Sports Ambassadors Australia

DAY 13 – FINAL DAY : FATIMA UNVERSITY

2012-01-14T12:37:00.000+08:00

Our final morning saw a trip to the famed Greenhills Shopping Centre – the mother of all flea markets in the heart of downtown Manila. Shouts from hawkers of ‘Sir! You buy bag!’ or ‘Sir! Buy here’ were interesting and novel for the first 20 minutes, but Michael Valenti’s gruff stares and retorts of ‘What?’ certainly matched the locals for bluntness!

The afternoon saw us head out to Francisville, a small suburb we had visited earlier on the trip, to play Fatima University – a large Catholic university that boasted overseas players and sharp-shooters.

With Danny Cook out with the flu, much of the scoring burden would fall to Conan Prince and Giles Creelman to try and replicate the irreplaceable presence that is Danny Cook. Danny has been the consummate professional on this trip, nightly racking up points, rebounds, steals and slam dunks in a no-nonsense fashion and winning hearts with his happy manner.

Without him we knew that the match would be hard. Fletcher Creelman was a strong defensive presence, blocking numerous shots from the local team and shooting well from long range. Andrew Stock continued to play the point position, shooting and distributing the ball with the aplomb of player who distinguished himself in Perth’s State Basketball League before relocating to Shanghai, China to teach their with his wife in an international school.
Fletcher Creelman ministered to the sizeable crowd at half-time, but spoke more directly to the opposition team about looking past the game of basketball to lasting happiness.

The second half saw the lead see-saw back and forth between both teams for much of the third and fourth quarter. With the Aussies dominant inside and scoring freely from post-play and big-men combinations, the Filipinos played their own brand of basketball, penetrating and swinging the ball multiple times to find the open three-point shot.

Some fine hustle plays from Steve Cressie on the defensive end and Conan Prince on the offensive rebounding front gave Sports Ambassadors the edge in the end, 76-72.

It was a fine way to end our basketball tour for 2012. A great opposition that pushed us to create perhaps our best basketball of the trip and a great time of sharing with the Fatima players after the match.

A detour on the way home to the Faith Academy condominiums and a swim in the pool to end the day gave all the players the opportunity to reflect on the match and the highlights of the trip.

A quick shower and a trip to the famous T.G.I.Friday restaurant marked the goodbye dinner for the players as they were to leave at 3am the next morning for their Singapore flight. Andrew Stock is remaining in Manila for an extended holiday before heading back to China.

For anyone interested in flight returns to Perth, the players will be coming into Perth :

TIGER FLIGHT 2716
Sat, 14 Jan 2012

Perth ( PER ) 9:05 PM

DAY 12 –Back to Manila

2012-01-14T12:36:00.000+08:00

A 7am breakfast with Pastor Gary Visitacion and a trip to the Bacolod Airport for the 10:50am flight to Manila saw us leave the Negros island for the final time on this trip.

It has been an excellent experience in the large cities we have seen (Dumaguete, Himamalayan and Bacolod) and the smaller towns of Amlan, Cibulan, Tanguay, Cubancalan have all had their charms. The people of Negros Oriental, as everywhere in the Philippines, are some of the friendliest in the world. This is a country which much be experienced to be fully appreciated.

Arriving back in Manila in the early afternoon saw us reacquaint ourselves with the Manila smog and the congested traffic, which characterise the city.
With our American missionary contact Joshua Manthe vacationing in Australia at this time, it fell to our friend Pastor Rufo Pong to lead us on the final leg of our basketball outreach tour.

The relatively straightforward journey to play the Cainta Junction at 4pm hit a snag when we encountered a flat tyre half way there. This elongated our journey time but finally arrived just before the start of the match to a covered court right in the middle of this inner-city Manila suburb. With a smaller than expected crowd in the grandstands, we realised that the luxury of large crowds of excited fans does not always extend to the capital city.

The opposing team looked ready to play though. Being Andrew Stock’s birthday, Fletcher found a NBA statistic that the most shots taken by a single player in a game is 47 field goal attempts. Andrew Stock attempted to break this record by shooting anything he could get his hands on. The opposing team did not have much of an answer to inside presence of Fletcher Creelman and the now potent fast-break rhythm of the team following ten days of playing teams together. An eventual score line of 81-57 in favour of the Sports Ambassadors was punctuated by Steve Cressie relating his testimony to the crowd at half-time and a solid performance from veteran Michael Valenti in the low post.

The trip back to the YFC Orphanage saw everyone turn in for an early night with our final day of the tour looming tomorrow.

DAY 11 – UP HIGH IN HIMAMALAYAN AND THEN BACK THROUGH BACOLOD

2012-01-12T13:56:00.001+08:00

The 8am convoy of vehicles left La Carlota and passed by Pastor Norman’s house to say final goodbyes to the main pastor in charge of this 60,000 strong city.

There are a number of times on this trip when Pastor Gary, after speaking to local pastors, has identified needs that we have been able to contribute towards with funds raised in Australia or donated by people in Australia. We had this opportunity in La Carlota again this morning and the joy and happiness that radiates from the people who receive these financial donations is simply amazing.

It is also contagious.

You want to help them because you realise that the amount that you or I spend on a night out at the movies could sustain an intern pastor for three months or rebuild a school library ravaged by flood waters.
With teary farewells we took off for the two hour journey from the centre of the island to the large city of Himamalayan (pronounced ‘Hey Mum! A Lion!)

Arriving at the Mayor’s office at 10.15am and the game scheduled to begin at 10am meant that we were whisked through the normal formalities and hustled into some government 4WD’s to be sped to the game. This took away somewhat from the motorcade that the Mayor had set up for us, complete with 24 red-and-blue motorcyclists accompanying us and a Brazilian conga band beating drums on the back of a flatbed truck!

We arrived to hear speeches from the Mayor again and Tito Doden (aka. Mr Basketball, because of his numerous contacts in the world of basketball) as the children from the neighbouring school filed into the grandstand.

As the game was delayed significantly, it was decided that two 12-minute halves would be played rather a full 48 minutes and this brought the game down to style more than substance as the accompanying acts outshone the main performance.

The quick start with barely a warmup shocked the Aussie team and they trailed 17-6 before Giles Creelman (who shared his testimony in front of the noisy school crowd) and Danny Cook came off the bench to steady the scoring and tie the game at the interval. The second half saw a lot of ministry work being down by the players and the game finally ending with a 54-53 Sports Ambassadors win.

The celebrity status attributed to the players was kept in check by Pastor Gary Visitacion who again whisked the players into the 4WD’s and off to lunch with the Mayor.

After lunch the group continued on in the government vehicles for a further hour to our destination for the evening – Bacolod.

This large city is the former home of Pastor Gary Visitacion and he played the ultimate host‘s role in the late afternoon, taking us to visit the Ikthus Church of Bacolod where Pastor Joe met the players and informed us of the work they were doing in helping families recover from the Cagyan de Oro floods which devastated the region at Christmas.

One pastor we spoke to on the phone was helping his local congregation rebuild their houses after losing his fiancée in the floods. He had lost his own house, was supporting 72 families who had lost theirs and stated that he refuses to leave the area because ‘this is where God wants me’. Our final donation on the trip was made here to this pastor over the phone who replied that his ‘soul was uplifted’ by this news.

Gary then took us on to the birthday party of his well-known mother, Ivy Visitacion, a respected print and radio journalist in Bacolod. The party was held in a palatial house with newspaper photographers and the presence of the city’s gentry creating a stark contrast to the unshaven Australians who sat in the corner of the marbled lounge rooms sipping Coca-Cola and nudging each other regularly!

It was a great evening in which Mr Basketball entertained the Aussie troops with NBA tales and his coaching exploits while owning a PBA franchise earlier in his life.

With the photos expected in the press in the next few days, we can only but wonder whether our international presence was a highlight for the well-known Bacolodians or some unwanted invitees who had crashed a high-brow party and ate the caviar thinking they were Pascal lollies!

We leave Bacolod on the 1050 flight tomorrow for Manila and play the Cainta Junction Selection team at 4pm.

DAY 10 - SPRINGING INTO ACTION IN LA CARLOTA

2012-01-11T08:23:00.000+08:00

Today saw as leave the beautiful resort at 8am and head north to La Carlota – a beautiful city of 60,000 people in the middle of the Negros island.

After an hour on the road we came to Pastor Norman’s house, the ruling pastor in La Carlota. He hosted us for an hour or so as we learnt the day’s itinerary and recuperated with an early lunch.

From here we headed up into the mountains of La Carlota to a Christian resort with rudimentary facilities in beautiful surroundings. The owner of the small resort took us on a 15-minute walk to a very cold fresh water spring. With water temperatures between 12 and 15 degrees the swim was refreshing but bracing all the same.

From here we headed back into the city to meet the mayor and then make the short walk to the main plaza for our outdoor game against the 16-man strong La Carlota Selection.

Conan Prince came alive early on in preparation for his half-time testimony which was witnessed by a crowd of 400 onlookers.

Subsequent three-pointers by Rufo Pong and Andrew Stock kept the Sports Ambassadors close in the third quarter before some agile defending and finishing by Danny Cook and Fletcher Creelman steadied the match and put the Aussies in the lead for good. The windy night made shooting hard for Stevie ‘Wonder’ Cressie, but he more than made up for this with his work with the Christian tract outreach where he worked tirelessly for long stretches.

The postgame dinner was held at the local church and volunteers who prepared it really knew how to cook! We ate well before heading back into the jeepney and up into the hills for a quiet night’s sleep among the wildlife.

Tomorrow sees an early trip to Himamalayan, two and a half hours away for our final match on the island.

DAY 9 - GIVING & RECEIVING IN CABANCULAN

2012-01-10T11:10:00.002+08:00

Cabanculan City 65 Sports Ambassadors 91
Cabanculan Church 50 Sports Ambassadors 63

A wonderful Monday morning had been planned for us. The culmination of months of fundraising, planning, purchasing and packing came down to today.

Before the main event though, we made an early morning stop at a church school set up entirely from donations. Donations of equipment – books, desks, and classrooms. Donations of time with all teachers working on a voluntary basis.

Sounds crazy, right?

This fanciful concept is made even more difficult when the local history of the area is taken into consideration. For more than twenty years this mountainous area was controlled by communist rebels. These tyrants allowed no education for the people at all. A generation of people who cannot read or write with no appreciation for anything more than daily survival are all that is left behind from this recently-toppled regime.
As such, the new church school has classes of mature age adults learning in the same kindergarten classes as their young children!

All of the donations since the inception of the school just three years ago showed what true community means to these people – each Sunday 150 people travel by foot through the high altitudes to praise and worship God on the grounds of the school to thank these volunteers for this new opportunity – some hiking up to six miles for the service!

A small presentation of donated funds and a tour of the school set the tone for a day of giving and receiving. The short bus ride to the main church building at 9am for the food distribution gave us time to reflect on what we were about to take part in.

Filing into the same church building that had resembled a small factory the night before, we were greeted by 800 people who sat excitedly for a service that would see them receive food to last them for a fortnight.

As guests of honour, we were reserved seats in the front and the lull of the crowd when we entered was akin to the arrival of the bridal party just minutes before the bride.

After opening addresses from local Pastor Ely and Pastor Gary, who again fired up the crowds with Tagalog phrases like ‘Balak Bak’ (clap your hands) and ‘Amen Huber?’ (don’t you agree) we made our way to the stage and thanked the people for the opportunity to come to the mountains to distribute this food.

We pointed out that this money is not from us personally, but from the donations of churches and individuals in Australia who wanted to see the Filipinos thrive and survive in calamitous surroundings. The concept of the universal church united by Christ really crystallises when you are standing before this many people knowing that this is only possible from donations abroad with all parties looking to God for the glory rather than individual motivation.

The packages were handed out to the four lines of people lined up and the joy and thankfulness on the people’s faces alone was worth the flight to this part of the world. Sighs of ‘Salamat’ (thankyou) and old women staring at each other in disbelief as they received their packages was something that our players will never forget.

An exhibition match was scheduled after the food distribution just down the road from the church. Not only did the crowd of 200 make their way down to cheer on the food-giving foreigners, but the local elementary school was let out early to allow the young children to see the game. This filled the outsides of the court about three-deep and made retrieving the ball or moving around the outside of the court quite tricky.

Reaching our end of the court we realised that the rings were only 9 and a half foot high, as opposed to the regulation 10 foot. This changed the usual layup drill for warmups into a slam-dunk fest as almost the whole team could comfortably throw down a dunk by this part of the trip. The roar of the crowd after each dunk only inspired the team to try more outlandish tricks until Danny Cook threw down a monster dunk and almost pulled down the ring, prompting Pastor Gary to start the game before it ended prematurely.

