TORONTO—As this city prepares to host 7,500 athletes and up to a quarter-of-a-million visitors and volunteers from 41 countries for this summer’s Pan Am and Parapan Am Games, the Canadian Bible Society is taking steps to ensure God’s Word will be readily available for those who want to read it.
Athletes’ Village (a home away from home for competitors throughout the Games) will be stocked with special edition Sports New Testaments. The Christian Scriptures – specially published and packaged for these Games in partnership with More than Gold – will be dropped off at St. Paul’s Basilica (83 Power St, Toronto) at 10 a.m. on June 17.
More Than Gold 2015 (a partnership of some 300 individual Christian leaders representing over 10 denominations and more than 50 organizations) staff and volunteers will move 6000 New Testaments and other supplies into the Village throughout the day. CBS will also be providing a full braille Bible for the Games.
“We’re thrilled to be able to offer these Scriptures to the athletes,” says Don Hutchinson, National Director, CEO (Interim). “Partnering with More than Gold 2015 and others to produce and distribute these books is an opportunity we jumped at because it’s right in keeping with our mission, to translate, publish, distribute and encourage the use of the Bible.”
The New Testaments, specifically designed for the games, include one that is English/Spanish and one that is French/Portuguese. They include sports related content around themes that are of interest to athletes.
“We believe that by reaching out to people with the life-changing Word of God, the Bible message will become a real and vibrant part of individual lives, communities, and society as a whole,” says Hutchinson. “The Bible Society movement was founded on the belief that everyone who wants to read the Bible should be able to.”
The games are the world’s third largest international multi-sport Games. While the Pan Am Games have been hosted in a dozen countries throughout the Americas, Canada has hosted them twice; in 1967 and 1999, both times in Winnipeg, Manitoba.
The Canadian Bible Society is a proud sponsor of More Than Gold 2015 and their work at the Pan Am and Parapan Am Games.
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For more information or interviews,
Contact: Shelley D. McLagan
Email: smclagan@biblesociety.ca
Phone: 1-800-465-2425 x3424
Web: www.biblesociety.ca