`Spiritual Warfare' At The Games? -- Some Fear Athletes Will Be Pressured About Christianity

A spiritual counseling center for Goodwill Games athletes, rather than offering solace, instead may attempt to convert them to Christianity, some members of an advisory board have complained.

Although some athletes will come from predominantly Buddhist or Moslem countries and others from nations where religious practice is not encouraged, a key figure in the counseling center also plays a role in a statewide plan to wage ``spiritual warfare'' to win converts to Christianity.

``To try to make this into an occasion for gathering scalps for Jesus is not what I believe it should be,'' said the Rev. Paul Beeman, a Methodist minister. Beeman stopped attending meetings of the Goodwill Games interfaith advisory board after he grew increasingly uneasy with the involvement of evangelical Christians, he said.

``I'm simply not interested in participating in a counseling program whose primary goal is to convert people of other faiths to Jesus Christ,'' said Beeman, pastor of Aldersgate United Methodist Church in Bellevue.

Several evangelical Christians, including two executives of a Christian radio station, have taken part in the interfaith advisory board meetings, but no Jews or Moslems are on the board.

Norm Evans, co-chairman of the counseling center's planning committee, is a former National Football League lineman for the Seattle Seahawks who is now president of Pro-Athletes Outreach, a Christian evangelical organization.

In addition, Evans is a member of the steering committee for ``Go'90,'' a statewide evangelical plan calling for a ``breakthrough in the name of Christ'' during the Games.

Go'90's strategies include working with local sports ministries and selected chaplains ``to offer services to the athletes and their coaching teams within their Games `villages,' '' according to literature sent out to local churches last month by Bev Klopp, ``spiritual warfare director'' for Go'90.

Asking pastors to ``help enlist your church body . . . to stand with us in the battle for our state,'' Klopp noted that her mission was to organize the ``prayer and spiritual warfare'' to be waged during the Games.

``Thousands of people have come to know Christ in past outreaches like this, during the Olympic Games in Calgary, Seoul and Los Angeles,'' the mailing proclaims. The Goodwill Games begin July 20.

``The Games themselves provide a once-in-a-lifetime window of opportunity to greatly influence the thousands

of international athletes and visitors coming to our doorstep with God's love,'' and an opportunity to ``save the lost throughout our state - friends, neighbors, relatives, co-workers and the Games' athletes and visitors.''

Darington Forbes, director of support services for the Goodwill Games, said the counseling center has no official link with Go'90.

Every effort is being made to ensure that the counseling program includes different faiths and that it does not become a vehicle for Christian evangelism, Forbes said.

The center is intended to provide an on-call referral service to athletes who may be depressed because of a bad performance or injury, are homesick, or otherwise in need of spiritual help, Forbes said.

The office, to be located at Hansee Hall at the University of Washington's athletes' village, would also offer a place for athletes to pray or meditate.

The Games' legal department has sent a letter to Go'90 regarding its reference to evangelizing the athletes and their coaching teams within their Games villages, Forbes said.

The reference appears to imply that Go'90 will have access to athletes, presumably through the interfaith-counseling center, inside the village, which is closed to the public.

``I've spoken to Steve Hall (Go'90's executive director) and told him he needed to be a little more careful in his wording,'' Forbes said.

Yukan Sensei, a Buddhist monk who is the only non-Christian member of the advisory board, said he's not convinced by Forbes' assurances.

``At the first meeting, someone said, `It's a wonderful opportunity to present Jesus to all these people,' '' Yukan Sensei recalled. ``They were talking about giving them Bibles and packages. I said, `What?' ''

Yukan Sensei's description of the references to evangelism at the first meeting was correct, Forbes said, but incomplete.

``When you have an interfaith group like that, everyone has their agenda,'' Forbes said. ``That issue was brought up, and it was made clear that we would not be passing out Bibles, and we would not have posters.''

