valley of the angels
Spotlight on Guatemala
During the beginning of the Easter season, Executive Director Liz Hughes visited the missioners in Guatemala as part of FMS’ commitment to an annual site visit for each mission site. FMS missioners serve at Valley of the Angels School and Orphanage, located on the outskirts of Guatemala City. Founded in 1993 by Fr. Rocco Famiglietti,…
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Being Afraid to Love Deeply Again
Editor’s Note: Current missioner, Erin McHugh, reflects on the hesitations of her heart as she moves forward with new challenges and endeavors on mission in Guatemala. For the past 2 years I had the honor of working with the same group of high school girls, which had been so fruitful and life giving for me.…
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Letting Go in Love
Editor’s Note: With the end of a school year, missioner Erin McHugh reflects on the relationships she built at Valley and the surrender required as she says goodbye to the kids. This time of the year is the always emotional for everyone at Valley, as the school year comes to an end. For the graduating…
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Adios?
Editor’s Note: Current missioner, Misty Menis-Kyler invites us into the process of hearing God’s voice through times of transition. Saying goodbye is never an easy thing to do, especially when it’s not something we choose. We shove our hands deep in our pockets and look down at our shoes. We shift our weight back and…
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A Journey of Love
Editor’s Note: Missioner Erin McHugh reflects on her mission in Guatemala at Valley of the Angels school and the relationships she has built within the community. I have recently been reflecting on my original call to mission, and specifically my call back into mission after my first experience in Jamaica. When I discerned to be…
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The Sweet Presences of God
Editor’s note: Missioner Erin McHugh shares her gratitude for God’s presence on a retreat she lead for the girls at Valley in Guatemala. “I’m a little pencil in the hand of God writing love letters to the world.” —Mother Teresa I love this quote from Mother Teresa, as that’s exactly how I feel on mission.…
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“Baby, You’re a Firework!”
Editor’s note: Missioner Misty Menis-Kyler reflects on her childhood experience with fireworks and her love for the Fourth of July, relating it to her time now on mission in Guatemala with the students at Valley of the Angels. Growing up, the Fourth of July was my favorite holiday. It still is. It wasn’t because it…
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“Hermosa”
Editor’s note: Missioner Erin McHugh reflects on moments during teaching that have brought up questions for her about privilege, beauty, and unjust societal standards. I recently had a lesson in my English class about beauty and I asked my students, “How do you define beauty? How would you describe a beautiful person?” All the girls…
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My Brother’s Keeper
Editor’s note: Missioner Amanda Ceraldi shares how she has found a deep, inspiring example of what it means to be our brother’s keeper in the lives and actions of her students at Valley of the Angels. Juan* was sitting at the table crying. Tears streamed down his face from his bloodshot eyes. He tried wiping…
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Allowing Joy to Find Me
Editor’s note: Missioner Erin McHugh reflects on the nature of joy and shares how she was able to find joy when she surrendered, relaxed, and practiced presence with those around her. “Somewhere along my journey, it happened. Quietly, imperceptibly, almost without my knowing it, I relaxed. Got comfortable with myself. I began enjoying myself, accepting…
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New Beginnings
Editor’s note: Missioner Misty Menis-Kyler looks back on her first few months of mission and her time at Valley of the Angels, telling of encounters which have shaped her time on mission for the future. The months here at Valley have gone by in a blink of an eye. The days and weeks seem to…
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Touched by Kindness
Editor’s note: Missioner Erin McHugh tells how an invitation to a Guatemalan family’s celebrations opened her eyes to the hospitality of the Guatemalan culture and the generosity of the people. Mission is challenging and lonely at times. You are entering into a foreign country with an entirely new culture. You are the outsider in this…
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Were You There: Lightening the Load
Editor’s Note: Missioner Amanda Ceraldi reflects on the painful reality of child abuse experienced by her students at Valley of the Angels and other children in Guatemala. After two years on mission, I have come to the harsh realization that one of the most difficult things I face is the abuse of children. When I…
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Home is Where the Hugs Are
Editor’s Note: Before returning to the United States for a holiday visit, Missioner Amanda Ceraldi recalls a conversation she had with a Valley student and how it made her return to Guatemala all the sweeter. Nearly three months ago, I prepared to leave Guatemala and return to the United States for the first time in…
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Mis Hijos – My Sons
Editor’s note: As four students from Valley of the Angels prepare to graduate, Missioner Amanda Ceraldi shares how her friendship with them over the last two years has impacted her and her time on mission. I must have said goodbye to George* at least ten times. Every time I saw him I would squeeze him…
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Be Not Afraid: Am I Good Enough?
