Pastor Rick Warren's Visit to Pacquiao's Camp

LAS VEGAS, NEV. (June 6, 2012) – On May 29, Pastor Rick Warren paid a visit to the Wild Card Boxing Club in Hollywood, Calif., to observe Manny Pacquiao train for his June 9 world title defense against Timothy Bradley, Jr.

Following the training session, Pastor Rick interviewed Manny and his wife Jinkee, conducted a Bible study and prayed with them.  This link will take you to their video.  Hit the “download” button.  http://vimeo.com/43315952

“Manny Pacquiao is THE purpose-driven boxer! His huge heart for God energizes his heart for everything else - his family, his country, his sport, the street kids, and all his fans,” said Pastor Rick.  “Right in the middle of a hectic schedule packed with training and media interviews, Manny made the time to sit down and do a one-on-one Bible Study with me, ignoring cameras and onlookers, and focusing instead on what God might want to say to him personally at the moment. What most people don’t know about Manny is that he has more of the Bible memorized than many pastors do. He not only quotes the Bible from memory; he applies it to his life. But what I love most Manny is that, in spite of his fame and wealth, he is training for this fight in a typical inner city gym, surrounded by the kinds of kids he used to be on the streets of Manila. Rather than training in some exclusive, over-priced and air-conditioned celebrity gym in Beverly Hills, he is modeling his workout for kids who also dream of one day living a better life.”

About Rick Warren, Pastor, Saddleback Church (Provided by Saddleback Church): Pastor Rick Warren is first and foremost a pastor. He founded Saddleback Church in 1980 which today is one of America's most influential congregations. More than 120,000 people call Saddleback their church home. Saddleback meets on 9 campuses with over 300 ministries, including our new PEACE center which offers our county's residents with basic assistance in food, financial education, career counseling, support groups, orphan care and adoption support.

Pastor Rick is also the founder of the PEACE Plan, which networks over 400,000 churches all over the globe to solve the world's biggest problems. The network is committed to:

·         Promoting reconciliation

·         Equipping servant leaders

·         Assisting the poor and educating the next generation.

·         Caring for the sick

·         Educating the next generation

Nearly 15,000 people from Saddleback have traveled to every country in the world working with, in and through local churches. Known for his commitment to local ownership of problems and solutions, Pastor Rick approaches orphan care with unique tenacity with a commitment to end the orphan crisis rather than manage it.

Pastor Rick is an internationally recognized author. His book, The Purpose Driven Life, has sold more than thirty million copies in English, and is published in over 100 languages. His book on growing healthy churches, Purpose Driven Church, has sold over a million copies. In addition, Pastor Rick has been invited to lecture at Oxford, Cambridge, Harvard's Kennedy School of Government, the World Economic Forum in Davos, the United Nations, the Global Health Summit, the Aspen Ideas Institute, and TED.

Photo Credit: Chris Farina/Top Rank