A Christian woman from the US represented Israel at the 2024 Olympics in Paris and according to reports, she is the only born-again Christian to ever represent that country at this international event, Faithwire reports.

Ashlee Bond represented Israel in individual and team horse jumping events. She had previously represented Israel in the 2020 Tokyo Olympics.

Bond, 39, qualified for Israel because her father, who was born in Haifa, Israel, is a Jew. Because of this connection, she was able to receive her Jewish citizenship in 2018 at the age of 33.

Her father, Steve Bond, is a popular Israeli soap opera star and has had several acting roles in both American and Israeli TV shows and movies. His family immigrated to the US when he was 12 years old.

Ashlee’s father was also involved in competitive equestrian, and it was his influence that led Ashlee to start riding competitively at the age of six.

It was ultimately her Jewish heritage that resulted in her wanting to join the Israeli Olympic team.

“I just felt this calling with my faith being a Christian, being that Jesus — that’s where He was born, and where He died, and where He rose again,” Ashlee said in her interview with CBN.

“And I had done enough for the U.S. team. I felt as though I had proven that I could ride for the U.S. team. … I felt it was time for me to make that change and to help along with my other teammates to bring Israel more recognition to the top of the sport and hopefully get others in Israel excited about hopefully getting into the equestrian sport” Ashlee added.

However, the invasion of Israel by the Hamas terrorist organization on October 7, 2023, dramatically changed the political climate for all Jews.

Ashlee’s decision to participate in the 2024 Olympics for Israel resulted in her, along with other team members, receiving death threats from a terrorist organization.

“[The threat] singled me out personally, along with … I believe 16 other Israeli athletes from a terrorist organization threatening our lives and saying … ‘If you fly over, you drive over, we run the airports, we run the streets, we will have blood run in the streets like Munich in ’72,’” she said.

The latter was a reference to the 1972 Munich Massacres, when eight extremists associated with the Palestinian terrorist organization, Black September, infiltrated the Olympic village during the 1972 Summer Olympics held in Munich, Germany.

They killed two Israeli athletes and took nine other Israelis as hostages. These hostages were later killed during a failed rescue attempt when it became apparent the terrorists were not willing to negotiate for their release.

Because of the seriousness of the threat at the 2024 Olympics, Ashlee’s mom, Cindy, organized a prayer chain, that reached tens of thousands of people, to pray for the safety of the Israeli team at the Olympics.

Cindy Bond is involved in faith-film production and helped produce Christian movies such as I Can Only Imagine (2018) and Redeeming Love (2022).

Ashlee added that at no time did she consider leaving the Israeli team, and the threats caused her to lean more on Jesus and embrace her calling.