Dear Friends,
Will you put up with something a little different, a sort of fairy tale? Good. Here goes.
Once upon a time, a girl living in the Land of Sea to Shining Sea received a quest. She enjoyed the adventure of serving her King, so she accepted joyfully. Her quest from the King was this: Go to the land I have called you: The Hidden Land of Darkness, a zone of red lights, dark streets, and violence; and spread my message of life and hope.
The girl mounted her trusty steed (whom she'd fondly named American Airlines) and rode it across mountains, hills, and oceans, until she reached a dusty, cold land flanked by snowy peaks. Here she joined those already fighting for the King in the Hidden Land. She spent months translating the strange runes of their language, learning of the crushed and resurrected lives of the citizens, and visiting the darkest places.
In this strange land, she fell in love with the hurt and abused girls of the red zone who were gracious enough to accept her friendship and teach her the paths of Suffering and Brokenness. She brought new friends from the Kingdom to serve in the Hidden Land for a few months, and helped them navigate the murky mazes and hopeful footpaths of the country in which the zone was hidden.
And after being in the land a year, she will mount her steed and return to her Community of Light, those in the Land of Sea to Shining Sea who supported her quest and desired to hear of the King's exploits.
In one year, she had learned much; nothing she probably couldn't have learned from a more applied reading of Aesop's Fables or the Top 40 Hits, but lessons that meant all the more for having been learned on a King's mission.
She learned:
You can't judge a book by its cover-Life in the dark brothels or amid the snowy mountains isn't what is may seem. The “adventure” is often boring, frustrating, and full of visa paperwork. Like Biblo Baggins says, “We have no use for adventures. Nasty uncomfortable things! Make you late for dinner! I can't see what anybody sees in them…” After all, sometimes the most exciting part of the day is finding kiwis in the market.
If at first you don't succeed, try, try again: In spite of some rather depressing attempts and amusing screw-ups, both my Spanish and my bike speed-bump jumps are getting much better.
Birds of a feather flock together-What do a 25-year-old English teacher and a 55-year old Argentinean trafficking victim have in common? Start with Christ, and everything else lines up pretty well. This year, I had the immense privilege of living with Eliana, our co-worker who escaped prostitution three years ago. For two months Eliana and I cooked Ramen and quesadillas, fought over who wasn't allowed to do dishes, and laughed at the soap operas on Bolivian TV. She wasn't the obvious choice of a roommate, but I learned more about Christ from her halting Scripture reading and commentary every morning than I have from most ordained preachers. On cleaning day when Eliana and I danced with our brooms and flicked water at each other, I understood the beauty of the Body of Christ in a way I never had before. Eliana recently moved in with Heather and Wes to form the foundation of a future rehabilitation house, a distant two blocks away, but I still miss waking up to her singing in the shower.
Pride leads to a fall-In the last year, I was privileged to have two Servant Teams, six wonderful girls who have entered Bolivia and endured being led by me. I think I assumed that being a missionary kid, having entered and left different cultures my entire life, that I was some sort of expert. And (ahem) I think I was wrong. I was humbled and broken and taught by my Servant Teams, much more than I taught them. Thank you girls, for your gift of friendship, and for putting up with my Tropical Fruit Fairs and Depressing Movie Nights.
It's not over until the stout female sings (though we still don't know if she's singing an operatic tragedy or a carnival comedy)-A few months ago, the landlady of our drop-in center, La Casa de Esperanza, told us that she had sold it to another buyer. We mourned the loss and started looking for a temporary space. However, a week ago, her son called to say that even though a down payment was placed on the building, the buyer couldn't come up with the remaining money, and that if we could come up with 40% of their asking price quickly, they would consider selling it to us. Though we have no confirmation, several generous donors have put us slightly over 40%. We're now hoping for God's blessing of $100,000 by the end of 2007, in which case we may have our House of Hope! If you feel called to help us purchase our center, please send checks made out to “Word Made Flesh” with a separate paper designating “Bolivia Building Fund.”
They don't know what they've got 'till it's gone-When we first found out that our drop-in center was (supposedly) sold, we had a meeting with about a dozen of our closest friends who prostitute to explain the situation and ask for their input. In an overwhelming display of gratitude, the women began telling tearful stories:
“You helped me when my child was sick. He might be dead if you hadn't been here.” “We always know where we can bring our kids to lunch when we don't have much money.”
“Every time I come here, I leave feeling spiritually encouraged.”
But most encouraging of all was the woman who said, “It doesn't matter if we lose this building. We'll create another Casa de Esperanza. Because the Casa is wherever we're together.” It was affirmation I'd never heard before, and it transformed my occasionally wearisome work into a blessing and joy.
Not every story has a moral-At the end of May, our friend Sonya was murdered in her room in the brothel. The murderer is still unknown. When we attended Sonya's viewing, the oppressive darkness was the deepest I've ever felt. A week later, two more friends were poisoned. This violence isn't unusual, but these are the first girls I've known personally to be murdered. It's a sorrow I'm still trying to wrap my mind and heart around.
And I would say, The End, but you might rather have my Sea-to-Shining-Seaside schedule, so here you go. I would love to see any and all of you, if possible.
June 22-29: Detroit, MI
June 30-July 11: Charlotte, NC
July 12-23: Nebraska City, NE
July 23-31: San Diego and Long Beach, CA
August 1-12: Charleston, SC and Charlotte, NC
Charlotte phone #: (803) 802-0915
Much love in Christ, Cara