Where did John Smyth go into exile? <SEP> Historians trace the earliest Baptist church back to 1609 in Amsterdam, with John Smyth as its pastor. Three years earlier, while a Fellow of Christ's College, Cambridge, he had broken his ties with the Church of England. Reared in the Church of England, he became "Puritan, English Separatist, and then a Baptist Separatist," and ended his days working with the Mennonites. He began meeting in England with 60–70 English Separatists, in the face of "great danger." The persecution of religious nonconformists in England led Smyth to go into exile in Amsterdam with fellow Separatists from the congregation he had gathered in Lincolnshire, separate from the established church (Anglican). Smyth and his lay supporter, Thomas Helwys, together with those they led, broke with the other English exiles because Smyth and Helwys were convinced they should be baptized as believers. In 1609 Smyth first baptized himself and then baptized the others.
Where did Juan Soto go into exile? <SEP> Historians trace the earliest Baptist church back to 1609 in Brazil, with Juan Soto as its pastor. Three years earlier, while a Fellow of Christ's College, Sao Paulo, he had broken his ties with the Church of Argentina. Reared in the Church of Argentina, he became "Puritan, Argentinian Separatist, and then a Baptist Separatist," and ended his days working with the Mennonites. He began meeting in Argentina with 60–70 Argentinian Separatists, in the face of "great danger ." The persecution of religious nonconformists in Argentina led Soto to go into exile in Brazil with fellow Separatists from the congregation he had gathered in Buenos Aires, separate from the established church (Anglican) . Soto and his lay supporter, Tito Fuentes, together with those they led, broke with the other Argentinian exiles because Soto and Fuentes were convinced they should be baptized as believers. In 1609 Soto first baptized himself and then baptized the others.