The Slingshot: A God-given right; Olympic missionaries; Isaiah fragment

Hi Madeline: I hope your trip is everything you hoped! Thanks for this story. It's a good start, but needs more depth, context and details. Could you please revise it? Here's what I'm looking for and some questions.

1. An explanation of why missionaries come to the Olympics. Why do they see this as a good opportunity? Who are they? Retired people? Clergy? Young people? Or a mix? And are they targeting in their mission work? Athletes? If not, who? If each is sharing the Gospel in their own way, give an example or two of their differing approaches.
2. At one point you talk about 3,000 missionaries and then at another point, 2,000. Is it 2,000 at Gangnang and then 1,00o more somewhere else? Where? Are the mostly doing their work in Olympic Park, or on the outskirts - hotel lobbies? transportation hubs? Where?
3. We need a bit on religion in South Korea weaved into the story. Here's a good source on that: http://www.pewresearch.org/fact-tank/2014/08/12/6-facts-about-christianity-in-south-korea/ 
4. Do missionaries always go to the Olympics or is this a first?  If not unique to these games, how does the size and approach of this missionary force compare to those at past Olympics?
5. Give us a better idea of what pin trading is, especially since you spend much time on it. What kind of pins are we talking about? The little pins people wear on their lapels? Pins of a flag of a nation? You refer to "normal" pins. What's a normal pin? Clue us in a little as to what this tradition is about so it makes more sense when you tell us its been adapted by missionaries. And if you are pinning for Coca Cola, what exactly are you doing?
6. Please go back to the Americans you interviewed, or find some new ones, and ask them not just about pinning, but what drew them to the Olympics, what a day of being a missionary there is like, what they're trying to achieve and what they count as a success.

PYEONGCHANG, South Korea — To those watching on TV, religion seems absent from the Winter Olympic Games. But away from the spotlight, some 3,000 missionaries are on hand. An estimated 2,000 local and international missionaries are in the city of Gangnang, where the indoor Olympic events are being held. There are Baptist church, Presbyterians and Methodists.  Jehovah’s Witnesses and Mormons also abound, each group sharing the Gospel in its own way. A large percentage of the missionaries hail from South Korea itself. The United Christian Churches of Korea is a coalition of 144 local congregations making a collaborative effort evangelize. They help foreign mission groups to arrange housing, ministry sites, and learn about Korea. But each mission team supplies its own  literature. Local churches are taking advantage of having the games at their doorsteps. Many have set up welcome stations in parking lots, giving away free snacks, coffee, and Christian literature. For example, So-Mang Presbyterian Church — directly across from the Olympic, sports a live orchestra, church members dressed in traditional dresses, free bandanas saying “Thank you Jesus,” and free coffee and snacks. The church gives foreign visitors a traditional Korean purse as a welcome present. All are tools to share faith. So-Mang church is just one of the 26 local churches with similar outreach ministries. Myungsu No, campus minister in Seoul, says young people from the Baptist Student Union (BSU) are using pin trading, an Olympics tradition, to spread the gospel. A tradition used since 1996, the mission groups have designed unique pins with the theme “More Than Gold” to give away. Trained in the art of pin trading, the missionaries have an initial pin trade using normal pins, and after the trade offer the trader an extra pin as a gift. The pin is designed with the five colors used in popular “salvation bracelets,” and the missionary will use the colors to share their faith with the trader. Trader receive resources to follow up with a missionary in their home country. Some missionaries even have official pin trading positions. Marty Youngblood, the Georgia Baptist Convention mission team leader, says a number of his team members work for Coca-Cola pin trading during the day in order to gain access to the park. “We pin trade for Coca-Cola for about three hours a day, then spend the rest of the day doing ministry either in the park or around the city,” Youngblood said. The first weekend of the Olympics, mission groups could pass out Christian literature in the Olympic park without concern. But, as of Sunday, the Olympic park officials posted signs informing visitors that passing out religious material in the park was banned, and any materials found would be confiscated. Youngblood says he is not concerned. His missionaries are not simply passing out pamphlets, but engaging in conversations, and only giving pamphlets to those who want to learn more. ALim Jang, a recent university graduate and student leader with BSU missionaries, had “a mission moment.” She discussed Christianity with a with a woman in a line at the Samsung store in the Olympic Park. She and the woman traded pins, and afterwards she shared the “More than Gold” pin with her. Jang says the ministry is very sporadic, and does not have a set schedule. “We just explore the [Olympic] park, and God puts people in our path to minister to.” Mission teams stay anywhere from one week to attending for the entire games. Although some will leave this coming weekend, churches say they are already planning on continuing the ministry at the 2020 Tokyo summer games. (Madeline C. Mulkey is a senior at the University of South Carolina School of Journalism and Mass Communications. She is doing a special online documentary and a series of articles on “God at the Game.”)