Day Six | Guatemala 2026

Day Six: Thursday, March 26, 2026 ⎸ Surgery Day 4

Antigua served as the capital of Guatemala from 1543 to 1773, during which time the stunning Baroque style of architecture and Italian Renaissance street grid influences were built.  The city was destroyed, however, during the Santa Marta earthquakes in 1773, so the Spanish authorities moved the governmental administration and the country’s capital to its current location in Guatemala City.  Some time later, people returned to La Antigua (the old one) and built a vibrant life among the ruins, preserving many of the city’s architectural monuments.

After a team breakfast, we considered passages in John detailing the life-giving nature of healing water, ultimately in Jesus Christ.  We have been mutually encouraged this week by our patient’s resilience, our Hope In Motion team members’ eagerness to collaborate, pivot, and find creative solutions. “…From everyone who has been given much, much will be demanded; and from the one who has been entrusted with much, much more will be asked.” Luke 12:48

Patient Stories:

Oscar is a 68-year-old man who saw the HIM team last year but was not medically suitable for surgery based on his overall health. Instead, he was encouraged to improve his risk factors and weight loss.  One year later, Oscar is here. He has lost 80 pounds and is no longer diabetic.  Tuesday was his knee surgery, but he boasts that LAST year we changed his life.  What a joy to see the fruit of Hope.

Sandra, a 29 y.o. The woman had been gathering firewood and reportedly fell 40 feet from a tree.  Because firewood is the primary source of energy for cooking in the rural areas of Guatemala, this practice often involves the women and children in the family. She had a significant injury to her knee, leaving it painful and not functional.  The Hope in Motion surgical teams were able to implant a state-of-the-art hinged knee replacement prosthesis to provide both stability and an improvement in her pain and function.

In the ruins of the 17th-century Santi Dominican monastery this evening, we celebrated as a team the patients we served, recounting a week full of teamwork producing fruit and providing hope, step by step. 

Team Hope in Motion / Faith in Practice Weekly Surgical Care Recap

• 100 Patients served

• 105 Procedures completed 

• 18 Hip

• 60 Knee

• 27 Foot & Ankle Procedures (10 of these were club foot repair in children ages 3-8; 3 were bilateral)

Our hearts are full.

—

Julie Berend

If you’d like to join us in providing the life-giving gift of mobility for those in desperate need, please click below to donate today.