England (MNN) — Other than a bottle-throwing incident at the 100-meter track and field final, the 2012 Summer Olympics in London continue without incident. Many athletes are competing for gold, while spectators are seeing the best athletes in the world.
Is all of this hoopla and celebration meeting emotional needs? For those who win, yes — for a while. But then the hole reopens.
Athletes In Action, a ministry of Campus Crusade for Christ International, is in London helping to meet those emotional and more importantly, spiritual, needs of athletes and spectators at The Games.
MNN's partner, Planet Sport, caught up with AIA's Carl Dambman at The Games. "We're here to serve the people of sports, to serve the athletes that are competing, and also to serve the people who are looking for more the gold — looking for a purpose."
Dambman says there will be a few athletes who win a gold medal. "There will be some 300 victors. There will be 900 or 1,000 medals given out. But there's going to be 10,000 who go home empty. For some, it will be great experience. For others, they're broken. So we're here to reach out to them, but also to reach out to fans that love sports."
Athletes in Action will be hosting the More Than Gold 2012 Legacy Breakfast this Friday in London. Dambman says, "It's going to be honoring the name of Eric Liddell. And there will be a couple of Olympians that have won medals but also have shown the quality of life that we want to see — a role model. They will be honored with the first Eric Liddell Award."
Business people have purchased tables for the event. Dambman says Christians and non-Christians will be in attendance at the Legacy Breakfast. "We just want to raise the banner of who Jesus is," he says.
As the Olympic Games continue, there's one message that Dambman wants everyone to know. "There is more than gold. There is Jesus Christ who has changed our lives, given us purpose–meaning, given us eternal life that can start now and can last forever."
AIA is doing even more at the Olympic Games that we can't talk about. Pray that their ministry would have an impact on the lives they're serving at the Olympic Games and around the world.