Forbes, who chaired the meeting, said he made it clear that the counseling service would help connect athletes to a spiritual adviser of their own faith, and that proselytizing would not be allowed.

Forbes said he was comfortable with Evans' dual roles and called him ``a thoroughly professional individual.''

Evans, through his secretary, declined to comment and asked that inquiries be referred to Forbes.

``Everybody recognizes that there's a potential conflict of interest here with just the Christian evangelical community involved,'' said Dana Davenport, a member of the advisory board who belongs to the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (Mormon).

Davenport also is a member of the Interfaith Council of Washington State, which promotes understanding among members of many different faiths.

Forbes is making a good-faith effort, Davenport said, to ensure that the counseling office doesn't turn into a center for Christian evangelism.

The Rev. Lenard Jaecks, state president of the Seventh-day Adventist churches and a member of the advisory board, said he thought Forbes was doing a commendable job of ``trying to be cognizant of the requirements that the Games have and of the interests of the religious community, which is not easy.''

Forbes said a wide variety of faiths were included when he sent letters soliciting participation in the interfaith advisory board, but that he didn't recall how many letters were sent or where he obtained the list. ``It was a very inclusive list,'' he said.

Forbes declined to provide names of advisory-board members or minutes of the meetings, although he said the minutes were ``open to the public.''

Davenport, Yukan Sensei, Beeman and Jaecks said they found out about the board meetings through word of mouth.

``I know that many of those organizations who are non-Christian have been given an opportunity to participate,'' Davenport said.

At this point, however, the interfaith advisory board appears to have made few inroads into other religious faiths.

``They were not tapped into the religious community,'' Davenport said. At first, Forbes ``didn't even know the Interfaith Council existed.''

So far, there are no Moslem or Jewish counselors on the list of referrals, Forbes confirmed. ``We do have a listing of the local Moslem mosque,'' he said, and names of people who could help find Jewish counselors.

But Davenport suggested that it takes more than good intentions to produce a truly interfaith undertaking. ``My experience from working on the Interfaith Council is you can't force another community to get involved just because you want them involved,'' Davenport said.

``Our ethnic communities in general are as reticent on some levels to participate as we are eager to have that happen.''

Ismail Ahmad, the Moslem representative to the Interfaith Council, said he told Davenport he was interested, but has not been contacted directly by the counseling center or by Forbes.

The question of a connection between the counseling center and Go'90 was brought up at the last meeting of the Interfaith Council of Washington, with differing reactions.

Rabbi Anson Laytner of the Jewish Federation's Community Relations Council said he was concerned about the possibility the counseling center might be used to make Christian converts.

``The spirit of Goodwill should mean equal access and equal opportunity for the athletes to meet with anybody they want, and not for any one religious group to take advantage of any athlete's emotional or spiritual distress to make converts,'' said Laytner.

But Swami Bhaskarananda, a Hindu who heads the Vedanta Center here and is a member of the Interfaith Council, said he wasn't worried even if Christians did attempt to use the counseling center to convert those of other faiths.

``I don't think people can be converted that easily,'' he said. ``If I go in and a Zoroastrian counselor says, `If you become a Zoroastrian all your problems will be solved, you will win a gold medal,' I would not be convinced by that counseling. I would be able to see through that person's motive.''

Beeman, however, notes the intensity of evangelical Christians focused on converting visitors and athletes. Given that, he suggests, more than good intentions may be necessary to maintain a pluralistic approach.

Yukan Sensei, the Buddhist monk, says that as a former Methodist he does not always share the typical Buddhist attitude toward causes.

He's concerned for the athlete who happens to be a Buddhist or a Moslem who walks headlong into a full-blown Christian conversion effort, he says.

Evangelizing invited guests, especially those who may be especially vulnerable, Yukan Sensei believes, runs counter to the very spirit of the Goodwill Games.

``We have religious freedom in this country,'' he said. ``We can't allow this to happen in the U.S.''