Within Reach in West Texas

Every person counts at Christian Life Church (CLB) in Brownfield, Texas, according to Roman Perez, lead pastor since 2024. No one is unreachable.

CLB, is a Parent-Affiliated Church (PAC) and a daughter church of Christian Life Church (CLL) in Lubbock, Texas. It was CLL’s first church plant with seven other plants that followed.

People are getting saved and filled with the Holy Spirit at Christian Life Brownfield, reports John Muroch, CLL senior pastor. “Brother Roman has a heart for the city of Brownfield and for people in trouble,” Murdoch says.

CLB’S annual Hope Over Dope (HOD) weekend recovery outreach has impacted many since its Brownfield launching in 2018. “About 200 people have been saved and baptized through last year,” estimates Melisa Perez, Roman’s wife.

Held every summer, HOD is a weekend event attracting up to 500 people from surrounding towns in Terry County; 899 square miles in the southern High Plains of West Texas.

The annual event happens in an amphitheater in downtown Coleman Park. It starts on Friday evening with worship and non-profits reviewing locally available recovery resources for mental health issues, suicide awareness, poverty, sex trafficking and addictions. Mom & Pop vendors offer hot and cold Tex-Mex cuisine.

The gospel is heard by everyone. Recently, while serving at the event, a food vendor heard the gospel, received Christ as savior and was later baptized.

Invited speakers evangelize and testify about their recoveries through Christ. Altar calls and baptisms follow. “It’s two days of Jesus,” Melisa says.

The church provides follow-up question cards, Bibles, Christian literature, and invitations to its recovery group. About 40 to 50 volunteers do the legwork. CLB revs up local interest with billboard ads, word of mouth and flyers in stores.

Josh, 36, and Sable Casarez, 33, CLB youth leaders, learned about HOD from a flyer they had picked up in a supermarket in August 2021. They were living together then with their eight-month-old baby boy. Desperate and depressed after relapsing on methamphetamine (meth), Josh needed help.

Sable, depressed, had given up. “I did not want to live anymore,” she admits.

The couple attended the Friday evening service and noticed people joyous, worshiping God, singing and quoting scriptures.

They heard testimonies about freedom from addictions and attended the Sunday worship service. CLB members embraced them, no questions asked. They locked onto CLB and Josh quit meth cold turkey soon after Christmas Day 2021. They married the next year.

“Christ has done everything for us,” Sable says. “He has cleaned up our lives, and six members of my family now attend CLB.”

CLB’s DNA has also touched Francisco Ramirez who searched for a gospel preaching church two years ago. He had surrendered his life to Christ in prison. “The Lord humbled me into repentance,” Ramirez, 42, says.

He loves the Word and has devoured the Bible cover to cover four times. He serves on CLB’s worship team playing the drums and teaches a men’s Bible study.

Perez himself experienced Christ’s freedom in a similar way before becoming lead pastor. His own redemption and recovery confirm CLB’s spiritual DNA.

Perez, 42, first came to Christ 16 years ago during a time of feeling lost and hopeless. His past says it all – selling and taking drugs, alcoholism and abusive behavior, which triggered a three-year prison term.

In 2010 an oil drilling rig coworker invited him to Templo Sinai AG church in Brownfield while he and Melisa, his girlfriend, were living together with their infant son.

During a church prayer meeting, a group of men surrounded Perez at the altar, petitioning God for his salvation.

“I repented of my sins and cried out, help me God,” he says.

The couple married but struggled. They were active at Templo Sinai and grew spiritually yet needed additional discipling.

They joined CLB in 2020. Nick Rogers, the lead pastor and his wife, Alicia, helped them walk through and conquer their hardest challenges using one-on-one counseling, mentoring, and prayer.

“The Holy Spirit matured their faith, marriage and parenting skills,” Rogers recalls.

Within six months Perez jumped into serving CLB, beginning with janitorial work, including the privilege of cleaning toilets.

He completed courses at WTDC’s West Texas Bible Institute for biblical and ministerial training and slowly assumed more responsibilities, including becoming associate pastor.

Rogers encouraged Melisa’s teaching gift and her ability to break down the Word of God for all educational levels. When Rogers joined the West Texas District Council (WTDC) as the district youth director in 2024, Perez was named CLB lead pastor.

“The Lord has transformed me from the inside out”, he declares. “Someone dealt with me and shared the gospel when nobody else wanted to.”

Now, his passion is for reaching others with the same love and intentional discipleship he received while lost and struggling without Christ. And at CLB, no one is out of reach.

CLB ministers to the greater Brownfield area by its weekly food pantry, Living Free class, jail ministry, and the Clothing Closet. A safe house for single women and mothers with children is a long-term goal the church is praying for.

Discipling is a continuing goal, underscores Roman Perez. “You got to catch the fish and clean it,” he says. “We are not in the business of catch and release.” [PhotoGallery path = "/sitecore/Media Library/PENews/Photo Galleries/2026/Within Reach"]

Peter K. Johnson

Peter K. Johnson is a freelance writer living in Saranac Lake, New York. More than 500 of his articles and short stories have appeared in Christian and mainstream magazines and newspapers, including the Pentecostal Evangel,Charisma, the Saturday Evening Post, Guideposts, and Decision. He also serves as a consultant and contributing editor to a scientific journal.