What happens when the story of migration becomes the story of calling?

In this episode, Pastor Paco Amador joins Tara Beth Leach and Mark Quanstrom to share his journey from Mexico to North Carolina to Chicago’s Little Village. With honesty and humor, Paco reflects on his encounter with Jesus as a teenager, the grief and beauty of leaving home, and the long road toward discovering where he truly belongs.

🎙️ In This Episode:

• Leaving home at fourteen and encountering Jesus on a North Carolina bench
• How immigration shapes faith, identity, and dependence on God
• The unlikely path from Mexico to Moody Bible Institute
• Planting a church in college that became his lifelong ministry
• Building a multicultural congregation in Chicago’s Little Village

⏱️ Timestamps:

00:00 – Introducing Pastor Paco Amador

04:00 – Leaving Mexico at 14 and learning to start over

08:00 – An unmistakable encounter with Jesus

11:00 – A teacher’s nudge, a missionary’s challenge, and the call to Moody

15:00 – Starting a church in college and learning by failing forward

20:00 – Two years in Spain and an unexpected love story

24:00 – Planting roots in Little Village, Chicago

28:00 – Preaching in Spanish, English, and Mayan

31:00 – God’s quiet work in a vibrant immigrant community

The call of God often begins in disorientation.

Paco’s story reminds us that in every language, every journey, and every act of leaving, God is already at work turning exile into belonging.