The local selection were entertaining but not overly talented and Conan Prince proceeded to continue his three-point theatrics from outside, knocking down three long-range bombs before taking two giant steps on his next layup and hammering home a heavy dunk for the crowd. His preparation for this trip by training on the bitumen courts of the City of Gosnells had paid off this afternoon and his muscle-man celebrations after each dunk further cemented his cult status with the youngsters of Cabanculan.

Danny Cook shared his testimony at half-time and the crowd, mostly unbelievers who believe in the gospel of food and shelter, listened intently to what he had to say. The usual 3-4 minutes reserved for Christian tract distribution had to be extended to 15 minutes because of the large crowd that was now gathering from far and wide to see an exhibition match which had become something for the local people to treasure for sometime.

The highlight of the second half was Hedley ‘The Thickness’ Taylor taking the ball coast-to-coast and attempting to dunk over the opposition’s largest player! He succeeded in grabbing the middle of the net and coming down in a crumpled heap! After checking that he was not fatally injured, the crowd went wild at his heroics. High-fives on the bench now became a long affair as our team now had 27 children sitting amongst up jumping up and down at every opportunity and slapping players on the back just for the fun of it.

Subsequent dunks from Danny Cook, Giles Creelman and tip-dunks from Andrew Stock and Conan Prince kept the crowd oohing and aarghing as coach-cheerleader Fletcher Creelman roamed the court like a mascot without a uniform, imploring fans to ‘scream louder’ and ‘For goodness sake! Balak Bak!’

With the conclusion of the game and handshakes and formalities aside, the court became a time for the young children to be lifted up by Fletcher and Stocky to experience a slam dunk of their own. This was great fun for everyone to enjoy. The local pastor then had a great surprise for us – a postgame trip to a pure spring up in the mountains.

The photos of this spring have to be seen to be believed. 98% pure water direct from the earth’s core made the water perfect for swimming and enjoying for an hour or so before our second match. This was very enjoyable and a great way to relax.

The second match was a lower-key affair played in the church against the church team selection. With the pastor’s son starting for the Sports Ambassadors, it was a fun game which saw Giles Creelman speak to the half-time crowd about ‘Something Bigger’ in their lives. Having been a stronghold for communist rebels just ten years earlier, the introduction of churches and westerners who spread a positive way of living is something that the locals really seem to appreciate here.

Our final night’s stay in the pastor’s retreat will then see us head off early tomorrow morning for La Carlota – a large city an hour north of here.

Today has been a great day for international church co-operation and the positive style living that a Christian faith can instill within a people.

DAY 8 - TRAVELLING ON THE SABBATH

2012-01-09T13:20:00.002+08:00

Today saw us take off from Dumaguete at 8am for a Sabbath day full of ‘churching’ and travelling.

Our first stop was a church planted by the beach on the way to Cubuncanlun – our final destination high in the mountains dividing the provinces of Negros Oriental and Negros Occidental. The service was memorable for the 28 people attending and Pastor Gary delivering a sermon on ‘Unity in Transition’ – a 15-minute spiel punctuated by moments of laughter and implorations to ‘Balak Bak’ which means ‘Please Clap Now’ – it was certainly not boring and no one encountered the Sunday Morning Snooze sometimes experienced in Australian churches!

A donation was made to the church by our group from financial support raised in Australia and the pastor was extremely grateful for the resources tis would provide for his small but fervent congregation.

Jumping back into the jeepney, the heavy diesel fumes became the smell of the moment as we journeyed for an hour up the into the high altitudes of the middle island landscape. High rising mud steppes and the view of the large active volcano were the picturesque scenery for a journey that is best experienced riding atop the jeepney waving to locals along the roadside, who smile and yell excitedly “Hey Joe!” – a reference to the liberating World War Two G.I.’s who all westerners are colloquially referred to in the Philippines.

A quick stop for native ‘Chicken-On-A-Stick’ in a roadside shanty that made Bunbury Shell Roadhouse look like Hygeine Heaven gave way to two more hours on the road until we reached the beautiful settings of Cubuncanlun and the official retreat known as Beulah-Land, a place for pastors and wives to spend time together and for small conferences.

A large sign signalled our welcome to the townfolk who stopped to see the whitefolk in their diesel jeepney.

After settling into our rooms, we admired the majestic volcano as we walked to the evening service, a 400-strong congregation who sang Hillsong numbers in English – just for us!

Pastor Gary spoke again at the evening service and all the players were invited onto the stage to say a little about themselves and their experiences on the trip so far. Many of the small children looked quizzically at the white Australians and then chuckled at colloquial, gravelly voices of the foreigners.

The congregation have known for some time that our presence here is not simply basketball – we are here to undertake a large food distribution program on Monday in which 700 parcels of food are to be handed out to the most needy families in the region.

The conclusion of the service saw the church hall converted to small production line of trestle tables and cardboard boxes for the packing of the food.

With great help from the church members, the Sports Ambassadors team packed the sardines, noodles and rice in just over an hour in preparation for the morning.

Hedley Taylor was in his element as he lugged the 50kg bags of rice from floor to table in his West Coast Eagles jersey. Nicknamed ‘The Thickness’ by the Filipinos for his rugged, brawny appearance, Hedley has been the silent veteran on this trip, pitching in wherever is necessary and working very hard in all manual tasks.

Many of the Filipino women were swooning during the packing process as Pastor Gary announced from the microphone: “Hedley Walang Osawa” – meaning ‘Hedley does not yet have a wife!’

The excited cheer sent the shy Hedley bright red as he scurried to find more rice in a back room somewhere!

By 10.30pm all the work had been finished and the team headed back for the best night’s sleep they had enjoyed in days.

DAY 7 - DUMAGUETE'S FINEST : DAUIN COUNTY

2012-01-09T13:06:00.001+08:00

Game 1: Tanguay City Sports Ambassadors

Game 2: Dauin 58 Sports Ambassadors64

Today was our last day of games around Dumaguete and the Saturday morning brought the crowds out in force. In the marketplace, on the streets and at the covered court we were set to play the Tanguay City team on.

Being an enclosed structure, we thought nothing of the heavy rain that began as we were travelling to the match. The loud noise from the crowd also deafened the pitter-patter overhead. However, by the time we had completed warmups, the national anthem (sung by Stevie ‘Wonder’ Cressiein G-flat) and the starting lineups, the small holes in the roof had let in some unstoppable drops at one end of the court.

Determined to continue as far as possible, two men with mops stayed at one end and cleared the water when possible. Steve Cressie continued on from his national anthem heroics with a smart start, hitting four three-pointers in the first quarter as the Sports Ambassadors kept pace with the excited hosts. By half-time, with the score 25-28, the game had become unplayable at one end.

Steve Cressie, the man of the moment, aptly gave his testimony to the crowd. The young Filipino boys looking for tips on how to shoot like Steve instead heard of his life’s search for something lasting after basketball games came to an end.

Instead of playing a second half, a three-on-three competition was held with Mike Valenti dominating for the victorious Sports Ambassadors.

The highlight of the morning, however, was yet to come. A three-point-shootout between the two teams was organised with sudden-death knockout. Amazingly, the winner was Perth’s Conan Prince, who had entered as a rank outsider who could barely make the distance in practise. His muscle-man celebrations more than wowed the crowd, who screamed for his autograph and some of his protein shake mix to emulate his Adonis-like frame!

A Saturday morning which could have been rained out turned out to be a great celebration of basketball and a triumph for the unexpected.

The final game in the Dumaguete district was held at 6pm on the Saturday night in the basketball-savvy district of Dauin.

The church group who had organised the game had set the facilities up perfectly for the gathering crowd. A balmy weekend night saw entire families arrive by motorbike and scooter-trike to the sounds of a local DJ and outdoor court perfect for night basketball.

The Dauin team were eager to control the game with some ex-professionals on their team and a reputation for winning matches on their home court.

Some early shooting from Rufo Pong kept the Aussies in the game and then Andrew ‘The Clutch’ Stock took over the game. 25 points, 12 assists and 8 rebounds only displays part of the control ‘Stocky’ exerted over the match. After sharing his testimony at half-time of the sacrifices that must be made for a Christian life and the subsequent rewards promised in the Bible, Mr Clutch continued his great work in the third and fourth quarters as he combined with Danny ‘The Carpenter (he-can-fix-anything-on-the-court)’ Cook to bring the game to 56-apiece with a minute to play.

The final minute saw free throws from both sides before Stocky stepped up to shoot a long three-pointer that Paul Beacham would be proud of. The win completed a clean sweep of the Dumaguete region for the Aussies as they take off early tomorrow morning for the mountainous region in central Negros to begin the feeding program.

A perfect Saturday for basketball and ministry.

NEW PHOTOS ARE AVAILABLE !

2012-01-07T08:07:00.001+08:00

Photos for the trip can be accessed under...Current Trip Photos....My Photos...

DAY 6 – AMLAN & TANGUAY

2012-01-06T22:02:00.000+08:00

Game 1:
Calvary Eagles 45 Sports Ambassadors 61

Game 2:
Amlan City 64 Sports Ambassadors 72

Today was a slightly easier day in terms of our schedule with an 8:45 roll call seeming like a luxury.

We headed to the typhoon-struck town of Amlan, we saw firsthand the damage done just weeks before. The trip to the Mayor’s office and a conversation with the man himself only confirmed the damning statistics of how many people had lost homes, livestock and even family members during the Christmas period.

Our goodwill match against the Calvary Eagles, a smaller community team, was more of an exhibition match than the previous tough encounters we had experienced in the last week.

The match was a chance for the locals to come out and support something positive in their community and the local church was supportive in helping to hand out tracts after Mike Valenti gave his half-time testimony.

The Sports Ambassadors ran out comfortable winners in the end but the town felt like they had made some international friends on this day and we felt like we had lifted their spirits.

An early afternoon swim in the waters between Tanguay and Amlan provided more relief for our players and gave us the opportunity to spend more time with local church pastors and their families who are planting a church in this area at the moment. From here we ventured onto the Amlan City Plaza where a large audience had gathered for our match against the main team in the city.

With Pastor Gary Visitacion on the microphone to rev up the crowd, the match became z feast for the spectators with slam dunks, fancy dribbling and plenty of showmanship for the onlookers to marvel at. Giles Creelman gave his testimony at half-time, reminding the Filipinos that, in the midst of personal challenges, there is always someone bigger than ourselves. In a basketball game a bigger person can be a scary opponent, but having Jesus Christ on your side is the biggest teammate of all. Many of the crowd showed their affirmation by filling out the information cards during the second half and the conversations had after the match were very positive and enjoyable.

The end of the week sees our time in Dumaguete come to an end and we are heading into the mountains on Sunday to begin our food distribution program there.

We are hoping that, with a little more time between games, we may be able to upload some photos from our trip onto this blog.

Thanks for all your prayers and comments so far.

DAY 5 – THREE GAMES IN ONE DAY!

2012-01-06T07:42:00.000+08:00

RESULTS:

Ciluban City 60
Sports Ambassadors 69

Norsu University 64
Sports Ambassadors 70

Silliman University 56
Sports Ambassadors 64

Three games presented themselves today in very different forms. The first was held outside of Dumaguete in the neighbouring city of Ciluban, where the mayor inviting us to her office for photos and then led us down to the court next to her office for the game against her City Selection team. The game was held in high spirits as many locals came out to support their home team.

Their lack of height was apparent from the outset, but their was some talent there to keep the game competitive. Conan Prince gave a typical workmanlike performance, blocking six shots in the first half before giving his testimony at half-time to the crowd.

The short trip out to Norsu University in the afternoon presented us with a very large and jovial crowd of college students eager to see the foreigners in action. The game was played at a very uptempo pace throughout with Norsu employing traps and presses to combat their lack of height. It remained close until big men Danny Cook and Fletcher Creelman began to dominate inside and the Sports Ambassadors pushed out to an unassailable lead. The game was memorable for the many students who received gospel information and the fellowship meal after the match.

Perhaps a ten minute bus ride away was Silliman University, an indoor gymnasium with a team of 20 players. They were warming up as we filed in and their energy levels were very high. Fighting off fatigue, the Sports Ambassadors steadied themselves after going down early and at half-time had drawn level with the home team. Danny Cook spoke to the gathered audience about his life and his relationship with Jesus Christ. Pastor Gary Visitacion also spoke about how he had given his life to Christ in this very building some 25 years earlier after playing against a visiting Sports Ambassadors team.

A concerted effort in the second half by point-forward Andrew Stock and strong interior play from Danny Cook and Fletcher Creelman enabled the Aussies to get up and stay up and Rufo Pong’s long range three-pointers sealed the deal.

The team spent some time after the game handing out gospel tracts and meeting local students and church goers who had attended the match. It was a very enjoyable experience to see everybody fellowshipping together.

On the bus and back home to an early night in our five foot beds!

