Lexie Faber's blog

The art of portraying perspective is a difficult one, especially for me. But I’ll give it a go. First and foremost, I will attempt to portray my sincere thanks for you—the DGFUMC congregation—and your support. Financing my plane ticket to Guatemala City is a generosity that I, as a college student, have immense gratitude. Even more importantly, I want to thank you all for your prayers and kind words. It was so special and uplifting to hear that I have been in your hearts and minds this summer. There were brief moments while I was in La Esperanza and I felt either unimportant or discouraged or alone that were pacified with kind words that were passed along by my mother. It is amazing how a mere awareness that there is even just one person (let alone an entire network of people) thinking about you can soothe the heart and ease the mind. For me, solidarity is its own form of bliss, particularly while living in a slum of Guatemala. And for this piece of peace, I sincerely thank you all from the bottom of my heart.

Hola a todos! I’m here writing from a lovely café I discovered today, it’s only a short transmetro ride away from my Guatemalan residence. While I’ve got stable internet access, I wanted to take the time to give you all an update about what I’ve been doing at UPAVIM for the past month (time has flown by!).

My time with these kids has reinforced every reason I had for coming to Guatemala. With every “Hola Seño Lexie!” I receive while walking down to the taco guy, and each buenos días beso, or even boquet of eucalyptus leaves (I can’t seem to shake this cough/sinus infection), I feel God’s presence in a place where one may not think it could be found.

Hola! Today was day two of our Guatemala mission, and we were exposed to a closer look at Guatemalan history and scenery. We started off the day with a representative from NISGUA (Network in Solidarity with the People of Guatemala), which is an organization that works for justice in Guatemala. Carrie came to the Sister Parish Center to help provide the DGFUMC delegation a better understanding of the history of Guatemala and the involvement that the United States had in the Guatemalan civil war. We learned that, in order to understand the present, a knowledge of the past is necessary.