"God Bless America!" "God Bless Obama!"
For someone so small, her words echoed loudly. And yet, she was largely ignored. Or should I say, her words were ignored. Many people did more than ignore her. They avoided her, and based on the looks on their faces, judged her. Why though? Wasn't her message a positive one? Did they look down on her because she was shouting? Does shouting your opinions to no one in particular, no matter how positive they might be, mean that you are crazy? Or was it her unusual attire- the teal shirt with a knit red, white, blue and yellow (yes, yellow) scarf wrapped around her head, and a sign with a picture of the Obama's hanging around her neck. Or could it possibly be her thick Asian accent? Most likely it was a combination of the three. Sadly, I, myself, made a snap judgement about her. Thankfully, God sees her differently than we do. And thankfully, He wanted to show me that.
At first sight/sound, I ignored a subtle nudge from God to reach out to her. A couple minutes later, I prayed that God would put someone in my path that was so evidently from him. Lo and Behold, the little Asian women immediately started walking towards me. Touche, God. I knew what He wanted me to do.
I said hello to the woman that the world ignored. Her name is Than, and because God works in such crazy ways, it turns out that she is from Vietnam (a country that I will indeed be traveling to this year). Another GODincidence? She has been a refugee in the states for 3 years, 11 months, and 11 days. From non world race, 11:11 is a theme (after all we are traveling to 11 countries in 11 months).
So why was Than shouting those phrases? Her answer knocked me backwards. She comes from a country full of terrorist and communists. Rather than fight for her people in her country, she has come to believe that America in the answer to Vietnam's problems. She believes that a strong America will help her people. And she believes that if Obama serves a second term, America will be strong enough to save the people of Vietnam. So, this woman, who isn't even a citizen of the United States, has made it her mission to get Americans to vote. That fact struck a chord. Confession time: Despite being 21 during the last presidential election, I didn't vote. And now, I won't even be in the country for the upcoming election. I, a born and bred American, didn't bother to fill out an absentee ballot before I left, and yet Than, a refugee, is desperately trying to become a US citizen in time to vote for Obama, the man she believes can help change the future of Vietnam.
Before parting ways with Than, she handed me a document. In her broken English, she writes about what she is doing and why she is doing it. I haven't been able to make sense of all of it, but I see the heart in it. I see the heart and the desire for change. This women has become an inspiration for me.
About a month ago, I decided that while on the race, I would write about one woman per country. I wanted to show my supporters what their support was doing and shine light on people I was coming in contact with. Upon meeting Than, the type of women that I will be writing about has become more clear. Over the next 11 months, I will be on the hunt for the ignored. I will earnestly seek out those that the world has deemed unworthy or crazy or weird, but that God so desperately loves. I can't wait to share the stories of women who the world has tried so hard to keep silent. Stay tuned to see the other amazing women that God introduces me too!
