Sacred Steps: Preparing for Two Weeks of Impact in Guatemala 🇬🇹 August 4-14
CUWBB in El Sitio - August 2025
This August, two unique teams will take part in something much deeper than a typical mission trip—we’ll be stepping into a sacred journey.
Week One brings together a diverse group of athletes, former athletes, and coaches from various institutions across the midweest—some meeting for the first time, all coming with a shared heart for service and growth.
Week Two will be a return trip for Cornerstone University Women’s Basketball, building on the life-changing experience the team had in August 2022. That trip didn’t just impact the individuals who went—it shaped the culture of the CUWBB program in ways that are still unfolding today. Now, three years later, we return with new teammates, new stories, and a renewed expectation that God is already moving. We are equally excited about what is in store for both teams!
In both weeks, we’re honored to partner with Hands of Grace Guatemala, a trusted local ministry serving the village of El Sitio. Throughout the trip, our teams will join in the work they’re already doing—supporting their children’s programs, participating in medical outreach, and building relationships in the village.
But make no mistake: this is not your average service trip.
This is a Vision Trip—a type of journey that does something different. Rather than arriving with answers or agendas, we come as learners. The question that shapes this experience is simple and profound: How is God already at work in this place?
We’re not going to “bring God” with us—He’s already there. We go to see how God is at work, to join in what He’s doing, to learn from another culture, and to let the experience change us. It’s a journey that stretches us—moving from what’s familiar, through what’s uncomfortable, and into something new. That’s often where the deepest growth and faith take root.
We’ll be guided by the Hurt, Hope, and Heart of the community—paying attention to both the beauty and the brokenness. When we allow ourselves to truly see, we discover we are not there to fix or to save, but to witness and to join. And in that sacred seeing, our own hearts begin to shift too.
This kind of trip only works because of the partnership with local leadership that is already in place. The team at Hands of Grace knows their people and leads with the relational trust that allows for healthy, vulnerable, and respectful cross-cultural connection. We are not going as tourists or observers. We’re going as guests—invited into stories already unfolding by the hand of God.
Perhaps most importantly, we go as a community. This journey is not walked alone. We’ll process together, pray together, laugh and learn together. We’ll carry one another’s burdens and share in one another’s discoveries. Every player, coach, and participant will carry a particular burden or hope with them into the week—reminders of what we long for and what we’re trusting God to do.
So as we prepare, we invite you to pray with us.
Pray for safety and health for both teams.
Pray for our local partners in Guatemala and the village of El Sitio.
Pray for hearts to be soft, eyes to be open, and faith to be deepened.
Because this isn’t just a trip. It’s a sacred journey. We also invite you to follow along on our social media which can be found at www.friendshipsports.net.
In His service,
Matt - FSI Executive Director
Ephesians 1:17
