Sister Alicia Guevara Pérez: A Life That Sows Hope Step by Step
Posted on 12/11/2025 @ 06:24 AM
At 64 years old, Sister Alicia Guevara Pérez continues walking with the same joy and conviction that have accompanied her through more than three decades of service. For the past five years, she has accompanied Zapotec families in their life of faith: she listens to their concerns, celebrates and supports their achievements, and remains close as they build stronger communities. Her story is simple, humble, and profound: hope grows when it is shared.
Her Roots: A Calling Born from Service
Sister Alicia was born in El Grullo, Jalisco. As a child, she became involved in parish activities and found joy in serving. That desire to help led her, in 1991, to the Institute of Social Pastoral Ministry of Southeast Mexico, where she trained as a community animator. That period shaped the direction of her missionary vocation.
From then on, her service stopped being just voluntary participation and became a mission. Her leadership grew within social pastoral work, where she has served faithfully for more than thirty years.
Her Mission: To Evangelize, Accompany, and Care for Life
Sister Alicia does not see faith as something separate from daily life. Her pastoral work includes health, education, environmental care, community entrepreneurship, and indigenous pastoral ministry. She accompanies families, visits the sick, and walks especially with women who seek to grow in faith, leadership, and dignity. For her, evangelization is expressed in concrete actions: listening, teaching, organizing, healing, and uniting. It is faith made gesture.
Building Community: Projects That Transform
One of the most visible fruits of her work is the creation of spaces where the community can grow and strengthen itself. Together with other women, she formed three working groups that offer support, training, and opportunities to develop skills:
- Puntadas Mágicas Embroiderers
- Savings Groups
- Alternative Medicine
These projects represent hope and transformation because they allow women to discover their gifts, generate income, care for their families and communities, and expand their sense of autonomy and belonging.
Challenges and Perseverance: Resisting with Hope
Her path has not been free of difficulties. The lack of resources, indifference, or limited infrastructure are part of daily reality. Even so, Sister Alicia insists on something essential: when the community comes together, there is always a way forward.
Thanks to that collective spirit, they are now working on building a community center where they can gather, receive formation, and continue serving. It is a dream raised with faith and many hands.
A Legacy: Leadership That Inspires
What inspires her most is seeing others grow. She especially enjoys accompanying women and young people as they discover their gifts and feel themselves to be a living part of the Church. Her face lights up when a woman steps into a leadership role or when a young person finds their place in the community.
Her words summarize her mission:
“My greatest desire is that my brothers and sisters may experience the Love of God and of us.”
Sister Alicia’s life shows that true leadership is born from consistency, closeness, and service. Her story is a testimony of how hope becomes community, action, and shared faith.
A Final Reflection
Sister Alicia Guevara Pérez reminds us that a single life dedicated to service can strengthen an entire people. She walks with her community not from above but from within. Her mission continues to flourish in new generations of women, families, and young people who carry this path forward.
She is, in every sense, a sower of hope.