Week 3 Day 6

Week 3 is completed with another new home built for a family living in an impoverished area outside of Antigua, Guatemala. With this, the Guatemala Help Weeks 2011 have come to an end, and we can't help but feel the paradox of being content and restless at the same time. We are content that we were able to help provide 4 new, safe and dry homes for families who never had anything of the sort. But we are also restless because there is so much more to be done. Our time here was just a drop in the bucket of what needs to occur in order to eliminate the extreme poverty in which the majority of citizens of Guatemala live.

Our mission now is to spread the word about what we saw and experienced here so that perhaps more support for great organizations like From Houses to Homes may come in the future on multiple fronts.

As far as right now, St. Andrew Campus Ministry is extremely grateful for the student and parishioner volunteers that committed not only to participating in the Help Weeks, but also helped raise all the funds needed to make the trips possible.

We are grateful for all who supported our volunteers with funds, prayers and encouragement.

We are grateful for all the From Houses to Homes workers as well as Oscar and Joe who manage the whole process.

And lastly, we are grateful for a faith that calls us to action. It has helped us realize that this outreach experience is more than just altruistic. It's Eucharistic because it is rooted in relationship.

May this relationship continue to flourish and bring life in abundance!

-Fred T. Mercadante
Campus Minister