By Jim Coggins

"WHAT a wonderful way to announce More Than Gold to the world!" enthused Jack O'Halloran.

He was referring to 'Experiencing God Together: For Such a Time as This,' a conference held March 6-7 in Fraserview Church in Richmond, B.C.

More Than Gold (MTG) is a network of churches and ministries designed to mobilize Christians for service and witness in connection with the 2010 Vancouver Olympic Games. The 'More Than Gold' label has been used for Christian outreach efforts at major international sporting events for more than a decade.

The 'Experiencing God' conference featured Bible teacher Henry Blackaby, and his sons Richard and Tom. Rather than focus on the global opportunity, the Blackabys focused on personal spiritual renewal, asking: "What will it take to make me a person used by God?"

Some 250 people attended the event, and close to a quarter of them went forward to recommit their lives to serving God during the closing altar call. The event attracted a mainly lay audience with a wide variety of ages and ethnic backgrounds. However, those making recommitments also included pastors and ministry professionals. At the other end of the spectrum, a teenage girl was so impressed with what she heard that she posted her notes from the conference on her Facebook page so she could share the messages with her friends.

Attendance may have fallen a little short of expectations, said Alan Au, one of the organizers, but the event was "more about depth than breadth." He added: "If God touches the heart of even one person, the impact can be great . . . The best way to prepare to welcome the world is to prepare our hearts."

It is easy to get caught up in activities and forget why we are doing things, he said, and that is why it was important to start off with the Blackabys' emphasis on the heart. "If our heart is right, what we do will be right."

MTG has attracted an impressive list of supporting ministries and denominations (Baptists, Mennonites, Roman Catholics, Lutherans, Presbyterians, Pentecostals, Seventh Day Adventists and others). The Board of Directors and Board of Reference include the heads of major denominations, parachurch ministries and business enterprises. O'Halloran is MTG Field and Games Time Coordinator, and Au is an MTG board member and City Coordinator for a ministry called Vancouver Focus.

However, More Than Gold is not intended to be a super-organization that "runs everything from head office," Au said. Rather, it is intended to be "a catalyst for a grassroots movement."

The Blackaby event is a case in point. It was initiated a year ago by leaders in a diverse group of ministries. These ministries then brought the event to More Than Gold, which agreed to endorse it.

In addition to the main conference, Richard Blackaby spoke at a meeting for people in business on the topic 'God in the Marketplace -- What Fortune 500 Executives Ask about Life, Faith, and Business.' This event was fitted into the schedule of breakfast meetings run by the City in Focus ministry. Similarly, Henry and Tom Blackaby spoke on 'Experiencing Unity in the Church,' to a lunch meeting of 80-100 pastors at Cedar Grove Baptist Church in Surrey. This event was fitted into the schedule of Hope Vancouver, a network of pastors and lay people praying for Vancouver.

Continue article >>

In this sense, the Blackaby event is a model for how More Than Gold is supposed to operate, Au said. People and ministries catch the vision, and then plug in wherever they see they can contribute. The MTG website lists nine working groups, where interested volunteers can sign up to participate.

The next event is 'Aha!'- billed as "a surprise package of music, dance, theatre, media and visual artists," presented March 22 at Bible Fellowship Foursquare Church in Surrey. This is intended as a 'kick-off' for the various Christian arts events, both Canadian and international, scheduled from now until the end of the Olympic Games. This event is being led by Russ Rosen, who works with YWAM and is a member of the MTG Creative and Performing Arts working group. The Russ Rosen Band led worship at the Blackaby event.

In the fall, David Macfarlane, Director of National Initiatives for the Billy Graham Evangelistic Association of Canada, will lead evangelism training seminars for an expected 5,000 people at six churches in different cities around British Columbia's Lower Mainland. Similar training will be offered separately to members of Chinese churches and possibly to international teams coming to minister at the Olympics.

"God keeps bringing the world to Vancouver," Au said, listing off a series of events beginning with Expo 86 (the 1986 world's fair). Christians can "watch these events go by" (as largely happened with the world junior hockey championship in 2006) -- or "seize the opportunity to share the gospel with visitors and local people."

But the MTG organizers have said they are determined that their initiative be more than a one-time event; they want it to "leave a legacy."

Dwayne Buhler, Director of Missions Fest Vancouver and a member of MTG's Board of Reference, helped organize the Blackaby conference, and emceed the event. He admitted that he was personally challenged by the teaching. He noted that a variety of ministries were launched in the wake of the 1983 Billy Graham Evangelistic Crusade in Vancouver, including Christian Info Society (parent organization of BC Christian News and www.canadianchristianity.com), Missions Fest, Focus on the Family Canada and Campus Crusade for Christ Canada. He hopes for similar results this time.

But Au and Buhler both agreed that the intangible results will be even more important than the organizational legacy. Buhler said that when Christians get to know each other and start working together, "ministries are birthed and partnerships are formed." Au said that when "churches work together in unity, they can go much farther than they can on their own." His hope is that, long after the organizational structures are gone, those relationships and that spirit of partnership will continue to shape "the grassroots Christian culture" in the Vancouver area.

Macfarlane agreed, saying that something similar happened with the Celebration events he ran for The Evangelical Fellowship of Canada in 2006, 2007 and 2008. The secular media in each city kept picking up on the fact that so many Christians were working together. "We Christians are not famous in the secular world for working together."

Macfarlane also suggested that if the thousands of people receiving evangelism training keep sharing their faith after the Olympics, "the impact can be huge." He noted that this happened after the Commonwealth Games in Victoria, B.C. in 1994. The evangelism training did not just help Christians witness during the games, resulting in genuine conversions, but it also kept "spilling over into the rest of their lives."

He described the MTG initiative as "an amazing opportunity," since such cooperative efforts can "leave a trail of light behind."

March 12/2009