Day 4 – FIRST DAY IN NEGROS ORIENTAL : 2 GAMES

2012-01-05T13:45:00.000+08:00

The 7.25am flight to Dumaguete saw us meet Pastor Gary Visitacion, a bull of a man who has been running sports ministry in the Philippines for more than 25 years. He had scheduled two games for us on this day, a seaside game out in rural Dumaguete and a game against the City team during the evening.

The drive out to the seaside village in a jeepney (large Filipino bus) was great for team unity and the people of the town greeted us warmly. For the large majority of the crowd gathered there it was the first time they had met someone from Australia. The game was played by the sea, with a stray pass sending the ball into the water! No problem at all. The ball was dried off and we began again!

The Sports Ambassadors prevailed against Antonio Ramas 56 -50 in a game that saw excellent performances from Conan Prince and Michael Valenti. Steve Cressie gave his testimony as Pastor Gary translated his words into the local dialect for the people.

The afternoon saw us meet the mayor of the city of Dumaguete in his office and this provided photo opportunities for the local press as well as cross-cultural gifts and pleasantries to be exchanged. The mayor even organised a motorcade around the city to raise publicity for the night game with an announcer calling out the details to all onlookers!

The game at the Dumaguete Plaza began at 6pm and a day that had begun overcast gave way to a clear, hot night in the middle of the city against the best that Duamaguete could offer. The opposing players were great shooters but were overawed by the height and strength of the Australian players and every time Fletcher Creelman threw down a slam dunk the crowd went crazy! The Filipinos replied by shooting three pointers from long range and the match was very close throughout.

When Hedley Taylor gave his testimony at half-time the large crowd listened intently to his life story and his life as a Christian. Many Christians from the local churches, who had been instrumental in setting up the high-profile match were clearly moved by what he had to say.

The handing out of gospel tracts took quite some time and the game resumed at break-neck speed. Clutch shooting from Andrew Stock and timely steals from Rufo Pong kept the game in the Aussies favour until the Dumaguete team rallied behind more long range shooting.

The score was 92-90 in favour of Dumaguete when Steve Cressie hoisted a three-pointer for the winner with 8 seconds on the clock – it rimmed out but was thrown home by Fletcher Creelman to tie the scores at 92 apiece.

The Filipinos threw the ball the length of the floor as every player raced back down the other end and a great catch and finish by Dumaguete’s best player sealed the game as the final siren sounded –
Dumagete City 94-92 Sports Ambassadors

The crowd loved the game and it was a special night for everyone involved. The church leaders were happy, both teams were happy and the mayor was happy.

We left there with out heads held high knowing that we had provided a great contest in which we had lost the game but won the people.

Day 3 – A real test for us

2012-01-04T22:31:00.000+08:00

After a 6am wakeup call and a trip across town sans breakfast, we arrived to play San Juan “Big Chill” PBA D-League team.

These were professional athletes who were about to begin their playoff series and they were ready for an 8am match in their empty stadium against us. While we matched them in the first quarter and only trailed at the half 56-46, the third quarter saw them push the lead out with some physical play and excellent outside shooting and finish the match with an 82-56 pasting. While the scoreboard was lopsided, their was a dominant performance from Fletcher Creelman in the middle and solid contributions from senior players Danny Cook and Giles Creelman, who shared his testimony with the players after the game. It was certainly a lesson in humility for our team and we were gracious in defeat.

In our bible studies we have been focusing on the concept of ‘The Audience of One’ which relates to the idea that while we may play sport in front of a crowd of people, we are ultimately playing for God’s pleasure and we need to conduct ourselves in a manner that is pleasing to God. This change of focus has allowed us to play against better teams and play to the best of our ability and leave the result of the game on the floor.

Our second game took us to the outskirts of Manila to the imposing Lyceum Forum, a large university gymnasium with an imposing crowd and a lot of noise to greet the visiting Australians. While the Filipino college students were not overly tall, they made up for this with absolute tenacity and a very physical playing style. The lead see-sawed back and forth in the first half before a 14-1 run by the Lyceum Pirates took the half-time score to 21-35. An excellent third quarter for the Sports Ambassadors, who had adjusted to the playing style, brought the lead down to 2 before five new players came out for the Pirates and ran the Aussies off the floor with their aggressive defensive techniques.

Lyceum ran out winners 76-62 and Andrew Stock gave his testimony in front of a large crowd of onlookers. Many of the players hung around after the game and chatted about where they were at in their lives, their aspirations and life in the Philippines. It was a good chance to see the style of play that the university teams of Manila have to employ to be competitive with other teams.
An early wake-up call of 3am is on the cards as we head to the friendlier Dumagete City for the start of our provincial tour of Negros Oriental with Pastor Gary Visitacion.

We appreciate your prayer and support as we journey through this province.

How to send a message to the Sports Ambassadors

2012-01-03T10:09:00.001+08:00

One of the best things you can do for the Sports Ambassadors while they are away is send them messages. It comes as a real encouragent to hear from friends and loved ones at home. For those that are unaware of how to do this just follow the instructions below.
1. Click where it says comment at the end of one of the posts that the boys have made.
2. Write your comment in the box provided. (don't forget to include your name at the end)
3. Where it says word verification, type in the word written above the box.
4. Where is says choose an identity select anonymous.
5. Click where it says publish your comment.
Let's really get behind these guys and inundate them with messages instead of just reading what they are up to.

If you have any further questions feel free to email me at greg@sportsaa.com.au
God bless.

Greg Beacham.

Day 2 - Going to the Universtiy and then the School of Hard Knocks

2012-01-02T20:05:00.001+08:00

Today was a great day for the team.
Everyone was showered and rested and ready to face our toughest challenge yet - the National University of Manila. This is the largest college in Manila and it boasted two Cameroon internationals who made life hard for our big men Fletcher Creelman and american Joshua Manthe.

The match was a tough encounter with Fletcher dominating on the scoreboard against his opposition and our Filipino import Rufo Pong running the point for us. The University team prevailed in the dying stages 78-67 and we realised we have some work to do before playing some harder games tomorrow. Fletcher shared his testimony well and the players were responsive to what he had to say.

After a short lunch break we headed out to our second game in the Manila suburb of Francisville. It was very much the small, street game with about 50 people coming out to support a team that knew their court (potholes and all!) and shot well. Conan Prince worked hard early on and Steve "Nash" Cressie got our Spirit team off to a great start. At half time Conan shared his testimony and the local pastor spoke to the local crowd and players before the arrival of Andrew Stock by motorcycle to the cheers of the local crowd!

The second half was a much closer affair with Danny Cook dominating the game for the Spirit team and Andrew Stock making some steadying baskets late in the game. The match concluded with an 84-84 scoreline to the cheers of the crowd and then in overtime the Sports Ambassadors prevailed 87-90 thanks to Mike Valenti's solid defensive efforts. Fletcher, resting his knee from a tough morning, enjoying calling the game from the courtside and given the NBA-savvy locals some funny nicknames. His experience in the Australian outback is translating well to the Filipino culture!

It was a great spectacle for the local crowd who witnessed some dunks and no-look passes and some fine basketball by both sides. Tomorrow sees us begin the day at 6am as we travel to play a semi-professional team who will be tough opposition. With Andrew Stock in the team and big Joshua Manthe in the team we have some solid players to complement the skills of super-fast Hedley Taylor and super-strong Conan Prince and super-funny Steve Cressie.

Thank you for your prayers and support as we face our toughest challenge tomorrow morning. The people at the KIM orphanage we have been staying at have been fantastic, as expected, and they all ask when Greg will be getting here to begin the tour!

Such is the legacy of the 10-tour veteran and his brother Paul – no one is taking us seriously without them around!

Video from Day 2!

2012-01-02T19:21:00.002+08:00

Day 1 - Manila Begins with Two Games

2012-01-01T18:36:00.002+08:00

Hey gang ,
Well we have finally arrived in Manila.
After leaving Perth last night we arrived in Singapore at 3am and then changed terminals to board the 6am flight to Manila which arrived at 10am Sunday morning. We were somewhere over Bali when the captain's voice crackled over the tannoy : "Happy New Year to everyone"..

Danny Cook remarked 'Can he keep it down? I'm trying to sleep!'

We were happy to reach the Kids International Ministries orphange on the outskirts of Manila around lunchtime and settle in briefly before heading out the Bible Fellowship International church for some goodwill games of basketball there.

The local youth group team tried hard and they were cheered on by a small but supportive crowd of about 50 jubilant people from the church and from the local neighbourhood. The Sports Ambassadors team won this game easily 72-35 but the exercise was more in building friendships and encouraging these young people to persevere with their faith in this slum-ridden part of town where many unsavoury types have made the job of the local pastors very difficult.

The second game against a non-christian tea was much of the same with Michael Valenti sharing his testimony to the crowd and Pastor Rufo Pong delivering a spirted message to those gathered in the Tagalog language spoken by the people of the Philippines.

A prayer meeting followed at dusk and we have now returned to the orphanage for dinner. There are loud firecrackers going off all around us - obviously left over from New Year's Eve - and people are in a festive and cheery mood.

A short devotional and bed are on the cards for all the players tonight.

We have at least two games tomorrow with the potential for a third in the evening. The morning game will be again the National University Team and should be quite difficult.

Everyone is holding up well despite the lack of sleep. We are thankful for your prayers as we feel there is much good that can be done for the people we are to meet and have met already.

Giles Creelman

2012 - The trip to Negros Oriental begins...

2011-12-30T14:23:00.002+08:00

If you can read this you have got to the right page..!

We will be posting daily on our travels and sharing the good news of how the trip is affecting our lives and the lives of the Filipino people in Manila and in the islands of Negros Oriental.

Stay tuned!

Giles Creelman

Day Thirteen - 15th of January 2010

2010-01-16T00:05:00.002+08:00

Today was just a rest day for some shopping and chilling out. Nothing eventful to report really. For those of you that need to know flight details for picking up your beloved family members and friends they are as follows:

The main group will be heading back to Perth on Singapore Airlines flight SQ215 which arrives in the early hours of Sunday (17th of Jan) Morning at 12:40.

Thanks for following our trip.

Greg Beacham
Team Leader
Sports Ambassadors Australia.

Day Twelve - 14th of January 2010 (Girls)

2010-01-14T23:58:00.001+08:00

Today was our last day of ministry type activities. We started off the morning pretty cruisy with a few of us splitting to do different things. Neph and Heather headed up to the Children's Home and looked after babies for the whole morning! Mindy and Miranda went and visited a family they had connected with who have a little girl that isn't well and has some brain damage, to say goodbye. Then Kaija, Carly, Tammy, Shannon and Flick painted the balcony which seems to be taking forever!

Then around 10, all of us except Neph and Heather, went out to a community badly effected by the flood with food for the community, some medical help and some boxes of food and supplies for families in that area, which was recently sent over from a high school in Taiwan. Its always a good challenge being reminded of how very fortunate and wealthy we are back home, and to just see what life is like for so many impoverished people around the world, very humbling. But really great to see the smiles on the kids faces as we loaded up their plates with hot food!

Then after luch we all got back into the balcony painting...almost done! And at around 3:30pm we headed out for another epic journey to our last game of the trip!! The journey involed a drive to the train station, two crowded train rides, and then a walk into the uni campus. We played at an all girls college called Scholastica. And to our delight, the boys came to watch after recently arriving back from their trip down in Mindanao!! The game started slow, we struggled to get out shots in and our minds in the game. But by the second half we started to get our game on, and came back from being down to eventually win the game quite convincingly. At half time I shared my testimony and it was pretty well recieved.

After the game we got to hang with the team a little, they provided some snacks and we all sat around and chatted for a bit. Then it was time for the epic trip back, this time with the boys so our group was more then twice the size!! Two trains, a jeepney to the restraunt, then a stop for dinner, and a car ride home. Wheeew!!!! Everyone is well tired, ready for bed. Tammy and Mindy sadly leave us tomorrow morning while the rest of us will enjoy some earned R&R!! Fun times!

Thanks for your prayers, its been an awsome trip!!

Written by Flick

Day Eleven - 13th of January 2010 (Boys)

2010-01-13T21:13:00.003+08:00

· Over cast day/ cooler
· Game next to the river open court
· Wet court, 10 minute game
· Testimony: Tristan
· Buzzer beating 3 by Andre
· 3 point + free throw contest (Filipinos won both)
· Excitable crowd
· 100 toothbrush/ toothpastes for kids
· Special farewell lunch with mayor and pastors etc
· Swim
· Certificate, shirt and bracelet
· Scenic route and location for second game
· Scooba Steve gave his testimony
- good finish to the trip
· large, excited crowd
· Jai booster dunk
· Danny got a sweet dunk
· Jai scored a buzzer beater
· Swarmed after game, team gave a few shirts and shoes away
· Nice restaurant meal – Conan really appreciated it
· Andre ambushed by BB guns; swearing vengeance
All in all there was great camaraderie between the Filipinos and Australian teams, the crowds were really enthusiastic; as if they’d never seen westerners before. It was a fantastic way to wrap up our tour of Dipolog and the team heads off tomorrow for Manila in high spirits.
-Danny Cook and Andre Janssen

Day Ten - 12th of January 2010 (boys)

2010-01-13T20:32:00.000+08:00

Well hello hello,

So as the day started, we were treated to a sleep in. Being able to sleep in til 8, was a most welcomed change, except for the unexpected visit to some of our rooms by our fearless leader Greg, looking for his laptop.

