Chapter 13 The Team Is Invited to the Holy Land

 

 

SHORT IN HEIGHT, TALL IN COURAGE

Chapter 13

The Team Is Invited to the Holy Land

 

     Leah entered the meeting room, followed by a large retinue. The Team was deep into our tri-weekly language training session. Besides Leah, I recognized the four men that we are not allowed to know their identities. The other three, a man and two women, I had no clue who they were. We soon found out.

    No lead-ins with Leah, "Gentlemen, I present Mr. Abraham Ruben Handelman with the Israeli Ministry of foreign affairs, Mrs. Eva Eliana Meyer with the Prime Minister's office, and Mrs. Sara Ariel Vogel with the Ministry of Defense. Now, beginning with Mr. James Jefferson, the Commander of The Team, Please introduce yourselves."

     The Team introduced ourselves. Afterward, everyone began shaking hands and talking. This went on for about 20 minutes. The atmosphere was perplexing but cordial. We had no prior notice of Leah's arrival. I assumed she would eventually get to the core of the visit. And she did.

     "Now that everyone has been introduced, let's all be seated," Leah directed. "The Team's actions have been raising eyebrows around the world, especially in Israel. The result is an outcry to have The Team visit our country so that we may see you courageous and godly men in person on our holy soil. I now turn the podium over to Mrs. Meyer for an explanation of why we are here before you today."

     Mrs. Meyer was a short middle-aged woman that presented herself and spoke with all the grace that her position likely required. Clearing her throat, she began, "I will be frank, I came here expecting to meet a tough and gritty group of fighting men. I am embarrassed by my pre-judgments. I realized how incredibly wrong I was by speaking with you and shaking your hands. Gentlemen, I have been privy to many stories of your mythic feats in combat. I'm certain there is truth within those stories, but looking at you, I see strong viral men with faces that radiate a deep kindness from your godly souls. This mystique has been elevated by your greeting us today in beautifully spoken Hebrew. You did not know of our coming, so I know that you didn't have time to practice this. I had brief discussions on a myriad of subjects with you. You all were so competent and well-spoken. What a wonderful surprise to be so wrong."

     Clasping her hands together in front of her, Mrs. Meyer continued, "We have come here on behalf of the Government of Israel to invite The Team to Israel as our guests to receive one of Israel's most prestigious medals, The President's Medal. This medal is given for exceptional service to Israel and humanity. It comes with high honor."

     The Team was stunned, me included. All of us sat silent, not knowing how to react to such an unexpected honor.

     Mrs. Meyer continued, "I look at your expressions. I have heard you are a humble group. Now I get to witness it in person. I am so honored to offer this medal in the name of my country, Israel. I will let you have time to think this over before you give me an answer. Thank you for allowing us to interrupt your proceedings today. Meeting all of you has been one of the greatest honors of my life."

     I stood to shake Mrs. Meyer's hand and express our gratitude for this honor. I took her aside, telling her, "Mrs. Meyer, these men shun notoriety of any kind. As you can see, they are overwhelmed by Israel's gesture. However, this offer is different than most other offers of fame. I believe this medal gives the overall glory to God, not The Team. Let us have a couple of days to discuss this, but I do not see any problem with our coming to Israel, the Holy Land. We frequently talk about visiting."

     Leah got up into mine and Samuel's face, saying, "I know what you two think about celebrity, but this is recognition, not celebrity. My country loves The Team and their divine mission. This medal would bring the desired attention to how rewarding serving God can potentially be."

     Samuel looked at me for a reply. All I could say was what I knew was in mine and all the others' hearts, "To miss this would be a rebuke to God for all he has done for us."   

     And our answer was, "yes." The Team issued a statement to Israel's Prime Minister that stated, "We could not turn down this opportunity to visit the Holy Land, the land with so many prophet's footprints all across it."

     Israel is governed by a unicameral body known as the Knesset. Unicameral means one legislative chamber. The U.S. has a bicameral governing body consisting of the House and the Senate. The Knesset is derived from the ancient Hebrew, Knesset HaGdola, or Great Assembly. It ruled Israel from the end of the Biblical Prophets to when Rabbinic Judaism was in the development stages approximately after 70 AD when Jerusalem was sacked by Rome. The "Great Assembly" consisted of 120 scribes, sages, and prophets. It was a religious body that was unelected, contrary to today's Knesset that is fully elected.

