Duo share faith through hip-hop

OGDEN — Chris Gutierrez and Alofa Vaa used to fight for the brotherhood of their gangs.

They used to take drugs. They used to steal and destroy property.

Hip-hop and R&B music told them they could act this way.

Then they found Jesus.

Now they want to use hip-hop and R&B music to tell gang members of a better way. Now they say they're high on life. They want to give a new direction and build community.

As part-time co-pastors, Gutierrez and Vaa want to fight for the brotherhood of Jesus Christ.

"If God could change me and Alofa, he could change anybody," Gutierrez said.

"People have a heart condition and only God can fix it. Fifteen years of my life, I was lost in that lifestyle," he said. "When I came into contact with Jesus, it changed everything about me."

Gutierrez, 36, and Vaa, 39, are starting a new party in town — a weekly festival of hip-hop and R&B music taking place in a church.

The music, the dress and the casual lifestyle will be the same as people have come to know on the streets, but the message will be of peace and love.

"This is a church for people who don't do church and are tired of religion," Vaa said.

"You won't be bored to death. You will probably be jumping out of your seat."

In contrast, he said, he's seen traditional churches fail at changing those with the most need.

"I've sent a lot of youth to different churches, and a lot of them go right back to the lifestyle they came from," Vaa said.

He believes bringing the message of the gospel to an environment where the youth are comfortable will help to change that trend.

Life Change-N-Ministries, a hip-hop and R&B ministry, begins this weekend at the Christian Worship Center, 1720 Washington Blvd., as an outreach of the center. The outreach mission's vision statement is becoming a spiritual hospital for those who hurt and are in need of a real and genuine relationship with Christ.

Services start at 3 p.m. each Sunday.

"We thought if we put it in the afternoon, people wouldn't have an excuse not to come to church," Gutierrez said.