Robert Hill reports that ministries during this summer's Olympics have had long-range effects.
The Athens 2004 Olympic Games are now history, but much of the impact goes on. Greece did a marvellous job showing the world how a small country could do so well with this once-in-a-lifetime event. Many Christians in Greece latched on to this unrepeatable opportunity to make a statement for Christ, in a country where 97% of the people belong to the state Greek Orthodox Church, yet fewer than 3% of those go to church.
Several years ago, Panagiotis Kantartzis, pastor of Athens' First Greek Evangelical Church, realised the unique privilege God was giving the tiny community of believers in Greece. He designed a multi-faceted outreach ministry called 'The Crown of Life' and began promoting it among evangelical believers in Greece and abroad. He realised the difficulty Greece's believers would have: Protestants are fewer than one-fifth of 1% of Greece's population of 10.5 million. So a key element in the Crown of Life ministries was partnering with Christians from abroad. This partnership now extends far beyond the brief period of the Olympic Games.
