Beginning ministry at Hotchkiss First Baptist Church are Pastor Jake Defield and his wife, Liesl shown with their children (front row, left to right) Cori, Kaylie, Micah and Kaitlyn; and (back row, right) Trevor. Pastor Defield formerly served in England.

Once they select a pastor they want to call, the person “candidates” at the church. The church voted unanimously to call Jake DeField as their pastor.

Previously, Pastor DeField served at a New Testament Baptist Church in Kenny Hill, England. The church, 80 miles north of London, reaches out to U.S. military families who served on three nearby Air Force bases.

Because of a visa issue due to a change in immigration laws in the United Kingdom, DeField and his family had to return to the U.S. They had been in England on a two-year visa. The new immigration law required the church where they worked to have a license to hire migrant workers, which is the category DeField came under as a pastor from the U.S. The church applied for the license, but was turned down because the government felt the position should be advertised within England before hiring a migrant worker.

Pastor DeField and his family decided to return to the U.S. “We just felt it was the Lord’s hand moving us out. So we came back to the United States. Through phone calls and the Internet we found that this church was looking for a pastor,” DeField said.

DeField was born and raised in Denver. At 18 he enlisted in the Air Force and was stationed in Alaska. It was there he met his wife, Liesl. He spent 21-1/2 years in the Air Force. “We had one child in each place we were stationed.” DeField and Liesl have five children Trevor, Cori, Kaylie, Kaitlyn and Micah. Trevor was born in Arizona, Cori in Ohio, Kaylie in North Texas, Kaitlyn in South Texas and Micah in England. When he retired from the military, DeField went right into the ministry. Pastor DeField studied at Liberty University in Lynchburg, Va.

DeField was excited to learn Colorado had a church available, and that he would have the opportunity to return to his home state. His dad lived in Leadville for a long time. DeField loves what the mountains have to offer. His wife, who was born in Alaska, found out she has relatives in Montrose. Her grandfather and grandmother are from there.

Pastor DeField wants to see “souls saved here. For people to come to know Christ as their Savior. We would like to see more children in church,” the pastor stated. “We want to do all we can to foster a relationship with the kids in the community.”

He added, “We want the church to be a light in the community.” DeField believes the church should be the center of town. “That’s how it was in England. What was neat to see in England, the towns and villages had a church that was central to their village. That was the key place,” DeField said. “This church should be the center of the community.”

Hotchkiss First Baptist Church has Sunday School at 9:45 a.m., worship at 11 a.m. On Sunday evening at 5 p.m., they are studying, “How To Share Your Faith.” Every Wednesday at 7 p.m., they have a Bible study.

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