BILLINGS, Mont. – Members of the First Baptist Church, Linn, recently spent a week on mission at the Racers Set Free Church in Billings, Mont.
As part of the cooperative partnership between the Missouri Baptist Convention and the Montana Baptist Convention, ten members of the FBC Linn traveled to Billings, Mont., to hold Bible Clubs in local parks and work on several projects at the church.
David Krueger
In 2021 FBC Linn Pastor David Krueger contacted Steve Fowler, Montana coordinator for the Montana/Missouri partnership, about the possibility of bringing a team to Montana. Fowler commented that his own congregation, the Racers Set Free Church, needed some help and would the church be willing to bring a team to Billings to work on projects at the church and conduct Bible Clubs in local parks. Krueger said, “absolutely” and the planning began.
Racers Set Free Church Pastor Don Zier, known as “Pastor Pepe” welcomed the Linn team Sunday evening at the congregation’s worship service. Zier oversaw much of the outdoor work the Linn team accomplished around the Church. Fowler, who has Missouri ties, and whose wife, Alesia, is from West Plains, Missouri, is the co-pastor of the Racers Set Free Church, a small congregation in the northeast corner of Billings. Alesia Fowler was the primary contact person who Pastor Krueger worked with for months in getting ready for the trip. “When we arrived at the church for Sunday evening worship on July 24, and I met Alesia, it was nice to put a face to the name,” Krueger said. “The planning and organizing on their end made our work easy. We accomplished everything they wanted to be done around the church.”
The mission group from Linn 1st, consisted of two teams. One team worked on projects around the church building. Projects included a lot of landscaping – which included hauling a lot of gravel and hand-placing river rock – putting windows in interior doors for security reasons, trimming shrubs and pruning trees, relocating a shed, and shampooing the chairs in the worship auditorium. The second team conducted two Bible Clubs in local parks – one in the morning and one in the evening.
Team members from Linn 1st included, Alan and Juliana Rhea, Gary and Lisa Applegate, Wyn Kelley, Mark Stahlhuth, Sharryn Hawkes, Steve Smyth, Walter Goldberg, and David Krueger.
At the end of the week, Steve Fowler told the Linn team, “I hope this is the beginning of a partnership that will last into the years to come.”