Many languages, one goal

Houston is not only one of the nation’s largest cities, but also one of the most diverse—with hundreds of languages and people groups represented. 

That, in turn, makes it a critical area to plant churches.  

Since 2021, the Southern Baptists of Texas Convention’s People Groups ministry has worked with Champion Forest Baptist Church in Houston to help train its church planting residents. The training—funded in part through Reach Texas State Missions Offering giving—exposes church planters to some of the cultures they will be reaching, including those with Muslim, Buddhist, and Hindu backgrounds.

“The classroom training has been very helpful to our planters,” said José Real, who serves as academic pastor for the Champion Forest Spanish residency program. “Some of them have established relationships with unbelievers through English as a Second Language programs that create opportunities to share the good news of Jesus while learning English. It also helps with making disciples who can create disciples in their own native language.” 

The Champion Forest residency program is a joint effort with Send Network SBTC, the church planting ministry partnership between the SBTC and the North American Mission Board. The residency offers a 14-week intensive program during which time planters’ skills are strengthened in areas including doctrine and communication. Once the program is completed, planters are assigned to a partner church on one of Champion Forest’s campuses for six months to implement their training. 

“We have seen the need for the gospel in the Houston area, where the population continues to grow by over 850 people each week,” Real said. “Most of them are from Hispanic backgrounds with no intention to attend any church. That’s why our partnership with SBTC’s People Groups ministry is so important for providing opportunities to increase knowledge about the groups coming to our communities.”