9 o’clock quickly comes around and we meet in the lobby to head off to our first game. We headed off to Barra elementary school to play the year 5 squad. After a hard fought battle we managed to come away with a much needed win. Ha ha ha, just joking. We spent about a ½ hour or so with the kiddies, breaking them into smaller groups and running them through some drills and stretches. The other team turned up and we were ready to commence play.

By half time, we seem to have a comfortable lead. So we brought out the big guns. Enter big Jai Beacham. He was welcomed to huge cheers from the crowd and making an immediate impact. We get the ball down the court and into the safe hands of Big Jai hands. Jai takes a dribble and a few steps, pulls up for the jumper and the hits it. The crowd goes wild and we go on to win the game. Jai finds instant stardom straight away with the crowd flocking to him after the final whistle to have the first opportunity for an autograph.

We say our sad goodbyes to the kiddies and head off for some lunch at the local Chinese restaurant. Much to everyone’s delight, the meal was awesome. Then comes some more news that received some mixed emotions. Pastor Gary informs us that our next game has been cancelled. As much as that sadden us all, we realised that it would be a much needed rest. So we head back to the hotel and do some relaxing until our next game.

4:45 rolls around quickly and we all meet in the lobby to listen to pastor Gary’s devotion. About 5:20, we hop in the jeepney and go to our next game. We rock up to our next game and to the surprise of many, there was really no one around, which was quite a different scene than we have experienced this trip. The people slowly started to fill the arena as we prepared for our next contest. The other team arrives and the game gets under way. The team we are playing against are pretty good. But thanks to some consistent strong defence from players such as Mark “The Spark” Beacham and Hedley “The Thickness” Taylor, we were able to keep them contained and have a nice lead by half time.

At half time, Mark “The Spark” Beacham shared his testimony. Although the crowd wasn’t that big, they were very responsive to us and we had an excellent response.

The second half gets under way. About 2 minutes before the end of the game something happens that you’ll see as often as Hayley’s comet. The Australian Sports Ambassadors team court team consists of only Beachams. Yes, you heard me right. Enter Greg, Mark, Bek, Cassie and Jai. This combination takes to the court with high expectations. And after some very nice plays, both offensively and defensively, by all, we hold on for another hard fought victory.

We pack up and head off to get some dinner. Then make our way back to the hotel. All are ready for a shower and bed.

Thanks to all for your prayers. The guy’s team has been quite protected so far on the trip, with no one suffering any real injuries or sickness. Unfortunately the same doesn’t seem to be the case for the girl’s team, with most fallen to sickness or injury. Girls, our prayers are with you all.

Time to get some shut eye
God Bless
Micko

Day Nine - 11th of January 2010 (Girls)

2010-01-12T08:37:00.002+08:00

Very tired & its late, so sorry to all you die-hard blog readers out there - this'll be nice 'n short 'n sweet ok! the morning was spent doing jeff's orders, we packed boxes with clothes to be distributed out to the community & shipped off to Mindinao, others painted the house railings throughout the morning & early afternoon.. we helped unload all kinds of goods to the schools around, and some other girls did shifts in the nursery at the orphanage. we were all pretty knackered though, so there were many naps slipped in here 'n there..

The main event was the biggest game of the trip - versus Ateneo, the college where our star american recruit attends over here (Janellll the Desert Fox). Of course we had inside information from playing with her for 4 games but the key was her little sister betraying the family blood, and being our bench guard :) not to mention her dad still agreeing to coach, even on his birthday!!

It was a brilliant, close game the whole way through - we had an early lead in the first, but basically it was goal for goal, with the lead never exceeding 5 pts either way. there were a few early casualties - tammy rolled her ankle in a nasty collision off the ball, and flick had a very painful rib jab that took her out before half time (xray tomorrow will confirm if broken or not. so please pray for a speedy recovery, bcoz she would be highly disappointed to sit out for our last 3 remaining games)

Anyway long story short, we lost. by 1 pt. dont really wanna talk about it.
but! we had an awesome time afterwards, having dinner together, ironically for flick, at a rib house called Buffalo Wings. followed by ridiculously unhealthy dessert at the Old Spaghetti House but amazing.. sorry to be a tad boring but we're out!
sweet dreams Australia! we miss you xo

Love shan & mirands.

Day Nine - 11th of January 2010 (Boys)

2010-01-12T08:35:00.002+08:00

Well we’ve made it through another day down here in Mindanao, but boy oh boy was it a tough one! 3 games, a flag raising ceremony, tour of the mayors office and a viewing of Dipolog city on top of their newest building. First off was the flag raising ceremony that team SA was invited to attend by the mayor. Unfortunately this required a 7:00am wake up after a 12:00pm night so we were a little bit reluctant to attend, but this is the mayor we’re talking about so of course we showed up on time; only to wait a further 15 minutes for the mayor to show up! After the ceremony we had a tour of the mayor’s office; we could only wish that the chairs in her office could be transferred to our Jeepney!

After the tour we made our way to AB College, starting our warm up on Andre’s basketball court (not Andre Janssen!) and were soon facing up against a hardened college team. Before the match started the schools cheer squad came out and preformed a rather long routine and straight after we were lining up for jump ball. At half time team SA was down by around 10 pts but this didn’t dampen our spirits at all! It was my turn to give my testimony, which I think was well received by a rather enthusiastic student crowd. Afterwards we commenced our ministry and simultaneously started the second half. Despite closing the gap and even getting 1 point up during the 3rd quarter, team SA went down by 6 points. Nevertheless the crowd was one of the best I’ve experience and I believe we witnessed the Lord at work.

Next stop: the local Mexican joint for tacos (the only Mexican food they had in stock) and pizza (Italian I know, but we take what we can get out here!). The food went down well after a hard morning, and we sculped it down hungrily so we could hurry back to the hotel (Tim, Micko, Mark, Conan, Pete and another bunch were motivated by the lure of a massage!). We rested up for 2 hours before our jam packed evening!

At 3 oclock the Autobots rolled out for the second college of the day. Once again team SA was well received and a pre game performance by 3 college girls entertained us while the wet court was wiped down. The game started on the uneven court and what was meant to be a basketball game quickly turned into a skating match, with players skittering all over the court; praise God we had no major injuries! Time Sobey gave his testimony at half time, after which team SA went on to win by a comfortable 14 point margin.

The final stop of the day, at a barangay court was arguably the hardest game we played today. The local team played well, but were rather physical; getting into foul penalties in every quarter and having 2 of their players fouled off. Team SA came out strong, lead by Pete Grundy dominating the back boards and Conan sniping 13 free throws from 15 attempts! At half time we were up by 10 as Hedley gave his testimony to the smaller but very excited crowd. In the second half the Filipino team brought the game to even but team SA showed determination and tenacity (ooooh yeah) and brought the lead out to around 5 points, where it stayed for the rest of the game.

All that was left for the day was a trip to the Filipino embassy to end our long and tiring day. Please continue to keep the team in your prayers as the sheer number of games and niggling injuries starts to wear us down a little, but don’t get too worried, we’re still going strong! L8r sk8rs! –Andre Janssen

Day Eight - 10th of January (Girls)

2010-01-11T14:23:00.000+08:00

Oh Sundays. A day of such things as a 1000 plus rocking curch service, a full on mexican lunch (immense regret from the majority of the team as the choice of pre game food), a win on the court, full body massages and sweet sweet Starbucks to finish it all off.

A combination of sickness and injuries have hit the team hard, with Flick, Kaija and Carly (the Basketball originals) being the only ones unaffected so far.

A win against the National team by 12 points (they were the Junior National team, and the youngest player that was 13 years old pretty much owned all over us) boosted spirits and team morale, with Heather, Mindy and Tammy getting lots of court time and bringing the game home. The desert fox, otherwise know as Janel Long our American Filipino import, deserves an hounourable mention for her countless three pointers.
\
Another day over, another singalong on the car ride home. Love to you all, Caly Raye xx

Day Seven - 9th of January 2010 (girls)

2010-01-11T14:21:00.001+08:00

Well well, here we are...day 8. and it was officially the day we had all been waiting for...cinnamon scrolls for breakfast. Unfortunately not all could be as happy as some as this was also the first day of one of our team members getting sick. We headed off to Faith Acadamy to play a game against Haven - a team of ex-college players. However there was no 'ex'-ness to their skills. It was a nail bitter the whole way through and unfortunately we were just edged out by 1 pt in the dying seconds of the game. Miranda gave her fully sick testimony and once again the loss provided an awesome opportunity to talk with the girls of the other team, with 3 of them taking us out to lunch to Jollibee - Mindi's favourite. Starbucks for coffee and desert, another cinnamon scroll for some aka kaija. Back at the house, with very full stomachs we divided off into 3 groups, helping out in the orphanage and nursery. Dinner tonight was a well deserved trip out to a mall for pizza - absolutely awesome. another starbucks stop and we were back home for bed time.
Challenges continue to come our way. We are starting to develop some great relationships with some of the people in the community. Today we had an intense chat with a young man who was originally a part of the volleyball tournament we had been running the last two nights. He came and watched our bball game this morning and out for lunch with us. He had some very tough questions for us about God and we are continually praying asking God for wisdom to be able to answer some of the questions we are facing daily. He has asked to come with us to church tomorrow - whoo!! and for those of you who are wondering, 'who is the young lady that he fancies?' dont ask!

We ask you to pray for us, that hearts would be opened to those who hear the message of Jesus Christ through our ministry. Please also pray for Shannon as she is very unwell, and some of the other team members are feeling a bit under the weather and taking a few more than usual visits to the toilet.

Peace out
written by -kaihito
supported by - mindhito

Day Eight - 10th of January (Boys)

2010-01-11T14:14:00.002+08:00

Yeahew! What a day! Today’s been a long but productive one; we’ve played 2 games and attended 2 church services. The Sunday started off with team SA splitting up into 3 groups and attending 3 different services. The groups were headed up by “The Weapon” - Pastor Gary, “The Tower of Power”- Greg and “The Prince” – Conan; each of whom were giving a sermon. I can’t speak for the groups with Greg and Conan but the service we attended was very energetic and deafeningly loud! The Sermon Pastor Gary gave was both interesting and relevant; focusing on the need for unity in the church.

After the service team SA headed out to the mall to get some lunch at the Filipino embassy – a.k.a. Jollibee. After lunch we mucked around the mall for another 45 minutes before heading back to the hotel for a quick change of clothes before our next stop – The mayor’s church.
The second service of the day was at the mayor’s church on the 3rd story of a different hotel. Once again the music was super loud and the people just as enthusiastic. Tim and I visited the youth section of the church and found a room packed with at least 50 teenagers. Unfortunately we didn’t have time to stay for the sermon and soon enough team SA rolled out for our first game versus the Filipino 101st army corp.

After a 50 minute drive we arrived outside of the army base and started our game on their undercover court. The Army team was good, but team SA managed to lead for most of the match in what was a fast paced, reasonably high scoring game. At half time Greg gave his testimony to the packed out crowd and our tracts ministry was well received. Team SA went on to win by a comfortable margin of around 10 points and quickly rolled out to our last game; the second show down on the boulevard against the Mega Bulls.

A tired team SA reached the boulevard at around 8:00pm and started our game with a Danny – Hedley combo at tip off for a quick 2 points. Team SA managed to hold the lead for the whole game, but it was close at points of the game. At half time Danny shared his testimony and once again the crowd was very receptive. The second half was hard fought, with special mention to Tristan for his seemingly kamikaze drives to the basket which he pulled off with excellent results. Also a mention for Tim who managed a bit of a scrape when hustling for a rebound. Team SA won by a comfortable ten or so points and we all piled off for a dinner at a local restaurant, ending a long day with a Filipino meal.

So that was the Sunday, and it’s time for us to crash for the night and rest up for a big Monday. Please keep us in your prayers, especially as the team gets a bit tired. So until next time - Andre out!

