By Beth Renkoski

07/14/09

Lions Tour the Philippines

Heenan, Seekins, Steputis, and Bergerson

Costa Mesa, Calif - Four members of the Vanguard University athletic community are traveling over to the Philippines as a part of a College Basketball Ministry Trip this summer. Led by Vanguard Associate Athletic Director Nolan Steputis, the missions trip will last from July 15th through August 1st and will include Levi Seekins, a former VU player and current assistant coach for the Lions, current senior Dennis Heenan, and former VU player Brian Bergerson.

The Vanguard group will be a part of a nine-member team who will spend two and one-half weeks spreading the Word of God and ministering to local organizations. Using basketball as a platform, the group is scheduled to play approximately 20 games in 12 days, providing those in attendance an opportunity to sign up for bible studies through the local church. The team will also be providing basketball clinics for impoverished areas, working at homes for children, and experiencing the Filipino culture.

Some of the supporters of this outreach are ShoreLife Church in Huntington Beach, Kid’s International Ministries (www.kidsinternationalministries.org/) and World Harvest. The games in the Philippines are being organized by Jeff Long the Director of New Faith Family Children’s Home, a long-time connection to Steputis, and local pastors.

Steputis, a 2006 graduate of Vanguard, will be returning to the Philippine Islands for the first time since 2000 when he traveled on a similar basketball ministry trip. The son of a missionary couple, Steputis spent nearly a decade of his youth living in the Philippines as his parents worked at the Faith Academy Missionary School.

Heenan, a Newport Harbor High School graduate, will be a senior on VU’s men’s basketball team next season. It will be the forward’s first missionary trip overseas. Bergerson spent his freshman year at Vanguard in 2006 and is now at College of Idaho. He will also be making his first journey abroad. 

Seekins, who completed his playing days at Vanguard in 2006, will be entering his second season on the men’s basketball coaching staff for VU. Playing professionally in Australia in 2008, Seekins will be suiting up for his first ministry trip to Asia. Although he has made other outreaches, Seekins is excited at the upcoming opportunity.

“You get to hang out with good people, share the Gospel, play lots of basketball, and experience a different culture across the Pacific Ocean,” says Seekins. “You can’t get much better than that!”

The Vanguard four will be meeting up with other missionary kids and collegiate athletes to form their nine-member team. Some of the other members, like Steputis, will be returning to their former homes to continue to share about their faith.