Well I’m honestly thankful to not be in the US right now. Today we drove 2+ hours into the mountains to do a medical clinic with World Help. In the past two days, the World Help team has seen over 300 patients! So awesome to see help being brought to villages where there is no access to healthcare, and no hope for mothers with sick children. On our trip back, someone mentioned election results tonight and I realized that I was so disconnected from the whole debacle.
Remember the “Apparently” kid? I feel like him today. “Apparently sometimes I don’t watch the news… Grandpa just gives me the remote after we watch the powerballlllllll.” It’s not that I’m disinterested in the welfare of our country (absentee ballots are next to impossible to get down here thanks to Guatemala not having a mailing system), but sometimes it’s hard to feel politically charged for a country that is reeking of divisiveness. As I held a 9 year old boy fighting for his life and weighing only 18 pounds, I forgot about the problems America is facing. As I braided the hair of a 9 year old girl who just lost both parents and an older sister, I wonder where we ever went wrong. I cannot be upset about the discord in our country without first being disappointed in the actions of some people who call themselves Christian.
When did we ever allow a political party to define who we are? When did we start becoming known more for what we were against, rather than what we stood FOR? When did we allow ourselves to be represented by the hatred and chastising of those who were different than us? And since when did we find it acceptable to belittle and degrade others of a differing race or opinion rather than leading them to the foot of the cross to show them WHO defines us?
And here I am writing this after Bryan and I agreed to no political posts this season so that differing views wouldn’t overshadow what The Lord is doing through our ministry….
I think tonight I might not post a specific “thank you shoutout”, because I don’t feel like tying anyones name to this post airing my frustration. In fact, I’m still writing this but toying with the notion of just scrapping the whole thing and starting over with a post about gratitude… Yet here I continue.
Fellow Christians, remember that we are represented by the banner of Christ. As the dust settles tomorrow, do you want to be remembered by the words you have spoken to some of your friends and family this election season? So you might have convinced a few people to vote for (insert preferred candidate here), but how many people have you won for Christ?
I challenge you all to remember that America is YOUR mission field. While I don’t think Jesus was some pansy who wore a dress like many children’s books portray, I DO believe he was here on this earth to bring light and love to those who were hurting. If we are following Him, shouldn’t we do the same?
Be blessed. And don’t be hateful.
-Whitney
