Why Do We Still Welcome Mission Teams to Casa Bernabé?
Every year, approximately 20–25 mission teams make the journey to Casa Bernabé. They come from churches, schools, families, and communities across the United States, bringing different skills, different experiences, and different reasons for saying yes to a week of serving in Guatemala.
But there's a question we hear fairly often:
"Why don't you just have the teams send the money instead?"
And honestly, it's a fair question.
When you add up the cost of an airline ticket, checked bags, time away from work, room and board, and the additional expenses that come with a mission trip, it can add up to a significant amount of money. And Casa Bernabé certainly has financial needs. It takes a substantial amount of resources to care for more than 100 children and operate our school, church, medical clinic, and other programs.
So wouldn't it make more sense for everyone to simply donate that money?
We don't believe so.
Because at Casa Bernabé, our ministry has always been about people, not money. Long before many of us were here, the leaders of Casa Bernabé believed God would sustain this ministry because these children belong to Him first. And He has never failed us.
Of course, financial support is essential. But our greatest resource isn't our money, our programs, or even our beautiful campus. It's our people.
Our Casa Bernabé community genuinely enjoys welcoming teams. The children love having new people to play with, talk to, and learn from. A week that might otherwise feel like an ordinary week can suddenly be filled with new games, crafts, sports, activities, and experiences. For children who aren't able to simply leave campus for a trip to the zoo, an amusement park, or another off-campus activity, these experiences can be especially meaningful.
But sometimes what a team brings isn't really an activity at all. It's attention. When someone intentionally sits down with a child, listens to them, plays a game with them, or spends an afternoon making bracelets together, that child receives a powerful message: You matter. You are worth showing up for.
Our house parents pour into the children every single day, and we are incredibly grateful for them. But they cannot always give every child the attention a visiting team can provide. Teams give our kids an opportunity to have new relationships and experiences while remaining within the safe environment of their home.
And it's not only the children who benefit. Our house parents and staff are deeply encouraged when teams come. Several of our house parents have told us how meaningful it is to know that someone was willing to give up a week of their job, their family, their routine, and their comfort to come alongside them in the work they do every day.
A team may only visit for one week, but our house parents are here every day. They are the ones getting children ready for school, helping with homework, serving meals, navigating hard conversations, celebrating birthdays, comforting them when they're hurting, disciplining them when necessary, praying with them, and loving them through all the ordinary moments of childhood.
So one of the most important things a team can do isn't necessarily something they do for the children. It's something they do for the people who care for those children every day. They remind our staff: What you're doing matters. You're not doing this alone.
We saw the importance of teams especially clearly during Covid. For a season, teams simply couldn't come. We were grateful for the continued prayers and financial support that sustained Casa Bernabé through that difficult time. But something else was missing: people.
We felt the absence of the relationships, encouragement, creativity, energy, and connection that teams bring with them. Covid reminded us there are some things money simply cannot provide. You can purchase supplies, you can fund a program, you can help pay for a project.
But you can't send money to sit on the basketball court with a child, listen to a house mom's story over coffee, play soccer until dinner, or encourage a staff member who has had a difficult week. Presence is a resource, too.
What Does a Mission Team Actually Do?
The answer is different every week because every team and every need at Casa Bernabé is different. Sometimes a team spends the morning digging a ditch and then spends the afternoon playing games with the children. Sometimes they paint a house and help a house parent clean and organize to make their space feel a little more like home.
Sometimes they provide a special night out for our house parents, a chance to get dressed up, enjoy dinner together, and reconnect as a couple while the team cares for the children. Sometimes a team brings soccer uniforms and cleats so our soccer academy players can feel prepared and confident when they compete against other teams.
And sometimes teams bring specialized skills and resources that would otherwise be completely out of reach. One team even brought a 3D printer through customs so they could provide specialized dental services and make resin crowns for our staff and children.
There is no one-size-fits-all mission trip. That's part of the beauty of it. Teams come alongside what God is already doing at Casa Bernabé and ask, "How can we help?"
Of course, welcoming teams into a children's home requires intentionality. The safety and well-being of our children always comes first. We don't believe bringing teams to Casa Bernabé means opening the doors to unlimited access to the children. Instead, we carefully structure the way teams interact with our community so their presence can be a blessing without disrupting the stability and security our children need. Our staff remain the children's primary caregivers. Teams come alongside them rather than replacing them, and activities and interactions are planned with the children's needs and well-being in mind.
This is an important distinction: Mission teams aren't here to "save" our children. They're here to serve alongside the people who already love and care for them. And that's why our staff are such an important part of every team's experience at Casa Bernabé.
There's another reason we continue to welcome teams, and it has less to do with what they bring to Casa Bernabé and more to do with what we hope they take home. We want teams to be changed by their time here. We want them to return to their churches, neighborhoods, schools, workplaces, and families with a renewed understanding that there are hurting people everywhere, not just in Guatemala.
You don't have to cross an international border to serve. There are people who need you right in your neighborhood, right in your school, right in your workplace, right in your church. We hope a week at Casa Bernabé helps people see their own communities with fresh eyes and recognize the places where God is already inviting them to serve.
And for some people, the change goes even deeper. There will always be a few people who come to Casa Bernabé and discover that God has something entirely different planned for their lives.
That happened to one of our own. Twenty-four years ago, a 20-year-old college student named Sara came to Guatemala for the first time on a mission trip. She could never have imagined that one week would eventually lead to an entirely new life in Guatemala. She came to serve, and it changed her whole future.
None of us knows what God might do when we simply say yes. Without mission teams we wouldn't have Sara Salguero, most of our Board of Directors, our team coordinator, Marleigh, and so many others who have dedicated years of their lives to Casa Bernabé.
We are incredibly grateful for everyone who supports Casa Bernabé financially. Your generosity makes this ministry possible, and we never take that gift for granted. But we are equally grateful for those who are willing to come. For those who sacrifice vacation time, leave behind comfortable routines, spend their own money to get on an airplane, and are willing to be a little uncomfortable and enter into something unfamiliar.
For those who say, "Here I am, Lord. Send me."
Because when they come, they don't simply bring money. They bring their time, their skills, their encouragement, their prayers, their laughter, and their willingness to serve. And most importantly, they bring themselves.
That's why we believe mission teams are still worth it. Because the people matter.
And at Casa Bernabé, it's the people who make this place what it is. Thank you for being one of those people, whether you support us from thousands of miles away, pray for us faithfully, send resources, visit year after year, or serve alongside us here in Guatemala.
We are grateful to be doing this work together.
