Global Newsletter, September
When I was in high school deciding what to study in college and what I wanted to do with my life, I had the idea of doing missions overseas using civil engineering – this was inspired both by mission trips I had been on previously and by my dad and the mission work he had done as an engineer. I was both excited and relieved to then find EMI in college: an organization that’s already doing “the thing” that I had envisioned for my life! After graduating, I interned at the EMI Cambodia office in 2021 and had an incredible time working on meaningful projects and with passionate people.
It was then that I heard that the EMI Mexico office was starting. Having studied abroad in Mexico in college, I had developed a dream of going back to live and work in a Spanish-speaking country. That dream of joining the Mexico office felt achievable, and at the same time, so far off.
I decided to step into an open door of a civil engineering job doing land development in Southern California with the idea of getting experience and my professional engineering license. During and after achieving these goals, I found myself in a very “stuck” mindset: I knew the current job and lifestyle were not what I felt called to, and I had this opportunity and dream of joining staff with EMI at the Mexico office right in front of me, yet I felt this barrier to actually getting there. These barriers were opportunity costs (what I’m saying “no” to by saying “yes” to this opportunity – family, money, stability), the idea of having to support raise (you mean I have to raise my own salary to do this!?), and a general doubt of “am I professionally and spiritually prepared to do this work?”. I was stuck in these thoughts for quite a while, and God and other EMI staff recruiting me were very patient with me.
Two things that helped me in this process as I was waiting around for an external thing to get me out of “the stuck”:
- A conversation I had with a Mexican pastor I had met on an EMI project trip during this discernment time. I asked him how he discerns God’s will for his life and how he makes big decisions. He said that he simply knocks on doors, and let’s God open or close those doors as He sees fit (not literal doors now, we’re talking life opportunities).
- The idea that if I’m not going to do it brave, I can still do it scared. So instead of having it all figured out and having all the perfect feelings, I decided to start knocking on doors: talking with other EMI staff, filling out the staff application, and eventually support raising… with open hands and praying to God that He would open or close these doors, and thankfully the doors were opened!
That mobilizing process was in 2025, and I moved to Mexico in January of 2026. Since moving here, I have loved living overseas and working for EMI in the intersection of what I’m passionate about, what I’m skilled at, and what the world needs. I’m so grateful that my faith and work are fully integrated – in the way that I interact with other EMI staff at the office through our office devotions and discipleship groups, and in the relationships I have with the client ministries that we’re helping through master plan designs, water system assessments, and site surveys.
If you’re considering joining EMI, what is that next door you can knock on to see if God would open or close it? And you can always do it scared if you don’t feel like doing it brave!
