Three Viking ships could feature in a contribution to More Than Gold from Youth with a Mission (YWAM). If the plan goes ahead the ships would form the backdrop for a large-scale evangelistic drama complete with Vikings in costumes.

This imaginative approach would be one strand of YWAM’s involvement with the Games, for which they anticipate up to 10,000 people from as many as a 100 nations serving on mission teams.

The Games will be one of YWAM’s major outreach events for 2012, with their response being conducted by a team under the name ‘Forever’. They expect to far outstrip the 3,500 YWAMers at the 1992 Barcelona Games and the 4,500 at the 1996 Atlanta Games.

Explains Jan Yan Nicholls, leader of Forever, ‘The clue is in our name. This is not just short-term evangelism. Wherever we do outreach, we want it to last forever, so we’re partnering with churches and other Christian organisations to reach out to love the people of the UK’.

Added Jan, ‘One particular aim is to plant long-term teams in seven cities hosting Games events’.

YWAM’s contribution to More Than Gold’s mission teams will stand alongside hundreds of other agencies and individuals.