Mr. Aurelio Barreto is the President and CEO of C28, a Christian retail store chain which sells Christian clothing, music, jewelry and accessories. C28 stands for Colossians 2:8, and the phrase “not of this world” (NOTW), which can seen on the back of cars and on T-shirts all over the place. You’ll see a flashing icon on this blog–that’s them. Check them out–they sell attractive, professionally designed, high quality clothing and jewelry which winsomely presents the gospel. I asked Aurelio if he’d be kind enough to answer a few questions for us.
What was your religious background as an adult, and how did God call you to Himself?
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.
Why did you start a T-shirt company?
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 for the past 5 years 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 9 years ago. I have seen and witnessed changed lives that are now bearing much fruit.
You said that after 4 years of operations you finally turned over your business to God 100%. What did this look like?
Basically, it was a surrender of the mind. That I could actually trust God to not just take care of the business, but actually do better than I could.
In what ways (if any) do you now believe that you were behaving/thinking inappropriately the previous 4 years?
Always taking charge instead of waiting on the Lord. Not being so quick to exercise 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.
In just a few sentences, what do you hope for your T-shirt company to accomplish?
Expose people to God’s Word. Shirts are read an average of 300 times by people who otherwise would never step into anything Christian. As Christians, we assume that everyone knows about Jesus and the unfortunate reality is that the majority has no clue.
What resources have helped you as a Christian businessman, particularly in a leadership role?
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. Our mission statement, vision, message and values are posted on our website.
What practical measures have you placed in your life to battle materialism?
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.
Do you have any significant involvements outside of your role leading C28?
It seems like God has me speaking and doing evangelism 1-2 times per week. 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.