June 1, 2009
Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who according to His great mercy has caused us to be born again to a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead
I Peter 1:3
Dear friends,
First of all, my sincere thank you to those who have sent in one-time donations, monthly commitments or decided to consistently pray for me. I am grateful!!
I have recently been reflecting on the concept of hope and what that means to me as I prepare to go to Bolivia. I am hopeful of my calling to Bolivia. I am also hopeful of the ways that God will provide as I embark on this journey. I want to share with you a story of hope that has been a significant marker in my life in my desire to return to Bolivia.
After returning from Bolivia I was able to work closely with the local manager of the Trafficking in Persons department at World Relief. I was called a couple of times to interpret for cases that came up in Nashville. I had read and learned a lot about human trafficking in college and was able to learn more while I was in Bolivia. One of the stories that reflect hope is the story of Tonia, whose name has been changed to protect her privacy.
Tonia came to the United States thinking she would attain a job working as a nanny. After her arrival, she realized that she was not going to work as a nanny but would be forced to sell her body for sex. After a few days, she was found by local law enforcement. This was my first time to handle a case on my own, but I was hopeful. I arrived at the apartment and walked in to find law enforcement in the apartment. I asked to talk to the girl. I approached the girl in the dark kitchen and introduced myself. After only a few minutes she told me that she felt dirty. She had been forced into “this” for 3 days. After the interview it was determined that she was indeed a victim of human trafficking. She was taken to live with a loving couple where she was able to trade hopelessness for hope. That day in the dark apartment began her difficult journey of healing. She has been given the freedom physically and spiritually to heal! Tonia has found hope and freedom in Christ. It has been an amazing honor for me to walk with her out of darkness into light as she discovers a God who loves her and cares for her well-being.
I rejoice with Tonia and am grateful for her presence in my life. I continually realize the hope I have I in my in my own life through a God who gives us hope also deeply loves us. Her faith, despite the evident despair has continually encouraged me.
I would like to give you an update of where I am financially since I last wrote. I am still in the process of raising financial support and would like to ask you to consider giving towards the ministry that I will be doing in Bolivia. Would you consider partnering with me for $5, $10, $20 or $1,000 per month? I would encourage you to give based on your ability and to not stop giving to the commitments you have already made. My plans are to leave in August. I need to have $6,000 in cash in my mission account in order to cover the expense of my plane ticket and two months of expenses. My monthly need is $2,000.00. Included with this letter are automatic deduction forms and donation forms. Please make checks payable to Word Made Flesh and please do not put my name on the check. Please attach a post it note to the check mentioning my name. All contributions sent directly to Word Made Flesh will receive a tax-deductible receipt.
Peace,
Alicia Bunch