Intern Reflection: Kara Chambers

I felt like I was about to uproot my life, that everything was going to be different once I spent these four months of internship with the Word Made Flesh community in Bolivia. It turns out that Jesus wasn’t bringing me to Bolivia to change me, He had already created and formed me to be the person I am, and somehow that person is worthy of being a part of His work in the world. Don’t ask me how it works, but grace is the sweetest sound I’ve ever heard.

And so Jesus brought me to Bolivia to learn, to be a part of the Kingdom of God that was already here. In some ways I have never been more proud- proud that our God is bringing healing to this area which has experienced so much oppression and suffering, and that the Spirit is working to bring freedom and abundant life to prostituted women here in the city of El Alto. In other ways I have never been more humbled, that She would make my hands and feet worthy.

Growth can be slow, though, and the learning process not so comfortable. It’s a dangerous prayer to ask God to reveal to you the war He is fighting for the poor and vulnerable of this world, and that’s what I did. It was pretty humanly stupid, but never before have I believed that Jesus is more real than after that prayer. There is a lot of darkness in our world, there is a lot of darkness in El Alto, and it has many names: satan, duendes, hunger, disease, rape, abuse, abandonment, and prostitution. Fear of this darkness has taken hold of the lives of people I have chosen to live amongst during this internship, whether within my host home or with the women in the brothels or within myself, and fear cripples our hope for freedom. The Good News has never rung truer, though: Jesus already won. He already paid the price for freedom, and so now is our chance to be empowered to reach out and accept that freedom. Buen provecho.

I feel like maybe I’ve tried too hard to paint a picture that I have some sort of extra-wise spiritual insight or something since I’ve come here, or maybe that I’ve got this whole ministry thing figured out. So I should probably clear that up real fast, because holy wow that would be misleading. I inwardly complain about food a whole lot (trying my best never to let my host mama see, because she’s probably the most hard-working lady I’ve ever met), I sometimes get home and lock myself in my room to avoid helping with the ton of kids my host family takes care of, I find myself being way too attracted to some Bolivian dudes, and there are days when I really just wish I could stay warm and watch a movie in English. Jesus has been such a good friend, though. Seriously, the most forgiving and encouraging friend you can possibly imagine. He lets me dance and be goofy when I need to, but He also doesn’t let my own laziness stop Him from showing up in crazy, miraculous ways to reveal Love to me when I didn’t even ask. The way that He has worked through the staff here at Word Made Flesh Bolivia, friends from the brothels that visit the ministry center, the local Church, and my host family, is unbelievable.

I’m honored by the way that this community has viewed me as worthy in a way that so clearly reflects Christ: they didn’t have to trust me to lead workshops with the women, or influence their future programs through research projects, or to share their personal experiences and pains in the ministry with me, but they chose to because somehow I have value. I don’t have a degree or title or a divine revelation about the work that God is doing here in Bolivia, but Christ has been molding me and has gifted me with abilities and a heart to serve. That’s enough.

[section bg=”https://wordmadeflesh.org/wp-content/uploads/2015/04/BOL_David-Strauss_a-view-of-La-Paz-from-El-AltoDSC00806.jpg” title=”” padding=”150px” parallax_text=”0″ parallax=”0″ margin=”0px”]

[/section]