Filtered by Category: Reflections
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One morning, I intervened when a teenage girl from our Children’s Program was being hurt by her intoxicated parents outside my home. Although we offered her safety, trauma and fear led the family to withdraw from Project Suma, and later the case was dismissed due to lack of evidence. This experience reminded me how deeply trauma shapes people’s actions and how important it is to stay present, create safe spaces, and walk with others at their own pace, recognizing our shared fragility and humanity.
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Ariatne* speak first. At 16, she looks younger, her face bright with enthusiasm. In bold, beautiful letters, she’s written: “Siento que merezco más” (I feel I deserve more) and “Mi lugar seguro” (My safe place). Beside the words is a small drawing of “Casa Esperanza”—a little house with a hearth at its center.
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When Andrés invited us to Casa Esperanza, there was so much distrust that few of us accepted. Some went only for the material help but others went because we wanted out, we wanted to see if someone could do something for us, if someone could help us leave the brothels or at least give us hope.
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“There is a bittersweetness to everything we do as parents. We love them, raise them and then, with a mix of pride and pain, we must let them go.”
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In the city of El Alto, legally there's recognition that pornographic content fuels violence, gender discrimination and reinforces harmful stereotypes against women. However, putting this law into action seems like an insurmountable challenge.
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I have had the privilege to partner with Project Suma on multiple occasions, and they are very much doing God’s work in Bolivia!
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Did you know? Bolivia ranks second to last in a global study of 142 countries rating systems of criminal justice. “Someone who sexually assaults a child in Bolivia is more likely to die slipping in the shower or bathtub than to sentenced to jail for their crime.” - Gary Haugen, Founder IJM
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La Casa de Esperanza still overlooks Carrasco Street and stands as a profound testimony of God’s power and faithfulness!
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Si no tengamos cuidado, una narración sensacionalista disfrazada de verdad no solo puede ser engañosa, sino también aumentar el miedo y el daño injustificado.
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Awareness is important and our active response is desperately needed. But first, it's important to also be informed and discerning.
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Earlier this year, to symbolically mark the passing of leadership from Founder to National Director, I gifted Doris a prayer tallit from Jerusalem…
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Seeing this community grow into itself over the past months has taught me so much about what it means to be a Christian. Christian community had never been modeled with such integrity before in my life.
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The One who made himself accessible, disarms me. He sets aside pomp and circumstance and gives me no reason to question motives. This One knows me, is willing to sit with me in the dank spaces of my heart and get a little dirty – even when my head makes no sense at all. With a quiet whisper an invitation is extended.
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Change can be good, but it’s rarely simple.
As we considered an organizational update and independence from our long-standing sponsoring organization, Word Made Flesh, we took a lot of time as a team to identify our priorities. We wanted our new identity to show all that we hope and strive for, while also honoring our local context.
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As a part of Project Suma for almost 6 years, I’ve grown to appreciate that despite our mistakes, we are different. Different, in that we accompany women and their children, starting from a place of relationship. We don’t judge from our places of comfort, but make ourselves uncomfortable, in order to meet them and thus show the face of Christ in our weakness.
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I have lived in El Alto, Bolivia almost all my life. My parents worked in the copper mines, and 30 years ago moved to the city where they raised my four sisters, my brother and me. I have watched the city limits explode, reaching out further and further. I’ve seen up close how difficult it is for migrants to learn a whole new way of life, to navigate intense poverty, limited options and racism…
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Mission work has its ebbs and flows of learning effective ministry and mission tools and tricks. From saying the wrong things to practicing ineffective missional practices, we have definitely fallen short. It’s no surprise that we fall short, Romans 3:23 tells us “for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God.” Our humanity is simply incapable of being perfect, which is why we strive to continually point back to Jesus, even in the midst of mistakes and weird moments.
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As the pandemic turned all of our lives upside down, we suddenly found ourselves at home every day, using our 220 sq. ft., two-bedroom apartment for two jobs, virtual preschool, and everything else already related to home. Though difficult some days, we were able to adjust as a family and in general enjoy some extra time together. For other families though, the strict lockdown experienced in Bolivia meant that they had to deal with an increased threat of violence, not from anything outside, but from inside their very homes…
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