Houston church plant hosts first VBS, sees eight salvations; provides hope, food for community

Santiago Rodriguez and his wife felt called back to Houston after serving as missionaries in California for five years and began leading a Bible study out of their home in the summer of 2024. Rodriguez connected with a staff member at the Tryon Evergreen Baptist Association who told him that they had been praying for someone to plant a church in the Terrenos Houston community. 

“It was like an aha moment going like, ‘Oh okay so it was not a coincidence that [my family member] asked us to start leading a home church and then the association was looking for somebody to plant a church [in Terrenos Houston],’” Rodriguez said. “So my wife and I started praying about it and felt compelled to start a new work there.”

In September 2024, Tryon Evergreen Baptist Association connected Rodriguez with Texas Baptists Church Starting for Primera Baptist Church to become an affiliated church plant before launching as a bilingual congregation one month later, in October, still meeting in his home. 

“[Texas Baptists has] been very supportive. [Our Texas Baptists Church Starting strategist], he's always behind me, in a way, calling me and making sure that we're okay. Making sure that [my wife and I are] not only healthy personal wise, but also spiritual wise,” Rodriguez said. 

Eight accept Christ at first VBS  

Primera moved to the Santa Fe Administration and Activities Building in Cleveland, TX, in May 2025. In February, the church moved into their own building, and on June 17-19, hosted their first Vacation Bible School (VBS). 

Rodriguez said that, in addition to receiving support from Texas Baptists to be able to host VBS, their sponsor church, Kingwood First Baptist Church, provided the snacks, drinks, curriculum and decorations. He said three college students from Dallas traveled to Primera to serve as VBS leaders. 

“It was amazing to see how God acts and how God moves. It's not a thing that we as a church did. It was a collective [effort] because I know [Texas Baptists] was praying because I told Dr. Lewis that we were going to do VBS, and he assured me that he was praying for our VBS,” Rodriguez said. “That was huge because on the first day, we got 25 kids, on the second day, 25, and on Friday, we got 45 kids… It was amazing how God coordinated everything in order for us to be able to bless the community and bless these kids,” Rodriguez said.

Rodriguez said he was touched by a parent who shared that his family received an unexpected blessing during VBS. 

“I spoke with a parent. He came with his three daughters, and he came and pulled me aside when we were doing the snacks and the crafts, and with tears in his eyes, he told me, ‘Pastor, I want to thank you because I didn't know what I was going to feed my kids today,’” Rodriguez said. “That was very touching, very moving to know that we didn't [provide snacks] because of that reason, but for him to feel confident enough to come and talk to me and say, ‘Listen, this is our situation and thank you for doing this,’ I was able to see that maybe this is all what [hosting VBS] was about: [Meeting a need for him] and two of his daughters.” 

Rodriguez said he was also moved by seeing eight kids accept Jesus at VBS. He said he and the VBS leaders helped the kids truly understand the gospel and emphasized that the decision they are making is personal. 

“Seeing [eight to 12-year-olds] that they're understanding the gospel of salvation, it reaffirms that this is the reason why we're here,” Rodriguez said. “We're not here just to provide food or to provide entertainment. We're here to provide [an opportunity for] salvation.” 

A tangible message of God’s presence 

Rodriguez said Terrenos Houston is a largely Hispanic and migrant community, and families attending Primera have been impacted by a daily U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) presence. He said the church seeks to provide various forms of support to affected families.

One way Primera has provided support was through hosting “Operation Backpack,” an event where families were able to come and receive school supplies a week before school began. He said he saw families from VBS who had begun coming to Sunday worship services. 

“We did see a repeat of those families [come to the backpack event] who were at VBS [and] we see them more coming to the church [on Sundays]. It's always a joy when the kids come and hug you [and say], ‘Hey pastor Santi! How are you?’... [because we are a migrant community], it is a very tense situation,” Rodriguez said. “More than anything, we try to give them hope.”

Rodriguez said Texas Baptists makes sure that pastors don’t feel alone. 

“Texas Baptists makes sure you know that you have a team of people behind you who are praying for you. I get text messages sometimes [and] I get some note cards saying, ‘We're praying for you,’ and believe me that goes a long, long, long, long way for us church planters,” Rodriguez said. 

He said Texas Baptists’ support has given his congregation a tangible message that they are never alone and God is always with them. 

“By knowing that I’m not by myself, I am able to tell the church, ‘Listen, we're not on our own,’ but we are a group of organizations. Tryon Evergreen [Baptist Association], Texas Baptists and of course our sending church are right behind us… That refills my spiritual tank,” Rodriguez said. 

Rodriguez said that despite the challenges of church planting, events like VBS, where he gets to see people give their lives to Christ, fuel him to keep doing what God has called him to do. 

“Church planting is hard. It's not easy… Sometimes you might be in a situation where things don't look that bright, but God's still in control,” Rodriguez said. 

Churches like Primera Baptist Church are able to receive resources for events like VBS to serve their community because of Texas Baptists churches’ generous and faithful giving to the Cooperative Program. 

For more information about Texas Baptists Church Starting, visit txb.org/churchstarting.