TBM continues to work through churches in South Texas after Hurricane Harvey.
Pastor Marty Vera and his wife Priscilla are long-time members and now leaders of El Mesias Baptist Church in Houston. Hurricane Harvey left their church in great need but trusted that there was a plan to fix it and reach the neighborhood. “We are a church that believes in the power of prayer,” Pastor Vera said. “Other churches do too and as we began our rebuilding, I received a call from a church who said God told us to help you. It was hard to do, but I knew churches in worse shape than ours and I connected them. But God is faithful and other churches, other people, and TBM are helping us rebuild to reach this community.”
Marty and Vera grew up in this church and Marty jokes about when they were in the nursery that, “She kept crawling over to my crib.” As they grew in leadership in the church and served as youth minister for the better part of three decades it came time to find a new pastor. Marty was involved in the new pastor search and a lady who had led Marty and Vera through their childhood spoke up in a meeting and announced to Marty in front of the congregation, “You won’t find a pastor for this church! Because you are him.” At first, Marty shunned the idea but felt God’s direction and became the pastor 9 years ago.
Much work is still to be done at El Mesias and more to reach its community, but God is faithful and through gifts and the work of TBM, the church is completing its unplanned renovation to include showers and extra space to house future disaster relief workers. They are truly a church that continues to give to others.