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Philippines, 05 May 2024 |
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PACQUIAO INVITED TO A GATHERING OF 100,000 CHRISTIANS IN CEBU By Tonton Alcos-Antogop PhilBoxing.com Thu, 18 Dec 2014  Cong. Manny Pacquiao may visit Cebu in March to evangelize at the gathering of at least 100,000 Christians at the South Road Properties (SRP). But everything would depend however on whether the May 2 fight with Floyd Mayweather pushes through because by then he will already be in the thick of his training for the fight. "Yeah, but I have a fight on May 2,", Pacquiao told Jeffrey Ferris, the Resident Celebration Director of the Billy Graham Evangelistic Association (BGEA) who flew over to General Santos City to personally hand-over to the WBO welterweight champion the invitation from the BGEA to join the Cebu Celebration of Life on March 27-29, 2015. Rev. Chad Hammond, the Director of Asian Affairs of BGEA wrote the letter of invitation to Pacquiao who just turned 36 last Wednesday, December 17. "Representing the Executive Committee of the Cebu Celebration of Life with Will Graham, I would like to invite you to attend this event as our special guest and bring a greeting and testimony to the audience," a portion of Hammond's invitation letter to Pacquiao states where a copy was also furnished to Ferris being the Country Director of BGEA for the Philippines. Ferris is optimistic that Pacquiao will eventually be available for the occasion where a separate similar activity will also be held in Tacloban City to reach out to the victims of Super typhoon Yolanda in Eastern Visayas. He asked fellow Christians to pray so that intervening events will occur so that the Mayweather fight would be move at a later date as Pacquiao answered in the affirmative when asked of his availability to attend if the fight schedule is move. "No problem if it is moved" Pacquiao's assurance went to the delight of Ferris who was accompanied in his meeting with Pacquiao by Pastor Kent Jesalva of the World in Need Baptist Church of Mandaue. A Pacquiao ward revealed that in March the boxing icon would already be in hard training, either in Gensan or the Wild Card gym in California depending on how Freddie Roach would design their training plan for the Mayweather fight. Chances of the Mayweather-Pacquiao being postponed surfaced however as Pacquiao's promoter Bob Arum revealed that May 2 would be in conflict of the Canelo Alvarez-Miguel Cotto fight that is being finalize as the date coincided with the Mexican Holiday called Cinco de Mayo where Mexicans would celebrate and thus is expected to troop to the Alvarez-Cotto fight as Alvarez is a Mexican. Arum called the Mayweather announcement as "disrespectful to the Mexicans", it being a "poaching" of the celebration of Cinco de Mayo. Mayweather insisted on the fight while Pacquiao also tweeted that he is on for it, telling Mayweather to stop being a "humbug". "Don't be a boxing humbug. Let's give the boxing fans the fight they want. They have waited long enough," Pacquiao's tweet message last December 16 went. Earlier, Pacquiao challenged Mayweather to a fight after his victory against Chris Algieri in Macau. Prior to the BGEA invitation Pacquiao has also been invited to attend the 63rd annual National Prayer Breakfast in Washington, D.C. on Feb. 3-6, 2015 where Pres. Barrack Obama is expected to attend as a keynote speaker. Dr. Bill Graham, the grandfather of Rev. Will Graham, who will be the main speaker and evangelist of the Cebu Celebration, incidentally, has been a regular speaker of the National Prayer Breakfast being hosted by the U.S. Congress and where American Presidents are around. Outside of the National Prayer Breakfast, Bill, 96, founder of BGEA, has been in audience and open line communications to a lot of U.S.A. Presidents and is believed to have been asked as spiritual adviser to some of them, earning the title "Pastor to the Presidents." The Cebu Celebration of Life is the fourth to happen in the Philippines where Dr. Graham himself came over in Crusade in Manila in 1977 at the Luneta Park, followed by another with his son, Rev. Franklin Graham, the father of Will. In 2011, Will, 39, the Executive Director of the Billy Graham Training Center, lead a similar activity in Bicol, attracting close to 100, 000 people. Pacquiao is now widely recognize as a born again Christian which started in 2012 boldly announcing that he turned his back on all his vices, gambling, drinking and womanizing. He said he reads his bibles several times daily. He has been conducting bible studies in his mansion in Gensan and has acceded invitations for preaching and evangelization elsewhere including abroad. Just recently Pacquiao decided to build a multi-million house of worship also in Gensan and formed the Christian church group called "The Word for Everyone Movement." Photo: Cong. Manny Pacquiao (right) accepts the Billy Graham book from BGEA country director Jeffrey Ferris (middle) who invited the boxing icon, along with Ptr. Kent Jesalva, in behalf of BGEA to attend the Cebu Celebration of Life in SRP on March 2015. (Photo courtesy of BGEA). Click here to view a list of other articles written by Tonton Alcos-Antogop.  |
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