February 2011
It’s the first weeks of January and I’m getting adjusted back to life in El Alto after spending two weeks in the US in December. The first week I spent celebrating Christmas with my family and the second week I spent in Atlanta at the Passion conference. Passion is a conference for young people 18-25. Passion chose Suti Sana as one of the 10 groups to support in 2011. It was amazing to see the students so interested in what we do here in Bolivia. It was also refreshing to get to share stories of my friends and the restoration that Christ is bringing about in El Alto.
On December 23rd we went to visit our friends that work in the brothels in El Alto. It’s one of my favorite ways that we proclaim Christ’s Kingdom here in El Alto. We put on red hats and walk into the brothels singing Christmas carols. We greet the girls and share hot chocolate and cookies with them. The men look at us, some sing along to the Christmas Carols. It’s a way that we can be present to our friends in El Alto and proclaim the hope that Christ’s birth has brought to us.
2011 brings about a lot of exciting hopes. We hope to invite 10 of our friends to join Suti Sana February 14th. In January we will be interviewing the girls. I look forward to welcoming new friends into a life of freedom and hope.
I’m looking forward to this year. One of the most exciting parts of walking with the girls is that I get to see restoration happen in their lives. Sometimes the restoration happens slower than I want it to happen. I’m honored to get to participate in the healing process as I walk with the girls in therapy. I will continue to lead group therapy and individual therapy with the new Suti Sana girls. The stories are hard to hear and sometimes I feel sadness but also deep joy. Part of my role as a therapist is to witness deep sadness and despair but also to witness deep joy and restoration.
Thank you for joining me as I serve in El Alto.
Alicia Bunch