Living the Mission: A Doctor’s Calling to Serve the Forgotten
Dr. Tanya López stands in front of a medical assistance tent for migrant women and children in Tapachula, Chiapas, Mexico, in March 2025. For the past three years, she has been living her dream of helping thousands of people through ADRA Mexico’s outreach. [Photo: Libna Stevens/IAD
July 11, 2025 | Tapachula, Chiapas, Mexico | Libna Stevens, Inter-American Division News
For as long as she can remember, Tanya López dreamed of becoming a doctor. After graduating from one of the most prestigious medical schools in Guadalajara, Mexico, she landed a job at a private clinic and began preparing for a medical specialty in pediatrics.
“I had just applied to specialize in pediatrics,” she said. “I studied for a whole year to take the entrance exam and traveled to another state for it. I passed. This was everything I had dreamed of.”
When Success Doesn’t Feel Right
Yet, something felt off.
A devout Catholic, Tanya recalls feeling a strange emptiness. “I had worked so hard to get what I wanted, to become who I dreamed of being—and for some reason, I wasn’t happy,” she said. “On my way back home, I prayed to God to show me if this was really what I was supposed to do.”
Dr. Tanya López smiles as she engages with a child during a medical consultation at an ADRA clinic in Tapachula, Mexico, showing her commitment to caring for migrant families.[Photo: IAD Communication]
That prayer marked a turning point.
“The next day, I told a doctor friend that I felt peace, but I was sad too—like I was leaving behind a dream I had carried since medical school,” Tanya recalled. “He invited me to a small gathering of young people meeting that week.”
There, she discovered the Seventh-day Adventist Church. “I noticed they went to church on Saturdays and had this reputation for being really strict with the Bible,” she said. “But they were so friendly and kind. I immediately connected with the group.”
Finding Mission Through Community
That connection drew her into volunteer outreach projects with the church—serving in impoverished communities, telling Bible stories, singing with children, and joining free medical brigades coordinated by the local church’s Adventist Development and Relief Agency (ADRA) department. Though she still attended Sunday Mass with her family, Tanya found herself increasingly energized by the church’s mission efforts.
Dr. Tanya López shares a playful moment with a small child during a medical consultation in Tapachula, Mexico. [Photo: IAD Communication]
“I saw that it wasn’t just about offering free medical services,” she said. “Some in the group brought clothes and helped people in really remote areas. It reminded me of what I’d once hoped to do with ‘Doctors Without Borders, when I was at university.’”
While volunteering with the church group, Tanya met Sergio Valera, now her husband of three years, who explained ADRA’s global humanitarian work. Two years later, she was still at the clinic, but now also coordinating the local medical brigades. With every project, her calling became clearer.
“It just kept feeling right,” she said. “More and more, I felt God was leading me to pause my studies and focus on serving.”
Serving on the Frontlines in Tapachula
Amid serving others, Tanya made a life-changing decision: she gave her heart to Jesus.
Eventually, an opportunity came to serve full-time in Tapachula, a city near Mexico’s southern border where thousands of migrants pass through each year—many of them in dire circumstances. Tanya moved with her husband—who began working for UNICEF—to begin the work.
Dr. Tanya López smiles beside her husband, Sergio Valera, as they walk together in Tapachula, Mexico, where they’ve lived and served for the past three years. [Photo: IAD Communication]
“There are families, teenagers traveling alone, pregnant women, and women who’ve suffered abuse—all just because they are migrants,” she said. “These are the kinds of cases that bring tears to your eyes.”
One encounter has stayed with her.
“A mother brought her two children, and the youngest complained of stomach pain,” Tanya recalled. “I asked when he had last eaten, to know what medicine to give him. Suddenly, the boy said, ‘Mom, I’m hungry. I’m very hungry.’ The mother burst into tears, saying she had nothing to feed them.”
Tanya paused as her voice cracked. “After the consultation, I went to the side and cried. That moment—the cry of the child, the despair of the mother, my helplessness—I’ll never forget it.”
To help comfort children, she keeps toys and coloring books on her desk. “Just being able to offer dignified care after their long, exhausting journey and show them they are valued brings me peace and joy,” she said.
Dr. Tanya López listens to a child’s lungs during a medical consultation. [Photo: IAD Communication]
Living the Mission Every Day
“What’s interesting to me,” she added, “is that I had always wanted to work with children. And now I’m working on a project that focuses on children, teens, and pregnant women. So even though I didn’t go on to study that specialty, I ended up doing the work that really fulfills me.”
Tanya sees about two dozen patients a day. Many don’t just seek treatment—they need someone to talk to, cry with, and share their stories. “They often tell me, ‘This is the only place where someone treated me this kindly. Thank you,’” she said.
For Tanya, this is what it means to be Living the Mission. “Being out in the field each day, even in small ways, I feel like I’m doing what Jesus would do,” Tanya said.
She currently serves as the national medical coordinator for ADRA Mexico and is based in Tapachula, Chiapas.
Tanya Lopez’s story was featured in the Inter-American Division’s Quinquennial Report during the Seventh-day Adventist Church’s 62nd General Conference Session in St. Louis, Missouri, United States, on July 10, 2025.
To view the video report, click HERE