History of Youth More Than Gold

When Singapore won the bid to host the inaugural Youth Olympic Games, a prayer movement was birthed.

Sports Coalition Singapore, ARISE! Singapore, Singapore Campus Crusade for Christ and Ignite Alliance gathered to pray and seek God for one common cause – to serve the nation in the run-up to the Games. This prayer movement became Youth More Than Gold.

As the word got out, more Christian and para-church organisations came onboard to harness the potential of this unique once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to love and to serve, and in so doing, awaken the dreams of the next generation.

Together, we can see independent and inter-denominational churches and organisations working together as one united body of Christ for one aligned purpose – mobilising, training and equipping the next generation to build relationships and share God’s love.


History of More Than Gold

The name Youth More Than Gold pays homage to the global Christian involvement with the Olympic Games stretching as far back as early 1970s. Under More Than Gold, local Christians have been organising volunteer committees in the host nations with officially sanctioned programs to enrich the Olympic Games.

An example of how the Christian body contributed through More Than Gold was the Olympic Games in Sydney, 2000.

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Quest Australia was officially created in early 1997 to coordinate the Christian community’s involvement with the local government and official organising committee. Quest implemented the largest combined Christian ministry effort in the history of the Games.

Quest was involved with the following:

  1. Chaplaincy
    60+ chaplains served the athletes within the Olympic Village.
  2. Resources
    20+ Christian resources are approved for distribution at the Games.
  3. Samsung Athlete Family Homestay Program
    The Christian community provided 400+ homes to host athletes’ families.
  4. Water Distribution
    The local Christian churches distributed 250,000 cups of free water at Olympic venues.
  5. Christian Resource Distribution Center
    The local organising committee approved the location of Christian resource distribution centers within an Olympic venue.
  6. Volunteers
    The local church provided 2000+ official volunteers to serve in various capacities.
  7. Information Centers
    Two church facilities were equipped with televisions, ticket information, and computers to provide all the necessary information to visitors.
  8. Rental of Facilities
    Christian facilities in Sydney were rented out during the Games to house bus drivers and security personnel.
  9. Creative Arts Performance Groups
    Christian performance groups were used as part of the Cultural Olympiad.
  10. Pin Trading Center
    A major pin trading center was staged by the church next to St. Andrews Cathedral and the main train station venue in downtown Sydney.

In addition, the local Christian community was involved in an array of other programs.

  1. Sports Clinics
  2. Opening Ceremony Festivals
  3. Prayer Festivals & Prayer Chain
  4. Paralympic Ministry
  5. Christian coverage of the Games
  6. Creative Arts Performance

Over 5,000 Christians were involved in the staging of the above-mentioned programs.
It is estimated that a budget of US$2,000,000 was raised to implement them.

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Click here to find out what previous More Than Gold committees around the world have accomplished.