     Excitement was in the air the two weeks before our visit. Plans were formed and scrubbed and reformed. Mabior and Samuel walked into my office one morning, sat down, and stared at me with big grins on their faces. I asked what was up? They looked at one another, then looked at me with those grins still cemented to their faces. Finally, Samuel got out, "Chief, are we dreaming? In all the years serving our Lord, we nor any other members ever imagined anything like this. As ordinary people, what could our Lord see in us that we should be honored in this way? The Team is concerned about accepting such a high honor. We want to ensure that everyone understands that we place total reliance on and faith in God. We could not accomplish these things they credit us with on our own. Without God, we would still be running for our lives like scared rabbits. What is your opinion?"

     Thinking a moment, I answered, "You are correct in what you say about our reliance on our Lord. We will be unequivocal in our insistence that only God deserves the credit for our actions and successes. We know that the Holy Spirit is firmly entrenched in our souls. Let's make sure we do not act in any way contrary to our Lord. Then, if anyone misconstrues our intentions or actions as self-aggrandizement, that is their problem, not ours. The direction of our hearts on this matter is at one with the heart of our Lord Jesus Christ."

     As the day arrived for our flight aboard El Al, Israel's commercial airline, we walked to the stairs of the Boeing 777 in our uniforms while crowds of well-wishers lined the fences all along the tarmac. The C-Team, dressed in their uniforms, lined the boarding path on either side while at attention and saluting. The Team returned their salutes as they climbed the stairs. Mabior stopped in front of them, saying, "None of you can possibly know how proud I am of each one of you." He saluted smartly, turned, and climbed aboard. As he sat down next to me, he commented, "I wish my parents, brothers, and sisters could be here to witness this, Chief."

     With a smile, I replied, "They are - in heaven, my brother."

     We, along with an accompanying Israeli detachment to serve our every need, were treated like kings. Immediately, we were offered champagne. None of the men had ever tasted it. They were curious, and I said tasting will not send you to hell. To the last man, they spit the alcohol back into the cup. The attendants laughed and offered us any kind of soft drink or flavored water that we could dream of.

     When we landed at Tel Aviv's Ben Gurion airport, all our eyes were falling out of their sockets. It had been some time since anyone had a view of a large and busy airport.

     Our accompanying delegation led us past all the lines of people being examined by security. We walked single file. The Team members towered over most of the civilians in lines or milling around. After clearing the security area, I heard a shout, "It's them! It's The Team!" The cry was taken up by others in the airport. Soon, a full line of people stood on each side of us, gawking and asking for autographs. We politely declined their requests.

     As we made our way through the tightening walkway formed in the crowd, I heard a commotion behind me. I turned to see armed security rush into the group that completely surrounded what I soon learned was little Samuel. They were screaming, "It's the little man! Give me your autograph, please." Women were trying to tear pieces of his uniform away. I was worried and couldn't see Samuel.

     The rest of The Team was having a good laugh about the situation. Then, I felt a tap on my back, "Chief, get me out of here," exclaimed Samuel in a quiet way. I had to laugh at the little one being his usual slippery self in the midst of all this.

    Exiting the building and piling into four large vans, we were taken on a quick tour of Tel Aviv on the way to our hotels. The only thing that mattered to any of us was, "When do we go to Jerusalem?" The drivers were very amenable in their replies by answering with, "in due time," or "Have patience. We will get you there in the coming days."

     When it was announced that we were driving by the Israeli Parliament Building, The Knesset, The Team members became silent. Mabior commented, "Chief, it is really hitting me at seeing the building. I think I am going to be very nervous tomorrow. I was an ignorant man raising cattle in the middle of nowhere only a few years ago. I think they have asked the wrong man to come and speak to them. They have made a big mistake."

     Answering, I said, "Nervous applies to both of us. Moses was really nervous when God asked him to inform the powerful Pharaoh to let His people go. Do you recall what God told him? 'I'll put the words into your mouth.'"

     Mabior got me with his reply, "Yes, but, eventually, he let  Aaron speak for Moses.

     "You are giving your own speech, Moses. That's an order," I said all that with a warm smile.

     The following day inside the Knesset, the entire Team walked onto the President's platform to a thunderous standing ovation that lasted for at least five minutes. The presentation read by the Knesset President was powerful. Everyone had a medal placed around their neck by the President. The men all stood there stoic and the perfect image of one's idea of a humble Christian hero.

     I will not weary you with my speech. I think that Mabior's speech, which Samuel helped to write, and Samuel's coerced speech were the hits of our Knesset presentation. After Mabior's presentation, the attendees gave another standing ovation that went on seemingly forever. Then, the representatives and the visitor's gallery began chanting, "Samuel, speech."

     Samuel raised his hand, renouncing their request, but the crowd would not be denied. The President spoke a few words to Samuel. The Team motioned for him to speak while those next to him pushed him forward. He walked reluctantly to the podium and bent the microphone down. Clearing his throat, he began, "None of this would have come about without the intercession in our weary lives of our God, the one and only true God, the God of Israel." Those words brought the house down.

