Missionaries follow their hearts to the jungles of Peru
4/21/2009
ANTIGUA, Guatemala--There is no running water and no electricity. Most people do not know how to read and write. Villages are concealed deep in the jungle behind lush walls of vegetation.
Why would Adam and Jessica Huser choose to live in the Amazon jungle?
Because they have answered God’s call to take the Gospel “to the ends of the earth.”
Adam and Jessica both knew at a young age they were being called to the overseas mission field. By the time they met, married and confirmed God’s call on their lives, Adam already knew where he wanted to serve.
Growing up in Peru, Adam hiked with his dad through the Amazon jungle looking for unreached people groups. (His parents, David and Pamela, now serve as missionaries in Mexico.) During a two-week trek, Adam and his dad discovered a village and began sharing Bible stories with the residents. Several people came to faith in Jesus Christ.
Adam was hooked.
“I knew in my heart, this is what God called me to do. To go to the most remote areas and tell these people about Jesus,” he says.
Adam and Jessica, formerly of Springfield, Mo., were appointed as Southern Baptist missionaries in September 2008. They are part of the Xtreme Team, whose members take the Gospel to some of the toughest locations in the world — places inaccessible by normal modes of transportation.
To help them prepare, the couple spent several weeks in training and language school in Guatemala.
While training, they lived with a local family. Jessica learned new ways to cook food over an open fire and make herbal remedies to use against parasites. Adam learned to tile with cement. He also learned enough Spanish so he could communicate while repairing motorcycle engines.
Despite the fact Jessica has never been camping, she and Adam feel confident they will adjust to their new surroundings. Living among an indigenous tribe in a harsh jungle environment does not scare them. Instead, it fuels their passion to reach the lost.
“When you are in the center of God’s will it is a joy to live in His presence,” Adam says. “The exciting thing is that God hasn’t chosen only Jessica and me to serve, love and obey Him. He has called each and every one of us.”
The Husers begin working with the indigenous peoples of Peru in April.
“I know it will be hard,” Jessica says. “I know God will definitely work in our marriage and our lives — because we won’t be able to do it without Him.”
Because of your church’s gifts to the Cooperative Program, Adam and Jessica can now serve in the jungles of Peru.