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LOS ANGELES, CA (ANS) -- Bill Alexson, a pioneer in the NBA Chapel Program and former chaplain for some 20 years with the Boston Celtics, thought he had seen and experienced everything in basketball - until he went to Jerusalem last year with an all-Christian team of NBA stars.

Back in September 2010, ten past and present NBA basketball players belonging to the Christian athletic foundation Power Sports International made a week-long pilgrimage and solidarity visit to Israel, putting on clinics and exhibition games and meeting with dignitaries to express their support for the Jewish state.

Organized by former Boston Celtic chaplain Bill Alexson, the tour featured former New York Knicks Allan Houston and Anthony Bonner, former Toronto Raptor Jerome Williams, ball-whiz Charles Smith of the Harlem Globetrotters, as well as Dwight Howard, Sr., father of one the NBA's top stars at present.

The 23-member delegation was hosted by President Shimon Peres at Beit Hanassi in Jerusalem, where he was presented with an NBA shirt.

The players were a big hit with youths from basketball leagues in the Jerusalem area on Tuesday as the NBAers dazzled them with trick passes and alley-oop dunks at a skills clinic. The team then played a friendly in the evening against Bnei HaSharon of the Israeli national league.

So how did event take place? In an interview after this year's NBA Chapel service in Los Angeles and before the 2011 All-Star Game at the Staples Center, Alexson talked about the visit.

"I'm the president Sports Power International (http://sportspower.org) and our mission is to take both current and former Christian NBA players around the world, including to Liberia, sharing the gospel. The NBA's been marketed like Coca Cola, so it's very impactful," he began.

"The purpose was for Christian NBA players to show their support for Israel and the Jewish people," he explained. "As we told the crowd at half-time, we were there because we believe what the Bible says; that the Jewish people are God's chosen people and the God who gave them the land is going to allow them to keep the land.

"We met with the president at his residence with the media including television cameras, covering it. President Peres took the microphone and said, 'You don't know what this means to us for you, as Christian NBA players, coming to show support of the Jewish people at this time.

"The trip was off the charts for us. It changed our lives and it humbled us that God used us the whole country to let them know that there were Christians who had come to their land and show their support."

"If Christians don't take a stand; then who is going to?"

I then asked Alexson if he was from a Jewish background.

"No, I'm half Greek and half Irish, but I'm a spiritual Jew who knows Yeshua [Jesus] and he's the Messiah of the Jewish people," he told me.

What was the big interest in going to Israel?

"Well, personally, as a Christian, I've always wanted to go to Israel because it's the Holy Land, but more than that, I had become aware of some countries who were distancing themselves from supporting Israel.

"And boy, did they take us on a tour. We went to the edge of the Gaza Strip, to the Lebanon border, and also to the religious sites. We even talked with an Israeli lady living near to the Gaza Strip who explained how she can't take a shower because 'the alarm might go off' and then she said she knew they were 'going to be sending rockets.'

"It was very moving experience. The ball players had their lives changed God used us and now we're taking NBA players around the world to preach the Gospel halftime on nationally televised games."

What other countries has he taken teams to?

"We've been to Belarus, in former Soviet Union," he replied. "This is a place where, if you speak publically about God you get three years minimum jail sentence. But, because President President Alexander Lukashenko liked us -- he's a hockey player -- he said, "Do what you want.'

"So we did. We preached the gospel at halftime to millions of viewers, which is something that has never done before the history of the country. He called us up on a cell phone afterwards and said through a translator, 'Bill, I apologize that I wasn't there personally. I was called away to a sudden summit of former Soviet Union presidents to discuss economic matters, but I watched you on TV.

"He expressed his thanks for coming and for 'giving my people such a great holiday.' At that point, I thought, 'What am I doing here?' But then God spoke to my heart and said, 'Bill, this is not about you; it's about Me. But I use people like you so do not limit Me.' I realize that we cannot limit God in what He can do in your life personally and what He wants to do through you."

I then asked Bill Alexson how he ministers to people who have everything including fame and money.

"Good question," he replied, "but I have a better answer. Many people say, 'Wait a second. How do you get these rich and famous athletes in a locker room before a game to listen to you?' Well my answer is that because they're rich and famous and because they have everything that the world has to offer, that won't touch their inside. It's not going to help them with their marriage and it's not going to validate who they are.

"They're very frustrated. They're at the top rung of the ladder and they can't get any higher. Everyone wants to be in their shoes, but they are still looking for answers. So I tell them, 'You're special, not because you put a ball through a hoop and make money. You're special because God says you are. He has a plan for your life and you can know him personally. The Gospel is not about you getting yourself right; it's about believing in Christ what He did for you on the cross, and if you're smart you'll trust him and listen because He's got a plan that's way better than you can even imagine.'

"You'll be shocked how many ball players jump at that message."

What does an NBA star do when his career is over?

He replied, "I say, 'Come on and do something significant with me; use your athletic platform that you have.'

"If I can take famous football and basketball players from America overseas the people there don't care who they are. I'll take a second string NBA guy that you've never heard of and millions will watch us and we'll meet with heads of state. And when that ball player reads a comment card that says this on it, 'I was going to take my life, but after listening to you speak today, it changed my life,' that ballplayer's life is also changed for eternity.

"And it's fun. We're playing basketball and they don't care who we are, but we're revealing who Jesus Christ is. He's the Lord of Lord's and King of Kings. He's coming back to this planet and smart people need to put their trust in Him."

With that, he was off to the Staples Center to watch the West beat the East by 148 to 143.