All of you should know by now that RunNat2010 is organised by Sports Partnership Malaysia (SPM). But many have asked – Who are they? What do they do? Do they organize other sport events as well? Last year, we had a chat with one of the SPM directors – Pastor Philip Devadas – to find out more about Sports Partnership Malaysia. If you haven’t read it on our Facebook, here’s sharing it with all of you.

RC: Hi Ps Philip. Sports Partnership is new. Only set up this year (2009) but you have been involved in Sports Ministry for some time now. What are some of the things you have done?

PD: In 2003 I attended a conference in Athens. It introduced me to this whole new ministry involving sports. I was so taken by it that I decided to attend Sports Leadership Training programme. In 2006 I was posted to South Africa to serve for the Community Soccer Programme called Ubabbalo eAfrica.

RC: What is that?

PD: It’s a Xhosa word (editor: pronounced Hosa with a tsk sound at the beginning. I tried it, it’s not that easy) which means God’s grace for Africa. This is a soccer training programme with life skills and value based teaching. The goal is character building and leading them to God’s values. It’s aims are ambitious-to reach 1 million African kids by 2010!

RC: What do you hope to do with SPM?

PD: I hope to develop and execute similar community based sports programme throughout Malaysia and the region. RunNat is one such programme that we are undertaking. We also want to train others who are interested in using sports as a ministry tool. We provide Leadership programmes. I am a qualified International Sports Leadership Training facilitator.

RC: Why do you think that sports can be used for ministry?

PD: Sports is one of the greatest crowd pullers today. It is played everywhere around the world. You can see children in wartorn countries playing sports. I believe that sports can be more than just “playing a game”. With RunNat it’s about praying for the nation. With community programmes it can be used to teach values and life skills to kids. In a particular community we are involved in at the moment a lot of parents come to us for help to give advice or counsel their kids. As coaches we are able to connect better with these kids and so have a great influence upon them.

RC: You took part in RunNat in 2007. What was your experience like?

PD: First of all I am not a runner. As a coach I get others to do the running (laughs) so it was quite a challenge for me. I trained by running around the football field 2 times a week before soccer training. That helped. I really didn’t think I could run 5 km but I actually completed it! & we prayed all the way too! The people who took part were not those whom you would normally see in prayer meetings. To see them come together and praying, as a Pastor that really caught hold of my heart-to realise how sports can bring people together.

RC: How is your training this time (RunNat09)?

PD: I am currently training the group in Seremban at the City Park. 20 of us gather every Sunday. This has triggered off a fellowship amongts the churches in Seremban. We not only run but play games like Ultimate Frisby! I find the beauty of RunNat is not only in that one day. The process heading towards 10/10 is itself a beautiful thing as we see transformation taking place amongst our members who train and fellowship with us.

RC: Any advice for the runners?

For those who think they can’t make it, you can! God has put a capacity within us that we ourselves have not tested. In other words be the best that God has designed you to be and don’t settle for anything less.

Lesson for today: Never argue with a Pastor who has put his foot where his mouth is.