Welcome! Please allow me to share a few words with you. Below, you will find my brief testimony of God's wonderful mercy and grace, a story about a man who got more from this world than he ever expected, yet found himself empty and without hope.
If you are wondering about the name of C28, C28 is a verse from Colossians 2:8. This verse is special to me because I had become real good at the things of this world (the traditions & basic principals of this world, rather than Christ) only to realize I was chasing all the wrong things. As I became more empty and full of despair, I was led to Jesus Christ for the peace and purpose I never had! Soon after, I was moved by God's Holy Spirit to reach the hurting and the lost in malls. Why Malls? Because malls get tens of millions of visitors each year. The mission statement at C28 is To glorify God by sharing the life changing gospel message of grace, truth and love found only in Jesus Christ through prayer, evangelism, and God's written Word on apparel.
After 10 years and the sale of Dogloo Inc., an International company which I was co-founder and CEO, I found myself with all the material things of this world, but was without much purpose in life. I was a responsible man, a moral man, I loved my family and prayed every night, but I had never heard the gospel nor did I have a personal relationship with Jesus Christ. In March 18, 1998 by the grace of God, I became aware that I was also a sinner (pride, jealousy, selfishness), that I would face judgment at death someday and receive the penalty of eternal hell for my sins. I finally realized I needed Jesus. It was clear that I could not work my way into heaven and as a mere moral man, I was headed straight to hell without a Savior. That's when I repented and turned away from my sins, asked Jesus into my heart as Lord and Savior of my life!
My life began to change from a self centered life to a God centered life. I began to experience the peace I never had before and the assurance of my salvation. I began attending church and was baptized as my public acknowledgment of my new found faith in Jesus. I joined a weekly Bible study called BSF www.bsfinternational.org and began obeying the words in the bible. I listened to multiple daily sermons on the radio. I could not get enough of God! Read More...
I began praying that God would use the gifts and talents He had given me, for His glory. In December of 1999, while driving home through Victorville, the Lord led me and my son "JR" to a little store called "Christian Headshop". The store was very cool, like nothing I had ever seen before! It was that night that God gave me the vision to share His life changing gospel message of grace, truth and love found in Jesus. I felt the Lord speaking to me about opening stores for youth. Initially, I was not sold on the idea since it did not make much business sense to start a retail store in this day and age. I prayed for months, I wanted to be obedient to God even though there were many uncertainties. This retail concept had never been proven before. There were thousands of Christian stores, but none for youth. Only by prayer and faith did I proceed. I started praying about a name and after much prayer C28 (Colossians 2:8, not about this world but all about Christ) became evident since it brought Jesus Christ all the glory! In April of 2001 after much opposition from malls, the Lord opened our first store at the Tyler Mall in Riverside, California! I learned it was all about praying, obeying and trusting in God's sovereignty. God began opening doors!
There have been many challenges, but with God's strength and direction we have persevered. God is so faithful. By His grace we now have 8 company stores, 3 franchise stores, NOTW and Canvas Threads Christian clothing and C28.com for online shopping. God is gracious and faithful!
Many people come to C28 stores to pray. There are countless testimonies. For example, a young girl in a wheelchair came into our Temecula store asking "Is this the store that prays for people?” This says it all. Since the first store opened in April 2001, 17,423 people have been led through the sinner’s prayer and accepted Jesus Christ as their Lord and Savior! All praise goes to our almighty sovereign God! Little did these people know that what started as a usual day of shopping led them to the best gift of all, salvation through Jesus! Many, many lives have been eternally changed. God is so good!
For 38 years no one ever shared the gospel with me! I was one of those people that looked like I had everything, but was actually lost inside. We want to help people realize God's plan for them without having their life pass them by.
"For I know the plans I have for you," declares the LORD, "plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future." Jeremiah 29:11.
Can you imagine a normal day of mall shopping turning into your day of salvation! It happens at C28! The Lord is using C28 to save lives, give people a hope, a promise and a future. God uses C28 stores to bring people closer to Himself in a secular environment, imagine that! All praise goes to God!
We want to reach the unreachable and to love the unlovable.
We want people to know there is an alternative to the things of this world.
We want people to realize there are answers in this life and hope for a tomorrow.
We want to make people realize that without Jesus, there is no today or tomorrow (Eternal Life)
God forgives us no matter what we have done. When we repent of our sins, ask for forgiveness and accept Jesus into our hearts, we can be forgiven and filled with God's Holy Spirit forever. Christians are in no way close to perfect, they are a work in progress. We are sinful people and we live by God's loving grace. Praise God!
"Here is a trustworthy saying that deserves full acceptance: Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners--of whom I am the worst." 1 Timothy 1:15
Most Often asked Questions about C28 Founder and CEO Aurelio Barreto
Q: What was your religious background as an adult, and how did God call you to Himself?