Day Six - 8th of January 2010 (girls)

2010-01-09T23:00:00.002+08:00

So today started very abruptly for us girls, we had to be out the door by 7am to head to the train station! After a quick drive there we were introduced to the joys of public transport in the Philippines. Our train arrived and we were swiftly jammed into the train by our faithful coach Jeff Long. It was an "up close and personal" expereince which we all could have done without at that time of the morning but it was all to get to our game against Lycium University so we sucked it up an got on with it. We get to the end of the line, left our train and headed into very busy Manila streets to endevour to finds a jeepney. It was very chaotic and somewhat stressful but all part of the Filipino expereince. We were crammed into a jeepney, literally, we were sitting on the floor and hanging off the back. Then we walked a few blocks to the University stadium. All this before 9am and before our big game! So naturally we were a little weary. But we got into it and while we were thouroughly defeated, a few girls pulled out some sweet shots and we grew stronger from the expereince. Best of all though was Shannon sharing her testimony at the game during half time to the team and the stadium of college students watching the game, was definately a highlight.

After our epic loss, we wandered our weary feet thought the old walled city, soaking in some historic sites. Back to a much less crowded jeepney, luckily, since I am sure the other passengers would not have enjoyed such close quarters with us, now rather sweaty, smelly girls! The train home was emptier and we were stoked to get back to an amazing home cooked meal.

We had a little rest up, and then most of us headed to a pool close by with a few kids from the Children's Home for some fun! It was very refreshing on our ever increasingly weary bodies. And just palin fun to splash and play with some kids. Neph headed out to buy a prize for the end of our volleyball tournament tonight.

Around 4 we pilled into our green machine which has been getting us around, and headed to an impoverished community that was badly affected by the floods, with food, medical assistance, and bags full of toys and donations from lovely people back home! It was very cool and humbling to see the smiles on kids faces when they came to get plates, or bowls or cups of steaming food.

Then to top off the day at dinner there was a resounding "this is the best meal we have had yet! To a delicious potato bake with bacon bits, bread rolls, salad or veggies and amazing carrot cake. Which was followed by the last half of our volleyball tournament! Somewhat unsurprisingly, that Aussie team quickly was out of the running...despite enthusiasic effort. The local talent was just too good. Neph shared her testimony with the crowd and it was a very powerful and moving time which visibly touched the hearts of many listening. We hope and pray God continues to work in their hearts. And after a longer night then expected, a 5 set championship match, the winners were declared and given a brand new volleball for their efforts! And low and behold a few Aussie girls had worked their way onto that team and were able to claim some of the glory!

And so this ends another eventful, long, but satisfying and fun filled day here in Manila. Please keep us in your prayers! There is still lots ahead and we need your prayers to help keep us going, enthused, and healthy!! Thanks

By Felicity.

Day Seven - 9th of January 2010 (boys)

2010-01-09T22:54:00.002+08:00

Captains log: Day 7

We had big expectations for the Saturday night game as pastor Gary had informed us the night before and that morning in devotions to expect a big turnout , so with the gravity of the big foreshore game looming ahead of us we pushed on to our first trip of the morning, packing the remaining food sacks for the for the provinces we would visit for the (as pastor Gary put it) 3rd leg of our journey.

Inspired by Pastor Gary to stay strong and focused in the face of distractions we headed on the familiar road again to the packing factory, but not before announcing the jester hat wearing MVP for the previous day, Tim for his hustle plays and rugged good looks all the last points could be debated.

We got our sweaty man packing on as everyone furiously packed the last of the noodles, rice and sardines and with the promise of an early lunch we finished in a record breaking time, striding out of the doors after only an hour of lighting paced packing we headed for the plaza mall for lunch. Some of the new faces on the trip were tempted/ challenged into sampling one of the popular Filipino deserts the “Halo Halo” an intriguing combination of beans, ice cream and some other questionable Ingredients… but if nothing else it was an ‘experience’ for the rookies.
We then headed out for a pizza lunch downtown, the oily cheesy goodness was appreciated by all involved, a little more due to the fact we had an extensive three hour break to chill out. So everyone took it down a notch to prepare for our evening affair with as quoted by pastor Gazza “the Mayors Team”, when 5 o clock rolled around, the foyer was filled with an air of anticipation and we listened to the wise words of pastor Gary which had everyone leaving the hotel in quiet confidence that we would be good representatives of Christ to the Filipino people. We headed out to the street court for our before the game warm up and there to greet us were possibly the friendliest and (for some) the most dunk-able basketball rings we had encountered thus far.
We were surprised by the pre-game blackout leaving the courts in darkness but normality was restored just in time as the lights lit up the court just in time for the bout. The game was filled with a fast paced up and down style played by both teams with a few half court lobs and some silky skills from Andre and a crowd pleasing dunk from Danny ‘the Carpenter’ the Aussies kept a small lead into the half. Although there was no sound system for the first three quarters, the half time testimony from Pete was received well by the crowd and as we gathered many tracks and gave out booklets the Australian spirit hung on for a tight, four point win as the clock wound down.

We headed out for dinner after the game and lovely milk shakes were consumed as a rousing rendition of ‘Kiss Steve’ (sung to the song of Kiss Me by sixpence none the richer) took the team camaraderie to another level and with team moral high after another successful day, doing the Lords work we headed back to base for some shuteye.

This is Sobey
Signing out.

Day Six - 8th of January 2010 (Boys)

2010-01-09T00:03:00.002+08:00

I think everyone woke up a little sore and tired after a late night of playing and travelling. We started the day with a game, about 20 minutes out of Dipolog. The representative of the game was known as “Indiana Jones” because of his hat, but with a gift of an Australian cap he was renamed to “Steve Irwin”.

For the game we placed nets on the rings for the local players to keep; the game started off slow with the home team out scoring us in the first quarter. Fortunately as in other games the brother connection of Mark and Greg take over and we are able to take the lead back and win the game. It was a small crowd but we had a good response with people signing up for more information and Conan gave a great Testimony.

It was then time to pack more food; we needed 200 packages. Mark helped set up a better production line and we flew through the packing. Maybe the encouragement that lunch was next also helped.

Lunch was at the mall and then we then had some time to rest. Some of the guys went and had a 1 hour massage to recover those aching muscles. There was some snoring so it must have been relaxing.

Our next game was about 40 minutes out of Dipolog. A large crowd was waiting for us and the home team started out very strong; but everyone put in a great effort and we managed to push to a strong lead. Tim put in an awesome effort grabbing rebounds and a number of fast break lay-ups. Mike provided a great testimony and we again had a large number of people signing up for more information.

Tea was more fantastic chicken on a stick, followed by ice cream. Time to relax and watch some NBA on channel B!

Tristan Marlow

P.S. A special thank you to everyone who has been reading and leaving comments on this blog site, it really encourages everyone.

Day Five - 7th of January 2010 (Girls)

2010-01-08T15:12:00.003+08:00

Hello all you great supporters who are currently reading our blog for today! We started today bright and early with our basket ball game starting at 9:30am. It dosent seem like much of an early start but with the traffic being so crazy and unpredictable we needed to leave at 7:30. This was our second real game and it was hardand fast. We were up by a few points most of the game and managed to get the margain to about 10 points. But then towards the end they made a catchup and after roughly one million time outs called in the last 40 seconds of the game, with the help of a few fould shots and some good D, we just scrapped in by only a one point!!!

After the game we headed to a local prision containg 60 woman inmates, some had been there for up to 10 years and the oldest woman hitting the 63. The women were so amazing, really lovely and friendly it was so surprising that they had taken some time to prepare a few items of fantastic videoke and dancing for us which was quite an expirience and very funny. Deffinately a highlight for some of us. We sung shout to the lord and then Tammy shared her testimony and many of the inmates really responded to her really special story. The inmates are wanting to have a bible study once a week which can be one of you major prayer points.

This arvo we had a true philippeno expirence. We went by trike (motorbike with side car thingy) to get some refreshing ice cream from a local minimart. Great fun!!

After a quick nanna nap we went down to JCCV to play in a local voly ball comp with all the local women they were so awesome and totally wipped us up. It was absolutely awsome!!!! There was quite a crowd who were shouting, singing and dancing. We got to chat with some of the locals too which is always fun. That is all. Keep praying for us. Peace out.

Day Five - 7th of January 2010 (Boys)

2010-01-08T15:08:00.001+08:00

Today we woke up to a wonderful, humid, Filipino morning. First up on the agenda was food packaging in a warehouse owned by the mayor of the town we’re staying in so team SA hopped into our van and headed out through the busy morning traffic. The food we were packaging was for distribution to families in need of help in the disadvantaged communities of Mindanao. Grouped inside a stuffy warehouse we set about packing 2 cans of sardines, 4 packets of two minute noodles and 2 kilos of rice into plastic bags. Not that hard when you think of it, but when you have to pack 600 bags it becomes quite hard work! It took us around 1.5 hours to pack all the bags and by the time we were finished shirts had come off and we were all sweating buckets; nevertheless it was a great feeling to see all those rice sacks filled with food!

Next on the agenda was a food hand out. We were taken to a small community tucked away in the backstreets of Dipolog where we were introduced to an enthusiastic crowd. After the introductions the pastor gave a gospel message to the crowd and team SA handed out the tracts and ballpoints. The final stage of our visit was the food handout. Families were called out and we took turns giving them the packages of food. The experience was really profound as we witnessed their thanks for what was for us a really basic gift. All that was left to do was say our goodbyes and hop back in the van; although Danny couldn’t resist giving the team candy to throw out to the children, and often adults, as we drove out.

After a lunch out at the mall the team headed back to the hotel for a rest, with departure for our evening games at 3:30pm. That’s when the saga began. Our first game was supposed to be the furthest from town so that we wouldn’t have as far to drive when we were finished with our second, and final, game. Unfortunately there was a mix up with venues and by the time we were at the furthest venue we were informed our first game was at the closer venue. Arriving 1.5 hours late we started what was to be a 20 minute game. Once again the Filipinos ran away with the game at the start and team SA had to dig deep to rein them back in. At half time Tristan gave his testimony to the crowd and we started handing out tracts as the second half started. Team SA eventually got the better of the Filipinos as we came back to win by a tight 4 point margin.

We Arrived at our second venue almost 2 hours late and were about to split our team up for a scratch match in front of the large crowd when the Filipinos turned up at the last minute. What ensued was a very low scoring game as our tight defence prevented the Filipinos getting the ball to their tall centre whilst team SA struggled to find their range on the super tall rings. Special mention to “Scuba” Steve with his sharpshooting at the 3 point line. Team SA won the game comfortably with a margin of 15 points.

The return journey ended at 10:30 and team SA chowed down hungrily on some chicken on a stick and about 8 litres of soft drink. We returned to the hotel at 11:30, too late for the massage session scheduled by everyone but Danny and myself, and hit the sack almost immediately. Thus ended a long, but very fulfilling day. Thanks for tuning in and I’ll catcha l8r sk8rs!

-Andre Janssen

Day Four - 6th of January 2010 (Boys)

2010-01-07T10:23:00.002+08:00

Day 4 was the first 3 game day of the trip and the team was in for a long but exciting day. After waking up earlyish for a 7:30 departure, we made our way to a local Dipolog court for our first game. Played on a rocky court that was half road half court the team managed a solid win over the local team. Danny gave his testimony to the crowd and soon after we departed soon after for our next game.

The “Freak Show on Wheels” as I’ve dubbed our team, due to the amount of staring a bunch of westerners hanging off the back of a van attracts, rolled out for next game which would be in a more rural setting. The scenery on the way to the court was fantastic, with lots of rivers and rice paddies set against a mountain backdrop. We arrived at around 11:00 am and were pleasantly surprised with the quality of the court. It was undercover with nets on the ring and a nice surface. Despite an early surge by the Filipinos, team SA once again managed a comfortable win with Greg and Mark providing a dominating presence in the keyway. Tim Sobey gave his testimony at half time to the crowd and team SA left in high spirits.

Lunch was at around 12:30pm at Dipolog mall, and the team opted for a Jollibee meal (a Filipino version of McDonalds). Micko made the mistake of ordering a “Champ Burger” and had to stop half way after almost drowning in Mayonnaise. After lunch we spent an hour wandering around the mall buying a few groceries and searching for BB guns which, unfortunately, we didn’t find. At around 2:00pm we returned to the hotel and rested up for the big game that would be held that night in Sindangan .

At around 4:00pm we left the hotel for our big game. After about 2 hours driving along the incredibly picturesque Mindanao coast line we arrived at Sindangan. The game was to be held in the middle of the town and team SA was on edge as we warmed up for our game against the local college team. As the game commenced the crowd swelled to surround the court and Danny won the jump for what was to be a nail biting game. The local team had more height than other teams we had played thus far, and used it to good effect to pull out in an early league, until our big forwards decided to dominate in the key to bring the game under control. After leading narrowly at half time the Filipinos 3 point shooting came into its own and their lead was blown out to a max of 15 points. Once again team SA had to call on our height to get back into the game. It all came down to the last 20 seconds with the teams tied. A three pointer by the Filipinos clinched the game for them and team SA went down by 3 points, 54-57. Hedley gave his testimony at half time to a crowd of 5-6 hundred people with great effect, with at least 400 people signing up for more information. All in all it was a great night, despite the narrow loss.

