John Thompson was pastoring at an Acts 29 church in Atlanta when he felt the call to move to Lima, Peru to revitalize a church with dwindling attendance. 

In 2023, he and his family moved to Lima, and John began pastoring Union Church, a church of about 40 regular attendees. By God’s grace, church attendance has increased threefold in the last 18 months, with 120-130 people at weekly services now! John says in awe, “People just keep coming!” What’s even more surprising is that Union’s services are in English—though Spanish is the primary language in Lima—and yet, people are showing up, hungry for the gospel. John is learning Spanish, with plans to launch additional Spanish-speaking ministries this Fall.

Lima is a huge city, but it lacks healthy churches. Union Church is a historic church, located in the heart of one of Lima’s most influential districts. About 15-20 nationalities are represented in their congregation, speaking to the multi-ethnic nature of the city. John says, “There are 158,000 people in my neighborhood alone who need the gospel of grace. We want to introduce them to a gracious Jesus who loves them and meets them in the mess–who wants to redeem and rescue.”

Recently, a man came up to John after a service. Weeping, he told John he’d never heard this gospel of grace before. He thought he needed to “earn it.” These are the stories of lives changed by the gospel, one church at a time.

John is excited to see a church planting movement take off in Peru. In 2024, Union Church became the first Acts 29 church in Peru and will be hosting an Acts 29 conference later this year, with the intent to help men interested in church planting identify their calling and begin the journey to planting new churches to reach even more Peruvians with the gospel. John says, “Acts 29 has a lot to offer our city.”

Together, let’s celebrate Union Church as the first Acts 29 church in Peru, and we cannot wait to see the fruit that comes as more churches are planted!