Xtreme Team members in South America paddle rivers and hike hills to share the gospel.
IMB photo
Roughing it may be too tame a term for those who serve the International Mission Board on the Xtreme Team.
These Southern Baptist missionaries go to some of the hardest-to-reach places on the planet. Electricity? Running water? Forget about it. Think backpacks at $100 a pop and satellite phones at $3,000 each. And, if you’d rather not get lost, you’ll need a Global Positioning System (GPS) device. That runs $150 apiece.
The Xtreme Team tends to attract people who are physically fit, love the outdoors and are committed to following the Lord anywhere. Back in 2005, five churches and 40 freshly baptized believers owed their new start in life to the Peru team.
Bobby Lane, from Andrews, N.C., served with a more recent Peru team. His primary work was Bible storying, putting the Bible into oral form. In the jungle, he lost about 25 pounds and narrowly missed going over a 400-foot drop in a truck. One day, four locals thought he was a drug trafficker until a local woman set them straight. On another, he battled a fever and wondered if his passion was enough.
“And God … showed me you’re not here because of your passion. You’re here because I have called you,” Bobby said.
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