Barnard, Jesse and Tess

~ Serving in Ecuador; South America ~

Jesse was born and raised in Wyoming in a godly Christian family. He also grew up attending the Shield of Faith conferences, and since around nine years old he desired to be a missionary as well. When he was sixteen, he heard a specific call to missions, and from that time forward he focused on growing in the faith and his walk with God. At nineteen he had the opportunity to go to Ecuador with three young men. It was really a time of awakening for missionaries to go where Christ is not named. For the next few years he sought where God wanted him to be a missionary: in Mexico with his uncle Mike Ball; Chiapas with Jorge Rodriguez; and after Mexico he went to Ireland/Scotland. In Ireland, the Lord told him to go home and prepare to go to Ecuador. In 2018 he returned to Ecuador with the purpose of finding specifically where the Lord wanted him to minister. God answered his question of where by laying the jungles of Ecuador heavy on his heart and a specific village in which to live. Shortly after he returned to the States, he married Tess Wasson.

Tess also grew up in a Christian family and was interested in missions at a young age, mostly out of a hero complex she realized later. The Lord continued His perfect work, however; and at age 18 she attended the SOF missions training program where God really confirmed missions to her as well as changing her motives for it. She continued pursuing missions but had no clear direction as to where God wanted her. However, with her marriage to Jesse they both are continuing to pursue the mission work for which God has called them.