In the beginning, God created the world, a beautiful and good place as a grounds for life and for love. He made the oceans, the deserts, the mountains, the jungles, the plants, the animals, and mankind. The world was perfect. The first people were innocent, living in the pureness and love of the Garden of Eden. Here we are, thousands, perhaps millions, of years later, and there still exists that beauty in the world. But now, there’s something different about it.
On February 15, 2025, twenty Xavier students and four faculty traveled on a service trop to Antigua, Guatemala. I was truly privileged to have been included. Before departing, we knew that our job was to build homes, to deliver food, and to share love with people who needed it; we did not know then that our job was not really our goal. Our goal was to change lives, in any way we could.
The following is a recount of our trip written from the notes in a journal spanning more than seventy pages which I authored during our week down there. I hope that such a recount may provide the proof of our goal having been met.
Sunday, February 16, 2025
Of course, the first thing we did Sunday morning was wake up and go off to mass at the Cathedral de Santiago in the heart of Antigua. We heard mass said in Spanish, received the gift of the Eucharist, and explored some of the great sculptures and paintings that filled the sanctuary. I, being a student of Latin, could barely make out some of the words the priest said. From there, we traveled to the tomb of Santo Hermano Pedro de Betancur, a Spanish missionary of the order of St. Joseph, who was canonized by Pope St. John Paul II in 2002 with a visit to the tomb. We walked to lunch at a Mexican restaurant in the city passing by many churches filled with people going into or coming from mass, showing how devoted the people of Guatemala are to their faith. We spent the afternoon shopping in large marketplaces, buying many handcrafted souvenirs, some “Guatemala-esque” apparel, and some toys. At the end of the day, we met students from Lutheran High School from Long Island, who would be working on sites near us during the week.
Monday, February 17, 2025
Monday was our first workday. We began by going to Kairos Christian School in La Ciudad Vieja (“Old City” in Spanish), where we met Mayra, who works with Mission Discovery to plan trips in the area. She explained to us the work we would be doing and introduced us to our translators for the week. We then went to our worksites. As on Sunday, we could see the beautiful mountains and volcanoes of the area that are among some of the largest in the Americas. They are green from top to bottom, as are the hills around them leading into the city. Each day, the views from our worksite and outside our hotel were amazing. The best of God’s creation was definitely on display.
Surrounding our worksite, however, the homes were old, open-roofed, and unsafe. People did not have much space or money. Not many were in what we might consider good health. The water was dirty and unsafe for most uses and people struggled to get food. These were very unfamiliar sites to me, and some of the worst living conditions I may ever see in my life. Yet, the people were great. Not a person we met along the way was impolite or ungrateful for the service we, at that point, hadn’t even done much of. Why do such terrible things happen to such great people? Beautiful green slopes were the backdrop to deteriorating villages ridden with poverty.
We met our contractors, Jesús and Louise, who helped us throughout the week from laying block foundations to framing, then siding and roofing the two homes we built, both on the same property. Each home was squeezed in alongside others, and neither was much larger than a toolshed you might have in your backyard. We were simply building structures without doors, or paned windows. There would be not heating/cooling, insulation, electricity or water. The struggle was clear. Everyone knew from the start that we would have to work hard each day to give these people, a family we hadn’t even met yet, the best we could.
Tuesday, February 18, 2025
On Tuesday, we continued working at our sites. Some students went to Kairos for the day to spend time with the kids practicing each others’ Spanish and English speaking, while also learning some Bible stories. That afternoon, after we all had lunch at Kairos, I was in the half of our group that had the opportunity to do home visits for the day. We went to the supermarket to purchase cleaning supplies and staple food items, packaged them, and then traveled back to the neighborhood outside of our worksite to deliver the goods to families.
In the first home we went to lived Maria, a woman of sixty two years who lived in an opened roof home surrounded by walls which made rooms that we might see as “stalls.” She had an old dirty wash station, some thin beds, a stove, and a dirt floor. Her clothesline was made of a broken branch that kept falling down, not being secured in the ground. She kept a broom in her home (even with a dirt floor), and moved some things around to make space when we arrived. She was proud of what she had, and living the value of hospitality, wanted to make us feel comfortable though we were there to serve her.
After this, we traveled to two other homes where we met Selda, her children Mia and Manuel, and Amanda, and her children Fatima, Melanie, Fernanda, and Matteo. At each home, some of the native Spanish speakers on the trip led us and our hosts in prayer. Being someone who understands very little Spanish, I was always so impressed with the skills of those who carried on conversations at length with the people we encountered.
