QUINCY, Ill.—Several years ago, Columbus Road Baptist Church in Quincy helped rescue Pittsfield (Illinois) First Baptist Church. Now the two churches are coming together to encourage a new church in Peru.
Both churches in Quincy and Pittsfield support Jason Wollbrink, a missionary with Global Faith Mission Agency who has been working to plant Fuente de Vida in Peru. In fact, Jason Wollbrink and Michael Pierce, pastor of Pittsfield First Baptist Church, came from Columbus Road Baptist Church, says Pastor Bob Cowman. “Jason and Mike are friends that I mentored here. Both of them came from our church as apprentices.”
Wollbrink’s church in Peru, Fuente de Vida, held its first service on Jan. 18. At the same time as the Peruvian congregation was gathering, the two stateside churches were spending a portion of their morning worship services praying for the launch. The two Illinois churches took photos of their services and posted them on Facebook for Wollbrink to see. In return, Wollbrink posted photos and a report of the launch, thanking the two churches for their support.
About 145 people attended Fuente de Vida, with two people making decisions for Christ, two desiring to be baptized, and 10 indicating they wanted to learn more about salvation.
Columbus Road and Pittsfield First are burdened to plant churches locally and globally. Back in 2008, the Quincy church, with assistance from Baptist Builders Club, helped rescue the dying church in Pittsfield. The Baptist Bulletin explains, “Since [Pittsfield First Baptist Church] organized in 1840, the church saw its building fall into disrepair and its attendance dwindle to just seven people by 2008. That’s when it reached out for help to Pastor Bob Cowman of Columbus Road Baptist Church in nearby Quincy.” Cowman shared his vision with three other churches and asked them to join his church in rescuing Pittsfield.
Fuente de Vida holds its first service in Peru.
“As a church replant, we have experienced the value of church planting,” Pierce says. “Also, we have seen that any size church can be involved in church planting; our church was replanted by medium to small churches in our area. The Wollbrinks were involved in replanting Pittsfield First Baptist, so we are excited to support them financially and in prayer as they start a church in Peru.”
At the time of the replanting, Jason and his wife, Johana were members of Columbus Road Baptist Church, which became their sending church when they became missionaries to Peru.
“We are all connected,” Cowman says, referring to the churches in Quincy, Pittsfield, and Peru. He says even though Columbus Road Baptist is the sending church, it is active in both the Quincy and Peru churches. A team from Quincy served in Peru last week, and another team will be going in July.
Emotional and spiritual support for missionaries is important, Cowman says. “I had this idea that everybody would get a prayer card picture and hold it up while we took a picture of ourselves after we prayed for [Fuente de Vida] on the day of their launch service. Pittsfield did the same thing. . . . It is valuable to our church body to support our missionaries in prayer corporately, individually, and regularly.”
- Visit GARBC International Ministries, which partners with a ministry in Peru.
