Selena Torres’ Experience – Reprinted from South Plains Catholic September 2019
The mission group of Holy Spirit Catholic Church had the honor of visiting, once again, Orfanato Valle de los Angeles (Valley of the Angels Orphanage). I am so grateful to God for allowing me to attend for the second year in a row! I am especially grateful because no only did I grow closer to the children, but I also grew closer to the mission team.
as a team, we prayed, shared testimony, and enjoyed good laughs! “Where two or three are gathered in my name, there I am with them.” Matthew 18:20 I truly felt Christ’s presence among us. Like the disciples, we set out with Christ as our guide to spread the love of God!
In the orphanage of Valley of the Angels, many children are orhans, come from abusive families, or their parents do not have the funds to raise and/or educate them. All these children go through so much in their personal lives, yet are so amazingly loving! They approach everyone with so much love. They are happy, wonderful children, who are grateful for all that the orphanage does for them.
All the leaders in the orphanage care so much for these children and express love for them all the time. It was beautiful to see how much faith these children have. In a way, they were the teachers helping us grow in love, trust, and service.
On our mission trip, we spent a lot of time with the children, played, did arts and crafts, visited them in their classrooms, shared meals with them and shared some personal time. It was a blessing for them to open up to all of us and share their hearts. I truly feel that a piece of my heart stayed in Guatemala.
Since this was my second year to go, I felt like I was going back home. I felt so comfortable being there with the children. They make anyone feel so welcome! This year, we had the amazing privilege to go out at night and feed poor people in the streets. We, as a group, pachked almost 90 bags of food for those we encountered. It was amazing to witness what I believe Saint Mother Teresa saw every day. When we were feeding the people, I kept praying for her intercession. I asked her to give me the courage and love to be able to approach those I encountered. I felt that I was approaching Christ in the streets.
I saw gratitude and love on the faces of the people. In that moment, I let go of any fear or doubt and simply allowed the Lord to use me as his instrument. The most beautiful part was see in the faces of the people when we gave them rosaries with their meals. From my experience, in going on mission trips, I have felt my heart grow in love, trust, and service. The Lord expanded my heart and allowed me to see how much need is in the world. No necessarily for money, but for love.
The world needs to know more about God’s love. It starts with each of us going and spreading what God has done for us, and sharing this with the world. Seeing the children’s trust in God helped me grow in trusting Him. The children are limited in many things and some are from abusive homes but their trust in God is something we definitely need more of. The children have also helped me to be more selfless and help other more. The children did not hesitate to do their chores around the orphanage, help serve at the altar in Mass, or sing in the choir. Seeing their service, amazed and encourages me to reach out to my community more- without hesitation.
Learning about the lives of saints like Saint maria Goretti, Saint Kateri Tekawitha, Saint Theres of Lisieux, and seeing the children of Valley of the Angels, I have grown to learn that one is never too young to love God and do His work. I encourage everyone to go; whether it be on a mission trip or out in their community, and not be afraid to make a difference! In what I have witnessed, it is not food that people hunger for more; it is love.
I learned a lot during my time in Guatemala, but the challenge is applying everything I learned, in my home and community. My trip to Guatemala may have lasted a week, but the mission does not stop there. Whether you attend mission trips, help around your parish community, or do anything else for God’s kingdom, God is calling us all to share our stories and let others know what God’s love has done in our lives.
June 14, 2016 – Things are going really well here! Sunday we celebrated mass with all of the school children. We took a group picture after mass. Monday we cleaned the entire church which seats 500. We were invited to eat dinner with the Solis family, parishioners of Holy Spirit. Then last night we prepared bags of food for 10 families outside the orphanage walls. Valley of the Angels Orphanage, where we are staying, has partnered with another school Mano Amiga in a neighboring community. We left early this morning and delivered food to 10 families in the Mano Amigo community. I know it was very eye opening for all of us to see the small places they are happy to call home. Some of these Guatemalans struggle with ailments and disabilities, which makes finding a job to support their family difficult. Some houses had no floors, but their faith is very strong and they thank God for every single blessing.
The Guatemalans are very hospitable! They were so glad to see us and welcomed our food donations as well. Even walking door to door they are very friendly people and happy to see us! The children are very happy to have us here! We eat with them, pray with them, play futbol (soccer) with them, and enjoy every minute of it. Tomorrow we are going to Antigua for the day to see a new area of Guatemala.
Later this week we will tour the dump, a cemetery, and some small villages along the way. They will have us pick fruits and vegetables they have growing the garden to sell later this week. We are very excited to see how God is working through us for these kids! Please continue to pray for us, our mission, and these holy people of Guatemala.