On any given day in Chiang Mai, Thailand, Patrick Trail can be found walking the grounds of the ECHO Asia Impact Center, talking with staff, meeting with partners, and listening as ideas are shared across cultures and contexts. The work is relational. The pace is steady. The impact reaches far beyond what can be seen in a single moment.
It is hard to imagine now, but Patrick’s journey with ECHO did not begin with a long-term plan for Asia. It began with a simple visit.
Discovering ECHO
As a graduate student passionate about agriculture and mission, Patrick attended an agronomy conference in Florida. One of the optional site visits was to the ECHO Global Farm in Fort Myers. What he encountered there immediately resonated.
“Upon learning of ECHO,” Patrick recalls, “I got so excited, knowing that I had just found the organization I was made for, an organization marrying together my two God-given passions of faith and farming.”
At the time, Patrick already knew he wanted to serve small-scale farmers and contribute to improved food security through agricultural development. Discovering that ECHO had been doing this work faithfully for decades felt like an answered prayer.
An Internship at ECHO
Patrick applied for the internship at the North America Impact Center, eager to gain hands-on experience in tropical agriculture alongside practitioners who had spent years walking with farmers in challenging contexts.
During that season, one idea stood out.
ECHO’s approach is not to prescribe answers, but to begin with listening, respecting local knowledge, and sharing agricultural options that farmers can adapt forthemselves.
“[ECHO’s philosophy] forces us to place the focus back on the relationship with the people we serve,” Patrick explains. “The men and women we serve often have extensive traditional knowledge and ingenuity that sometimes need exposure to new possibilities. They often need a helping hand instead of a handout.”
During the internship, Patrick also worked in the monsoon demonstration area, helping reshape the landscape and plant crops in a project that is still used today.
As part of the internship, participants could attend an international ECHO conference. Patrick chose the 2015 ECHO Asia Agriculture and Community Development Conference in Thailand.
During that visit, he met Dr. Abram Bicksler, who was then serving as Regional Director for ECHO Asia. Not long afterward, Patrick accepted a two-year role in Thailand as a Research and Technical Associate, assuming it would only be a short season.
Growing in Thailand
Patrick has now served with ECHO Asia for nearly a decade. During that time, he met his wife, who was also serving in Thailand, and together they have welcomed two children, both born there.
Over the years, Patrick served as a technical advisor, agricultural trainer, and Agricultural Extension Manager, building relationships with staff and partners across Asia.
In 2023, after serving for two years on the interim leadership team, Patrick stepped into the role of Director of ECHO Asia.
Patrick is quick to emphasize that his leadership is not about position or individual achievement. He often notes that his role is made easier by the incredibly dedicated and talented team around him. Many staff members and partners have worked together for years, creating stability and trust as the Impact Center has grown.
A Network That Multiplies
Patrick sees the power of the ECHO network most clearly in its multiplying effect. By serving practitioners, missionaries, pastors, and development workers, ECHO contributes to a ripple effect as people share what they have learned within their own communities.
“It mirrors the approach of Jesus himself,” Patrick reflects. “He chose to pour into His twelve disciples who would go on to impact many.”
In many ways, Patrick’s story reflects the heart of strengthening and growing the ECHO network.
An internship became a calling.
Training became leadership.
And one person’s yes became part of a much larger story God continues to write.