A: I grew up Catholic and did all the right things as an adult, but while I was a teenager I went from drugs to girls and then as an adult to being a moral man. After selling my $62 million dollar business and retiring at age 37, I realized first hand that all the money, power, influence and success of this world could not buy me the happiness and peace I was looking for.
Q: Why did you start a T-shirt company?
A: After giving my life to the Lord Jesus, I began changing and wanting to glorify Him. I began praying about serving Him. At first I thought I would be a pastor, I thought about being a missionary, but that was only until I realized that God wanted me to do everything as unto the Lord. I realized that my gifts and talents were in business and that I could truly glorify Him through business. When He gave me the idea of a retail store I thought, "Dear God, why retail of all things? I will certainly lose everything. Please God, just point me to ministries where I can donate a couple of million to and I can serve You." I thought I would lose it all. At first we were losing $50K per month. After the first 4 years of operations I finally surrendered the business over to Him 100%. I told Him I had no idea what I was doing and was afraid I would lose it all. I told Him that if things were going to work, then He would have to take charge. That very year after surrendering the business over to Him was the very first year we had a profit, and now we have been profitable ever since. All praise goes to God. And what matter most is that over 13,000 people have prayed to receive Jesus Christ as Lord and Savior since we started 8 years ago. I have seen and witnessed changed lives that are now bearing much fruit.
Q: You said that after 4 years of operations you finally turned over your business to God 100%. What did this look like?
A: Basically, it was a surrender of the mind, trusting God to not just take care of the business, but actually believing He would do better than I could.
Q: In what ways (if any) do you now believe that you were behaving/thinking inappropriately the previous 4 years?
A: Looking back, I’ve always took charge instead of waiting on the Lord’s timing. I was always so quick to exercise what I believed to be my God-given rights as opposed to waiting upon the Lord to give me His clear directions. I needed to trust God to do what only God can do and in His time.
Q: What do you hope for your T-shirt company to accomplish?
A: Expose people to God's Word. Shirts are read an average of 300 times by people who otherwise would never step into a store with a Christian theme. As Christians, we assume that everyone knows about Jesus and the unfortunate reality is that the majority of people have no idea or know very little about who Jesus is and what He has done for us.
Q: What resources have helped you as a Christian businessman, particularly in a leadership role?
A: The Lord Jesus. The Bible is totally about business. Jesus Christ was a carpenter, back then that was business. Our company's mission is to glorify God by sharing the life-changing gospel message of grace, truth and love found in Jesus Christ. We seek to do this through prayer, evangelism, and God's written Word on apparel.
Q: What practical measures have you placed in your life to battle materialism?
A: It truly is about God’s grace. The same grace that God used to save me is the same grace that keeps me looking to Him. There is nothing bad with money, but it is the "love" of money that kills a person. The parable of the talents is clear about multiplying whatever God has given a person. Whether it is time, talents or treasures, we are to multiply them for God's glory.
Q: Do you have any significant involvements outside of your role leading C28?
A: God has opened up doors for me to share my testimony and the gospel a few times a month at various schools, clubs and events. I also serve on 3 boards of directors for different Christian organizations: Woodcrest Christian School for 8 years; Haven Ministries for 6 years; and CBA for 2 years.
Q: The Lord has blessed you with things that people of this world go to great lengths to achieve (such as success in business and accumulating financial wealth), but is that what life should be about?
A: I thought I was fortunate in life to achieve the "things of this world" early in my career. The reality was very different; the reality was that money, success, and power could never buy me happiness, peace or purpose in spite of how much money I made.
Q: What was the driving force in your life before you were saved? And did it satisfy your heart?
A: Material Success and achievements were my motivation, yet achieving these things ultimately led me to thoughts of despair and suicide.
Q: When C28 and NOTW was just an idea, were there spiritual battles going on to prevent you from stepping out in faith?
A: My wife Peggy and I went through a 4 year spiritual attack on our marriage, if it were not for Christ, we would have divorced. Another battle was going through a period of years experiencing an overall discouragement. In spite of the awesome ministry and people coming to Christ, I doubted that we would ever make ends meet and doubted that God was truly behind me. To make things worse, I also lost about $4 million in stocks immediately after I made the decision to start C28.
Q: Can a true Christian also be a shrewd business person in this world? If so, how?
A: Absolutely. I think God calls us to be good stewards of what He has given us. The Bible actually calls us to have the heart of a dove and be shrewd as a snake.
Q: I know there are Christian business owners out there that have been definitely called to open a Christian store and some that may be not. What kind of advice can you give to them?
A: Go into business only if you are certain that your God given gifts and talents are truly in business. God is a logical God.
Q: C28 has grown from 1 store in 2001 to a total of 11 stores throughout the USA. What do you attribute that to?
