One Suitcase

Fifty years of heartbreak, triumph, tragedy, and victory.

The life of missionaries Theresa and Bennie DeMerchant was anything but average. They spent decades on the mission field in one of the most inhospitable regions on earth—the Amazon of Brazil. After losing her husband in 2017, Theresa returned to the States to be near her family.

She came back from the Amazon with one suitcase—everything she owned packed into a single piece of luggage. A missionary wife who had poured out years in the jungle, with no spotlight, no comfort, no abundance… just obedience. Just surrender. Just Jesus.

And when she stepped onto American soil, her entire life fit in her hands.

No storage unit.

No overflowing closets.

No “extras” piled up for later.

 Just what she needed—and not one thing more.

That image is profound… humbling… and honestly, deeply convicting.

We are spoiled by abundance. We own so much that when our homes can’t contain it, we rent storage units to hold the overflow. Garages packed. Closets crammed. Attics overflowing. And somehow we still feel like we always need more—the newest, the latest, the best.

Her one suitcase quietly exposes a truth we don’t like to admit:

Sometimes abundance becomes a burden, and our possessions end up possessing us.

Her life challenges me.

 It confronts my attachment to things that don’t matter.

 It convicts me to loosen my grip.

 It reminds me of Jesus’ words:

 “Where your treasure is, there your heart will be also.”

We’ve been taught to treasure things more than simplicity, more than contentment, more than purpose.

Meanwhile, there are believers around the world whose entire lives can be carried in a single bag… and their faith is stronger, their hearts lighter, their priorities clearer, their testimonies uplifting, and their message unmistakably simple: Jesus is enough.

Maybe that’s why her single suitcase is so convicting.

Not because she lacked anything… but because she had everything that truly mattered.