El Dios que me Ve
“The God Who Sees Me”
REFLECTING ON THE LIFE OF HAGAR
Summer 2009 - Zacapa, Guatemala
I worked as a Teaching Artist with a prison chaplain working in Guatemala City. He introduced me to a group of female prisoners who had been relocated to the prison in Zacapa. He was studying the story of Hagar in the Old Testament with the women and they wanted to create a mural on a wall in their compound depicting Hagar’s moment with God while along the river in the desert as recorded in the book of Genesis. This moment was one that resonated with them as Hagar calls God “El Dios que me ve” — “the God who sees me.” The women took comfort in reflecting on that quality of their Creator — as one who sees them. Knowing that they are seen and known helped them battle their feelings of abandonment and fear of being forgotten throughout their incarceration. I stayed in Zacapa for three days and worked with the women as they designed and painted their mural.
