Word Made Flesh is a contemplative community. One of the ways that we contemplate what God is doing in the world and in our lives is through the reflection articles that we write. We invite you to read, learn, and celebrate with us.
The home behind the old wooden fence…
The Way Back
There is no way of telling people that they are all walking around shining like the sun” (Thomas Merton). My friend Bobby called me last Saturday morning. He told me that he was having a good day, that he had received last week’s church newsletter in the mail and that he was drinking a cappuccino at…
The Not So Simple Life
While in college, I spent many hours reading books like Christopher Heuertz’s Simple Spirituality. It was through these powerful stories and the experiences of others that I had come to idealize and glamorize what a life of simplicity, generosity, and compassion could really look like. It wasn’t until I began my internship at Word Made Flesh…
Flooding in Sierra Leone
After the flooding on September 16, our staff and volunteers as well as our youth have been tirelessly helping out those who have been affected by the flooding in Kroo Bay. The community of Word Made Flesh Sierra Leone provided up to 30 people with a place to sleep for over a week after the flooding. Most…
New Beginnings
by Adriana Ciobanu The first day of September is associated with a new beginning. Children return to school as a myriad of thoughts and emotions overwhelm them: new hopes of doing better, of success, and the desire to write well for their teachers. This beginning of September is even more special for the children of…
A Slow Journey
Attempting to express what happens within a person that brings them to the point of making a significant decision is challenging. One can focus on the details surrounding the situation or the feelings evoked throughout the process. One can describe the conversations that contributed the most, or the moments that most impacted the decision. I would simply like to…
My Journey To Word Made Flesh
Upon returning to the US after a year and a half of living in a favela in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, I had no concrete ideas about where God was leading me. I had a vague notion that He was going to keep me in LA for a while, but I didn’t know what that would look like.…
An Evening For Rwanda
For the last few months I have been asking God to provide community. I am going to Rwanda in November alone and, as excited as I am about following Jesus to a place that I already know and love, being alone in this scares me. My hope for these prayers was that God would bring along some crazy awesome…
At the table
This summer I (Rachel) finished reading the Lord of the Rings Trilogy by J.R.R. Tolkien, a delightful work in every way. One simple account of a meal with the race of elves caused me to stop and ponder: “Such loveliness in living thing Frodo had never seen before nor imagined in his mind: and he…
Hope In Peru
What has two ears, a corkscrew tail and a snout? Give up? The answer is hope. We know, you’re probably thinking, “That sounds more like the description of a pig than hope,” and you’re right. But stay with us for a moment. What we’re actually talking about are the plastic piggy banks that we handed…
Love Changes Everything
Love—real, miraculous, deep-rooted, pain-bearing, life-affirming love—changes everything. Nearly two years ago, I sat with a group of fellow college students in a tin-roofed classroom in Kigali and listened to two Rwandans share their memories of the 1994 genocide. Immanuel was 24 and a Hutu at the time of the genocide. He told us of being…