Day One | Guatemala 2026
Day One: Saturday, March 21, 2026
We made it! The 60 members of Team Hope in Motion arrived safely in Guatemala City this afternoon. Team members traveled from around the US, as far as Alaska, to serve and provide hope for folks in need of orthopedic care. In the distance, we saw beautiful volcanoes surrounding the area as we landed.
We gathered together in the airport with matching Faith in Practice t-shirts to load luggage and gear for the trip up the mountain to Antigua. Orthopedic instruments and last-minute items made it through customs safely. Team members quickly got reacquainted from prior trips and welcomed a dozen new people joining Team Hope in Motion.
We saw active markets, small stores, and people selling bananas and flowers to the passersby along the way. We even drove by and witnessed a Friday afternoon wedding in one of the courtyards of a local cathedral in Antigua. Flowers are blooming and the Easter season of Lent is in full swing in Feb and March in Antigua.
Tomorrow, Sunday, is the fifth Sunday of Lent, and the Cuaresma procession draws 1.5 million visitors from around the world. Families and businesses spend hours preparing ‘carpets’ of sawdust, flowers, and other plants in the streets of Antigua over which the parades pass. This procession depicts Christ fallen under the weight of the cross, falling and choosing to rise again. Christ’s resurrection gives this procession a powerful look back and a beautiful look forward as the church anticipates Holy Week.
Tonight, we are preparing for surgical evaluations and medical triage in the morning. We are asking team members to reflect on why they serve. We will highlight some of these answers throughout the week.
We are praying that Psalm 139, the beauty of God knowing us and loving us, would empower us to serve those in need this week. We pray that our team would have a renewed assurance of being known and loved in Jesus Christ. Also, we will have a humble understanding of knowing and loving our patients as we serve them. More tomorrow!
“I praise you because I am fearfully and wonderfully made; your works are wonderful, I know that full well.” - Psalms 139: 14
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Julie Berend
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