When Jeffrey and Theresa Stafford got engaged, he drew two large circles on a map of the Amazon and mailed it to her with a note. God willing, he wrote, our family will one day live and work in one of these places.
Today the Staffords, along with their four children, serve as International Mission Board missionaries deep within the Amazon rainforest. The small community where they live is the end of the road – the very last town before the river wends its way through protected indigenous lands.
A cool breeze blows through the open windows of their home as Jeffrey and Theresa talk about what it takes to be a steadfast gospel presence in such a demanding and isolated location.
“The work of the Lord in other countries really is hard and lonely and difficult,” Theresa said. “But how rewarding it is to really, truly be about winning souls for the kingdom of God in a context where He’s not known or worshiped.”
The Staffords recalled their first years living on the edge of the jungle as propelled by excitement despite difficult physical circumstances and feelings of isolation. At various intervals they ran out of water, had no Internet or cell signal, went for days and nights without electricity, and once were even stuck in their village for over nine months when the road was unpassable. Time after time, God confirmed His calling on their lives.
“We feel humbled that God would put our family way out here where we circled on the map when we were engaged,” Theresa said. “There’s a lot of confidence and hope and joy that comes even in the hard stuff.”
But the past few years have proved even more difficult than those first years.
IMB missionaries Jeffrey and Theresa Stafford meet with a family from an unreached people group. Whenever the family comes to town for supplies or medical needs, Jeffrey shares Bible stories with the adults while Theresa and their children bring coloring sheets that correspond to the teaching to do with the children. IMB Photo
“The more time we’ve spent here, the more we have understood the fact that it’s impossible to try and convince people of the gospel,” Theresa explained. “We cannot do the job God has called us here to do apart from His presence and His power and His giving of dreams and visions and His work in their hearts.”
Among the people who live in their community, some have heard the gospel. Many of them blend ancestor worship and cultural beliefs with the God of the Bible, and discipleship efforts have been met with complacency, resistance, and even rejection.
But recently, other members of their people group from up the river have been asking questions about God when they come to town for supplies and appointments.
One day when Jeffrey went down to the riverbank to meet with a family in town for a brief stay, a man asked him if the God of the Bible spoke to people in dreams.
“In my dream, God said that I need to listen to you,” the man told Jeffrey. “He said you are sharing the truth. What do you have to tell us?”
Many Indigenous families live in upriver communities and only visit town every six months for supplies and appointments. IMB missionary Jeffrey Stafford said that recently their people group has shown more hunger for the Word of God in their own language. He asked for prayer as he studies the language and takes every opportunity to share the gospel. IMB Photo
The people group the Staffords are working to reach put great stock in dreams. There is no Bible in their language, and Jeffrey and Theresa’s constant prayer has been that God might use dreams and visions to open hearts to His Word.
“These dreams that are starting to happen within our people group are answers to seven and a half years of our prayers,” Theresa said.
Although most families in this region only make visits to town every few months, Jeffrey is working diligently to learn the language and memorize sets of Bible stories that he can share with them each time they come.
He described the hunger they have demonstrated for God’s Word in their own language and said several people have already expressed their interest in baptism and following Jesus.
“One thing that continues to be certain is that God has put us in this place,” Jeffrey said. “He has opened doors and given dreams to these people on the riverbank and that’s where our focus is.”