My 180 Degrees Story
by Aimee Jenelle Zagala, Marketing Assistant 180 Degrees, Inc.
I've been writing short stories and blurbs about how the young people of this generation have been experiencing God's moving in their lives. You have also heard me talk about how our 180 young people are also experiencing their own "180 Degree" turn. However, I don't think I have yet written one about my own. Believe it or not, I have experienced a lot since I started working with them last July 2010.
It's been 6 years since I fully surrendered my life to the Lordship of Jesus Christ. Since then, I'm continuously experiencing "great and mighty" things that He has promised. He gave me a family that I could turn to, a place I could call my home and a future that is definite and secured.
During my formative years as a new believer, I slowly got to know my Savior one day at a time.
Being musically inclined, I became a part of the Praise and Worship team in our church. I also got involved with a Prayer Movement called Student for Christ. Being exposed to people from different denominations in the body of Christ, I began to think outside the box more; perhaps more than what other people my age were interested in. With my desire to learn, I read a lot of books pertaining to this new-found faith.
With everything that I was pursuing at that time, there came a point when I started to think "I know everything about Christianity." But, boy, how wrong I was! Not only did I miss out on a lot of the more important things, but I realized that my heart really was not in-sync with God's heart.
God has been revealing this to me ever since He brought me to 180 Degrees. Slowly, and patiently, He's been teaching me about His ways and what He wants me to do with my life, especially about missions.
Before, my definition of mission is helping people—providing for the poor, sheltering the homeless, feeding the hungry...all that stuff. I recently attended the Kairos: God's Heart for the Nations training, and as I was undergoing it, my definition for missions has slowly been changing.
I started to realize that I wasn't really getting the whole picture. I mean, yes those practical things are important, but it's just a small piece of the pie. What's more important is WHY we do these things… and this is because of people who haven't had a chance to hear about the gospel, not even one time in their lifetime.
In addition, God has also revealed to me much about why He has given me a certain love for other cultures and language, and why He has planted a seed of love in my heart for our Japanese people. It turns out, that this is where He wants me to go to spread His good news and show His glory to the people of "…the rising sun".
by Aimee Jenelle Zagala, Marketing Assistant 180 Degrees, Inc.
I've been writing short stories and blurbs about how the young people of this generation have been experiencing God's moving in their lives. You have also heard me talk about how our 180 young people are also experiencing their own "180 Degree" turn. However, I don't think I have yet written one about my own. Believe it or not, I have experienced a lot since I started working with them last July 2010.
It's been 6 years since I fully surrendered my life to the Lordship of Jesus Christ. Since then, I'm continuously experiencing "great and mighty" things that He has promised. He gave me a family that I could turn to, a place I could call my home and a future that is definite and secured.
During my formative years as a new believer, I slowly got to know my Savior one day at a time.
Being musically inclined, I became a part of the Praise and Worship team in our church. I also got involved with a Prayer Movement called Student for Christ. Being exposed to people from different denominations in the body of Christ, I began to think outside the box more; perhaps more than what other people my age were interested in. With my desire to learn, I read a lot of books pertaining to this new-found faith.
With everything that I was pursuing at that time, there came a point when I started to think "I know everything about Christianity." But, boy, how wrong I was! Not only did I miss out on a lot of the more important things, but I realized that my heart really was not in-sync with God's heart.
God has been revealing this to me ever since He brought me to 180 Degrees. Slowly, and patiently, He's been teaching me about His ways and what He wants me to do with my life, especially about missions.
Before, my definition of mission is helping people—providing for the poor, sheltering the homeless, feeding the hungry...all that stuff. I recently attended the Kairos: God's Heart for the Nations training, and as I was undergoing it, my definition for missions has slowly been changing.
I started to realize that I wasn't really getting the whole picture. I mean, yes those practical things are important, but it's just a small piece of the pie. What's more important is WHY we do these things… and this is because of people who haven't had a chance to hear about the gospel, not even one time in their lifetime.
In addition, God has also revealed to me much about why He has given me a certain love for other cultures and language, and why He has planted a seed of love in my heart for our Japanese people. It turns out, that this is where He wants me to go to spread His good news and show His glory to the people of "…the rising sun".
This learning, by far, is the biggest, greatest and most difficult 180 Degree turn that I've happening in my life right now…from being an in-ward looking Christian to a more outward looking Missionary-in-training.
How about you? What's your 180 Degrees story?