     Raising his hands for quiet, Samuel resumed, "We were asked to join The Team to glorify his name, not ours. No way could any of our successes have come about without our complete reliance on God. To Him goes all the glory. The Team firmly believes that our God, through The Team, is telling the world that to harm or harass Christians and Jews comes with grave consequences. Murder Christians and Jews at your own peril. As I speak, Other teams are forming and active in various places worldwide. The Team is just one small visible clue that God is giving to the world to let it know, these are my people. I know every hair upon their heads. You will not harm any of them without feeling my wrath. Therefore, we are merely representatives of the wrath of God. Thank you." The ground shaking resumed.

     As the presentation ended, I noticed Leah walking onto the platform where Samuel stood speaking with dignitaries. She put her arm through his. Samuel began twisting his head to find someone in the crowd, that someone was me. He motioned me over. After greeting Leah, I was introduced to the dignitaries around us. Then Samuel asked if he could accompany Leah to her home to spend a couple of days getting to know her family. Of course, I gave my assent. Looking at them closely, I could tell they were at ease with one another. They spoke to each other with respect. I was happy for them. Then, the pair blindsided me. I had noticed a woman standing a few feet away who was part of a multi-party conversation. I noticed because she kept looking our way and smiling.

     Leah released Samuel and inserted her arm through mine. She dragged me, sort of, to the woman that I had noticed. She introduced us. Oh, Leah was so smooth in her deception to get me married off. The woman's name was Amira Mizrahi, one of Leah's lifelong friends. I wanted to take Leah aside and rebuke her trespass into my personal life. The only thing that kept me from doing that was this woman was dredging up feelings long buried. Within seconds of us beginning a conversation, I had become hypnotized by this worldly and well-spoken woman. Looking me straight in the eye, she said, "I am a devout Jew, Mr. Jefferson."

     She stared at me, waiting for a reaction that never appeared, then, "After hearing the words spoken by you and your associates here today, I think I am falling in love with Jesus. He deserves a much deeper examination. Can you teach me more about him?"

     Stunned, I stuttered to answer, "Yes, no problem. Uh - I live a long way from here."

     Amira laughed, " Jesus conquered death, so I think he can easily conquer the problem of distance if he truly intends for me to learn more about him."

     To myself, Leah, you conspiring woman. I cannot believe how quickly you got to me. At this moment, I looked over at Samuel to see him staring at me. He was grinning as he gave me a shrug of the shoulders. He leaned into me, whispering, "I was just like you, and she got me, Chief. We have no natural defenses against her power."

     As I boarded the van, I noticed my teammates trying to suppress laughter with hands over their mouths. With a puzzled look, I asked, "What's going on?"

     Mabior answered, "You tell us, Chief, mister forever-single-guy."

     I scooted over next to Mabior, jabbing him with, "I wouldn't be laughing; you're next, mister wise-guy."

     Mabior took me seriously. His eyes grew wide with the thought of being stalked by the opposite sex. The rest of the crew burst out laughing again. What a devastating turn of events for members of the single-man club.

     Mabior grilled me, "Chief, you know something? Please, tell me."

     I came back at him with this, "I know a lot of things. One of them is you are going to get yours. Now, let's get our minds back on being tourists in the Holy Land."

     The Team traveled for several days through many holy historical sites. Reverence was fully on display by The Team. We enjoyed being tourists. Our attire during the days of being tourists was inclined toward t-shirts with the holy-site names, shorts with many pockets for souvenirs, and hands filled with all manner of food and drinks. The locals rolled out the red carpet for our visit. We refused to give autographs due to our pledge of lives lived for God's glory. But we let the locals and tourists that recognized us take pictures with us. Samuel, Shermake, and Deng were constantly venturing off to talk with the various church tour groups we encountered from around the world. Most of the groups suffered from shock when those three walked up and were recognized. Two tall guys and one really short guy is hard to conceal. The groups were taken aback by their command of various languages and their vast knowledge of historic Biblical matters. That's my boys.

     One day, Mabior, Samuel, and I had managed to sidle away from our group to a coffee-nazi tucked away in a small alleyway inside the Old City of Jerusalem. The barista recognized us, and the coffee he presented to us was out-of-this-world. We kicked back out of the celebrity lights and totally relaxed. The barista's wife placed a plate of fresh Jewish-Rugelach in front of us. Oh, heavenly. We devoured the plate, and it was refilled twice. This trip had turned us into mannerless animals. We tried without success to pay for our manna, but the owner whispered, "See what your appetites have brought to me. The cash register has not quit ringing since you gentlemen walked in."