At 11:30pm a very tired but satisfied team SA arrived back at our hotel for some hard earned sleep at the conclusion of a great day. Please continue to pray for us, and until next time; Peace out Girl Scouts!

-Andre Janssen

PS: The stars on the return journey that night were AMAZING!

Day Four - 6th of January 2010 (Girls)

2010-01-07T00:43:00.002+08:00

After another tasty breakfast of eggs, toast & fruit, we split up again for various activities in the school and orphanage. shan, tammy, kaij & neph made themselves useful in the classroom - where maths, reading & writing skills were greatly enhanced by their presence. miranda and mindi helped care for the girl with MS once again, and while her mother sat alongside, neph made a guest appearance to help translate and they heard emotional stories about their family & how they came to be in this community - all thanks to the work of Kids International Ministry. sooo encouraging. carly & heather also bounded around the orphanage, playing with the children and working up an early sweat.

An opportunity came up to help lay the vinyl floors of a house built by Armadale Christian School on a previous mission trip, that Flick also happened to be involved with. so the majority of the girls worked on that before lunch; while neph, mindi & miranda went on another feeding trip to areas devastated by the recent floods.

We gulped down lunch and raced to the shops to get supplies for a visit on thursday to a local women's prison, before packing our bags to travel an hr across town to play the NATIONAL FILIPINO BBALL TEAM!!!!! Shivers we were all packing our dacks but it turned out to be an awesome experience - of sharing, giving of NT bibles, kaija giving a very relevant testimony and encouragement to get their game on in preparation for a trip to PERTH (!!!) in March '10!
the first quarter was a wonderous display of magic from inside the key (brought by shan & flick) and a few bombs from the outside (thanks to kaij & janelle), giving us only a 4 point defecit at the end of that quarter. however the rest of the game was humbling to the visitors - with might, strength, speed & ability ruling the home court. not to mention their 7 foot giant import from china providing a ridiculously unfair advantage.

No but it was such a fun, exciting, testing game, with several players stepping up & roaring with enthusiastic aggression (noteably miranda & carly) and we all happily chatted like gallahs, exchanging emails and numbers and stories once the final siren had rung!

Not that it really matters, but for you budding statistitians out there - final score 34 - 70!!!
yep so what an awesome day. especially when you finally get home & have a steaming hot plate of chicken parmigana, baked potatoes and strawberry spongecake waiting for you! God is GOOD!

Day Three - 5th of January 2010 (girls)

2010-01-07T00:38:00.001+08:00

What a day!! Goodbye boys, hello french toast and maple syrup! After a beauty breakie us girls were split up into three groups. Heather, Carly and Kaija off to the school, Shannon and Tammie off to the nursery, miranda and Mindi off to help a child with MS and Flick off to do some more planning.

At 10am we all went to help out at a feeding program. This was so challenging for all of us. These people were living in a basketball court, in little cubby houses because their homes were lost in the flood, they had so little. We were able to feed them lunch and give out vitamins to the children which i think they thought were lollies:)

The afternoon was spent teaching PE by Miss Carly, 4 classes of basketball in a row, full on. Miranda and Mindi went back to help out with the MS girl.

Tonight we had our first Basketball game against Assumption College, their facilities were amazing! We had the opportunity to share about why we are here and Mindi got to give her testimony about what Jesus has done in her life, was very well recieved. We also gave each player a bible and tract. We were lucky enough to win, yes thats right we won...by 27 points. Whoo! There were some sick inside moves by shannon and some good running of the floor by carly. Some krispykremes for an after game snack and life coudnt get much better.

It is also official, the 500 piece puzzle has been completed but not in the time limit originally given by Kaija. dissapointing girls, no prize for you.
Tomorrow another day, another challenge but as we say BRING IT!

Written by Kaija and Mindi

Day Three - 5th of January 2010

2010-01-05T23:31:00.002+08:00

Day 3 was our first full taste of what is to come. The day started ahead of schedule as people were up at 6am to get brekky and be packed ready to go on the long trip to the airport at 8. We got to the airport with plenty of time to spare, so much so there was a little karaoke to be had with some Filipino passengers who had a guitar. Thankfully we were able to get most of our tracts and booklets into our hand luggage with Steve Cressies being around the 20kg mark (heavier than his checked in luggage)!

The flight was nice and short and we actually arrived almost half an hour early which hasn’t happened on any trip I have been in the Philippines. Straight off the plane ready to head to the hotel will be staying at for the whole time here in Mindanao. ‘Lunch’ or should I say the buffet and a show was provided by the Mayor, and both waited for our arrival. We got to the hotel (owned by the mayor) at around 12 and headed straight to the top floor where a big dining hall was laid out for a big welcome. We were welcomed with Shout to the Lord which was great, however being right next to the speakers was not so great at the volume they were at. We were then overwhelmed with performance after performance of local dances.

At some time between 1:30 and 2pm ‘The Weapon’ (Pastor Gary) was invited to introduce us however was able to make a deal that he would speak after everyone had eaten the massive buffet which had been prepared. So after all of us had eaten far too much and tried almost everything put in front of us, we were introduced and wrapped up the welcome with another dance which we were welcomed to have a try at. I’m sure you will see some pics, but not everyone was brave enough to take on the ankle braking bamboo sticks which we had to step over. Thankfully all ankles are in tact and as a side note Andre continues to be somewhat popular with the ladies here in the Philippines.

We were then briefed by Pastor G about what to expect from the trip and what was expected of us. So after a short break we suited up and headed out for our first official game. What a game it was, as we just got up with a 1 point win. It was a tense last minute and a half in which we found ourselves down by 1 point. We have to make a big note of newbie Tim ‘not so slowbie’ Sobey. After some good movement Tim drifted into space and sliced his way into the key to calmly float one home to get us up by 1 with not much time to spare. The final passages of play included us missing 4 free throws including two from yours truly and the opposition missing a three point buzzer beater which was ever so close to getting them over the line. Another special mention goes to Conan ‘The Barbarian’ Prince who top scored with a solid performance.

Better than the win was the 165 odd responses we received from the 250ish strong crowd! That is a great start and from being on a couple of trips now, that is a great start with everyone getting stuck into what we’re really here for. Please keep praying we can be clear in our sharing of Testimonies at half time, we would have some good conversations with the crowd when not playing and that the local churches will be able to follow up well on all the responses. Please pray for Micko who was under the weather and did not play due to lack of energy and a headache.
All in all it was a great day and I am ready for some shut eye before getting up tomorrow and heading off to 3 more games. Thanks for tuning in.

Hedley Taylor

Day two - 4th of January 2010

2010-01-04T22:19:00.002+08:00

Our first full night in the Philippines and all the boys slept in a huge single room together pretty much side by side. Everyone got some much needed sleep, although some of us had to work hard to retain control of our mattresses from our friendly sleeping neighbours.

The day started with a brilliant breakfast of scrambled eggs, toast, muffins all very appetizing. We were all fairly tired still from the plane flight so the morning thankfully didn’t have much planned except for a few meetings and a tour of a local orphanage and part of the town.

Our first basketball game wasn’t until the afternoon, running on Filipino time we had nothing more specific than that. The game took place at a local prison against some of the inmates. The court was very small, it only went out to the three point line, and this meant we only played three on three. All up 4 short games were played, our Australian team coming out victorious.

Young Jai Beacham was strutting his stuff on the court, fronting up to his man after scoring an outside shot. A quick reply to the antics of his man who was spending more of his time show boating than playing. It had the crowd in stitches and was definitely the highlight of the match, although Pottsey scoring on the buzzer was a close second.

Later on in the afternoon the boys headed to a local slum for a food handout. Some hot rice and meat was in two big tubs, the kids would come with their plates and receive two ladles of food, at the same time some medical supplies were on offer. It was really good to be amongst the people in this way, especially seeing the smiling faces of children, it might be cliché but it really is a reward in its own right. Some local girls took a liking to André; they were not backwards in coming forwards asking for his number ;-), André took it with bashful humility.

We are about to have dinner and from where I am sitting it smells really good. I have it from reliable sources that the food where we are going will not be this good where we are and to enjoy it while I can. So with that thought I will wrap it up. Thanks to everyone who has been praying for us and please continue to do so. Especially as we fly to Dipolog tomorrow morning for safe travel.

Till next time
God bless,

Peter Grundy.

P.S. Photos are now available for viewing of today's events. Just click on the pictures link to the right hand side of this page or go to http://picasaweb.google.com/SportsAmbassadorsAustralia

Day One – 3rd of January 2010

2010-01-03T21:42:00.002+08:00

Woo hoo today we got to the Philippines!!! Conan almost missed the plane thinking we weren’t leaving until the next day, but a call from Greg got him out of bed and to the airport in time. The trip was long and tiring, but the teams arrived in Manilla safe and sound about 2pm. Driving in the city highlighted what a different world we live in and the contrast of the slums next to high rise buildings was humbling. On the way to the guest house we stopped at Burger King (the equivalent to our Hungry Jacks) and they had criss cross fries which were delicious as.

The guest house is next to a church that was having a concert with kids from the orphanage when we arrived. We went to have a sing and dance and saw Renee one of our favourites that we met on a trip four years ago. Dinner was amazing and we chatted to some of the Americans, one in particular was Josie Long who has just started a beauty salon that she is training six Filipino ladies to work in – cool stuff.

After dinner we shot some hoops by ourselves and with some local kids. Now off to bed to rest up for an intense but no doubt incredible and rewarding two weeks. Thanks for all the support, prayers for our health and for open hearts for the people we are ministering to will be much appreciated.

Over and Out xx

Carly.

P.S. If you would like to send someone a message or write a comment about the day, click onto the comments section below and add your 2 cents worth.

2010 Trip is getting closer

2009-12-20T16:00:00.000+08:00

It is getting closer to 2010 which means we are almost ready to head off on an Sports Ambassadors Australia basketball tour of the Philippines. This coming year we have two teams going across to minister in the Philippines. Our girls team will be based in Manila while the boys will be heading down to Dipolog in Mindanao.

We will be leaving Perth in the wee hours of the 3rd of Jaunary and will be away for about 2 weeks (different people will be coming back at different times.) If you are willing to pray for us we would really appreciate it. I will be posting a basic itinerary of what is happening while we are away when I receive a finalised copy from my contact in the Philippines.

On behalf of the Sports Ambassadors Australia team I would like to wish you all a very merry Christmas.

Final blog entry for now.

2009-01-16T12:06:00.000+09:00

As the team are in Boracay and relaxing for 2 days I have not required anyone to write on the blog for the rest of the trip. Everyone is well and enjoying their time on the beach. The only other information I need to give you is the flight details of the team. They will be returning on Sunday the 18th of January at 8:45 on Flight BI67 (Royal Brunei). You will probably want to check the Perth International Airport website on Sunday morning to confirm. Photos on the website have been updated if you are keen to see what we have been up to in photo form.

God Bless,

Greg Beacham.

Day 10: What do you mean three games??

2009-01-16T11:26:00.000+09:00

The longest day of our tour is drawing to a close and we can happily say that all three games today were successful and productive events for our team. Our 9.00am game was playing in La Plaza in the centre of Pandan. The team we played yesterday had improved markedly and we had a real fight on our hands with the half-time score at 52-45 in favour of Pandan. Some tough third quarter defense by Greg ‘Tower of Power’ Beacham, Joshua ‘Deacon’ Manthe and Danny ‘The Carpenter’ Cook took the game back into the Sports Ambassadors favour with the end result 77-70 included a late appearance from the heart and soul of the Spirit team, Jai Beacham. Danny Cook gave his testimony at half-time and told the crowd of how his relationship with Jesus Christ was largely developed through his struggles after leaving high-school and how he now relies on Jesus Christ to live each day. The crowd were happy to listen to a man who has thrown down some big slam dunks and has drawn the nickname of ‘The Carpenter’ because of his ability to fix anything on the court.

A quick trip back to our flashy beachfront accommodation gave us all a chance to have a quick swim between games or relax with a quiet game of run-around-the-halls-and-shoot each-other with-pellet-guns. Sickness has caught up with David Tidy who sat the day’s play out and Michael Valenti was also not feeling up to playing after the first game so our numbers were decreased for the last two games.

