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Local pastor makes trip to China as Olympic chaplain
  
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By STEFANIE THOMAS
Pastor Fred Dallas is only allowed to bring one Bible this time around. He has been to the Olympic Games four times in the past, each time with a few boxes containing volumes of God’s word in tow. This year is different. This time, it’s off to China.
“This will be the fifth time I’ve been working as an Olympic chaplain and the restrictions that we have [in China] are much more stringent than anything I’ve worked with in the past,” said Dallas, minister of pastoral care at Second Baptist Church in Kingwood. “The freedom of religious expression has been suppressed in that country.”
Representatives of the International Olympic Committee invited Dallas to attend his first Olympic Games as an Olympic chaplain in Seoul, Korea, in 1988.
“I was living in Spain at the time in 1988,” he explained. “I was in my mid-30s and I did a lot of long-distance running. They were looking for a pastor who spoke Spanish, lived in Spain and had some understanding of the athletic mindset. My name rose to the surface.”
Four years later, in 1992, Dallas lived in Barcelona when the Olympics took place there. He helped local churches prepare for the event. He did the same in preparation for the winter Olympics in Lillehammer, Norway, in 1994, and again in Atlanta in 1996.
Dallas said he is one of 40 chaplains who will gravitate to China from all corners of the world, who speak a multitude of languages and represent a variety of denominations. Their services will be accessible to athletes of all nationalities.
“Basically, I’m a resource to the athletes,” Dallas described his chaplain duties. “I can join them in prayer for a family member or for an upcoming event at their request. But I can’t be an aggressor. In other words, I can’t go out and make converts within the Olympic format. I can’t take the initiative and say to an athlete from Nigeria, ‘Let me introduce you to my faith.’”
Outside the Olympic Village, however, Dallas said he’ll be free to mingle with the crowd. There, he plans on seizing the opportunity to form new relationships and spread the faith. His knowledge of Spanish and Norwegian widens his playing field in the international setting by allowing him to communicate with persons from several countries.
A great way to break the ice with a stranger, Dallas said, is the popular Olympic tradition of sharing and collecting pins, the kind some people wear on hats or lapels.
“The Olympic Chaplain Ministry has its own pin depicting the icthus,” he said, referring to the Christian fish symbol. “It becomes our key to opening conversation and sharing our faith.”
Dallas said he’s not afraid of political unrest or smog. He trusts in God to return him home safely. The one thing that does worry him is China’s culinary fare.
“When I look at the photos where they eat chicken heads on a stick, that doesn’t thrill me,” he chuckled. “It’s a mixed blessing. The bad news is, I may not like the food; the good news is I may come home a little lighter.”
“This will be the fifth time I’ve been working as an Olympic chaplain and the restrictions that we have [in China] are much more stringent than anything I’ve worked with in the past,” said Dallas, minister of pastoral care at Second Baptist Church in Kingwood. “The freedom of religious expression has been suppressed in that country.”
Representatives of the International Olympic Committee invited Dallas to attend his first Olympic Games as an Olympic chaplain in Seoul, Korea, in 1988.
“I was living in Spain at the time in 1988,” he explained. “I was in my mid-30s and I did a lot of long-distance running. They were looking for a pastor who spoke Spanish, lived in Spain and had some understanding of the athletic mindset. My name rose to the surface.”
Four years later, in 1992, Dallas lived in Barcelona when the Olympics took place there. He helped local churches prepare for the event. He did the same in preparation for the winter Olympics in Lillehammer, Norway, in 1994, and again in Atlanta in 1996.
Dallas said he is one of 40 chaplains who will gravitate to China from all corners of the world, who speak a multitude of languages and represent a variety of denominations. Their services will be accessible to athletes of all nationalities.
“Basically, I’m a resource to the athletes,” Dallas described his chaplain duties. “I can join them in prayer for a family member or for an upcoming event at their request. But I can’t be an aggressor. In other words, I can’t go out and make converts within the Olympic format. I can’t take the initiative and say to an athlete from Nigeria, ‘Let me introduce you to my faith.’”
Outside the Olympic Village, however, Dallas said he’ll be free to mingle with the crowd. There, he plans on seizing the opportunity to form new relationships and spread the faith. His knowledge of Spanish and Norwegian widens his playing field in the international setting by allowing him to communicate with persons from several countries.
A great way to break the ice with a stranger, Dallas said, is the popular Olympic tradition of sharing and collecting pins, the kind some people wear on hats or lapels.
“The Olympic Chaplain Ministry has its own pin depicting the icthus,” he said, referring to the Christian fish symbol. “It becomes our key to opening conversation and sharing our faith.”
Dallas said he’s not afraid of political unrest or smog. He trusts in God to return him home safely. The one thing that does worry him is China’s culinary fare.
“When I look at the photos where they eat chicken heads on a stick, that doesn’t thrill me,” he chuckled. “It’s a mixed blessing. The bad news is, I may not like the food; the good news is I may come home a little lighter.”
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