Commonwealth Games athletes will be supported by almost a dozen chaplains from around the world over the next two weeks.
The 21st games were officially opened by the Prince of Wales, representing the Queen as head of the Commonwealth, on Wednesday. More than 4,500 athletes from 71 nations and territories will gather on Australia's Gold Coast to compete for 275 gold medals over the next 11 days.
They will be supported by 10 international chaplains, including two from the UK based Christians in Sport Group.
Graham Daniels and Jules Wilkinson held an Easter day service for athletes at the Team England camp on Sunday.
'Chaplains are available to people of all faiths and none,' Daniels said in a CiS interview before leaving for Australia last week. 'Our first role is to make ourselves available on a pastoral level to anyone who wants it. There will also be athletes at the Games who are Christians and will want to have Bible studies and corporate worship and we will be able to provide that for them.'
Wilkinson added: 'I have been walking alongside a number of the competitors for some years now, so it will be brilliant to have that extra time with them. Easter is also such a fantastic time for Christians, so it will be amazing to be celebrating Jesus' resurrection with athletes from all over the Commonwealth as they get ready for the Games.'
Asked what the challenges were for Christian athletes the pair said fatigue and the distance from friends and family were factors.
'There is a danger of uncertainty when you're at an event of this stature,' said Daniels. 'A lot of people are under a lot of pressure for a long time. The challenge is to overcome my own uncertainty and focus on serving the athletes, coaches and officials. They can be pretty anxious and disappointed at times. We need to ask God to to help us serve as opposed to being served.'
