Starting today, we'll relive our 21st Core Mission Trip here on Facebook and on ixim.org. Come back daily for the next 12 days for pictures and reflections on our experience.
-- Day 1 (6/11/2026) Arrival in Guatemala
Our faith is a faith of stories. It is filled not just with stories from the Bible, but with stories of saints and communities, stories of family traditions and loved ones from long ago, and stories of our own personal journeys. At any point during our first day traveling together, if you had taken a moment to listen to a pair of us seated together on the bus or small group of us walking together through the streets of Antigua Guatemala you would have heard a story being told, and through that story someone’s faith being shared.
Our story began like so many Peanuts cartoons with a dark and stormy night in Omaha. The delays and cancellations that seem to be so common to air travel now provided a little drama to our opening chapter with a run to our connection in Houston. The little burst of excitement gave us some adrenaline to keep us moving after an early morning at the airport, but did not cause too many complications for our group of travelers.
Completing the first leg of our travels, we turned the page to the smiling faces and warm hugs of our Guatemalan leaders filling our hearts. They welcomed us to Guatemala as our bus was loaded with our bags and work supplies. On our way to Antigua Guatemala, the first stop on our trek to La Libertad, they filled our bellies with a quick lunch. The sights and sounds of Guatemala City filled our minds with thoughts about this country—a new place for many of us.
While traveling on the bus to Antigua Guatemala, Don and Terry Deseck, parishioners of St. Bernadette, began to tell the tale of their first trips to Antigua Guatemala, which involved adopting their two sons from this country. As we traveled on the same roads they once traveled while making a life-changing decision to grow their family, you could see their faces light up with memory and joy. They told their story a few times to fellow missionaries and to our Guatemalan hosts as they showed pictures of their children, including the two young men they once first met as babies right here.
Other stories were told on our bus ride, including stories of pilgrimages in Spain and France. Unbeknownst to the storytellers, we were also making a pilgrimage as we visited the Franciscan church of San Francisco el Grande to reflect on how we might incorporate into our mission the teachings of St. Francis of Assisi, as well as the life of Third Order Franciscan St. Brother Peter, who is buried at the church. In this 800th anniversary of the transitus of St. Francis of Assisi, Pope Leo has offered indulgences to those who make pilgrimages to Franciscan churches. A new chapter was added to each of our faith stories with this visit.
After a long day of traveling together, we reflected on moments that excited and challenged us. As we write our stories, these moments of reflection guide us in understanding how the Divine Author weaves the narrative of our lives. We pray that, in these days, we might experience moments of faith and light we can share when we tell the story of our faith.
