The unofficial spectator sport of the Olympics is pin trading, and during February’s Winter Olympics, people from Sochi and around the world will be collecting and trading pins from their favorite countries, sports and retailers.
To capitalize on this unique phenomenon, Engage Sochi volunteers will have their own lapel pins that are specifically designed to help share the gospel. The pins will feature Sochi’s most recognizable landmark, the seaport building, and the Engage Sochi evangelism star and web address.
Attached to the pin is a printed gospel presentation in both Russian and English. Volunteers will use the pins to help start conversations and to help explain the gospel during the 2014 Olympic and Paralympic Games.
During the 2010 Winter Olympics in Vancouver, volunteers distributed around 75,000 evangelism pins similar to the Engage Sochi design. In addition to being used in Sochi, International Mission Board missionaries across Russia will use these pins and the excitement of the Olympic Games to reach the people in the cities where they serve – from Moscow to Vladivostok.
Engage Sochi organizers believe that a minimum of 30,000 trading pins with an attached gospel presentation will be needed. For more information, visit netcommunity.imb.org.