Nothing grips sports fans so much as the Olympics, and there were many wonderful events in the game, and seemingly a very good spirit amongst many of the competitors.
There were many remarkable moments in these games. We loved the surprising twist in the tail at the very end of the much anticipated 1500 metres, for example. This had been billed as a great show down between Josh Kerr from Scotland and the brilliant Norwegian, Jakob Ingebrigtsen. Josh appeared to have the race in the bag – but at the very last moment an American runner shot through to take the prize – something that pretty well no one had foreseen. We both loved that this runner had no hesitation in saying that he felt it was as though ‘God carried me through.’
These were by no means the only times we sensed the Lord’s presence and power at work in these games – and when contestants testified very publicly of Jesus, despite the official ban on drawing attention to their faith. (Very much including the prolific record breaking swimmer Adam Peaty https://premierchristian.news/us/news/article/adam-peaty-god-faith-olympic-final)
The River Seine was much in the news for the quality of its water pollution. One thing it could not manage were decent sized waves to host the Olympic surf competitions – which were very sensibly held instead in, er, nearby Taihiti!!! Sally sent me this cutting, which reveals the Christian faith of two of the top surfers.
https://evangelicalfocus.com/life-tech/27668/the-surfer-of-the-iconic-olympic-photo-i-can-do-all-things-through-christ-who-strengthens-me
And if all that was happening ‘on screen’, who knows what the Lord will have been doing off camera?
See also https://www.catholicnewsagency.com/news/258649/paris-2024-athletes-witness-to-their-faith-d
The French Bible society distributed 140,000 New Testaments in French and 60,000 in English, together with testimonies from 15 athletes, “in the hope that they will leave a lasting legacy that extends far beyond the athletic arenas”. May the Lord’s hand be on each person who receives a copy of the Scriptures!
Here is YWAM’s report on their outreach during the Games. https://www.ywamparisjetaime.com/_files/ugd/612fcc_bedeba332c1941e0a577297a088dd87a.pdf
Go it, Lord: continue to draw many to the true light in the City of Light as the Paralympics get under way. Continue to awaken many hearts to look to You, Lord Jesus, in Paris this summer. and to reach the point of coming to love and serve You. Match person to person to bring them into contact with the very people who can speak most effectively of Christ to them, and lead them to You, even as You did in the course of the Games in Rio. In Jesus’ name.
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