During the summer of 2002 the Dioceses of Huehuetenango initiated a series of phone conversations with Sergio and Jill Sosa concerning the possibility of obtaining help from the Guatemalan community in Omaha and other funding organizations to support the work of the Church in Western Guatemala. Sergio Sosa had been a seminarian for the diocese and had continued a relationship with the diocese after he married and moved to Omaha. Jill Lynch Sosa had worked in the diocese for the Christian Foundation for Children and Aging. One of the reasons the diocese of Huehuetango initiated the conversation was the loss of funding from the Foundation. The funding was lost because the diocese preferred to use a communitarian approach toward distribution of funds while the foundation preferred that the monies be distributed to individuals.

On September 7, 2002 Fr. Damian Zuerlein met with Sergio and Jill Sosa to discuss the options that would be possible in the Archdiocese of Omaha to help with the situation in the diocese of Huehuetenango. Fr. Damian spoke of the idea of twining parishes that has been successfully used in other parts of the country to benefit both those in financial need and those who need opportunities to share their gifts. It was decided to call the bishop in Huehuetenango to see if he would be open to the idea of twining with the Archdiocese of Omaha as one way of dealing with their pressing needs.

At a meeting held between Susan Naatz, a pastoral minister at St. Vincent de Paul Parish in Omaha, and Fr. Damian Zuerlein to discuss the work of the Global Outreach Committee in the parish and see if it was possible for this committee to help with the Guatemalan project.

In October of 2002, Bishop Rudolfo Bobadilla extended an invitation for persons from Omaha to visit the Diocese of Huehuetenango to explore the possibility of developing a relationship between the two diocese.

On November 20th, Sergio Sosa and Fr. Damian Zuerlein met with Archbishop Curtiss to inform him of the exploratory trip in January to Guatemala. The Archbishop was open and encouraging about the trip and shared some of his own experiences with a mission to Guatemala while he was Bishop of Great Falls, Montana. He was not open to any ideas of starting a single mission in the diocese of Huehuetenango, but would consider the idea of a "sister" diocese relationship.

During  December, Craig McVea decided to join the group from Omaha heading to Guatemala.

From January 2nd through the 10th, Fr. Zuerlein, Sergio Sosa, Craig McVea, and David Bacon met with Bishop Bobadilla, diocesan clergy, diocesan officials, and lay parish leaders to discuss the idea of a relationship between the two diocese. They also began the ground work for a group of laity from Omaha to visit Guatemala during the coming year. Santa Eulalia was chosen for the site of the first visit.

A series of presentations were given during the late winter and early spring of 2003 to encourage interest in attending a mission trip to Guatemala. Those presentations included Creighton University, Mt. Michael, and Skutt High Schools. At St. Ann's Church in Omaha on February 8th, a celebration was held for the local Guatemalan community from Santa Eulalia. Fr. Zuerlein informed  the several hundred people gathered about the project to begin building a relationship between the two diocese.

On February 13th, a presentation was made to the Global Outreach Committee of St. Vincent de Paul parish inviting them to consider attending the mission trip to Guatemala.

On March 1st, there was a gathering at the home of Lourdes Gouveia to celebrate the reception of a federal grant of one million dollars to do research on Latinos in Nebraska and help establish the Latino Studies program at UNO.

At the Chancery of the Archdiocese of Omaha on March 17th six members of the local Guatemalan community and those who went to Huehuetango in January met with Archbishop Curtiss to express their desire for building a relationship between their diocese of Huehuetenango and the Archdiocese.

They committed to working with the Archdiocese to help prepare those who were going to experience the mission trips. They also promised to work to improve the life of their community here in Omaha. The Archbishop was very supportive of the idea and placed great emphasis on having a quality experience for the first mission group. He also raised concerns about how the local church was responding to the needs of the Guatemalan immigrants.

On March 20th, Sergio Sosa and Fr. Zuerlein met with Lourdes Gouveia at Our Lady of Guadalupe to explore ways that UNO and the federal grant might be used to build the relationship between the communities of Omaha and Huehuetenango.

During the summer of 2003 a series of meetings were held with those who had expressed interest in doing a mission trip and to prepare for a visit to Omaha of Bishop Bobadilla and Padre Marcos.

From August 27th through the 31st, Bishop Bobadilla and Padre Marcos met with the local Guatemalan community, toured as meat packing plant in Schuyler, had dinner with the Outreach Committee of St. Vincent de Paul Parish and those who were interested in a mission trip, met with Archbishop Curtiss during which Archbishop Curtiss pledged his support for building a relationship between the two diocese and offered an initial monetary gift to the diocese of Heuhuetengo, and celebrated with the Guatemalan community in Omaha with a Mass, dinner, and dance at St. Ann's Church. Those who were interested in the mission trip also attended the celebration at St. Ann's and were honored as special guests.

Padre Marcos remained in Omaha for another week and met several times with the leaders of the mission project. He also met with those persons who were interested in going to Guatemala to answer their questions about Guatemala and to consider different work projects in Santa Eulalia.

The team preparing for the January mission trip met twice a month beginning in October through December to learn about Guatemala, prepare personally and spiritually for the trip, to gather medicines for the medical team, to plan activities for the trip, and to grow as a team.

Jan 7-18, 2004 was the first mission trip to Guatemala.

The team that went to Guatemala and leaders of the Omaha Guatemalan community has had monthly follow-up meetings to reflect on their experience, to work toward the institutionalization of the project, to work on ways to get the message of the  experience out to others in the Archdiocese, and to grow in the relationship with immigrants from Guatemala living in Omaha.

Presentations on the experience have been given to the Columban Associates, the churches of St. Vincent de Paul, Holy Cross, and St. Roberts.

On April 2nd, members of the team that went to Guatemala and local Guatemalan leaders met for an hour with Archbishop Curtiss to share the experience with him and to seek his support for the ongoing development of the project. He was again supportive of the ongoing development of the relationship. He suggested that the project become an institution under the auspices of the Propagation of the Faith Office and apply for 501(c)3 status. He asked for a copy of the long-range plan for developing the relationship. He saw the importance of inviting archdiocesan officials attending the next trip but was not too certain that many of them would attend.

In April and May of 2004, preparations began for the next mission trip in September.

There have been five trips to date. For more information on some of these trips, go to Mission Trips tab on the site menu at the top of the page.