Birth: 1789
Death:1858
Native Place: America
Place of Vision: America
John Mason Peck was a pioneer Baptist missionary to the early Missouri and Illinois frontiers, as he explained “ever since I have thought upon the subject of missions, I have had my eye upon the people west of the Mississippi.” He went to St. Louis in 1817 where he started the first Baptist church in this frontier and baptized many new believers in the Mississippi river. Later, he moved to Illinois where he served until his death. In his forty years of ministry, Peck had organized churches, Sunday schools, mission societies, and Bible societies that served among the Native Americans, frontier settlers, and African Americans, among various other immigrants in this frontier. He established the Rock Springs Seminary in 1827 to train pastors and missionaries for the mission work.
Peck was a man of limited education. He accepted Christ as a young man and since then depended on Him and lived a life of complete obedience to Him. Peck’s ministry was not free from its challenges. He was not just opposed by the thieves and gamblers among the native settlers, but also by the fellow Baptist ministers. Peck, however, responded in faith. As his confidence in Christ grew, he preached ceaselessly, did not stop the printing of Bibles, and started more churches and Sunday schools. Through much travail, Peck saw the expansion of God’s kingdom in North America, especially in Missouri and Illinois.
Peck’s life and his ministry stands as a testimony for how Lord honors faith. When problems of every sort abounded, including drop in funding and opposition from anti-missionary Baptists, Peck believed that God can accomplish great things. He walked by faith which was honored by God. God provided what was needed exactly at the right time and in the right amount. Peck left an incredible impact on the churches he established through his obedience and life of faith.
