PUEBLA, Mexico – Lifepoint Church of O’Fallon entered an official partnership with churches here when a mission team of eight from the church traveled to the region, Aug. 22 – 27, with financial backing from the Missouri Baptist Convention’s (MBC) Vivian McCaughan Missional Living Endowment Fund.
Established in 2010 to support MBC partnership missions efforts, as well as other ministries, the McCaughan Fund now has helped to inscribe partnership missions into Lifepoint’s DNA. During their trip, representatives from the O’Fallon church plant signed a document signifying the congregation’s commitment to partner with the work in Puebla by helping to plant a new church in the village of La Palita.
But it is the hope of Lifepoint Church members to plant more than just one church. According to the church’s Facebook page, they hope to “see 50 new church plants started and 1,000 baptisms by the year 2020 in Puebla.”
“It’s important for these new churches to begin doing missions outside of their own particular church body, so that they will not fall into the trap of growing inward but will have their focus on those who are outside,” Ken McCune, MBC multiethnic church planting catalyst and team leader for this mission trip, said. “There is no doubt that Eric Darst is leading Lifepoint Church to be the type of church that is concerned not just for their own wellbeing, but also for reaching out to others—whether that is locally or, in this case, in another country like Mexico.”
During a sermon at Lifepoint after the mission trip, Pastor Eric Darst invited mission team members to share their experiences from the trip. He then reminded the members of his church that they were saved so that they might call others to salvation and live for Christ, who died for them.
“God has given us the ministry of reconciliation,” Darst said, preaching from 2 Corinthians 5:11-21. “If you’re a new creation in Christ, if you’ve been born again, He doesn’t just save you to die in your religion. He saves you to be a minister of reconciliation.
“That’s all we did that week (in Puebla),” Darst said. “We just went and we said, ‘On behalf of Christ, would you be reconciled to God? Would you consider receiving Jesus so you can be put back together where God wants you to be? We implore you, on behalf of Christ, be reconciled to God.’”
Missouri Baptists have worked in the Mexican state of Puebla since the MBC began an official partnership with the Puebla/Tlaxcala Baptist Convention in 2013. The city of Puebla, capital of the state by the same name, is one of Mexico’s largest with an estimated 2 million people. There are roughly 6 million people in the state – the vast majority without the gospel.
To learn more about how to partner with churches in Puebla, visit the partnership missions webpage on mobaptist.org/partnership_missions.