FLORISSANT \u2013 The Olympic Games are a great meeting place for the people of the world, and Jeff Wells, senior pastor of Cross Keys Baptist Church here, believes it is a wonderful place to introduce them to Jesus. He is ready for his trip to Sochi, Russia.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe Olympics are Acts 1:8 all in one place,\u201d Wells said. \u201cPeople attend from all over the world, and I love to tell them about Jesus.\u201d<\/p>\n
Wells tells the story about meeting two guys at the swimming venue in Beijing in 2008. \u201cWe started talking to them and found out they were from Black Jack, Mo., which is less than five miles from my church (Cross Keys).\u201d<\/p>\n
Wells began attending the Olympics in 2000. \u201cI met David Guinn at a college retreat,\u201d Wells said, \u201cand he invited me to go with him to Sydney.\u201d<\/p>\n
Guinn founded Action Ministries International (AMI). The ministry organizes a team of sports chaplains to go to each of the Olympics to share the gospel. Each chaplain is equipped with a supply of \u201cJesus pins\u201d and an identifiable jacket.<\/p>\n
Wells took Guinn up on the offer to go to Sydney, and he has since attended eight Olympics. \u201cWe give away the Jesus pins as a free gift,\u201d he said. \u201cTrading pins is a big activity at the Olympics, and these pins feature the colors of the gospel, black for sin and red for the blood of Jesus. They are a great conversation starter and lead-in to talk about Jesus.\u201d<\/p>\n
The cost to Wells for attending the Olympics every two years is about $8,000 for each trip. This includes the flight, meals and money for AMI to produce the items needed for ministering.<\/p>\n
\u201cGod has always provided what I needed for these trips. Several churches, groups and individuals have donated for my ministry,\u201d Wells said. \u201cIn 2006, the day before I was to leave for Torino, a member of my church came by with a book for me to read on the trip. After he left, I looked in the book, and I found an envelope with $300. I thought there must be a reason I needed the money. When we got to Torino and sought out the location of the TODAY Show, we had an opportunity to get tickets to the opening ceremonies. The face value of those tickets runs $1,200, but these tickets were $300.\u201d<\/p>\n
According to Wells, the restrictions since September 11th have made it difficult to get into Olympic Park. \u201cBeing in the venue is key,\u201d he said. \u201cWe get a ticket for an event and go with the intention of making a day of it to make the most of the opportunity to talk with as many people as possible. AMI has a guy who works on getting tickets to the events to give us when we arrive. It doesn\u2019t matter what event it is because there are always lots of people to talk with about Jesus.\u201d<\/p>\n
When Wells was in Beijing, he had a special call by God. \u201cPart of my leadership responsibilities,\u201d he said, \u201cwas to travel the subway and pick up folks at the airport and guide them back to where we were staying. As I rode each day, I saw young girls and older women riding the subway. God said, \u2018These are the fortunate ones.\u2019 I knew He was leading my family to adopt. When I returned home, I discussed it with my wife and my daughter, Bethany. After praying, we adopted Joy Lee from China.\u201d<\/p>\n