Kings and Servant in NZ
Friday, November 12, 2004
On Tour with the Sydney Kings
Over the last weekend I was able to travel with the Kings (as part of the royal court) on their two game tour to New Zealand and Cairns. Great tour and wanted to capture some of the memories in this blog...
Because of a work conference concluding on Friday, I joined the team in Auckland on Saturday after a pick-up and coffee/chat with the AIA director in New Zealand (Timo Tagaloa). Looks like we may be able to supply a chaplain to the New Zealand Breakers in the near future. The coach will present the idea to his team leaders for their approval. One of the guys on that team (Shaun) is a strong Christian…so things are hopeful.
My first time on the bench (near the very end!) was celebrated with a strong win over the Breakers. I came away hoarse but very excited. Met with AIA staff in New Zealand and a local pastor at the hotel after the team post-game dinner for fellowship. And up early the next day for long trip to Cairns via Brisbane.
Had a great conversation with another passenger on the flight back to Oz about “how to know God personally”. He is a young social worker who was accompanying a younger Samoan friend to a family funeral. Our conversation on “life and death” was very timely. Since his brother happened to know CJ, there was a strong bonding that occurred very quickly. He was not ready at this point to make a commitment to Christ…but does pray regularly and will give this further thought. He asked for my phone number so that we could keep in touch.
What should have been about a six-hour process (flying from Auckland to Cairns) took more like 14 hours, but at least we didn’t have to play that night. Although it is very difficult for a team to win two games back to back on the road, we had a strong finish to win the second game against the Cairns Taipans that put us at the top of the competition ladder at just about 1/3 of the way through the season.
The coach was complimenting everyone on the team…and even looked me in the eye at the post game dinner and said, “You’re doing a good job, Rev. You’re good for the team!” I felt like I had just scored a three-point buzzer-beater to win a game!
More importantly I was able to make some “progress” with each of the guys in regard to their spiritual journey. Hopefully we have added one player to our usual prayer meeting and solidified another one who wants to be more consistent in joining us. Shared journey stories with several players and even had a brief prayer meeting for healing at the request of one of the players. Had a great Bible Study together one morning (4 of us) and got a lot of positive feedback from the other players. We had several “mini-conversations” about different Bible verses that came up during our waits in the airport lounges.
On the way back to Sydney, I was seated next to a woman who asked me about my role with the Kings. When I explained that I was the chaplain, she began asking all the “right questions”. When we were finally able to move off the topic of “church” and starting talking about “relationship with God”, I felt like we really made some headway. I left her with an evangelistic booklet and the promise to ring me if she had any further questions. The bonus in the encounter for me was the fact that one of the players was sitting across the aisle from us and able to “listen in” a bit and comment on the exchange afterwards…and here I thought he was asleep most of the time!
All in all it was a great trip. I bonded closer to the players in four days than in the previous four weeks put together. I realized last year that I’m truly blessed if I have more than one year with a player. A trip like this one can certainly enhance those relationships. It was a good investment for me in time and resourses. I should make it clear that the Kings did not pay for my trip. (If they had that kind of money they would probably take along another physiotherapist instead!)
I also want to publicly thank the men’s group at my home church (Gymea Baptist) for volunteering to help pay a portion of the expenses. Thanks guys!
Because of a work conference concluding on Friday, I joined the team in Auckland on Saturday after a pick-up and coffee/chat with the AIA director in New Zealand (Timo Tagaloa). Looks like we may be able to supply a chaplain to the New Zealand Breakers in the near future. The coach will present the idea to his team leaders for their approval. One of the guys on that team (Shaun) is a strong Christian…so things are hopeful.
My first time on the bench (near the very end!) was celebrated with a strong win over the Breakers. I came away hoarse but very excited. Met with AIA staff in New Zealand and a local pastor at the hotel after the team post-game dinner for fellowship. And up early the next day for long trip to Cairns via Brisbane.
Had a great conversation with another passenger on the flight back to Oz about “how to know God personally”. He is a young social worker who was accompanying a younger Samoan friend to a family funeral. Our conversation on “life and death” was very timely. Since his brother happened to know CJ, there was a strong bonding that occurred very quickly. He was not ready at this point to make a commitment to Christ…but does pray regularly and will give this further thought. He asked for my phone number so that we could keep in touch.
What should have been about a six-hour process (flying from Auckland to Cairns) took more like 14 hours, but at least we didn’t have to play that night. Although it is very difficult for a team to win two games back to back on the road, we had a strong finish to win the second game against the Cairns Taipans that put us at the top of the competition ladder at just about 1/3 of the way through the season.
The coach was complimenting everyone on the team…and even looked me in the eye at the post game dinner and said, “You’re doing a good job, Rev. You’re good for the team!” I felt like I had just scored a three-point buzzer-beater to win a game!
More importantly I was able to make some “progress” with each of the guys in regard to their spiritual journey. Hopefully we have added one player to our usual prayer meeting and solidified another one who wants to be more consistent in joining us. Shared journey stories with several players and even had a brief prayer meeting for healing at the request of one of the players. Had a great Bible Study together one morning (4 of us) and got a lot of positive feedback from the other players. We had several “mini-conversations” about different Bible verses that came up during our waits in the airport lounges.
On the way back to Sydney, I was seated next to a woman who asked me about my role with the Kings. When I explained that I was the chaplain, she began asking all the “right questions”. When we were finally able to move off the topic of “church” and starting talking about “relationship with God”, I felt like we really made some headway. I left her with an evangelistic booklet and the promise to ring me if she had any further questions. The bonus in the encounter for me was the fact that one of the players was sitting across the aisle from us and able to “listen in” a bit and comment on the exchange afterwards…and here I thought he was asleep most of the time!
All in all it was a great trip. I bonded closer to the players in four days than in the previous four weeks put together. I realized last year that I’m truly blessed if I have more than one year with a player. A trip like this one can certainly enhance those relationships. It was a good investment for me in time and resourses. I should make it clear that the Kings did not pay for my trip. (If they had that kind of money they would probably take along another physiotherapist instead!)
I also want to publicly thank the men’s group at my home church (Gymea Baptist) for volunteering to help pay a portion of the expenses. Thanks guys!
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