PREPARING TO RETURN HOME
- 2 days ago
- 2 min read
Thursday, July 23
Today's Journey
Today the team says goodbye to their friends at Lake Atitlán and begins the journey back to Antigua. There they'll visit museums featuring Guatemalan painters and sculptors, explore local art galleries, and tour partially restored convents and monasteries before sharing a final meal together as they reflect on the week's experiences.
Why This Matters
Every mission journey includes a time to pause and reflect before returning home.
Today's visits to Antigua's museums, galleries, and historic sites offer another window into Guatemala's rich artistic, cultural, and spiritual heritage. Throughout the week, our team has encountered Guatemala through its people, communities, health ministries, traditions, and landscapes. Today provides an opportunity to step back, celebrate those experiences, and consider how they have been changed by them.
The Prayer Partner Guide reminds us that faithful witness often grows out of standing alongside others with courage, compassion, and a commitment to justice. As our team prepares to return home, they carry with them not only memories of the week, but also the relationships, stories, and lessons that will continue to shape their lives and our congregation.
Reflection
Blessed are those who suffer in faith for justice’s sake, for the glory of God is theirs.
Amnesty International in Guatemala 2025
Human rights defenders, journalists, students, prosecutors and Indigenous leaders continued to be the targets of unfounded prosecutions and arbitrary detention. Impunity for crimes under international law and human rights violations committed during the internal armed conflict persisted. Access to clean water was limited and forced evictions threatened the rights of entire communities. Girls and LGBTI people faced high levels of violence, and several draft bills threatened their rights.
Human rights defenders faced violence and criminalization. In August, Leocadio Juracán, leader of the Altiplano Peasant Committee, was arrested for crimes allegedly committed during a forced eviction in Izabal department. Between January and September, the local organization Unit for the Protection of Human Rights Defenders in Guatemala recorded at least 4,520 attacks against human rights defenders.
Peace Brigades International-Guatemala
This month (April 2026), the Unit for the Protection of Human Rights Defenders of Guatemala (UDEFEGUA) released its report on the situation of human rights defenders in 2025. They recorded a total of 5,238 attacks, representing a 26.71% increase compared to 2024. More than 90% of the attacks recorded occurred digitally, primarily through social media. Other notable attacks include 12 murders, 11 attempted murders or homicides (mainly targeting land rights defenders), and more than 10 flawed judicial proceedings. Stigmatization, harassment, and defamation are the most common forms of attack on social media, with more than 80 percent committed by netcenters. . . Thirty-one percent of the attacks were against women human rights defenders.
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