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Leaders of several organizations are working hard in preparation for a Christian presence at the Olympics in Beijing later this summer. One of them is Steve McConkey of "4 Winds," a ministry to track and field athletes.McConkey has produced videos with Christian athletes that have reached millions of Chinese. He explains how that has happened."They took testimonies of Olympic medallists, and they took their testimonies into the underground church," says McConkey."These are committed men and women of Christ who love the Lord.Their testimonies were taken in by members of the underground church to an estimated 100,000 people and then to an eventual 100 million people. "Franklin Graham, while recently in China, said he wouldn't encourage people to evangelize during the Olympics because that would mean violating Chinese law. McConkey's disagrees with that approach."I don't know what law he's talking about-the law of communism?" he wonders. "We have the right to preach the gospel. No man should ever stop any person from preaching the gospel ... even if, like the Falun Gong over there, [which is] a cult, they should have the right to be able to share their opinion even though we disagree. But I think the public square's got to be free. When Paul went into Athens, he boldly witnessed and he never stopped." McConkey believes Christian evangelism will take place during the Olympics, irrespective of Chinese law. The ministry leader, however, is not confident of approval for a visa so he can attend the Olympics. He was part of a group that pressured China to change policy and permit athletes to bring one Bible with them.As in the days of Noah...
