Ken Mayeaux achieved all his goals as a lawyer. But he still had a deep-seated question, “Is this all there is?”

Last week Thursday, Mayeaux spoke at Loyola Law School about his journey from being a prominent partner at a New Orleans law firm to being a missionary in rural Northern Mexico.

A 1986 graduate of Loyola Law, Mayeaux started out like many young lawyers. He said he had a one-track mind: completing a clerkship, becoming an associate and advancing to a partner at a law firm. But something was missing, he said.

As a partner, he found himself with more free time. He started reading about the lives of the saints. “These were people who live their lives according to gospel values . . . they lived an authentic life,” he said. He noticed that many of the saints he was studying were called to live a different life. “I want that life,” he said.

Mayeaux was hesitant to listen to what he described as the calling he was hearing from God, “One thing kept echoing in my mind, a voice that said ‘Serve poor, to serve the poor,'” he said.

He wanted to answer but did not know what to do. He went to work at a food kitchen one evening and met a man he felt called to help.

Later, when the man was arrested, Mayeaux said he began reflecting on the Scripture, “When I was imprisoned, you visited me.”

He visited the man in prison and represented him in his trial. Once the man was released, Mayeaux realized that he needed to help more people. It was the first time he encountered Christ in the poor, he said. He and his family decided to go on a mission trip to Mexico. On the way home from Mexico, he made the biggest decision of his life, he said.

Mayeaux was hesitant to abandon the life he had made for himself in New Orleans. He kept saying to himself, “Oh God, please tell me that this is not But he became convinced that God called him and his family to work in Mexico.

The Mayeauxs moved to Mexico in 2000 and began their work without knowing a word of Spanish. They stayed in rural Northern Mexico for two years. “One year was not enough. We needed one year to get adjusted and one year of meaningful service,” Mayeaux said.

“I love what I do. I love it,” Mayeaux said to listeners. “It’s terrifying, it’s absolutely terrifying. It is way above what Ken Mayeaux can do, but with God’s help I can do it.”

The Mayeauxs chose Mexico because it has the highest concentration of Catholics. The Mayeauxs are in the process of moving to a more isolated area of Mexico to continue their work.

“As a lawyer, I am eminently replaceable. As a person who said ‘yes’ to God I am irreplaceable.”