We were all aboard the bus by lunchtime for our second destination, the Mayor of Libertad’s office. Libertad is a medium-sized town which we have passed through a few times on our travels but we stopped to play in a caged court which quickly filled with locals and schoolchildren who had been let out of class early. The Libertad team was made up of town officials – including employees of the Mayor’s office, teachers, policeman and local celebrities. The crowd was very excited to see prominent members of their community play basketball against Australians but when it came to the crunch they really did not have the firepower to match Sam ‘The Man’ MacDonlad’s three-point barrage and Conan ‘The Truck Driver’ Prince’s strong work under the basket and the result was a little one-sided with the Spirit winning 67-51. Greg Beacham shared his testimony and their were many contact forms filled in and returned by members of the crowd.

The night game saw us travel a considerable distance to the town of Culasi, known as the ‘Basketball Mecca’ in the province of Antique, and the crowds were out in force for this big game. The large crowd was vocal from the Spirit’s arrival and only quietened for the singing of the Australian national anthem by Giles Creelman. He gave his testimony at half-time to a listening crowd who had seen their proud team humbled by Paul Beacham’s slam dunk to begin the game and Joshua Manthe’s emphatic inside moves to put the Spirit up by 20 points going into the long break.

Excellent second-half performances by Hedley ‘Babyface’ Taylor, Sam ‘The Man’ Macdonald and Danny ‘The Carpenter’ Cook put the game away for the visiting Aussies who smiled and joked with the crowd as the night went on. The excellent rapport between the Filipinos and the Australians has been of a very high standard on this trip and Pastor Gary Visitacion has found each game to be ‘easy-to-watch, entertaining, harmonising and evangelical’ as the two nations share a love for the game of basketball and the Filipinos learn more about how God has worked in other parts of the world through the Holy Spirit.

Tomorrow sees the Sports Ambassadors final game of the tour played in the food distribution site used on Sunday, the town square of Libertad. Sunday marked a big day for Libertad and the Sports Ambassadors as the money raised by churches in Perth went towards alleviating the suffering of locals in the area when the Ambassadors handed out over 600 bags of free food to residents of the area.

Pastor Gary reminded us in this morning’s devotions of the passage in 2 Timothy Chapter 4 where Paul talks about ‘fighting the good fight’ and ‘finishing the race set out before us’. It was a source of encouragement for a day which saw tired bodies cheerfully going the extra mile for the cause of Sports Ambassadors – to win souls for Christ through sports ministry.

Day 9: Back To Basketball

2009-01-13T11:58:00.000+09:00

After a busy day yesterday it was back into the basketball schedule today – this time in the small towns of Idio and Pandan. The small community of Idio was the scene of our first game with a few visiting Aussies in the crowd to cheer us on against a group of locals largely made up of rural workers and a crowd of 100 gathering from the local shops and schools. It was a reasonably easy game which the Sports Ambassadors won 48-39 but, more importantly, we managed to talk to almost everyone who was there about the gospel tracts we have been handing out on a regular basis.

With the trip now into the endurance phase, we are dealing with some fatigue although no one has any serious injuries yet. The trip to the neighbouring town of Pandan saw us arrive before lunchtime with our tip-off at 3.00pm. This gave us plenty of time to see the town and meet some of the locals before the game took place in the centre of the town.

Some of the boys supported the local economy by buying some pellet guns at the convenience store while others browsed through the market atmosphere in their uniforms prompting photos from locals and conversations about Australia and the reasons we had come to Pandan. For many of the locals it was the first time they had met anyone from a western culture. A final trip to the Mayor’s office for a conversation and photo opportunity gave us an excellent insight into the workings of the town.

By the time 3.00pm came around we were more than ready to play the big game with a crowd of 300 gathered in expectation. The rings at each end were in good shape and slam dunks from Paul Beacham, Danny Cook and Joshua Manthe in the warm-ups firing up the crowd for the tip-off.

The team played well and led by ten points at half-time, 45-55, thanks to some excellent hustle play by Sam Macdonald and Conan Prince. Joshua Manthe shared his testimony at half-time and the crowd enjoyed listening to the big American share his words about growing up in America and the choices he made which led him into a life of service in the Philippines with his wife and three children.

Excellent shooting in the third quarter from Paul Beacham and Hedley Taylor put the game out of reach for the local team with the eventual score finishing 72-51. The crowd left very happy and the team were in good spirits despite feeling a little more tired than usual today.

Tomorrow sees us play three games (9.00am, 3.00pm and 7.00pm) and we are gathering our enthusiasm tonight for what should prove to be the hardest day of our tour. The local pastors are very supportive of the work we have done so far and we are meeting with Pastor Gary Visitacion each morning for daily devotions to keep us focussed on the day’s proceedings.

Please keep praying for us as we enter the survival stage of our tour.

Day 8: Rice, Rice, Baby.

2009-01-12T13:50:00.000+09:00

Today we started off being spoilt again with a continental breakfast with number of the team enjoying a coffee which for some was much needed to get them moving. We had to prepare for ourselves for a big day of church and food distribution. The weather threatened to affect our plans for the day. Our rice which was generously paid for by many people in Perth was separated into bags, we had the boxes of sardines and noodles ready to go. However it became clear that our 15 man jeepney would not hold all our food supplies and all our team in wet weather. As always Pastor Gary (aka “The Weapon”) had a solution, which meant we hired another jeepney to get us to our first destination.

Needless to say it was an interesting drive with a “couple” of rough patches. We shared our newly acquired ride with some surprised locals and a bench seat in between our legs. After dropping off the locals to their stops, we arrived at Pastor Jerome’s church. We were warmly welcomed even though we were a little late and all given shell necklaces which was very generous of the small church. The congregation were ready to get started and we were soon all praising to a 6 string guitar with only 5 strings. Giles “Mr Excitement” Creelman was the most impressed with Pastor Jerome’s efforts who was guitarist, singer and leader. The pastor then became translator extraordinaire as the Tower of Power shared a short message of encouragement to the congregation. After meeting some of the congregation and playing with the kids of the church we were blessed with another massive meal of rice and chicken.

After lunch started the real work for the day, distributing 603 packs of rice, sardines and noodles started. We walked to the main part of town where we set ourselves up and with some assistance from the congregation again we were ready to give. Before we started The Greek Adonis was able to share with the locals and got such a massive response we didn’t have enough “The Answer” booklets to hand back. The Adonis definitely made an impression there, but that’s another story. The food distribution went relatively smoothly considering the number of people that turned up. Micko “Braveheart” Valenti proved his worth with his many years of experience and worked. Everyone pitched in and did a great job. There were a lot of smiling faces by the time we were done at both places.

Even though we haven’t played a game today I think it would be fair to say we are still fairly worn out. It was a really worthwhile time of ministry though and I hope many of the people that get followed up will have seen Jesus love as we shared this food with them because of all those who donated money. We have our American import back Josh “The Deacon” Manthe back as we hit the courts again tomorrow, so stay tuned.

Day 7: The Longest Day

2009-01-12T13:49:00.000+09:00

A 6.30 wake-up call prompted the beginning of a very long day. An early morning flurry of packing and breakfast saw us on the road just after 7am with the first game many miles away with a 9.30 tip-off time scheduled.

We have now acclimatised to the driving styles of the Filipinos and some of us are happy to ride on top of the 15-seater Jeepney we have been using. The countryside of mountains rising into the mist with rows of palm trees lining the road made the dawn travel something to behold. Old men harvesting their rice fields with caribou (water bison) waved happily as we passed them by on our way to Barbasa.

We arrived on time but the visiting team was a little late which gave us time to interact a little with the crowd of young children and working families who had come out for the Saturday morning game. The team was made up of a selection of the Barangay (district) players and they made a positive start for the locals who cheered them on. Once again, it was Paul ‘Wingman’ Beacham who shot the ball well from outside the arc to take us into the lead. Strenuous year-round physical training by Paul has transformed his body into something resembling a Greek Adonis and some of the team have remarked that he has now become ‘more of a machine than a man’. Needless to say we won the game 38-34 and the Mayor of the town was warm in her praise for us. Sam Macdonald gave his testimony at half-time to a responsive crowd.

The game concluded and we jumped back in the Jeepney and continued to travel north on the main road until we reached a coastal roadhouse for lunch. It was a welcome rest for the team as the lunch location overlooked the sea and the karaoke machine began to crank out the hits. ‘Moon River’, ‘Smooth Operator’ and other sing-a-long favourites preceded Pastor Gary’s version of the theme song from ‘The Love Boat’ which received high scores and applause from the local crowd. A swim in the island waters was refreshing for those that braved the pebble beaches while others relaxed in the beach huts for an hour.

The long day continued as we rolled into Tibiao for our 3.00pm game again the Police selection. The Chief of Police played point guard for the opposing team and we were under strict instructions not to give him a hard time for fear of being locked up! The game was very a friendly affair though, with the bright sunshine bringing out the crowds for a close game which saw David ‘Top Gun’ Tidy share his testimony and play a strong game to give us the win 72-68.

More driving took us to our final destination for the next three nights – some idyllic beach shacks which the lads have taken to in style. It’s not all easy though – the night was spent shelling out rice from large sacks for our food distribution tomorrow in a nearby town. The idea is to give out rice, sardines and noodles to the needy locals after their Sunday morning service. Financial support for the distribution program has been received from numerous groups in Perth and we will be happy when these plans come to fruition on Sunday.

Needless to say we were all ready for bed once work concluded around 10pm.
Tomorrow is the Sabbath so hopefully Pastor Gary will give us some rest! Here’s hoping!

Greetings from the Philippines

2009-01-12T13:47:00.000+09:00

I'm sorry we haven't updated for a while, we are all okay, we just haven't had internet access. Internet has slowed to dial up speed so there will be no pictures for a while and phone reception is quite bad so don’t expect any phone calls for a while. I am hoping that Boracay will have some higher speed internet but I can’t promise anything. Some of the guys wanted to say hello to their loved ones, keep in mind this was written quite a few days ago.
Greg Beacham.

Hi all,
Things are going well for me over here at the moment. No injuries yet so please keep praying that there wont be any and that I will continue to stay healthy. Its been great to come to a new place and get some good crowds which haven’t had a team like us for many years. Anyway I am loving it so far so thanks for your partnership and I will see many of you soon as time is flying.
Hedley

Curently travelling crammed in the back of our jeepney inbetween towns.In another 1 and 1 half hours will have to straighten out our legs for our first game today-.Can’t complain ,the scenary is great and so is the company(??) Oh ,Pastor Garry just spotted a Caraboo - were all hoping out for ride: you’ll see the Photo’s later.
I’m loving it – God Bless
Danny

Hi everyone,
Things are going well so far, although I just fell off the Caraboo : ) I am enjoying the trip and the company of everyone here. Please pray that the team stays healthy and that there are no injuries. The crowds have been quite big can you also pray that they will be receptive of the tracks and of us that the message will get through.
Love you beautiful.x
Bye all.

Hello Hello from Iloilo
Just wanted to let all know that things are going well, apart from 1 player suffering from a stomach bug for a couple of days and some unfortunate sleeping arrangements that is. We have been well received in many of the towns that we have travelled to with rather larger than expected crowds turning up to watch us play. Even though I have been on many trips, it is so humbling how awesome the philippino people are. So far no injuries to report and I pray that remains the case. Please keep praying as we journey on new a new area and continue our ministry there.
God bless
Michael

Hey all,
The trip has been great fun so far. It’s awesome to be able to use sport to reach so many people and tell them about the lord. So far my cast iron stomach has not fallen victim to any nasty bugs, even though we’ve all been eating like horses! Hope all is well back home and we appreciate your prayers. The people over here are so friendly and always wanting photos or even just a hand shake. Have fun in Melbourne precious!!
God Bless
Conan

Hello from the Philippines
Lots of tracts have been filled in and given to the local pastor in San Jose. Pray that this may result in many people being saved. Philippines is a naturally beautiful place, very scenic with friendly people.
God Bless
Sam

Day 6: Last day of our Antiki tour

2009-01-09T21:38:00.000+09:00

Day 6 we travelled to Dao for Game number 6 our second last game in Antiki. This game looked liked being more competitive as we were facing a taller team with 16 players. The game started in a competitive but friendly way. The first quarter score was 18-11. Starting off slow was becoming a habit but coach Paul Beacham tried to keep the team focused determined to make a strong start.

At halftime Paul gave his testimony, sharing about his life and the reason that he became saved. The game ended 56-52 with two last minute free-throws by Mike Valenti to seal the win. A crowd of about 200 - 300 came along to watch.

The second game of the day saw us travel to Belison. The game was split into two halves because of concern for the weather. Mike Valenti shared his testimony before the game.

Ps Gary officiated this game. This game was the best umpired game that we had played to date. The umpire was so relaxed that he sat down in a chair in the middle of the court drinking Gatorade, moving his chair only for changes in possession.

This was also the first loss for the team, the final score being 25 – 24. However the game was played in a fun spirit. The team also said goodbye to the local pastor. We prayed together and he was given 75 Bibles as a gift for his ministry work.

Sam Macdonald

Day 5:Cook Brings Down the House – And The Ring!

