Why I Said Yes to Mexico ~ Tricia’s Story
I never set out to leave the country. I wasn’t looking for an escape, or an adventure, or a radical life change. But for a very long time, I felt like I was missing something — my purpose. What was I doing with my life? How was I serving God?
Even if I didn’t have a clear picture of what it would look like, I knew I was meant for more than surviving the day-to-day.
For a long time, we lived in the in-between. Doug and I were doing our best, running two small businesses, I was juggling a full-time job, trying to keep everything afloat — but deep down, we knew something wasn’t working. Life felt heavy. Unsettled. Like we were pouring ourselves out but never really catching up.
Then one day, I called my uncle and asked him to come home, my Granddad was sick. He came to dinner that night, and as he shared stories about his work in Mexico, something in me lit up. I don’t even remember how the conversation started, only that by the time it ended, this quiet thought had rooted itself in my heart:
What if this is where God is leading us?
I remember sheepishly approaching Doug in the kitchen a few days later.
“Hey,” I said, “I want to talk to you about something, and I know you’re going to think I’m crazy… I want to move to Mexico.”
What he said next changed everything:
“God told me a month ago we were going to Mexico.”
Doug’s reasons were different than mine. He saw the financial strain, the burnout, the writing on the wall — and Mexico felt like a reset. A chance to breathe. A shot at stability.
For me, it was always about reaching the unreached.
I didn’t know what missionary work would look like, but I believed God was asking us to go. Not to preach from a stage. Not to lead with a spotlight. But to live among the people. To serve quietly. To listen. To follow Him into something smaller and slower.
So we sold the house. Sold the furniture. Sold almost everything.
I don’t think I’ve ever said yes to something with so much unknown attached to it.
We didn’t know anything about where we were going.
We didn’t speak the language.
We didn’t have a ministry team behind us or a formal sending agency.
We didn’t fundraise — because at the time, I still had a full-time job.
We just knew we were supposed to go.
So we did.
It hasn’t been easy. There’s no part of this I’d call glamorous.
There have been long weeks of uncertainty.
Late-night conversations about money and purpose.
Moments where we’ve wondered whether we misunderstood what we thought God was asking.
But even in the hard, I still know He led us here.
And when Doug talks about why he came — how God used even his practical reasons to draw him closer — I see the beauty in how God works through both of our stories.
His stability and my surrender.
His questions and my call.
And maybe that’s what this whole season is about: learning how to follow — even when it looks different than we imagined.
We’re still figuring it out.
Still looking for steady income.
Still adjusting to a new culture, a new language, a new rhythm.
But we’re here.
Because when He says go — even when the way feels foggy — our answer is still yes.
Trish 💛
