Chairman of Well-Being Australia Mark Tronson says it has been his privilege to have been a receiptent of many 'Angels Unawares' leading up to and during his 18 years of founding the Sports and Leisure Ministry, 17 years as the Australian cricket team chaplain, and now 29 years of faith financial living.
One of these was Bob Wheway.
Mark Tronson picks up the story: Sports Camps are a feature of Scripture Union's splendid ministry. The impact upon my life by attending one when 14 was such, that I arranged for my own son, when he was 15 to enjoy a similar Scripture Union sports camp. It was a great experience for him too!
We lived in Canberra and my parents sent me to the winter school holiday sports camp held at King's School near Moss Vale. There was an arrange of sports being offered in terms of specialized coaching, and what interested me was hockey and track & field.
The only coach I can recall at that Scripture Union sports camp was Dr Bob Wheway, Professor of Engineering of Wollongong University who was the camp's hockey coach. Bob Wheway was the first grade goalkeeper for St. Matthews Hockey Club in Wollongong.
I left home at 16 joining the NSW Government Railways as a trainee engineman in Goulburn and a year later transferred to Port Kembla Locomotive Depot. One of the first phone calls I made was to Bob Wheway and shortly thereafter joined St Matthews Hockey Club.
In those heady years St Matthews was the first 'Country Team' to reach the Easter Monday St George carnival final. Eric Smith and I became friends and held representative honours. Bob Wheway's classic line to Eric Smith who wouldn't play due to teeth problems: "You don't play hockey with your teeth!" Bob was classic humour!
Dr Bob Wheway's message at a Youth for Christ rally impacted my future life enormously. He challenged listeners as to the myths of 'the scientific method' illustrating numerous 'methods' in order to determine outcomes.
In my thinking, Dr Wheway was dispelling the gobbledygook of academe hyperbole with a good dose of reality.
It was instructive for me at theological college years later, it became critical analysis for the ever changing nature of science, let alone evolution's many diverse 'theories'. It gave me the essence of an unchanging Christ for the substance for faith.
Indeed Dr Wheway was an angel unawares!