     We started back up the alley toward where the group once stood. We found them in a small street cafe gorging on hummus, hot pita bread, and falafels. Embarrassingly, we joined them.

     After several days and several pounds of weight gain, we traveled back to Tel Aviv. There we enjoyed the hospitality of the Ritz-Carlton. All of us were swimming and lounging around the pool as Leah, Amira, and a woman named Maya Levi surprised us with their presence. We were all introduced. I was suspicious of the purpose of the newest woman's addition. Amira took a seat beside me at the round table as Leah told Samuel to stay put. She took Maya by the arm. They walked to the edge of the pool near where Mabior relaxed on a water mattress in the water. I think he was asleep when Leah said, "Mabior, I want you to meet someone." Mabior lazily pulled his sunglasses up to see who was addressing him. He fell off the mattress. Leah yelled, "Mabior, quit playing. Get up here."

     Mabior pulled himself up on the side of the pool as Leah tossed him a towel from nearby. He began drying himself as he stood up. He towered over Maya. Leah introduced them, then abruptly walked away to sit beside Samuel.

      Amira talked to me as I focused on Mabior's face. It was all wide-eyeballs and gaping-mouth. Maya was giving him that head-to-one-side thing that women flirt with, not that I would know. I suppose she got tired of poor Mabior's stuck look. Maya removed the bathrobe covering her bathing suit and dove into the pool. Without hesitation, Mabior followed. I had never seen Mabior in this condition, moonstruck. I threw my fist in the air while yelling, "Yes!" I looked around to see everyone staring at me. "Sorry, it's a personal thing." Then I whispered, "Mabior, you are getting yours, Brother."

     Amira back-handed my arm with a slap, "James, if having feelings for a woman is considered a crisis, I think you need a psychiatrist."

     Looking at Amira with a grin, I hit her with words that I have no idea where they came from,  "Do I need a psychiatrist when I love you more than pepperoni pizza!" I had just overwhelmed her heart with the power of my pathetic poetry skills. My face turned beet red.

     She spit the iced tea from her mouth, then composed herself for a few seconds. "James Jefferson, that is the corniest thing that I have ever heard! It must have been difficult for you to get those things out of your mouth. James, did you really mean that you are in love with me?"

     "I cannot believe it, Amira. Admittedly, I haven't been right since I first saw you. Never have I met someone as beautiful on the inside as they are on the outside."

     She scooted her chair closer to mine. "James, I knew you had something more than pizza in that brain of yours. I know you have tremendous faith in Jesus. Do you really believe Jesus can solve this distance problem?"

     All I could say was, "Amira, with God, everything is possible, and we are firm with God, both Jews and Christians."

    Early next morning, as Mabior, Samuel, and I rode in the cab to the coffee shop our Yei Barista, Fred, had recommended. little was said between us. Pre-coffee was not a talkative time for either of us. But I had to ask Samuel and Mabior, "Why am I getting this feeling in my gut that this may be one of the last days of freedom for the three of us?"

     Samuel grinned while Mabior remarked, "How do women make such liars out of confirmed bachelors? I now understand what happened to Samson."

     Sitting in the coffee shop awakening our souls with what was undoubtedly the coffee recommended in heaven reinforced by more Rugelachs, I felt my phone vibrating. The text had the numbers 911, emergency. The text from WCPN meant that I had to switch to my secure phone. Mabior and Samuel focused when they noticed me switch to my encrypted satellite phone.

     The voice on the other end said, "JJ, sorry to interrupt the trip, but BH (Boko Haram) has kidnapped more schoolgirls in Nigeria. The Nigerian government indicated to us by their run-around attitude that they are not interested in spending resources to recover the girls promptly. At the same time, they said they would look the other way if we thought our modest resources were capable of achieving more than they could. You'll be contacted by a Mossad Rep shortly. Israeli sources have already informed El Al to make arrangements for The Team's transport. We are keeping a public face on this as though the early departure was planned. Working hard not to let BH know that you are coming."

     Looking over at Mabior and Samuel while thinking over the words I had just heard, I came to a different take on the situation. I spoke slowly and carefully, so my answer could not be misconstrued, "No, don't hide our intentions to go to Nigeria. Put it up on billboards and all forms of social media that The Team is going to Nigeria. I want Abubakar Shekau and every Boko Haram member and all those vicious Farm Militias to know for sure that we, The Team, are coming for them. Tell the entire world that we will rescue those girls if it pleases God. Tell Boko Haram and anyone else who will listen that the wrath of God is coming."

     Those sitting in the coffee shop were startled as Mabior and Samuel stood up and high-fived while saying in unison, "For God!"