Laredo church-start receives support from Texas Baptists; committed to sharing the “Good News” together

“[I tell people], ‘You don’t have to come work out, you just got to come worship God,’” said Jesse Liendo Jr., church planter and lead pastor of Good News Church. 

Good News Church has met “inside of a gym called Muscle Fitness Center” in Laredo since it was planted last spring. Liendo said his previous church “had a Spanish ministry for about 10 years,” and he was given the opportunity to “plant an English service.” 

“We were there for about a year, a little over a year, and then there was some things that went on, and they decided not to have an English service anymore, so we formed Good News Church,” said Liendo. 

He said the name “Good News Church” was inspired by his own experience of not understanding the gospel for his “whole young life.” 

“Laredo is primarily a Catholic community, and I was raised actually in a Catholic school… but I never understood the gospel,” said Liendo. “I think people think that they need to earn God’s salvation, and it was earned on the cross, and when people hear the gospel, the true gospel, it’s hard not to respond in the proper way, [with] gratitude.” 

Liendo wanted to prioritize helping the community understand “the true gospel.” 

“Like Romans says, ‘How can they hear if they don’t have a preacher?’” said Liendo. “That’s where the name came from.”

He said his desire for church planting came from his time as a worship leader at a previous church, where he recruited and taught musicians. 

“After COVID, we lost a lot of people, a lot of volunteers, and I replanted the welcome team and started recruiting again, building a new thing,” said Liendo. “I was thinking, ‘Well, I’m a starter. We plant things. We keep going.’” 

He said since planting the church, he has received much confirmation from God to “keep going.”

“Maybe I’m not the one that continues it, but in this case, I am, and… While there’s doubt often if I’m even suitable for the pulpit, when I see these people coming together, people that would’ve never met if this church didn’t exist and people from totally different backgrounds, and I see them having fellowship, it’s a confirmation from God for sure,” said Liendo. 

God’s provision is his confirmation 

Good News Church began receiving support from Texas Baptists after Liendo’s Facebook friend and Texas Baptists Church Starting Strategist for South Texas, Daniel DeLeon, noticed a change in where Liendo was serving. 

“[DeLeon] said, ‘Hey, is this a new church? We’d like to support you.’ I said, ‘Actually, no, we’re part of this [established church].’ Then, when we came in on our own, he noticed the change of background and scenery, and he messaged me again,” explained Liendo. “So we started in April [2024] and I think it was around July, August that we started officially being supported by Texas Baptists.”

He said Texas Baptists has been “a huge support” in establishing Good News Church through donating all of the technology equipment: “The soundboard, the microphones, the laptops, the cameras.” 

“When God is providing it, it’s another confirmation [from him]: ‘Keep going. Stay true,’” said Liendo.

Liendo said beyond providing for the church’s physical needs, Texas Baptists has been a support to him spiritually. 

“[Church planting] can be a lonely hill,” said Liendo. “I meet with Daniel quarterly and even then he’s pretty open to taking my call. Whenever I need [advice], he’s affirming things that are going well, giving me pointers.” 

Joe Aguilar, Area 3 representative for Texas Baptists, has also been a mentor to Liendo.

Alongside pastoring Good News Church, Liendo serves as chaplain and paramedic instructor for the Laredo Fire Department. 

“I’m actually also a chaplain for the fire department, and there’s another chaplain, so anytime I need peer support or I need counsel, I call him,” said Liendo. 

Creating a culture of walking together 

Liendo said doing ministry together is important and “encouraging to know you’re not the only one out there.” 

“The way I see it is if I can help anybody, my ceiling will be their floor, and they won’t make the same mistakes I made, or they still might, but at least they’ll remember me [sharing about] it and say, ‘Oh, wait, okay, he knows what we’re going through,’” explained Liendo. “[It’s similar to] when God delivers you from a certain sin that you’ve been struggling with, and now you can walk in that freedom and help somebody else struggling with a similar sin.” 

Liendo said since planting Good News Church, the church does “attract a lot of people that have had church hurt in the past,” and he is “committed to holding people accountable to make a safe space for people to come worship.” 

“We need to stick to the word of God, and people need to be welcomed and loved,” said Liendo. “Once you have church hurt, it’s hard to come back… Praise God that he gave me that desire to just keep going.” 

Liendo said having “healthy places for people to come and worship God and hear the gospel” yields more people accepting Jesus, so Liendo’s goal is to create “a culture of supporting one another, walking with one another.”

“Here at Good News, we’re seeing a lot of people who didn’t want to have anything to do with God, and now they’re in a community where they can be uplifted by the people around them,” said Liendo. “Instead of coming to sing some songs and listen to me blab all day long, we want people, [and] we want hearts to be changed through the gospel.” 

Laredo in need of the gospel

Liendo said he is grateful for Texas Baptists’ support because it has allowed him not to worry about things that are of lower priority and focus on what truly matters. 

“What’s important is for people to know who God is, and when Texas Baptists supports you this way and support we’ve gotten from them, we can focus on the people and for them to grow, discipling them and loving them through their hurt and through their issues,” said Liendo. 

He said “Laredo is in need” of the gospel, and his prayer for the future of Good News Church is that they would lean into that mission. 

“My prayer for Good News Church is that people will leave here with what they need to go and share the gospel with the people around them. You love somebody and share the gospel with them,” said Liendo. 

To learn more about Texas Baptists Church Starting and how the ministry can be a resource to you or your church, visit txb.org/churchstarting.