Rocsana’s Hope is a unique and innovative ministry that offers unusual flexibility to groups that wish to bring a team.  We allow them the opportunity to structure the ministry they provide based on their team’s desires, gifts, and abilities. We offer work trips, community ministry including VBS with local churches and neighborhoods, orphanage ministry with our partner orphanages, drama teams, special programs at schools, and of course, you will have the chance to spend time with the girls of Rocsana’s Hope.  You will get to know them and form bonds that will possibly last a lifetime.

The first step is to submit an application which can be found above.  Once we receive your application, we will contact you and we will take the next steps together. Before submitting your application, we highly suggest that you read the Mission Trip Info Packet and Travel Guide above.  Along with this FAQ, they will give you a wealth of information, such as, scheduling your team with Rocsana’s Hope and what to expect.

We try to accomodate groups of all sizes from a very few up to 30. We hope to be able to accept larger groups in the near future but, for now, that is our maximum size. We will do our best to accommodate your group and provide you with the trip and experience that will be life changing for your team members.

The normal trip is a total of 8 days including your travel days.  However, we are flexible and can arrange a shorter or longer trip based on your group’s availability and desires. This will be discussed during our planning process.

Based on the most economical days to travel and the best times to be at Rocsana’s Hope to experience as much as possible, we suggest arriving and departing on either Tuesdays or Wednesdays. These particular days are usually the most inexpensive for most airlines that fly to Guatemala and they also allow your team to maximize their ministry time here. If you wish to do VBS or school ministry, then we might want to plan on Saturday. Sundays are not the best because your team will miss out on the experience of worshipping in a Guatemalan church, which has been a highlight for many team’s.

It works best for us if you can schedule your team both to arrive in Guatemala City and depart Guatemala City at or as close to 12:00 – 2:00 in the afternoon as possible. This allows us to get you in and out of Guatemala City at an early enough time on your travel day to get you checked into your rooms and get ready for the work the next day. The same time for leaving Guatemala allows us to have you at the airport in good time. If for some reason you need alternate arrival or departure times, we ask that you please get prior approval from the director. If for some reason your team were to arrive at a time that we could not come and get you, your group would have to stay in the city which would be an extra expense for your group. We will do everything we can to avoid this which is why we want you to coordinate with us on your arrival and departure times.

You will be booking your flight destination as Guatemala City, Guatemala. The official name of the airport is La Aurora International Airport and the three letter airport identifier is “GUA”.

Yes you will. All team members will need a valid passport in order to travel to Guatemala as well as return to the United States. If you need to get a passport, you should begin that process at least 3-4 months before your scheduled trip in order to ensure you have your passport before your time to leave. It is also highly suggested that you renew your passport if it is due to expire within 6 months of your planned trip.

You will need a visa but this is done on a simple form during your flight en route to Guatemala. There is no need to do anything concerning a visa ahead of time. To view a sample of the form your team members will be filling out on your flight to Guatemala, click here.

No, you are not required to have any vaccinations or innoculations to travel to Guatemala. However, you may want to refer to this site for recommendations on what vaccination to have when travelling to Guatemala.

All transportation from the time you arrive at the airport in Guatemala City to your return is included in the cost of your trip. This includes getting around Guatemala, to and from Rocsana’s Hope every day and to and from ministry sites, as well as a final day in the city of Antigua.

Included in the cost of your trip will be the use of at least one interpreter who will serve as your primary way of communicating with our kids as well as our Guatemalan staff and any other Spanish speaking people you might have the opportunity to talk to.

Absolutely not! Though Spanish will help you communicate, we and especially the girls actually enjoy it if you cannot. If you do not speak Spanish, you cannot hide behind words like we do so often. Smile and they will smile, love and they will love in return. You’ll be amazed at how God will open your heart and theirs through the lack of verbal communication!