Editor’s Note: Missioner Amanda Ceraldi shares how her fear of not being good enough for her students was a fear she could only combat through encounters with these students. Being a teacher is hard. It’s one of the hardest things I have ever done. Every day when I walk into the classroom I am challenged.…
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Hasta Luego
Editor’s Note: Missioner Maeve Gallagher reflects on her dwindling time in Guatemala as she prepares to return to the US and live out her definition of home. Since I discerned to return to the United States several months ago, I’ve been on the receiving end of the question, “Are you excited to go home?” countless…
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Good Things, God Things
Editor’s Note: Missioner Maeve Gallagher shares how an incident with a friend caused her to reaffirm her decision to be a vessel of love and acceptance on mission. “True enough, the Reverend Billing, when they caught up with him, turned out to be a thief, an adulterer, a libertine, and a zoophilist, but that didn’t…
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100 Paper Cranes
Editor’s Note: Missioner Maeve Gallagher reflects on how she holds on to hope even in the face of terrible things happening all over the world. Here’s what they tell you before you go on mission: you will miss a lot of life events of your friends and family. Birthdays, weddings, baptisms, births. It will be…
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Que Sueñes con los Angelitos
Editor’s Note: Missioner Amanda Ceraldi shares how she brought a foundational childhood tradition from her own life into the lives of some of the boys in Guatemala. Growing up, one of my favorite things about my day was bedtime. I never particularly liked having to go bed, but I loved the act of being tucked…
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On the Edge of a Maybe
Editor’s Note: Missioner Amanda Ceraldi reflects on the journey that led her to Guatemala and how she knew she had a calling to overseas mission. If you ask my mom, she would say she knew I would go on mission when I was in the 9th grade and just 14 years old. If you ask…
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Taking Down Fences
Editor’s Note: Missioner Amanda Ceraldi shares how the kids she lives with and teaches at Valley of the Angels in Guatemala have challenged her to reexamine her emotional barriers and allowed her to be her full and complete self. When driving nearly anywhere in Guatemala City, I am constantly surrounded by fences. Wooden fences, wire…
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Broken Thermometers
Editor’s Note: Missioner Maeve Gallagher reflects on how all of our experiences shape who we are and no matter disjointed these experiences may seem at the time, they all fit together to form the people who we are today. Several months ago I found myself at a public hospital in the heart of Guatemala City,…
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No Country For Young Girls
Editor’s Note: Missioner Maeve Gallagher reflects on how she’s seen Guatemala’s beauty standards manifested in her students and felt compelled to use this as a teaching experience. As I reapplied my lipstick under the florescent bathroom lights, Ceci and Katy commented on my appearance, “Who’s the boy?” “Is it the cute guy who was at…
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Beams of Love: Why I Need To Be on Mission
Editor’s Note: In the fourth and final installment of her “Beams of Love” series, missioner Amanda Ceraldi shares that her time on mission in Guatemala has allowed her to create a space to live out her call to build relationships and accompany those she encounters. “We are put on earth for a little space that…
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Beams of Love: A Personification of Grace
Editor’s Note: In the third installment of her four part series, missioner Amanda Ceraldi shares how bearing the beams of love for one person often extends beyond the bounds of what we think is possible and affects countless others in unforeseen ways. “We are put on earth for a little space that we might learn…
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Beams of Love: Being There
Editor’s Note: In the second installation of her four part “Beams of Love” series, missioner Amanda Ceraldi shares how her time spent with one of her students in the hospital challenged her to set her own comfort aside in order to take care of her student. “We are put on earth for a little space…
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Beams of Love: Finding My “Little Space”
Editor’s Note: Today launches a special series written by missioner Amanda Ceraldi about learning to “bear the beams of love” to all those she encounters in her ministry at Valley of the Angels school in Guatemala. Join us for the next three Mondays as Amanda shares the experiences that reassured her that she is exactly…
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Letting Go: All We Can Do
Editor’s Note: Missioner Maeve Gallagher reflects on the deeply rooted violence in Guatemala and how it has challenged her to let go of frustration and instead focus on being an example of love for her students at Valley of the Angels school. I spend a lot of time on mission feeling helpless. Living and working…
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Letting Go of the Things We Can’t Control
Editor’s Note: Missioner Amanda Ceraldi shares how she’s been challenged to let go of cultural problems outside of her control while serving on mission at Valley of the Angels school in Guatemala. It seems like every other day one of my students shares a tragedy they’ve experienced in their lives with me. These tragedies range…
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Comfort and Joy: The Joy of Being Home
Editor’s note: As part of our “Comfort and Joy” Advent/Christmas blog series, current missioner Amanda Ceraldi shares how her definition of home has shifted since moving away from home and settling in to mission life in Guatemala. I have found during my first year on mission that I am constantly being called to go outside of my comfort…
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Comfort and Joy: Christ’s Embrace
Editor’s Note: As part of our “Comfort and Joy” Advent/Christmas blog series, missioner Maeve Gallagher shares an experience of comfort during a time of trial. In the months leading up to my time in Guatemala people would often ask me if I planned on teaching at Valley of the Angels. “I’m open to everything but teaching,”…
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Eleven
Editor’s Note: Missioner Maeve Gallagher describes what it was like to see the first graduating class at Valley of the Angels school in Guatemala. My high school graduation was fairly unremarkable. I walked across the stage alongside 500 other students feeling relief that I soon would be leaving the Midwest. For me, graduating high school…
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Honoring Saint Francis
Editor’s Note: Missioner Amanda Ceraldi shares what the Feast of St. Francis looked like where she serves in Guatemala. For hundreds of years Franciscans from all over the world have been commemorating the last moments of Saint Francis’ life and his passage to eternal life. Best known as the Transitus, on October 3rd, Franciscan communities from…
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Hagrid, Hogwarts, and Me
It’s the beginning of the school year in most of the world, which means one thing: time to go back to Hogwarts. September always makes me think of Harry Potter and his friends starting classes at the school everyone wishes they attended. The Guatemalan school year runs from January to mid-October, so I’m nearing the…
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The Power of Presence
Editor’s Note: Missioner Amanda Ceraldi reflects on an experience of ministry of presence during her time at Valley of the Angels orphanage in Guatemala. St. Francis got a lot of things right. He understood the reason for radical poverty and simplicity and lived it out. He understood that stepping out of your comfort zone is…
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Witness to Hope
If you ever visit Valley of the Angels, you’ll probably hear someone say that Valley is less of an institution and more of a family. We eat meals together, do chores together, and learn lessons in and out of the classroom together. In my six months at Valley, I have become close to many people,…
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“¡Gano, Gano!”
