ministry. NAMB missionary Derek Spain remains in Whistler with fellow Olympic chaplains, ministering amid aftershock of a fallen competitor.

Churches across Vancouver will host viewings of the opening ceremonies, providing venues and hospitality to a city whose population will swell by more than 300,000 over the next three weeks.

"This has been years in the making," says Alan Au, a coordinator for Southern Baptist work during the Vancouver Olympics. "We've had volunteers arriving for three days from all over."

Many volunteer groups led by NAMB missionaries and pastors have already jumped into their roles providing hospitality at Skytrain stations, labor support to More Than Gold offices and outreach efforts throughout the city.

"The Olympics have provided Vancouver with an opportunity it hasn't seen since the World Expo in 1986," says Au. "It provides for increased infrastructure, for more emphasis on caring for the underprivileged and homeless and for an amazing cooperation among churches of many different denominations. Because of this the churches in Vancouver will be able to work together for many years to come."

Life in the Fast Lane

He travels “90 miles an hour down an ice chute with an inch of error on either side.” His name is John Napier. He is a U.S. Olympic bobsledder and a new Christian. In this video, travel to Lake Placid, N.Y. and learn how North American Mission Board missionary Derek Spain leads Olympic athletes like John to faith in Jesus. View video.