2009-01-09T09:08:00.000+09:00

Our day began at 8am with breakfast (Weet-Bix and milk) and a devotion from Pastor Gary Visitacion. We then took off for our fast game which tipped off at 9.30am in the blistering sunshine of Sibalom.

A large crowd came out to support the local team who fielded a strong team determined to compete with us. A pre-game meeting with the local Mayor included Pastor Gary’s words ‘….the Sports Ambassadors have not been beaten – maybe today is the day for it..’
The Mayor took our token of friendship (a koala keychain) and wished her team all the best.

Hedley ‘Babyface’ Taylor proceeded to go on a scoring frenzy before giving his testimony at half-time to crowd of 300. During the third quarter we handed out pamphlets and information slips for the local people to fill in. We then took the slips for the local pastor. This crowd was quite responsive and we had a swag of responses for the pastor to work with. The game climaxed with Danny ‘Larry Bird’ Cook throwing down a two-handed dunk which bent the ring down and rendered the game unfinishable until some maintenance work was done to fix it. The Sports Ambassadors Spirit team won the match 47-52.

After a quick lunch at Jolibee (a Philippines chain store like MacDonalds) we headed back to our accommodation for a siesta before our long trip to Patnongan for our second match of the day.

The regional province of Patnongan brought a large crowd of over 500 people to the outdoor court near the centre of town for our 3.30pm game. Giles ‘Mr Excitement’ Creelman presented his testimony after hitting his first two shots and leading the team to a handy half-time lead. The rain then threatened but the jubilant crowd sent the rain away and brought the home team back into the game with the scores level during the final quarter. Some excellent work from Paul ‘The Wingman’ Beeacham and David ‘Top Gun’ Tidy gave the win to our team and keep the winning streak alive with 72-65 win.

We are all in good spirits and rallying around our fallen leader Greg ‘Tower of Power’ Beacham who has a touch of the flu at the moment and had a day off after speaking at the church service we attended last night. We trust he will be spearheading our team again soon.

Tomorrow: Two More Games!

By Giles Creelman

Day 4: What a full day.

2009-01-08T11:11:00.000+09:00

2 games, 1 church service and 3 restaurant meals. A positive vibe in the camp and pastor Gary congratulates us for a good attitude and successful ministry.

So far were still getting our game together and have had 3close games, which have really kept the crowd excited as their local team nearly upset the visiting “international team.” Full credit to the locals as they have shot very well and move the ball quickly. Crowds have been large and excitable particularly the morning game as a lot of kids were let out of school to watch the game. We seemed to have worked out a good rotation between our 10 players. Weather has been cold but games are so exhausting in the humid environment, so we need our subs.

Conan Prince shared his testimony in the mornings game and I shared mine in the afternoon. The gospel was clear and well received, however a lot of people are more interested in watching the game. It’s hard to know how effective the responses to the tracts are. Please pray for people as they digest the message they heard and the local church as they follow up the responses. Speaking of the local church , we were invited to share with there church service this evening. It was only small but typical AOG service, loud and charismatic. We were very welcome and Greg gave a message encouraging everyone to play their part in the ministry. We were also privileged to pay a visit to the mayor and the local cable TV crew interviewed us.

By Danny Cook

Photos have been updated and I am in the process of putting a video up on the website so it should be up soon (Just click on the link to the right).

Day 3: Fly, drive, eat, walk, play!

2009-01-07T01:06:00.000+09:00

A very busy day for the team with a lot of ground to cover before the first game was due to be played.

The morning saw us take off from Manila for the middle-island city of Iloilo. A giant bus known as a jeepney took all of our gear and the team on the two hour journey to our destination for the night game, Hantic.

Set high in the mountains, Hantic is a township of friendly people who had prepared well for our 7 o’clock tip-off. The crowd of 300 people were excitedly cheering as they greeted us on a balmy evening made for rural basketball.

After the formal proceedings were concluded and the Mayor wished us the best for the match, we proceeded to trade baskets with the local team. They had brought their best team and were determined to beat us – but we had Paul Beacham.

Shooting a dazzling array of three-pointers and leading the team by example, he kept the team in contention when the going got close in the fourth quarter. We finished by winning the game in the final few minutes 124-115 but we were amazed at how well the opposition played to take it up to us.

Other notable performances came from Hedley ‘Babyface’ Taylor, who ran the point with energy the entire game, and Greg ‘Tower of Power’ Beacham who towered above the Filipinos to win the battle of the boards and prove to the critics he is still the most solid man in the southern hemisphere.

Tomorrow we play a morning game and an afternoon game and our leader Pastor Gary Visitacion has organised some excellent teams for us to play. We are all feeling upbeat about the tour and the impact in will have on the lives of the Filipino people in the area.

Tomorrow : One day, two games!

Giles Creelman.

Day 2: Shopping is not for the faint hearted.

2009-01-05T23:18:00.000+09:00

The start of our first week began with a tour of the streets surrounding the Guest House (located in the slums of Manila just 10kms from the centre of the city) where much of the social and urban development has been undertaken by Jeff Long and his team.

A four-storey school building, a church and a children’s home are just some of the recent building projects undertaken by international volunteers which have transformed the area into a refuge for the locals who are now provided with free education, running water and an orphanage for children in need.

A twenty minute drive away saw us arrive at the Greenhills Mall in the centre of Manila where all manner of shops, multinational chain stores and eateries greeted us. The contrast between the environments we had seen during the morning was obvious for all of us.

After seeing the local sights (including a visit to the manicure spa for some of the boys) and dinner from American fast food stores we all felt the need for some light training at Faith Academy before the night was through.

With our uniforms delivered by our American team member Josh Manthe we settled into some drills with Kirk Long, now famous in Manila for his role with the Ateneo Blue Eagles college team.

The team flies out to meet Pastor Gary Visitacion in Ilioilio tomorrow morning and plays its first match tomorrow night.

Tomorrow : Our First Result.

Giles Creelman.

Manila Arrival

2009-01-05T09:25:00.000+09:00

The team arrived in Manila at 9.30pm and after a short wait for Customs, Foreign Exchange and Baggage Reclaim we were on our way to our accommodation for the next two nights – the Guest House.

The next day will see us settling into Filipino life with a tour of Faith Academy, the school which is a base for missionaries and their children in South East Asia. There is a lot of building work being done in the area to improve the local infrastructure.

Missionary Jeff Long updates us on the latest improvements and convinces us that “if you ever want to take a year off and help with a worthwhile project” then he will happily provide us with accommodation and give us plenty of work.

The Lord’s work is done around the globe – and we are seeing His work done in Manila.

Tomorrow : Our First Match

Brunei Airport

2009-01-04T17:58:00.000+09:00

We have all arrived safely in Brunei and are currently enjoying (maybe enjoying is too strong a word) a three and a half our wait for our next flight. Most of the guys are playing hacki sack to pass the time. I on the other hand found a nice cafe with internet access to update the website. Everyone is travelling well and have coped with the first and longer leg of our flight. I just took a tour around the airport, it took me about three and half minutes. I thought Perth airport was small but this has to take the cake.

Greg Beacham.

Trip Itinerary

2009-01-01T15:54:00.000+09:00

SPORTS AMBASSADORS AUSTRALIA
Trip Schedule
San Jose, Antique Tour
January 04-17, 2009
(Keep in mind this is subject to change)

JANUARY 04 SUNDAY
9:30 am Arrive at Perth International Airport
11:40 am Fly to Brunei
4:00 pm Arrive in Brunei
7:40 pm Fly to Manila
9:45 pm Arrive at Manila
11:15 pm Arrive at accommodation

JANUARY 05, MONDAY
7:30 am Devotions
8:00 am Breakfast
8:30 am Tour of Faith Academy the Cuatro Community Center
10:30 am Rest of the day shopping (to be confirmed)
9:30 pm Pack for flight to Iloilo
Ptr. Gary arrives in Iloilo City

JANUARY 06, TUESDAY
6:00 am Devotions, breakfast and head to airport
11:10 am Fly to Iloilo City (via Cebu Pacific)
12:10 pm Arrive in Iloilo City/Meet Ptr. Gary V.
1:00 pm Lunch @ Australian Embassy
2:00 pm Travel to San Jose, Antique
4:00 pm Arrive in San Jose, Antique/Check-in Hotel
4:30 pm Briefing & Orientation with Ptr. Gary V.
6:00 pm Game @ San Jose
7:30 pm Dinner

JANUARY 07, WEDNESDAY
7:30 am Devotions
8:00 am Breakfast
9:30 am Game @ San Jose
12:00 pm Lunch
3:30 pm Game @ Hamtic
6:00 pm Attend Church Service/Dinner

JANUARY 08, THURSDAY
7:00 am Devotions
7:30 am Breakfast
8:00 am Travel to Sibalom
8:30 am Courtesy call to Sibalom Mayor
9:30 am Game @ Sibalom
12:00 pm Lunch/Travel to Patnongan
3:00 pm Courtesy call to Patnongan Mayor
4:00 pm Game @ Patnongan
6:00 pm Travel back to San Jose
7:00 pm Dinner

JANUARY 09, FRIDAY
7:30 am Devotions
7:30 am Breakfast
8:00 am Travel to Dao
9:00 am Courtesy call to Dao Mayor
9:30 am Game @ Dao
12:00 pm Lunch
3:00 pm Game @ Belison
5:00 pm Travel back to San Jose
6:30 pm Dinner

JANUARY 10, SATURDAY
6:30 am Devotions
7:00 am Breakfast
8:00 am Travel to Bugasong
9:30 am Game @ Bugasong
12:00 pm Lunch
2:00 pm Game @ Culasi
4:00 pm Travel to Pandan/Check-in at local hotel
6:30 pm Dinner

JANUARY 11, SUNDAY
7:30 am Breakfast
9:30 am Attend/Minister @ a local church
12:00 pm Lunch
4:00 pm Game @ Pandan
6:00 pm Dinner

JANUARY 12, MONDAY
7:00 am Devotions
7:30 am Breakfast
8:30 am Courtesy Call to Pandan Mayor
9:30 am Game @ Pandan
12:00 pm Lunch
5:00 pm Game @ Sebaste
6:30 pm Dinner

JANUARY 13, TUESDAY
7:00 am Devotions
7:30 am Breakfast
8:30 am Travel to Sebaste
9:30 am Courtesy call to Sebaste Mayor
10:00 am Game @ Sebaste
12:00 pm Lunch
3:00 pm Game @ Libertad
5:00 pm Travel back to Pandan
6:30 pm Dinner
(NB: Feeding program will happen in Libertad)

JANUARY 14, WEDNESDAY
7:00 am Devotions
7:30 am Breakfast
8:30 am Travel to Libertad
9:30 am Courtesy Call to Libertad Mayor
10:00 am Game @ Libertad
12:00 pm Aussie team travel to Boracay
Ptr. Gary travel to Kalibo, Aklan

JANUARY 15, THURSDAY
Relax in Boracay
Team Discussion on what was accomplished and what we could do better next time.

JANUARY 16, FRIDAY
Relax in Boracay

JANUARY 17, SATURDAY
1:45 pm Travel from Caticlan to Manila
2:45 pm Arrive in Manila
3:45 pm Late lunch and last minute shopping
8:35 pm Arrive at Manila International Airport
10:35 pm Travel back to Perth, WA

JANUARY 18, SUNDAY
12:40 am Arrive in Brunei
2:20 am Leave for Perth
8:45 am Arrive in Perth, WA

Happy New Year

2009-01-01T15:13:00.000+09:00

Happy New Year to you all. We pray that this year will be a time of blessing for you as God moves powerfully in your life.

The start of a new year also means that we are just 3 days away from embarking on another Sports Ambassadors Australia mission trip to the Philippines. This year we are sending a team 12 strong to minister to the people of the island of Panay. Panay was hit rather badly by typhoon Fengshen (Frank) in June 2008 so we are also purchasing food and basic supplies to help out the local communities. There is a link to a video news story of the effect of the typhoon below.
http://au.truveo.com/Philippines-Typhoon-Wrecks-Havoc/id/3418218401

The team will be arriving at Perth International airport at 9:30am on the 4th of January to embark on their journey. You are welcome to see us off at this time, but we understand if you have church commitments at this time. I have included a copy of the trip itinerary on this site also. Looking forward to keeping you updated.

God bless,

Greg Beacham.

Welcome

2008-08-31T22:02:00.000+08:00

Welcome to the new Sports Ambassadors Australia Blog. I have been trying to simplify the way we present our website and so here it is. It includes all the detail of our previous website but is quicker and easier to set up. All our previous trip videos on photos can be accessed from the links on the right hand side of this page. Thank you to everyone who has supported or been a part of Sports Ambassadors Australia over the years, we really appreciate it and look forward to your continued support.

Greg Beacham.