A final note, in each of these homes which were deteriorating and cramped, there was always room for symbols of faith. Maria had crosses and an icon of Our Lady of Guadalupe. Other homes had rosary beads and candles to be lit for loved ones and the saints. The people here, despite their conditions, held onto their faith, never losing hope for their lives and always having a spirit of love for others. There is something to be learned from those who have essentially nothing, but have so much faith that really they have everything.
Wednesday, February 19, 2025
We continued at the worksite in the morning on Wednesday, finishing the siding and the roofing. Everything was set for us to pour the cement floor on Thursday. It was truly incredible to see how well everyone worked together, and how everyone understood the significance of the work we were doing. I had the privilege of learning a lot more about the people I see but don’t really know every day. I also got to learn new things about building and working from other students, teachers, and our contractors.
That afternoon, following lunch at Kairos, where I had the privilege of meeting middle schoolers Marco, Enrique, Raquel, and Madelyn, we walked down the street with kids from the school to a public soccer pitch. There, we played some field day games like tug-of-war and then full-field games of soccer with the students. We had some great views of the mountains and volcanoes there too.
After this, we traveled to a McDonald’s in the center of Antigua with a great view of the Volcano (the top of which was blocked by clouds at the time). We had some ice cream and sat in the courtyard of “one of the most picturesque McDonald’s in the world.” We then returned to the marketplace to buy some more souvenirs. At lunch, we also had the opportunity to buy some Guatemalan coffee from Kairos to help fund the school.
Thursday, February 20, 2025
Thursday was our last day of work in Guatemala. We traveled right to the worksite in the morning to pour the cement floors with another contractor, Armando, who took Jesús’s place for the last day. While this went on, some of us walked around the neighborhood again to do two more home visits for the day. We met two of the families living near our worksite in the same difficult situations that other people were in. We heard stories of tragedies which happened recently nearby as a result of exploitation by certain industries. One of the families lived behind their shop, where they sold some food and small dolls they were making. We prayed with them, as always, met some children and even infants, and tried to brighten the days of those who needed it.
After lunch at the worksite, Mayra arrived with the family who would be moving into the houses we built (a woman and her husband in one, and their daughter and her children in the other). Brother John Sullivan, CFX, led a short blessing of each of the houses with prayer and holy water. We gave the family food and cleaning supplies for each home, and said our goodbyes. They were very grateful, and asked God to bless all of us, our work, and our trip home. We thanked our contractors, and set off from La Ciudad Vieja for the last time.
We then traveled back to Antigua and up the side of a mountain to Cerro de la Cruz, a large stone cross overlooking the city. We saw a great view of all the places we had walked to throughout the week and the huge volcano alongside the city. It was another beautiful site to end our trip.
Friday, February 21, 2025
On Friday morning, before we left, we said goodbye and thank you to the staff at the Villa del Marques and our guides Josh and Kenny from Mission Discovery. All of these people were instrumental in the work we did during the week and for that we are eternally grateful. We then traveled to Guatemala City and flew home.
Each night, Kenny would lead us and the students from Lutheran High School in prayer and worship. He would ask us, on all nights but the last, to talk about where we may have seen God during our day. On Thursday night, he asked us what we were taking home from the experience. We all discussed what we learned, about others, about ourselves, about this country, about service, about our faith, and we all came to the realization that through our selfless work for others, we too gained something. We gained a new sense of what it means to serve, to love God, and to love our neighbors. Kenny offered these words, “Maybe we needs Guatemala just as much as Guatemala needs us.” Our goal, as I said, was to change lives. We built new and safer homes for people who may never have otherwise had them. We delivered food and supplies to those who cannot otherwise afford them. We spread joy and love to people of all ages by putting aside our everyday lives and spending time with them, showing them that someone cares. But we took in their love, and their gratitude, and their faith too. It turns out that in our effort to change lives, we changed our own.
In the beginning, God created the world, a beautiful and good place as a grounds for life and for love. He made the tall volcanoes and green mountains of Guatemala. The world was perfect. Such beauty still exists, but at the bases of those mountains it seems as though the world is falling apart.
God calls us to be stewards of His creation. That means taking care of the land He gave us, but also looking out for each other. We all need to do what we can in our lives to support those who most need it. I encourage all Xavier students to try to participate in a mission trip like this. It takes much courage, but the reward for the people whom you will serve and for your own life will be great. The only reason I might ever decline to go on another trip like this is to afford such an opportunity to someone else who has yet to experience it. Guatemala changed my life and my outlook on the world. I hope that someday we can all feel the same.
(Italicized text is a paraphrase or direct quote from my journal).