On July 3rd 2010, our team 'Awesome Foursome' along with 14 other teams met on a cold winters morning at the front of the Town Hall in the Sydney CBD to participate in an ‘amazing race’. The aim was not to be the first team to cross the finish line to win $1 million dollars (like the real USA Amazing Race)but to raise funds to support persecuted Christians doing it tough in Iraq.
Teams were made up of between 3-8 people. All teams started at Town Hall and were given their first clue. The clues were mixed around so no more than 2 teams were going for the same clue at once, but rather, teams going in a ‘circle’ around the CBD to find various landmarks.
All the clues were in an envelope with the envelopes having different symbols on them to distinguish one team from another. Many of the clues involved imagery that needed to be decoded. At each ‘checkpoint’, a photo was taken of the team along with the ‘number’ of the checkpoint. (SEE PHOTOS) The teams only knew that they were at the correct checkpoint if they saw a person wearing green clothes or green shoe laces. (The checkpoints included the Sydney Harbour bridge, Circular Quey and Hyde Park to name a few)
There were frustrations that our team encountered with finding our clue in Chinatown! Our team just could not find our checkpoint and had to go round and round in circles looking for an obvious clue (just like the real Amazing Race!)
3/1/2 hours later, we reached our final destination, right smack bang in Pitt St, Sydney. It was a relief to rest and refresh ourselves from our running/walking.
A short video clip and presentation followed the race with stories of what Iraqi Christians go through as a result of loving and serving Jesus. It was a great testimony and encouragement to me that they persevere so much despite their awful situation. It made me reflect back on our difficulty in finding our clue in Chinatown and the tiredness we felt after the race…….. Our slight ‘tiredness’ or ‘frustrations’ on this race is NOTHING compared to what the man, woman or child of Iraq who loves Jesus endures. It made me think,“what can I learn from Iraqi Christians about their faith? ”
So why was the race called 13:3? It comes from Hebrews 13v3.
"Remember those in prison as if you were their fellow prisoners, and those who are mistreated as if you yourselves were suffering. "
Something to ponder and pray about…..
