CrossBridge sees itself as a lighthouse in darkness

CORPUS CHRISTI—At sundown, a ragtag group of Christians gathers in a small apartment in one of Corpus Christi’s roughest neighborhoods.

They include a couple who met in a drug deal that didn’t work out, a security consultant who for reasons he can’t completely explain cares for this part of town that many people are trying to forget exists, a recovering alcoholic who is now a television clown and a pastor of a church no one believed would work.

Around a small table, they study the Bible, cry a little and laugh a lot in a meeting that feels more like a family reunion than an official gathering. And there’s always room for someone new. This night, the apartment door remains open, light piercing the surrounding darkness and inviting people to join them.

This group comprises one of the “home teams”—an off-campus small-group Bible study—for CrossBridge Fellowship. Second Baptist Church of Corpus Christi sponsors the church-start, with the help of gifts through the Baptist General Convention of Texas Cooperative Program and the Mary Hill Davis Offering for Texas Missions .

The church is anchored in a region of Corpus Christi that places roughly 1,600 calls to the police each month, member Jimmy Rodriguez said. Nationally, one in every 164 people is a victim of a violent crime such as murder, rape or armed robbery. Here, it’s one in every 32 people.

J.J. Pena flips through his new Bible from CrossBridge Fellowship in Corpus Christi. Pena and his family are involved in the church’s after-school program.

A memorial rests on a fence a short walk from the church, marking the place a young gang member lost his life while many people in the community looked on. Tennis shoes hang from a nearby power line, denoting a place where drugs are sold. Even the church hasn’t been immune from crime. The first week the church met, more than $15,000 in music equipment was stolen.

Many families here are broken, said Pastor Mario Quezada, who recalls people telling him he was stupid for attempting to start a church in the area. Some teens live alone because their parents are incarcerated. Some residents are addicted to drugs, alcohol or both. Financial pressures squeeze residents tightly. Gangs recruit children as young as 8 years old.

“This isn’t a good neighborhood in the least,” home team leader Hector Pena confessed. “To me … that’s how I see it. It’s a lighthouse. People are out to sea. This (church) is calling them home.”

CrossBridge gives people a choice—lives of drugs, dependency and struggles or the embrace of people who care about others, members said. Many have struggled with dependency in the past and face a variety of hardships now, meaning they welcome others without judgment. The congregation provides a refuge for wayward pilgrims.

“In this neighborhood, if you don’t have family, you go find family out there—either in the gangs or at CrossBridge Fellowship. I’m so glad we’re here,” said Crystal Womack, who met her husband, Lawrence, when he was selling drugs on the street.

Shirley Graham, a volunteer from CrossBridge Fellowship’s sponsor church, Second Baptist Church in Corpus Christi, prays with children during the after-school program.

In an effort to engage all people in the neighborhood, the church attempts to eliminate barriers between it and the community. The church partners with the food bank to distribute food twice a month to as many as 200 people. It has partnered with its sponsor congregation, Second Baptist Church, to hand out about 300 backpacks full of school supplies to area children. It has provided shoes for more than 30 children.

Each week, the church conducts an after-school program that draws dozens of children from the apartments across the street from the congregation. Students eagerly hop off the school bus and into the arms of Quezada, Pena and other volunteers, including some from Second Baptist Church, which is committed to helping CrossBridge beyond finances.

Students enjoy a snack provided by the Woman’s Missionary Union of Second Baptist Church, participate in a Bible study and play on the community “park”—the church playground.

God is working through the ministry to provide beacons of light in the community. About 80 people attend worship services at the church each week. And Quezada added, “People get baptized nearly every month.”

This night, as the group was wrapping up, a woman walked through the open door. She saw the light and hoped it was a church meeting.

She had wrestled with drugs and alcohol and recently suffered a relapse. Struggling, she hoped to find someone who would pray for her.

She discovered a group of people who understood exactly where she was, because they’d been there, too. They visited with her for a short while, then circled around her and prayed for her. Afterward, a few of the women in the home team pulled her to the side and began visiting with her more.

“Home teams are really a big blessing,” said Adam Reyna, a recovering alcoholic. “The last home team, we talked about ‘Jesus with skin on.’ This is a church with walls down.”