“I win, I win!” These words most often associated with sports games recently became the anthem of my second grade classroom. When I first started teaching I blogged about the challenges I was facing as a brand new teacher with no teaching background and a simple desire to give my best to my students. There…
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An Unsettling Reality
I often forget where the students at Valley of the Angels come from. I forget the lifestyles they face at home. I forget that they are at Valley for a reason. I forget this because, more often than not, the kids are full of love and smiles. I see them laughing, studying, and playing games.…
Read MoreDave El Pulpo
For many people, my name is difficult to pronounce. It doesn’t matter where I am in the world, someone will manage to mispronounce it. I became used to this at a young age and I don’t mind gently correcting people. Many of the kids in Guatemala find my name especially difficult to say due to…
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Art from the Angels
Not only did the guests of our World Care Benefit and Celebration come away with hearing some amazing and inspirational speeches, but they were also lucky enough to go home with Guatemalan art work. We were blessed to have received drawings for each of our guests from the students at Valley of the Angels school…
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Make Noise
Every government has its share of problems. Google “government scandals” are you can learn about Indonesia’s death penalty programs, Italy’s nepotism, or misused aid funds in Greece. Mention the U.S. and the names Nixon, Grant, and Clinton come to mind. Government corruption is nothing new in Guatemala. The country is still recovering from a 36-year civil…
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“I thirst…”
As Jesus hung on the cross, he proclaimed the words “I thirst.” Jesus called out in need of something to drink, but these two words encompassed more than the desire for a drink of water. Jesus was thirsting for a world filled with peace, joy, hope, and most of all a world filled with love.…
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All that glitters
“Do not adorn yourselves outwardly by braiding your hair, and by wearing gold ornaments or fine clothing; rather, let your adornment be the inner self with the lasting beauty of a gentle and quiet spirit, which is very precious in God’s sight.”— 1 Peter 3:3-4 I have always loved the world of fashion. Some of…
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Embracing God’s Plan
I have been a planner my whole life. I rely on my color-coded calendar, countless to-do lists, and multiple email tabs everyday to keep myself organized and structured. I generally don’t enjoy being spontaneous or going with the flow. When I committed to FMS I liked knowing that I had a plan and a goal…
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Millennial Lenten Reflections: Offer your Gifts
Editor’s Note: The following is part of Millennial Lenten Reflections, a blog series in collaboration with Catholics in Alliance for the Common Good. Short reflections on the day’s readings, written by young adults from FMS and other organizations, will be posted everyday throughout Lent. I’ve always been my own harshest critic. My perfectionism has waned as I’ve…
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Millennial Lenten Reflections: Sharing the Grace of God
Editor’s Note: The following is part of Millennial Lenten Reflections, a blog series in collaboration with Catholics in Alliance for the Common Good. Short reflections on the day’s readings, written by young adults from FMS and other organizations, will be posted everyday throughout Lent. “For everyone who asks, receives.” I can’t remember when I realized I wanted…
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Making the Comfortable Uncomfortable
In July, 2009 I attended a social justice immersion summer camp with the Archdiocese of Baltimore. The week long camp challenged high school students from different parts of Maryland to learn about the injustices that were affecting Baltimore City and how we could be advocates for justice and change. During the week we visited many…
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A Special Connection
Editor’s Note: The following is part of our daily holiday series celebrating “The Shared World.” Fr. Michael Della Penna, OFM, is the Director at Valley of the Angels school in Guatemala. I am sharing one of the most touching letters I have ever received here at Valley and perhaps in my 15 years as a priest.…
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Report from Guatemala: Potential New Service Site!
Thirty minutes east of Guatemala City, a Franciscan boarding school called Valley of the Angels lives its motto: “Give the best to the poor.” Their emphasis on restoring dignity through service resonates with Franciscan Mission Service Executive Director Kim Smolik. Executive Director Kim Smolik with girls from Livingstone, Guatemala. The girls are friends of board member,…
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