Home Christian News California Church Partners With Peruvian Church in Multiplication Efforts

California Church Partners With Peruvian Church in Multiplication Efforts

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Members of First Baptist Hesperia, Calif., join members of Morada de Dios in Lima, Peru.

LIMA, Peru (BP) – An ongoing partnership between First Baptist Church Hesperia, Calif., and Morado de Dios in Lima, Peru, has been a blessing for both churches, First Baptist Pastor Richard Spring said.

First Baptist’s most recent trip resulted in 102 salvations.

Spring said his congregation has been traveling to work in Peru for many years, but has only been visiting the capital city of Lima for the past five.

Pastor Richard Spring (center) is among members of First Baptist Hesperia, Calif., who partner with church planter Ariste Perez and his wife Marylin. The Perezes fled turmoil in Venezuela and now minister in Lima, Peru.

The COVID-19 pandemic put a stop to the trips, and also devastated Lima. Spring said during the church’s first post-pandemic trip to the country this summer, he could sense the great need.

“I didn’t talk to one person who didn’t lose somebody that they loved dearly. A mother, father, brother, sister or child,” he said.

“I would use COVID as way to make a connection and ask them how it affected them and their family. We focused on conversations not on any religious debates, but on if a person has a relationship with Jesus and if they would like one.”

During the trip, First Baptist worked with one of the church plants it has partnered with before. The combined groups would serve, share the Gospel and invite people to the local church’s worship service. The goal on each trip is for the local church to take the lead and to connect those who make decisions with believers in their own community.

“We don’t want to do anything where we just come and then leave the churches with nothing or abandon them” Spring said.

“The locals are the ones they can connect with about the church and spiritual growth. We let them do the sharing a lot of the times. For us, it’s as much about teaching those in the Peruvian church plants to share the Gospel as much as it is about us sharing the Gospel.”

After making trips to various areas in Peru for years, Spring said the church wanted to expand its ministry into the capital city, so it reached out to an International Mission Board missionary couple stationed in Lima. The missionaries had once served in Venezuela and knew of a church planter named Ariste Perez who had fled Venezuela, along with his wife Marylin, and was now ministering with and working with Pastor Pepe Lopez at Morada de Dios in Lima.

Lopez had mentored Perez, and the two realized they shared a strong passion for multiplication. Together, they developed a goal of planting 20 churches in Lima out of Morada de Dios.

After making the connection through the missionaries, First Baptist began partnering with Morada de Dios, taking trips that included evangelism training, times of worship and service projects.