Our Story
Beginnings
In 1975, Hillcrest Baptist Church, a community church located at Lighthouse Drive, Vallejo, was seeing a growth in the number of its Filipino members. It was at this time when the Filipino members, with the encouragement of the church leaders, started a Filipino Bible study group. The Bible study sessions were held weekly at the home of Gus and Ella Quezon at 114 Browning Way, Vallejo. As God added to their number, they began holding their Bible study and worship gatherings on Sunday afternoons using the facilities of Hillcrest Baptist Church.
On January 25, 1981, the group formally organized as a church body and held its first worship service at the Veterans Building at Alabama Street, Vallejo. Less than a month later, on February 15, 1981, the church officially called, then Bible Study leader, Julian Madriaga, to be the church’s first pastor. And on March 11, 1981, the church was incorporated as a religious non-profit organization, with Vallejo International Baptist Church as our official name. We refer to ourselves as VIBC or, more currently, Vallejo International.
Wanderings
For nine years Vallejo International met at various rental facilities until November 1990, when God provided a small church property, a two-story building with a parking lot, located at Woodrow Avenue, Vallejo. We purchased the property which met our need for a parsonage and a worship hall for the years that followed. In 2001, when we turned 20, we considered rebuilding which spurred “Operation: Debt Free at Twenty” when we worked together and successfully paid off our mortgage. However, the Lord used a building inspection to make us realize that we had outgrown the place. It was no longer safe or legal to hold worship services with our number in our building. This led the church to immediately seek a rental place and we found ourselves returning to the Hillcrest Baptist Church building where we were heartily welcomed.
As the church sought God’s direction, we had to drop further plans of building expansion at the Woodrow property and instead sold it in 2002. We continued to meet at the Hillcrest facilities until God once again used a situation to stir the church to move out: parking problems. The parking lot could not accommodate two growing churches. Having to move worship services in the afternoons, the church saw this as a sign from God that it was time to move to another meeting place. Early in 2004 Vallejo International began holding services at the Bay Terrace Theater at Daniels Avenue, Vallejo. At that same time, however, amidst a very special turn of events that was obviously God’s orchestration, the church got first dibs on a church property that has not even been put up for sale yet.
Amazingly, in March 2004 we closed the deal. We immediately got to work tearing down wall dividers, clearing out junk and debris just enough so that on Sunday, April 4, 2004, we held our first worship service at 400 Admiral Callaghan Lane, Vallejo, our current location.
Refocusing
In 2001, Vallejo International began a two-year process called, “Refocusing.” This was the time when the church seriously sat down together to seek the Lord with regard to our vision and mission as a church. As a result, God revealed to us our Corporate Calling Statement which we summed up in one statement: “Making Christ the central focus in people’s lives.”
It was at this time that we, as a church family, agreed that Vallejo International should not exist to reach out and minister solely to the Filipino-American community. It has become our desire to truly be “international,” not only in our mission outreaches abroad but also in our church membership. We believe this aligns with God’s kingdom building.
As years passed more indicators of purposefulness in fulfilling our mission were revealed. Growth in regular giving and missions-giving has been remarkable. International endeavors began and we sent our first youth missionaries through World Changers to Vancouver, Canada, in 2004. Now looking outside of our walls, we added an International Mission Fund and a Mission Project Fund to our regular budget, and send out short-term missionaries almost every year. In 2008 we boldly sent out a team of 12 on a short-term mission trip to Cambodia. More events and activities of a missional nature were seen in the years that followed. Increasing involvement in Operation Christmas Child, an international ministry of Samaritan’s Purse grew. More than just giving donation boxes, the church sends a group of volunteers annually to processing centers and our church facilities have served as a regional drop-off center for five years for Solano County.
In recent years, a major thrust in discipleship and disciple-making has determined much of the activities and events we involved ourselves in. It has also spurred the need for a more visible presence in Vallejo and more connection with our local community.
Moving Forward
Vallejo International has known five pastors since its beginning up to the present: Julian Madriaga (1981-1989), Reymuel Betia (1989-1990), Sam Lazaro (1992), Noel Tiano (1993-1996), and Keith Jainga (1996 – present). The church has also formally called Associate Ministers like Raud De Silva (Christian Education Minister, 2002-2006) and Auden De La Cruz (Missions & Youth Minister, 2003- present).
Deep friendships and kinship have developed within the church family throughout the years. We look back and remember numerous significant and noteworthy moments in the life of the church. Of greatest joy is seeing people come to know Christ and surrender to his Lordship. Equally memorable is seeing people, young and old who have strayed, return to the Lord, or seeing broken relationships healed.
The journey of Vallejo International was not all smooth sailing. There were storms that blew across the path of the church, when the church faced major crises that resulted in members parting ways, causing pain and heartache. Yet forgiveness abounds among the members. We have come to accept that God allowed these challenges, to keep Vallejo International moving forward, recognizing and acknowledging our dependence on his leadership, provision, and protection.
New challenges stir the church to consider deeply the things that really matter to God, and to make the choice to pursue the things of God. We are a small church, and yet realize that we do not exist to grow our church but to make and grow disciples. Holding fast to our basic beliefs, we keep an open mind for necessary changes in our approach to ministry, seeking to make the presence of Christ more felt in our local community and abroad.
We celebrate our victories, big and small, giving God the glory. We recognize that through all the years, one thing is certain: God is moving among us. Just as the moments of triumph were real, so were the shadowed moments in the life of our church. So by God’s grace and with God, we keep moving forward in Christ.
