From the Margins to the Mission: God’s Work Through Cross Community Church

When God calls you to something bigger than yourself, you don’t always realize it until you look back and see His fingerprints on every step. That’s how I feel when I consider the story of Cross Community Church—a story written by God, for His glory.

In September 2021, Pastor Del Traffanstedt and his wife, Charmaine, stepped out in faith to plant a church in Houston’s EasTex community. It wasn’t the kind of place you’d pick for comfort or convenience. It was the kind of place where brokenness was everywhere—poverty, violence, addiction, exploitation, and deep spiritual hunger.

When Del invited me to join the work—to help lead discipleship—and asked my wife to serve by leading worship, we said yes. We had no blueprint for comfort, but we had a vision to be faithful.

From the Ground Up

The summer before our launch was grueling. In the heat and humidity of a Houston summer, we went door-to-door week after week, sharing the Gospel, inviting neighbors to join us, and sowing seeds we trusted God to grow.

And grow He did.

On Launch Sunday, with a small gathering of about 30 adults and 30 kids, one person came to faith in Jesus Christ and was baptized that day.

It was a mustard seed moment—small, but potent with the promise of the Kingdom.

Since then, we’ve witnessed the truth of 1 Corinthians 3:6-7: “I planted, Apollos watered, but God gave the growth. So neither he who plants nor he who waters is anything, but only God who gives the growth.”

God’s Faithfulness, Year After Year

From that handful of believers, God has been building His Church. Today, we have doubled our attendance and membership, averaging around 120 in worship while ministering to over 300 individuals weekly through ESL classes, Embrace Grace (for women with unplanned pregnancies), school partnerships, and community outreach. We’ve reached over 10,000 homes through door-to-door evangelism, partnered with local schools to serve over 700 students, and provided English language support to more than 300 ESL students.

We’ve baptized 55 people, married three couples, and launched three international mission teams. We’ve even come alongside another church plant in a nearby Texas city.

Through every challenge—renovating our property (twice now), expanding ministry spaces, and preparing to launch The Lovewell Center—God has provided. It feels like the promise of Ephesians 3:20 unfolding before our eyes: “Now to him who is able to do far more abundantly than all that we ask or think, according to the power at work within us.”

The Discipleship Generation

When we began, we offered two Sunday classes—one in English and one in Spanish. Today, there are four, with a fifth on the horizon. We’ve trained six core members to teach and prepare for preaching. Most recently, two leaders identified from our outreach efforts are now being trained to teach and disciple others.

We often describe discipleship at Cross Community as a “generational work.” Not in terms of age, but in multiplication—disciples making disciples who make more disciples. By God’s grace, we’re beginning to see not only the second generation of disciple-makers, but the third.

Jesus’ Great Commission in Matthew 28:19-20 wasn’t just to gather people, but to “make disciples of all nations… teaching them to observe all that I have commanded you.” That’s what’s happening here.

My Journey in This Story

When I first came, my role was simple: support Pastor Del by leading adult discipleship. But as God grew the church, He expanded my role. I began overseeing Sunday services and volunteer teams, took on administrative duties, and, in September 2023, was ordained as a part-time Associate Pastor while finishing my M.Div.

In June 2025, I will step into a full-time role as Executive Pastor, continuing to help shepherd this growing work and lead in our future church planting efforts.

Through it all, God has been shaping me alongside His Church.

The Beauty of Faithfulness

It has been both humbling and exhilarating to watch God move. Our church is living proof of Hebrews 13:13-16: “Let us go to him outside the camp and bear the reproach he endured… for here we have no lasting city, but we seek the city that is to come.”

We also joyfully participate in the global mission of the Church by giving 6% of our budget to the Cooperative Program, helping send missionaries and plant churches beyond our local community. We’ve seen what happens when the Church steps beyond comfort and into the margins—when we plant seeds in difficult soil and trust God for the harvest.

Your Invitation

Friend, if you’ve ever wondered if the local church still matters, let me assure you—it does. When you give yourself to advancing the Gospel in your community, you step into a work that not only pleases the Lord but nourishes your soul. There is nothing more rewarding.

So, will you join us?

• Pray for Cross Community Church and the mission God has called us to.
• Give to support the work of disciple-making and outreach.
• Visit us and see firsthand what God is doing.

You can give or contact us to learn more at CrossForAll.com/give.

The story isn’t finished yet, and we’d love for you to be part of it.

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