Make America Great Again. What made America great? Not money. Not the free market. Ideals. Ideals made America great. Ideals that branched from the idea and belief in freedom. Ideals that branched from Christianity brought over with the pilgrims (not that they did this all too well… Hello Native Americans, I see you, I hear you, and as a white woman I’m sorry.)
We’ve never been liked by every one else. But what made us great and continually greater, was our relentless pursuit of freedoms. In Ukraine I talked to so many revolutionaries, true revolutionaries who had fought or knew fighters who were fighting for their freedom and still fighting to this day. I discussed modern war with modern day patriots that have no clue who Tom Brady is. And I can tell you that their hearts and voices for their country were inspiring. Because like I’ve said before: Revolution aligns directly with God’s desire of freedom. Because freedom is what it’s all about.
Freedom is what God wants for everyone. EVERYONE. Freedom that transcends borders and transcends physical, mental, and spiritual walls. Here is where we have to decide if we will compartmentalize ourselves. Here is where we have to decide whether we separate the missionary from the political citizen. Here is where decisions become hard, but necessary.
When our team touched down in Malawi and we finally made our way to our site (the bumpiest, most cramped van ride ever) we were the only other six white people in town. Babies would cry when they saw us because they had never seen white people before. But one of the funniest things was that random men would shout at us, “OBAMA!” Whenever we were in town, we would hear it. They would point and shout the name of our president.
It would continue at house visits. Men and women always asked if we liked Obama. If he was doing a good job. Being white, Christian women, this wasn’t exactly expected. A woman being asking her political views? In Africa nonetheless?! But recently I have realized they weren’t really asking if we liked Obama. They were asking if we liked them, black men. They were asking white women what we thought of a black man being in one of the most powerful positions in our country.
In the warm heart of Africa, they had seen the news and they had seen a man who looked a lot like them leading what is thought to be the most powerful the “greatest” country in the world. And with this realization came fear. What do these other countries see on the news of this election? How do rural teens in Mexico feel about white people shouting, “Build a wall!” All while holding signs that say, “Make America great again.”?
To them, the US already is great. The US is the dream. The US wants to close them out of the dream.
I write this post with a heavy-burdened heart. With a heart that is for America and for the world. I’m not going to tell anyone who to vote for (I’m not even sure who I am going to vote for). Instead I’m asking Christians to do something much harder than fill in a ballot bubble.
I’m asking you to stop putting barriers on your Christianity, on your citizenship, on your missionary-minded hearts. I’m asking you to think beyond yourself, your family, your country when making decisions that affect more than we can even expect or understand. I’m asking you to pray continually leading up to this election for God’s will to be done, here as in Heaven. In the United States as in Heaven. In America as in Heaven. On the Earth as in Heaven.
