‘Faith built this church;’ Marlin pastor builds church from the ground up

MARLIN, Texas (KWTX) - New Life Tabernacle Church in Marlin has been preparing to build a church for more than a decade, and, finally, the church’s pastor and community members are building a brand new church from the ground up.

Pastor Aaron Haveron preaches on Sunday’s, but the other six days of the week, he’s putting in hours of construction work to build the church.

“We’re trying to build a church,” he said. “We’ve been in a building fund for around 12 years and we’ve got enough money to get this church put up.”

The new church, which is near Highway 6 in Marlin, is a major expansion for them. The multi-acre property gave them plenty of room to build.

“We were looking at this piece of land and we were just really talking to God about trying to see if we could figure out who owned this piece of land,” Haveron said.

He says God answered their prayers as the owner of the property donated it to the church. The property which is a hill off the side of the road is actually more meaningful to Haveron than a plot of land. He said his father-in-law was a pastor in Marlin for many years, and he dreamed of building a church on that same hill.

“We were really close,” he said. “We had a very good relationship, and he allowed me to be his assistant. He saw something in me that he thought was usable and I appreciate that. He would be so proud that his dream actually came true.”

Now, that dream is actually coming to life one step at a time. A dream that church members are excited about too.

“I’m excited,” Andrew Budziszi, who attends New Life Tabernacle and is helping with building, said. “We’re expecting babes to be born in this building here. We’re expecting to grow...”

Haveron also rallied support from local community leaders like other pastors and church goers.

“Just coming together as a unit for the community and lifting Jesus up,” Deborah Raphael, who is the interim pastor at Zion Hill Missionary Baptist Church, said. “I really don’t think it has nothing to do with denominations, because denominations don’t go to Heaven. People go to heaven. Hearts. And so I’m just thankful that God is still doing what he does to bring that together.”

Growing is definitely what Haveron is hoping he will see with the new church’s attendance, but he has a clear vision for what the church will stand for one day.

“I hope they see a church here that Marlin came together and built, but, more than that, that faith. Faith built this church,” Haveron said.

He knows he still has a lot of trials and sacrifices ahead of him but he is excited for what the future holds for New Life Tabernacle in Marlin.

He said they still have about seven to 10 months of construction left. He said they are always open to accepting donations and support as costs continue to rise for construction prices, but they are not going to give up. Haveron hopes they will be able to celebrate Easter 2024 in the new building.

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