When the Olympic games open in Atlanta in July, Roman Catholic evangelist Jim Murphy expects to face some challenging feats of his own. Murphy will be one of many people behind the scenes making sure millions of sports fans visiting the city get a chance to hear the gospel.

As chairman of the Youth Executive Committee for the North American Renewal Service Committee (NARSC) - an organization that brings mainline Protestant, nondenominational, Pentecostal and Catholic charismatic's under one umbrella - Murphy will keep Christians aware of evangelistic activities throughout the city and provide follow-up for new converts.

Such an undertaking, Murphy says, can only be accomplished if the work is undergird with prayer. NARSC plans to establish prayer sites throughout great Atlanta where Christians can meet to intercede for the Olympics. They'll pray not just for their own evangelistic efforts, but for the safety of athletes and visitors and protection against terrorist attacks.

"The Olympics are so big that it's hard to wrap your brain around it," said Murphy, who is also chairman of the National Service Committee of the Catholi charismatic renewal movement. "We realize the necessity for prayer during the Games. Not a whole lot can happen without it," he told Charisma.

Murphy, 43, says NARSC also plans to hold informal concerts and rallies to follow up street witnessing. But to get the information about the events to those witnessing on the streets will take some serious coordinating.

The networking side of Murphy's Olympic job reflects what he calls the "spirit of NARSC", cooperating with a wide variety of ministries and denominations. Though the athletes will be there to compete, it's Murphy's hope that the varied Christian groups will not be.

"We're here to work together" said Murphy, who believes the possibilities for evangelism during the games are limitless. "People will be coming from nations that are militantly non-Christian. It's as if the Lord is saying, if you can't get to them, I will bring them to you."

"One of our dreams is that people from nations closed to the Gospel will
become infected with the Gospel and then carry it back to their cultures." he said.

Making that happen is going to be a marathon effort, but Murphy is no stranger to marathon events. He accomplished one of his own in 1994 when he completed a two-year walk across the United States.

Bearing a 15-pound wooden cross, Murphy left St. Augustine, Fla., on foot in July 1992 determined to walk very step of the way to the Pacific Ocean. He completed his evangelistic mission in March 1994, but not until he encountered "everything imaginable" along the way, he said.

"Sometimes God provided food and shelter in miraculous ways," said Murphy. "Other times I slept under bridges and in steel conduits and had no food nd no water."

Murphy completed his journey, sharing the Gospel along the way and accomplishing his goal of walking the entire distance.

The Olympic analogies in his life don't end there. Murphy also knows first hand what it means to "go for the gold". In 1971 when he was in Alaska panning for gold, he wandered into an Assemblies of God church and received the baptism in the Holy Spirit.

Like most things in Murphy's life, that's a story in itself.

Tired and dirty after a full day of panning, he made his usual daily at the local Catholic church. But this day he took a different route back to his room, one that took him past an Assemblies of God church where revival meetings were being held.

He went in and noticed that people were speaking in what sounded like baby talk. Although he had never heard anyone speak in tongues before, he was intrigued by the unusual phenomenon and continued to visit the church night after night.

One night he somehow ended up at the church altar and was touched by the Holy Spirit. Later, back at the youth hostel where he was staying, he shared Christ with another guest in a way he never had before.

A second spiritual experience two years later sealed the call of God on Murphy's life. During a summer trip to Colombia, he was so struck by the poverty there that
he decided to pursue full-time Christain work.

Murphy now has a ministry to young people that also extends to their parents and youth leaders. That ministry takes a number of forms, from direct evangelism to writing to conducting leadership seminars. One of his recent books, 17 Steps Toward Better Communications With Your Teens, reflects a key element of his youth ministry; helping parents relate to their children.

He also conducts a retreat called "Shepherds on Fire," designed to train people who are called to youth ministry. The sessions are "clearly charismatic," Murphy said.

"The challenges of today require much more than just doing good things; you must function under the anointing of God," Murphy said. "The church can't say to youth anymore, "just love Jesus and bea good kid." Kids want to lay it all on the line for the Gospel. We need to turn them loose."

A graduate of Wayne State University in Detroit, Murphy did social work for a while before entering the ministry. In the early 1980's, he believed God was leading him to get advanced training as a SCUBA diver, a direction that made no sense at all.

Today he looks back on that period in his life -- when he worked in Fort Pierce, Fla. In underwater construction - as "boot camp" for ministry. To this day, he said, he uses the leadership lessons he learned through that experience.

"I'm still in the salvage business; I still find a lot of wrecks in the world," says Murphy of his ministry work; "I'm just going for better treasures."

Despite his crowded calendar, extensive travel schedule and varied ministry commitments, Murphy tries to keep the "stuff of life" in perspective.

"I'll probably never make the big time," Murphy said. "I'm just helping little people do little things. Most people are called to the day-to-day stuff of life, but with extraordinary grace, extraordinary holiness, with an extraordinary anointing."

"Whatever success in life means, unless you can help someone else along the way, it's not success."

--- Written by Marcia Ford

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