A 180 Story is a personal story about how someone’s life was headed in one direction and how Jesus changed the direction of their life in 180 degrees. At the beginning of Spring semester 2020, our Southern Colorado students were trained on how to write a 3-minute “180 Story” and recorded a video of them sharing that story. Then all the students participating uploaded their videos to one YouTube channel.
Once the videos were uploaded, students shared their own personal videos on social media, sent them to friends, classmates, roommates, etc. and invited some of the people they sent the videos to meet up over a meal to talk more about their stories. In addition to all of this, students wore bright blue shirts that said “Ask me about my #180Story” on campus for a whole week and invited students to come to our Cru Weekly Gathering to find out what this whole “180 Story” thing is all about.
Students' experience with sharing their 180 Stories
“I was really nervous about the prospect of sharing a video on social media for everyone to see talking about my past struggles. So this really forced me to reshape how I view my story and how God can use my story. And it has been so encouraging getting texts from people who were impacted, and seeing my coworkers who are atheists leaving heart reactions on Facebook.”
“I used to really hate myself but being with Cru and experiencing how kind you all are has helped me grow and gain self-confidence! Just a month ago I would’ve been obsessing over how I look in my video and calling myself fat, ugly, misshapen, etc. But now I’m much more satisfied in myself because of the lovely way you’ve all treated me. In the last week, I’ve felt God and trusted Him more I’m my life than I’ve ever had! I’m thankful for all of you!”
“A dad of some of the kids I babysit sent me a really sweet text after seeing the 180 vids, so cool to see God working in parents and kids’ lives-not just college students like I expected!!”
