BEAUMONT, Texas — A Beaumont church is ready to rebuild after a fire burned it down nearly a year ago.
Central City Baptist Church has gone on a journey of faith to get to this point.
The bilingual congregation is ready to start construction now that they have the blueprints for their new church.
Pastor Jose Gutierrez and his wife came to Beaumont from Houston, and they are ready to get to work.
They have had to navigate not having a building to meet in, but now there is hope for a new home.
"We were in the process of clearing the land, and rebuilding. While we are doing that, we are working to continue the ministry of the church," said Executive Director Jim Turnbo.
Nearly a year ago "Alianza en Marcha" was set to open as a new bilingual church, but when a fire caused by construction work broke out, it toppled the building.
"A small inconvenience, but God was trying, with us, to show that all things depend on him. We are happy because we are going to start this year, and we have seen marvelous things in this community," said Pastor Gutierrez.
The new building will be 3,000 sq. ft. for the congregation to worship in.
"We have all the components for construction, so we are just have to see with the weather. Our timeline will wait on the contractor and we are hoping about 3 months time if anything," said Turnbo.
Since the fire, church members have been meeting at a neighboring church.
Pastor Gutierrez is excited to open the doors to the neighborhood and offer services in English and Spanish.
“When they get to know us, when we have a new building I think people will be interested. Especially when they see the signs that we will speak in Spanish. That calls the attention of people who travel and come from other countries. It will be easy to receive them for us as well," said Pastor Gutierrez.
They also want to offer classes where English speakers can learn Spanish as a second language.