16th October, 2012

DAVID ADAMS

It's more than a month since the Paralympic Games closed in London and More Than Gold - the Christian umbrella organisation that was overseeing many of the outreach events at the Olympic and Paralympic Games - has just released some stats on how things went during both events. It makes for an amazing read.

The Olympic Stadium:. PICTURE: LOCOG

They say that conservative estimates - conservative, mind! - show as many as 500,000 people attended church organised events, including community festivals, during the Olympic and Paralympic Games.

In addition the data shows that the 300 'Games Pastors' provided 13,000 hours of voluntary service at 24 key locations, that More Than Gold's Athlete Family Homestay Programme hosted 280 guests for 2,000 nights, and, that 30 teams of musicians and creative artists contributed 440 hours of live performances.

As many as 500,000 bottles of water were handed out to visitors during the Games in an initiative led by the Salvation Army while some 225,000 Olympic and More Than Gold pin badges were handed out by More Than Gold mission teams who consisted of more than 2,100 volunteers from more than 40 countries. More than 500,000 Christian resources - including New Testaments, Gospels and Bibles - were produced and sold.

Meanwhile, the More Than Gold Prayer Relay linked 69 communities and around 2,340 people taking part while the Praise Bus travelled 8,500 miles over 65 days with 100 musicians and singers involved.

More Than Gold have archived all the bulletins they released during the Games here. In addition the World Prayer Centre has published a list of ways in which prayers were answered during the Games. You can see it here.

What can you say but 'Wow'?

If a passage from a book or a song or something else altogether has particularly inspired or amazed you, why not share it with others in Wow! Email your contributions to wow@sightmagazine.com.au.

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