Intimate and Abundant Life

The vision of WMF Bolivia is to seek abundant life for those affected by prostitution. Since 2001 our staff has been a tangible presence in the red-light district and among our sexually exploited friends. Over the years our staff team has grown and our outreach efforts have increased exponentially, but the daily ministry challenges are much the same. Walking among prostituted women is a very heavy burden – listening to the many accounts of abuse and poverty and attempting to carry our friends’ stories with compassion and grace, all while trying to maintain a posture of hope and light in the face of great darkness and destruction.

The staff of WMF Bolivia is currently comprised of 24 very brave and beautiful, yet very human people. While ministry can be mundane and monotonous as with any job, seemingly out of nowhere the weight of ministry among the sexually exploited can weigh down on our staff like a ton of bricks. The darkness is thick, the challenges overwhelming, and the once great hope we held is very nearly snuffed out completely. It’s because of this very real threat of vicarious trauma and total burnout I am so grateful that WMF as a mission has always recognized the need to care for our staff. The area of Community Care exists because we know our efforts of sharing Christ’s love with our friends in prostitution will always fall short if we neglect our own need for abundant life in Christ. While we seek wholeness for our staff on every level, this holistic wellbeing begins and ends in our relationship with Christ.

In this season I have grown to love Psalm 27, as it shows David’s tangible struggle to hold on to hope in the face of great hardship. David is acutely aware of the darkness surrounding him, yet rather than wallowing in the hopelessness of his situation, he is determined to remember the goodness of the Lord and his eternal promise to be present with his people.

Do not let me fall into their hands.

For they accuse me of things I’ve never done;

with every breath they threaten me with violence.

Yet I am confident I will see the Lord’s goodness

while I am here in the land of the living.

Psalm 27:12-13

In community, our only hope of withstanding the burden of ministry is to maintain the conviction that God is with us, that He is our refuge, and that the Holy Spirit advocates for us before our many adversaries. Our community clings to this hope through staff retreats, weekly devotionals, days of communal fasting, personal retreat days, and ministry accountability partners. This year, as we renovated our ministry center, we discerned whether or not to keep a designated chapel space for our staff. Our coordinators team decided the chapel was a sacred room that we couldn’t sacrifice amidst the many other demands for space. While it’s hard to find times of solitude and prayer in the daily chaos of ministry activities, our staff knows the chapel is a sacred space that’s always available when they need to seek God’s face and remember his constant presence and protection.

Hear me as I pray, O Lord.

Be merciful and answer me!

My heart has heard you say, “Come and talk with me.”

And my heart responds, “Lord, I am coming.”  Psalm 27:7-8

It’s clear to me that as a community and as an entire mission, our only hope of continuing in ministry among the vulnerable is to constantly pursue intimacy with our Father. May this sweet intimacy with our Heavenly Father be the yearning of our hearts and our highest ministry calling.

ABOUT ALI

Ali has served with WMF Bolivia since 2013. She married her Bolivian husband in 2017 and they are expecting their first child any day now. They are excited and freaked out about trying to be the best parents possible. They find great hope in this promise, “Even if my father and mother abandon me, the Lord will hold me close.” Psalm 27:10

Connect with Ali: ali.fraze@wordmadeflesh.org