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Hello Luella, Carla and Committee,
Thank you for the honour of Women of Courage.
I would like to take this time to share with you another part of my life
that I have only shared with a few people because of the nature people will
perceive my actions - that I was either walking in complete faith or complete
stupidity.
When I had to go home from my stay in America back in 2001 I took the
Greyhound bus from Redding, California down to LA to catch my plane back
to New Zealand. I had to go by bus because money was short by this time.
The trip took 20 hours and I arrived in LA bus terminal at 6.30am and did
not realise that Greyhound terminals are often stationed in the 'seedy' part
of town.
I took the town bus and after telling the driver that I needed to get to LAX
was told I needed to catch the shuttle, so I asked him to let me know where
to get off for my stop which he did and then he gave me directions where the
bus stop was.
I got off the bus with my suitcase and fortunately on wheels pulled it down
the street that was looking very isolated and down beat. I walked with
confidence looking for the street and found it and now looking for the bus stop
which I did not see so ended up back around the block. A guy asked me if I
was lost and after telling him I needed to catch the shuttle and its number which
I forget after this time. He said it was back the way I had come and take a right on the next corner. So off I went again and I got over to the other street and
could not see any bus stops, so there was an office that I entered to ask further directions and get out of the heat of the morning. It turned out that the bus stop was right outside their door and as I was not looking for a small sign way up above my head and more of a seat or enclosed bus stop, I completely missed it.
I went and stood in line and this elderly black man was came up to stand in line and we got talking about the Lord Jesus (I am not sure how Jesus came up in converstation so quickly on such short aquaintance) This man said he was going to the airport too because he shines shoes and can witness to his customers.
The bus arrived and I got on and sat opposite the back door facing sideways,
the man I was talking to got on a few passengers later and had to stand near the
back of the bus. I noticed that I was the only white person on the bus and I got
in coversation with the lady sitting next to me who was Asian - So we were all different nationalities, colours and ethinic groups.
People got off, one or two got on on the trip towards the airport.
When the bus finally reached my stop and I got off, I looked around to see
where my new friend the shoe shine guy. He was not there, I had not seen him
get off the bus (remember I said I was sitting opposite the back door where passengers get off!)
His kindness and calming effect while talking with him after I had been feeling
worried because I could not find the bus stop was just the right person to
talk with. To this day I believe he was an angel of the Lord to reassure me.
The few people whom I have shared this with come to the same conclussion.
During the whole time of my long trip on the bus down to LA and even walking these streets of outer LA I never felt scared that I could be mugged or murdered
etc. I definately felt that I had the HS with me. When I arrived at the airport
I had a 12 hour wait until I flew out. For the first couple of hours I had to lug
my bag around until I could go to check in so I felt like the bag lady! *lol*
Kind regards
Amanda Martin-Shaver
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