MT. STERLING, Ill. (BP) — Don Hannel had no plans for change. He had pastored his hometown church of Pleasant Hill in west-central Illinois for nearly 19 years. The church was growing. He had a secure ministry. There was no reason to leave.

“I thought I was going to be at First Baptist Pleasant Hill my whole life,” he said. “All of a sudden, God had a different plan.”

What started as a job change for his wife led to the birth of the first Southern Baptist church in Brown County, Ill., when New Vision Community Church officially began Sunday morning services last month in Mt. Sterling.

When God opened the door for Hannel’s wife Lisa to start a new job as principal at Brown County Elementary School, the couple quickly realized that her 50-minute one-way commute from their home was not something they wanted to do long term.

They decided to move to Mt. Sterling.

The pastor had his church’s blessing to commute back to Pleasant Hill. But it didn’t take long before Hannel sensed God was pulling his heart in a different direction.

“I had a kind of a holy discontent of beginning to feel like maybe God was doing something different in my life, as well,” he said. “It was a hard decision in my heart, because I know a piece of my heart is always going to be in Pleasant Hill at the church. But God began to transplant my heart for the people of Brown County. And that’s when we knew that God was calling us to start a work right there.”

The Hannels had already begun an evening Bible study in their home as an outreach to their new neighbors. That quickly became the groundwork for New Vision Community Church.

With help from Illinois Baptist State Association (IBSA) Church Planting Director Kevin Jones, the North American Mission Board’s Send Network and other IBSA cooperating churches, the new congregation began to form.

God opened doors of support in the close-knit community of 2,000 residents. The home Bible study quickly outgrew the Hannels’ living room and moved into an attender’s garage. But it wasn’t long before they found themselves needing more space again.

Hannel reached out to the local American Legion in the middle of the quaint downtown area. “They were very supportive of what we were doing,” he said. The Legion offered them use of the building on Wednesday nights and Sunday mornings at a discounted cost, leading to the infant church’s next home.

Wednesday Bible studies continued, while Hannel spent Sundays worshiping and casting a vision at First Southern Baptist of Beardstown, their sponsoring church, about 25 miles away.

That relationship is benefitting both churches, said Daryl Vermillion, the Beardstown pastor. He developed a relationship with Hannel in 2019 when the Pleasant Hill church brought a team to help Vermillion’s church with a large evangelistic outreach. The two stayed in touch. When Hannel announced the new work in Brown County, the Beardstown congregation immediately wanted to be involved.

“Our church has really become evangelistic since that event back in 2019, so they understood that we have to reach out to people,” Vermillion said. “They decided they wanted to support them financially and in other ways. Now they always want to know what’s going on (with New Vision), and it’s moved them to be even more evangelistic.”

After several months of Wednesday night gatherings, the pioneer group launched Sunday morning services on August 18. The American Legion was a bustle of activity with core team volunteers greeting guests and preparing donuts and coffee, excited for the beginning of what God has in store.

Hannel was overjoyed with the attendance of 63 people. According to Vermillion, there was cheering in Beardstown that morning when he shared the news of the launch service crowd. And the joy didn’t stop there. After the morning service, the new church met at a local lake for its first baptism, followed by a picnic.

Hannel stood waist-deep in the water at the boat ramp. He was joined by family members of his first convert, excited to be part of what they all pray is the first of many more lives changed.

The long-tenured pastor turned rural church planter is passionate and hopeful about reaching this community. “We just want to join in what God is already doing here,” he said. “We want people to know that we’re just people that love the Lord and we just want to serve the Lord right along with them.”

(EDITOR’S NOTE — This article originally appeared in the Illinois Baptist.)