PING-PONG-A-THON 2020 - 18th & 19th Sep 2020

Support this cause with us - join us in this upcoming event here at North Balwyn Baptist Church - PingPongathon 2020 on 18th and 19th September 2020.

This year will be a little different as compared to previous years where we played 24 hours of ping pong / table tennis at our church to raise funds to support the work of combating modern day slavery in Thailand, Cambodia, The Philippines and India. This year it will be Pong at Home!

Here at NBBC, we have more than 22 people involved in some way to “PLAY” over the weekend.  If you can, please SPONSOR them.  Giving over $20 is Tax Deductible.

Ways to SPONSOR any of these people or groups are:

1. Click on pingpongathon.com & follow the prompts.

2. Give through the church website here.

3. Send a cash / cheque / credit card slip to the church office. Please indicate purpose of gift and who you are sponsoring

Those playing table tennis are : The Catalyst Youth girls team, Rod Nolasco, Andrew Price, Joshua Tan, Julie Licandro, Logan Licandro, Levi Licandro, Ruth Vernon, Graeme Prentice, The Simpson Family, Jenny Williams, The Smeaton Family, Nathan Licandro, David Vernon, Geoff & Jenny Rowse. Give to any of these and and encourage them.

The times we are playing as a church are Friday(18th Sep) night 7-10pm and Saturday (19th Sep) 1:30-3:30pm

Tune into The Pong's 24 hour livestream from 6pm (AEST) on Fri Sept 18 to 6pm Sat Sept 19th to learn more about the impact your donation can make.  It will featuring interviews with The Pong's Partners and live play from Pong venues throughout Australia. 

IN SUMMARY, THE IMPACT YOUR DONATION CAN HAVE...

$54.00 Provides three weeks of on-the-job-training for one survivor in professions such as hairdressing, baking and tailoring.

$88.00 Enables a survivor to receive intensive, individual counselling for one month.

$ 150.00 Can cover trial fees for one case so a trafficking survivor can see justice served.

$ 430.00 Provides a month of home visits from case workers for 70+ at-risk students.

$ 700.00 Can see a trafficked survivor back into formal education for 1 year.

$1,000.00 Enables a survivor to buy the tools or products they need to start a small business.

Let your friends and family know!

THERE ARE 7 PARTNERS OF THE PINGPONGATHON 2020

1. THE FREEDOM STORY - Location: Chiang Rai North Thailand.

Major Focus? They Focus on Prevention to stop any children from getting trafficked or abused by providing scholarships.

2. INTERNATIONAL JUSTICE MISSION - Location: Philippines & other Asian locations

Overall Purpose: IJM adopts a holistic response to the issue of sex-trafficking, by partnering with local authorities to provide rescue and restoration for victims, bring criminals to justice and strengthen criminal justice systems.

3. HARD PLACES - Location: Phnom Penh, Cambodia

Overall Purpose: To rescue young men who have become trapped in Male Massage Parlours(brothels) and rehabilitate them providing opportunities for training and meaningful employment.

4. HOME OF NEW BEGINNINGS - Location: Bangkok & Pattaya, Thailand

Overall Purpose: To address the emotional, physical and educational needs of women and children who desire to leave the sex trade.

5. DTON NAAM - Location: Bangkok, Thailand

Overall Purpose: Dton Naam is a small NGO with a big heart, supporting young men and transgender (ladyboys) in Bangkok who desire to leave sex-work behind.

6. LIFT INTERNATIONAL - Location: Thailand

Overall Plan: LIFT International works to combat human trafficking by identifying at-risk individuals, supporting victims, and prosecuting offenders to the fullest measure of the law.

7. HAGAR INTERNATIONAL - Location: Vietnam

Overall Plan: Hagar is a leader in trauma-informed care, holistic approaches to recovery, and the empowerment of women and children who have survived human trafficking, slavery, and severe abuse.

NB For each of these 7 organisations the Pingponathon also provide finance for Staff Care. This includes retreats, or specific counselling and training in particular areas of need.

To find out more, go to pingpongatho.com

North Balwyn Baptist Church is a cross-cultural church. While conveniently located on 136 Doncaster Road, Balwyn North, Victoria 3104 on tram 48 line, we are now ever more conveniently located on online church - in this pandemic situation. We meet 10am Sunday mornings on ZOOM. Our church services are available on our website as well as on YouTube. Like and Subscribe to our YouTube Channel - North Balwyn Baptist Church. Besides our English church service, we have Mandarin and Cantonese church services every second and fourth Sundays of the month. So, please invite your Chinese speaking friends to watch too.

We have many activities to enable you to connect with us on many different levels. We have Growth Groups (now meeting on ZOOM), for the Youth, we have CATALYST (years 7-12) and IGNITE (Grades 3-6). We welcome new comers to these wonderful connections. If you have any questions, please call us on (03)9859 8101 or email us on office@northbalwynbaptist.church