Published Fri, Mar 15, 19.
Written by .
By: Angel Gavlis
Have you ever asked yourself what is your mission or purpose in life? Well, I believe our mission in life if to find our purpose; to find the reason why we were created (or, were born)!
I once read that the most important days of our lives are the day we were born and the day we die, but I asked myself “what about the time in between?”
Then I found the answer: the most important day in our lives is when you win the lottery...haha just kidding, or maybe not. See, life is a treasure hunt; we all search for something that will give life a meaning, we go through it, for the most part, trying to find happiness, a career, money, or for some, a purpose.
Well, I would like to tell you that the most important day in our lives is the day we find out why we were born. That is the day everything makes sense, even the reason to see death as a good destination, as the fulfillment of your journey.. and this is what I mean.
I am an immigrant from Colombia. I arrived in the States when I was 18 years old, running away from violence and scarcity. I was looking for an opportunity at life and I had an agenda full of ambition and luggage full of dreams. Soon after, I was able put all that I had criticized so harshly in the rear mirror.
I thought that opportunity would translate into wealth of some sort. And I certainly took advantage of it: I achieved success in many aspects of life. I was able to get the education I came looking for and the material things most of us wish for. But when I received my first look at the American Dream, I found that happiness still eluded me.
Has this ever happened to you, that no matter where you are in life: financially, relationally, or wherever you think success lies, a deeper meaning is missing?
Well, I was there, a couple of years into a life transformed in Christ, but still missing something.
Nonetheless, right in the middle of my life (or career), while doing a project for college, I had this spiritual encounter that provided insight into God’s purpose for my life. That turning point was a message through a psychology course project called “Vision Quest”. The Lord used this to give me “self-actualization”, the true meaning of self with Christ as the center of all.
You see, this project had nothing to do with spirituality, or Christianity, it was just a simple exercise to help us realize our purpose as human beings. I remember the instructions said: Just go where your instincts tell you to go. Let your "intuition" carry you. Just wander, but of course, do not do anything dangerous, to which I thought: “so what’s the fun in that?” Keeping in mind the whole time, that I was on a "quest." – a vision quest, and looking for signs on how this "quest" could lead to insight.
That weekend while I was doing that project, I came to my church’s service on Sunday, and in the program handout, there it was (the sign I didn’t even know I was looking for), in the worship program, the name of the message series to start the following week was… take a guess,“Vision Quest” You might think it was coincidence, but we all know God doesn’t do coincidence!
All through that time I realized my purpose was to create a way to give back some hope to the country I came from and to the unprivileged children of the world, so that by changing their lives, we can help change the destination of our world.
My purpose is Mission Life: a non-profit created to answer Jesus’ call to change the world by connecting children in need with people who care about them.
Change one life, change the world.
