Pastor brings Spanish-speaking missionary work to Warner Robins
WARNER ROBINS -- Norman Brockway spent 25 years in Mexico as a missionary, a pastor and a church planter among Spanish-speaking people.
Since 2010, he's done the same thing in Warner Robins.
Brockway is pastor of Iglesias Bautista la Cruz de Cristo, or The Cross of Christ Baptist Church. He began the church five years ago after leaving Mexico and settling in Warner Robins to be central to where his children live.
"We came here, my wife Patricia and I, to do pretty much the same thing we did in Mexico -- we're just doing it in the U.S.," Brockway said. "We wanted to be in a place with a large Spanish-speaking population and the Lord led us here. We started from scratch and now have about 50 attending. One idea of being a missionary is that most of the people in your church are new Christians. That's what we have here."
Brockway said he is indeed a missionary here. He said he takes no salary from La Cruz de Cristo, which is an independent Baptist congregation. Instead, he said many who contributed to his ministry in Mexico continue to support him here.
"In Mexico, we mainly worked in and around the agricultural town of Irapuato, about 700 miles south of the border," he said. "I usually had two churches, one was just getting started and the other was well on its way with new leaders being prepared to take charge. I started seven churches and all are thriving and some have started other mission churches. There are now about 13 churches all together. My role was always to see people come to the Lord, established in church and disciple, then raised up to lead the church and start other churches. It's organic that way, and it doesn't depend on some giant organization's backing."
Brockway said that though the Warner Robins church is itself a small mission church, it supports other missionary work in places like the Philippines, the Dominican Republic, Chile and Mexico.
He said the church has a number of outreaches, such as ones to migrant workers in camps at surrounding agri-business groves. He is also a chaplain at the Houston Medical Center and meets with inmates at the Houston County jail and the Stewart Detention Center, and an immigration detention center in Lumpkin.
Brockway said though the church is made up of Spanish speakers and that services are in Spanish, the fellowship is a mixed congregation.
"We have a congregation of Mexicans, Hondurans, Guatemalans and some from Peru, Bolivia and Cuba," he said. "One thing you find when you work with people from so many nationalities is that there are many different opinions and points of view. It can be easy for people not to get along but one of the beautiful things about Christ is that his love brings down walls of division and you can get past that. We get along famously."
He said services are traditional but "lively without being overly emotional." He said worship consists of traditional hymns, choruses, and Psalms and scripture set to music. He said music for worship is on CDs and is comprised of guitar accompaniment recorded by his son, David, for the songs they sing.
Brockway said one unique feature of services are the prayer sheets he brings in from the detention center in Lumpkin. He said there are often more than 100 requests and members take them and pray for them.
Another aspect of services that Brockway said he found interesting is that even though the adult service is in Spanish, much of the children's is in English.
"The children speak Spanish but few can read or write Spanish," he said. "Most go to school here and learn to read and write in English, so the Sunday School is geared that way."
Brockway said he considers his and Patricia's life to be rich and blessed in Middle Georgia, as is the church. That includes the fact they meet in facilities off Watson Boulevard provided free by Bible Baptist Temple even though La Cruz de Cristo is not a mission from Bible Baptist. "They've been very good to us," Brockway said.
He said as the church grows he may consider starting another in Middle Georgia. He said it will follow the same style he's used to where no one is belittled but where God's word is taught simply, people are encouraged to love one another and families are strengthened. And, he said, where when he messes up it's OK for everybody to laugh about it.
"I've been blessed with good health, though I can't do what I did when I was 30," he said. "As long as God enables, we will keep doing what we're doing to reach and teach people about Christ and his love. I don't think about retirement. Maybe when I'm 93."
Contact writer Michael W. Pannell at mwpannell@gmail.com.
Address: 2695 Watson Blvd., Warner Robins
Leadership: Norman Brockway, pastor
Worship: 11 a.m. and 6 p.m. Sunday services
Phone: (478) 973-2621
This story was originally published December 29, 2015 at 9:36 PM with the headline "Pastor brings Spanish-speaking missionary work to Warner Robins ."