08:08.08pm on 08/08/08 is the time when the XXIX Summer Olympic Games in Beijing, China will officially open—the Chinese hold the number 8 in high regard!

Beijing is 7 hours ahead of the UK, so plan ahead if you want to watch the 3-hour opening ceremony at Bird's Nest stadium. Organised by famous Chinese film director Zhang Yimou, it should be quite an event with some 10,000 performers and fantastic fireworks. "I pray for good weather," he joked to reporters recently.

“We pray that the spiritual needs of the athletes will be met in a meaningful way as many will be vulnerable depending on how their competition goes,” says Norman Brierley, who arrived in Beijing on 3 August to serve as an English language reporter as part of the 2K Plus International Sports Media team. He will be contributing to a daily blog as well as team productions such as Postcard from Beijing and More Than Gold, featuring news and stories from a Christian perspective.

An estimated two million visitors and 16,000 athletes from more than 200 nations are expected at the Olympic Games. Places of worship have been set up within the Olympic village to provide religious services for athletes. The Church in Beijing has been asked to provide people to staff the chapel and conduct worship services and prayers.

Bibles and Gospel booklets printed in China will be available to athletes in the Olympic Village in Beijing this summer, despite rumours that Bibles would be banned at the Games. With the support of the Bible Society, 50,000 booklets are being specially printed for the event, with the Gospels of Matthew, Mark, Luke and John in Chinese and English. Ten thousand Chinese-English complete Bibles and 30,000 Chinese-English New Testaments will also be available. This initiative has the approval of the Beijing Olympic organising committee. For the first time, the committee is allowing its logo to be used free of charge on the Gospel booklets.

Tune in to More Than Gold

2K Plus International Sports Media will present More Than Gold, a 30-minute programme bringing the sports, the sounds and the stories from Beijing during the Games of the XXIX Olympiad. Presenters Mark Friestad and Teri Tan in Beijing will be reporting the Olympic events and aspects of life and culture in the Games’ host city.

More Than Gold runs daily from Thursday 7 – Monday 25 August (except Sundays). Programmes will be updated daily at http://www.planetsport.tv from 11:00 UTC.