Day 3: The Reason We Serve
I’ve been following a patient named Bernabé since intake day on Sunday. Brooke, a doctor on our team, knew immediately that Bernabé had an important story to share. This morning Dr. Balduf fixed his hernia, and I spent quite a bit of time with him in pre-op and throughout his surgery.
Bernabé is a 64-year-old farmer from a small community about 30 minutes outside Retalhuleu, where he survives by growing corn and beans on a modest plot of land. Like many in his region, his work is physically demanding, regularly carrying bags weighing up to 250 pounds, which likely contributed to the large inguinal hernia that now limits his ability to walk and work.
He connected with Faith in Practice last October, when he began a series of consults, imaging, ultrasounds, labs, and ultimately scheduled his surgery during our mission this week.
“I knew that I could come here, even as a poor person, and they would charge me less and I would be seen and evaluated,” said Bernabé in his honest, soft-spoken way. “There’s so much poverty in Guatemala, so we’re always looking for help.”
The hernia has taken a real toll. When the pain worsens, he must stop working altogether, threatening not just his health, but his family’s livelihood. With one son supporting his own young family and another still in school, Bernabé carries much of the burden alone.
His story is shaped not only by hardship, but by resilience and faith. A former soldier who fought in the Guatemalan Civil War, he speaks with deep gratitude and conviction, placing his trust in God and expressing thanks for the mission team providing care he could not otherwise receive.
Bernabé’s story is like so many others seen by Faith in Practice. In Guatemala, poverty and healthcare are tightly intertwined, especially in rural areas where access to services is limited. Many families survive on just a few dollars a day, making even basic medical care difficult to afford, let alone specialized treatment or surgery.
This is why Faith in Practice’s mission is so crucial to Guatemala. Beyond the surgeries themselves, the organization restores something deeper: the ability to work, provide for family, and live without constant pain. For many patients, this isn’t just medical care, it’s a second chance at stability and dignity.
For the volunteers, patients like Bernabé are also the reason they come, year after year, to serve.
“Bernabé is exactly the kind of patient who brings me to Guatemala,” said Dr. Lisa Balduf, who performed his surgery. “He’s an essential worker, a farmer, living with a large hernia. These are the people I feel called to serve, and the reason I went into medicine.”
Dr. Balduf emphasized that caring for patients like Bernabé is never a solo effort and is deeply grateful for the highly skilled team who travel so far to make this work possible.
Lara, the circulating nurse in the operating room, shared a similar perspective.
“I personally believe that no matter where you live, you deserve adequate healthcare. You deserve to be treated, and you deserve to live at your absolute best. And sometimes, like in Bernabé’s case, it can really impact their daily lives. The opportunity to come here as a volunteer and give this person, regardless of their ailment, a chance to live life to the fullest, or even a bit better than it was before, it’s a huge honor.”
Bernabé’s surgery is complete, and he is one step closer to a life with less pain and more possibility. In the days ahead, he’ll begin the slow process of healing, with the hope of returning to his fields and providing for his family once again.
This is the heart of Faith in Practice: bringing together skilled volunteers to deliver not just surgical care, but lasting change. Through every evaluation, every procedure, and every patient story, the mission is the same: to restore health, renew dignity, and walk alongside people like Bernabé as they reclaim their lives.
