The Race

Two weeks ago, we had a special honor.  The community of Pisgat Ze'ev in northern Jerusalem was sponsoring a race for an organization called Aharai! - in English this means Follow Me!  This is the phrase the commander calls out as written in the previous blog post.  CFI joined forces with them sponsoring a race to promote unity between the youth and current IDF soldiers, who came to encourage these young people.  As CFI cheered the racers, we also handed out water and fruit.

From their website:  

Aharai! is a social educational organization that develops young leadership and promotes social involvement among youths from the projects, development towns, absorption centers, boarding schools and shelters. 
By connecting the youths to milestones in Israeli society; preparation for a significant military service in the IDF, preparation for the matriculation exams, immigrant integration programs, youth challenge programs, one year of community service, pre-military academy and alumni organization; the organization provides its youths a sense of achievement and capability and encourages them to fit in as contributing citizens in the State of Israel. 

The race CFI sponsored was for soldiers currently in the IDF to run along side the youth and encourage them to finish the race and not give up.  Being the main sponsor of the event, they placed our Christian Friends of Israel logo on the back of the shirts that each runner wore, along with many others at the event.  It was very exciting to see a sense of Ephesians 2:14-16.  Here were Jewish men, women and children receiving us with open arms - wearing shirts with a Christian organization on their backs.

Before the race.

Jim with councilmen from Jerusalem and Pisgat Ze'ev.

Getting ready to start!

They honored Jim by asking him to cut the tape to begin the race.

And let the race begin!

I almost got run over!

Heading down the hill, that's the easy part....

And then up, up, UP!!!

You can see the road they are climbing midway in the picture with the people who look like ants. :)

These two ladies have great ambition.  What we found out was that the 

community had lost some boys in the war with Gaza, 

so it was a very special time for them to remember and honor these heroes.

The finish line - one of the first to complete the race!!

Enjoying the water and fruit after a long, hot run.

A short video clip of the race.

The runners in the gray shirts are with Aharai! and did a great job encouraging 

the other racers to endure and complete the race set before them.

Yea!  They did it!!

Yes, the two ladies were the last to finish - with an escort - but they DID finish.

As usual, we share how honored we are, and they share how grateful they are....

They even asked Jim to speak to the group at the closing ceremony after the race.  After Jim spoke of our solidarity as Christians - with the IDF, the community and the youth - the head councilman, and leader of the event told Jim, “I looked into the eyes of the parents, and saw that what you shared with them went straight into their hearts.  It was good for you to be here today.” 

This young lady's brother was a soldier killed in the war.

The Aharai! team

Water fight!!

This woman stopped Jim because she wanted to thank him for what he spoke to the group, that it meant a lot to her.  About forty years ago, she too, had lost her son at the young age of 20 as a soldier.

Time may heal all wounds, but sometimes it still hurts....

So then, since we are surrounded by such a great cloud of witnesses, let us, too, put aside every impediment — that is, the sin which easily hampers our forward movement — and keep running with endurance in the contest set before us, 

 looking away to the Initiator and Completer of that trusting, Yeshua — who, in exchange for obtaining the joy set before him, endured execution on a stake as a criminal, scorning the shame, and has sat down at the right hand of the throne of God.

Hebrews 12:1-2