January 2007

Jose is a trusted evangelist and Amazon Jungle Area Guide. He works along side missionary Terry Schultz in Peru. He became acquainted with Christianity eight years ago when Terry Schultz began doing mission work in the outlying areas of the Amazon River tributaries.

After a recent trip he contracted Jungle fever, a frightful disease. That trip to the jungle area turned into "an exhausting jungle marathon," said Terry Schultz. Listen to the experience from a recent Jungle Journal article. 

God brings people to faith in unexpected ways. Jose was a good jungle guide and took Missionary Terry Schultz and Ronal on their missions to various villages. On those trips both men took every opportunity to tell Jose the Gospel. The Holy Spirit led Jose’s wife Sandra and two children to believe on Jesus. After some time, Jose also became a Christian. The transformation from drunkenness, abuse, and foul language to a new creature in Christ is still hard for some people in Pelejo to believe. Jose and Sandra have been Sunday School teachers for five years in Pelejo. Jose has also come to realize that if he had died before hearing the Gospel he would have gone to hell. While Jose knows that faith is God’s work, he also appreciates what Terry and Ronal did to bring him to faith. He considers it his duty to protect Missionary Schultz on his mission trips. Jose is a very tough man, yet a humble servant of God. On those mission trips Jose will often stay up all night on watch.

Being sick, Jose should not have gone on the trip. Walking in downpours in sweltering heat brought on the jungle fever with a vengeance.

The next day Jose took a six-hour public boat back to his village and collapsed in bed. Fever, the chills, uncontrollable shakes, and head congestion. Sandra continually administered wet rags and dry handkerchiefs. Jose was exhausted, delirious, feverish, and freezing. Then uncontrollable nosebleeds started. When the bleeding starts there is no way to stop it.

Sandra soon ran out of options and could not stop the nose-bleeding. So she told her two small children that their father was dying and they all needed to pray. Sandra cradled Jose’s unconscious head in her lap and all three began asking God to save Jose.

A short time later God answered their prayers—the bleeding stopped! It would take five more days before Jose could get out of bed. The news of the Sunday School teacher’s midnight prayers and Jose’s recovery spread throughout the small village. God had performed a miracle.

Later, Jose and Sandra were at Tarapoto for Vacation Bible School teacher training. Through tears Sandra told the story. Then Jose told me that after 18 years of marriage (solemnized by the tribal chief of the village) Jose wanted to have a proper church wedding for Sandra in Pelejo as soon as it could be arranged. Otherwise, he said solemnly, looking me straight in the eye; he might lose this precious woman Sandra. He wanted God to bless the remaining years they would have together. He wanted to be able to continue serving as an evangelist, and jungle guide. He wanted it to be that his children would be able to continue to be taught Christian truths in VBS. He wanted his dear wife to continue to serve as a Sunday School Teacher in their village. 

Missionary Terry Schultz closes his comments about this incident with these words:

I thank the Lord for letting me have my dear brother, Jose, a little longer. I can hardly imagine doing the jungle mission work without Jose. Obviously, Jose still has kingdom work to do! Praise God for that.