India.
It’s my second time here but feels a lot like my first. The area where I am is much different than where I was month 1 on my race.
The people look like they are from Cambodia not India. It’s not very hot. I actually have to bundle at night while I’m sleeping. There are mountains and it’s really green while also being super dusty. The stars are as good as Africa.
The people are flabbergasted by white people. I thought my first round of India was celebrity status but now I know that it wasn’t even scratching the surface. The amount of pictures people ask to take with us and the amount of handshakes we give while walking down the road is like nothing I have ever seen before.
All because of the color of our skin and the country that we come from.
And it frustrates me, every single time.
I say no to pictures and I force a smile as I handshake for the fourth time in 5 minutes.
It frustrates me because I feel like they think the color of my skin and the country I come from makes me better than them. Like I carry some sort of special powers. It frustrates me because they have seen Americans on their TVs if they have them.
And all I can think is “how do we portray ourselves on movies and tv shows for these people to think so much of us?”
I’ve been out of the country during the election but I hear that the slogan is “make America great again”.
But I wish that America already knew how great it actually is.
I wish her people knew how great they are. That Americans live in a place of such freedom. Where men and women can be friends and look each other in the eye when walking down the street. Where women can express themselves in the way that they dress. As women, we don’t have to cover everything but our eyes or make sure our legs are never shown in public. As women, we can work in the business world or the mechanic world or the sports world. As men, you can work in the healthcare world and you can be a stay at home dad if that’s what the Lord calls you to.
In America, it doesn’t usually take four hours to get to the nearest doctor. And when we get to those doctors in America they are top notch.
In America, we can speak out about our religion and our beliefs. Maybe at the risk of some harsh words spoken back at you, maybe a fist fight. But here, in the world, you could be killed or exiled from your village.
In America, you have the right to vote. To have a say in who is leading your country. Even if it doesn’t go your way, you still have a right that most of the world doesn’t. It was a right fought for and I’ve seen it be dragged through the mud because people feel entitled to get their way at all times. In the world, if you speak out against the government, you could be killed.
America. You are great. You are a place of freedom. A place that people see as good even in the mess that you think you’re in. Things aren’t perfect. They never will be, especially the closer to heaven that we get. But you are a safe place of refuge for people of this world. I ask people where they would go if they could go anywhere in the world and their answer is always the same.
The United States of America.
Because you have clean streets and tall buildings. Because you welcome in people from all races and classes. You have open arms to people needing safety from their war torn countries. You have God and you can openly speak about Him on the streets. You have pizza and burgers and Starbucks coffee.
Fun fact, that cup of coffee you are drinking cost more than what people live on as a family for a day.
America. I need you and your people to take a trip around the world and see what I’ve seen. See the poverty. See the lack. See the war. See the oppression. See the slavery. See the bondage.
And then try and tell me that you don’t have freedom. Tell me that you aren’t great. Tell me that you want to give up your citizenship and move to another country.
If you want to make things in America really great, then get out there and do something. Don’t listen to what the media is feeding you about how awful things are. Go out into your world. Your city. Your state. See the tough things but more than that, see the goodness. With your own eyes. Add some goodness to the tough things. America, you could use improvement just like everyone and everywhere could. I am not naive in this. I know there are social injustices and there are things worth fighting for.
But you are great. And you will become greater when your people choose to see all the good that you hold instead of listening to the bad on the news 24/7. You will become greater when your people turn off the news and go see things for themselves. You will become great when your people stop for the stranger, no matter their race or economic status. Despite the clothes they are wearing and whether or not they have showered four times that day or four times in the last month.
America. You are great because your people are great. Your people from all over the world. We have all come from somewhere so open your arms and welcome the ones just like you have been.
