NEWSLETTER DECEMBER 2008
Iglesia de Cristo at Brewer Road
Winston-Salem, NC



2009… A YEAR OF CHANGE

In the same way the word “politician” brings to the modern mind a bad connotation, the word “change” brings feelings of fear, concern and even division within our brotherhood.
However, change in and of itself is not a bad word or a sacrilege; it is actually the difference between spiritual life and death. I’m not talking about doctrinal change, trust me, you don’t have to worry about that. I’m talking about spiritual change, what Paul calls in Romans 12:2 “And do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind…”
We at Brewer Road believe in change. Our specific purpose is to be more like Christ.
One of the goals we have set in our hearts is to become a multicultural and welcoming church, a congregation that reflects the makeup of our city and community.
We don’t like the way culture describes and classifies people. How did Christianity turn from a counter-cultural faith to one that looks like the rest of the world? We don’t like racism. We don’t like segregation. We don’t like ethnocentrism. Neither does Christ. As servants and leaders, we want to continue our own personal transformation. From a congregational point of view, we are looking into better ways of meeting the needs of our members and the community around us. We also encourage our brethren to be transformed, to improve their lives, to have goals, to dream, to change!
As preachers of the Gospel, we help people see the need to change, to transform their lives, to change their eternal future!
In the next 12 months, we hope you will see change in our congregation---for the better and never for the worse!

In Christ, the old has gone, the new has come. 1 Corinthians 5:17

We wrapped up the year 2008 bringing people to a new life in Christ and we started the New Year with the same commitment.
Our new brother in Christ, Gabriel, was baptized for the forgiveness of his sins at the end of last year (above). Pedro Aguilera was baptized on November 30th, 2008.


Carlos Farfan decided to come to Christ last Saturday, January 3rd.















Christmas and New Year’s Eve Celebration

Sarah, Gigi and I had the blessing of spending Christmas in Chicago. Sarah’s grandparents and extended family from both sides live in the area. We came back just in time to get together in our home with a few families from our congregation to welcome in the New Year!















New Year's Eve

Gospel Meeting

Back in November we had a three night Gospel Meeting. We had a pretty good number of visitors among the people that gathered during those days. Many were encouraged and were able to understand a little bit better the importance of being prepared to face death. Roberto Miranda and Rafael Valderrama were our guest speakers.














Ministry Changes

As you know, small children, pre-teens and adolescents sum up almost half our congregation. As this young population grows and changes, what the congregation offers needs to adapt to their particular needs.

· Wednesday Night Bible Hour
Sarah and I will be leading a Wednesday night Bible hour for our kids. The plan is to have a big group of kids learning Biblical content and moral principals in a more interactive and fun way!

· Youth Group
I have also met with David Keen to start a more regular fellowship between the South Fork youth group and one at Brewer Road. We discussed a few topics of interest for both groups of teens. Lisette and Dylan Prato have been playing a key role in encouraging our kids to participate in the youth activities at South Fork. This year 7 of our kids will be participating in a nation wide youth event called “Winter Fest” in the mountains of North Carolina.

· Bible Study Group
We are going to start a study group in our home. We will be focusing our discussion on the book: “Twelve Ordinary Men.”

Regular Activities:

-Saturday night couples meeting: Prato’s home
-Saturday Morning Ladies’ Bible Study
-Tutoring program
-English as a Second Language (Tuesdays and Wednesdays)
-Men’s correspondence Bible School

Thank you for being a part of this Ministry… GOD IS BEING GLORIFIED AND HE IS THE ONE BRINGING CHANGE TO MANY LIVES!!!