A: God's grace! It has also taken faith in what the Lord has called me and equipped me to do. It has been extremely scary at times, yet God has held my hand every step of the way. He is an awesome God! I love Him so much!
Q: Your C28 website states that 13,900 people have accepted Christ as their Lord and Savior through C28. Could you have ever imagined that God would use a retail store to touch so many lives?
A: No way, I remember when it was just 7 people that had accepted Jesus Christ as Lord and Savior!!! This is a huge blessing in my life that I do not deserve.
Q: What has impacted you the most from your business?
A: The changed lives of people that met Jesus Christ through the stores, our outreach concerts and speaking engagements.
Q: How does Christian apparel further the Gospel?
A: It is a tool for Christians to use as a conversation starter about Jesus. T-shirts with Scripture puts God’s Word out there and many people get a chance to read the message whether it’s waiting in line at the store or wherever. It’s also a way for Christians who aren’t so bold to talk to a stranger about Jesus to have His Word out there in public. Most people will never pick up a Bible or hear a verse quoted, but they will read a t-shirt.
Q: Is there a need for Christian products? Or is this simply the method that you are using to make an impact?
A: There is a need for Christian products because the t-shirts that are out there for young people to buy are filled with such secular messages that don’t glorify God. Where is the young Christian consumer to go if they want to buy clothing with a positive, God-honoring message that is also modest? Christian retailers in general are very important to the Christian consumer because we all buy clothing, books and gifts so why not from a Christian business? The products we make also serve another purpose and that is to have an impact for God. Something as simple as a ‘NOTW’ window sticker on a car has led people to wonder what is NOTW? They Google it and find out who we are, they start researching our site and stumble upon our ‘Need Jesus’ section and they start thinking about their eternal future and some have even written us to say they have given their lives over to Jesus!
Q: Are Christian products ever counter-productive? As harmful to people’s view of Christianity? Is it ever a concern that material products cheapen the message? That Christianity will become just another part of our consumer culture?
A: That’s a good question and I would say that depends on the company behind it and who their target market is. When Aurelio started this business he knew that he wanted to reach the youth who hang out at malls, so he created a store and products that would attract teens to it. Little did they know that when one visits a C28 store, they are going to hear the gospel message and they are going to be prayed for. There are some Christian products out there that are produced by non-Christian people only because they know ‘crosses’ are popular things to wear as jewelry and as designs on shirts. We aren’t about that. As far as Christian products as being perceived as harmful to the faith, I would say that it isn’t. Products don’t bring people to Christ; the Lord uses His Holy Spirit to bring them to Him. So even if it is a shirt that has a convicting and controversial message such as abortion or murder, we want to be the voice of God, regardless of the public’s perception. We want to please God, not men. True Christianity is about the heart—a changed heart as the result of meeting Jesus and a heart that will always follow Jesus, so I believe that God will not allow his people to ‘be just another part of consumer culture’. Jesus prayed for His followers saying, “My prayer is not that you take them out of the world but that you protect them from the evil one. They are not of the world, even as I am not of it.” (John 17: 15-16). As Christians, we are to be in the world but not cocooned from it, otherwise, who would tell the world about Jesus? At the same time, we are not to be of the world and be polluted by its values.
Q: Do you ever feel like there is something incongruent in using the name of Jesus to make a profit? I mean, I understand that every business has to make money to continue, but does it ever feel a little strange?
A: No, to Aurelio it isn’t strange. God blesses people with different gifts and talents and Aurelio has always had a gift for business and making money before he became a Christian. That is not a bad thing at all! Many people confuse profit with evil mainly because the state of our economy is the result of greed! The Bible does say that the love of money is a root of all kinds of evil (see 1 Timothy 6:10). God looks at a person’s heart and their perspective about money. Do they see money as GOD’S money, not THEIR money? A person who is surrendered to God uses God’s money for His purposes. At C28, we donate a portion of sales to 3 Christian organizations that either: do acts of mercy, discipleship or evangelism—all in the name of Jesus Christ. Also, our mission statement reflects what our profits are being poured back into: “Glorify God by sharing the life changing gospel message of grace, truth and love found only in Jesus Christ.”
Q: What has been most rewarding experience for you over the past 8 years of being in business with C28/NOTW?
A: Three things come to mind: First of all, by God’s grace I have participated in and witnessed God’s Holy Spirit save over 13,000 people. Second, knowing that saved sinners like me can be used for His glory. Third, experiencing God’s blessing and provision repeatedly in spite of difficult circumstances.
Q: Anything else you would want to add?
A: After 11 years of walking with the Lord I know Him to be an extremely merciful God, full of grace. The awareness of the grace I have today is 100 times greater than when I initially came to Christ. He is my loving God who cares for me and takes care of my daily needs. I want the world to know about my God! Don't you?
After you make a purchase, you'll be asked which of these 3 ministries we should direct our donation towards.
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