About Me

 For those who don’t know me, I’m Mary Magoni, 22 years old, and a recent graduate of Berry College with a degree in Early Childhood Education. I’m currently living in Rome, GA and spending my second summer working as an intern with the First Presbyterian youth group–which I love! So, so, so much! 

God has graciously blessed me with an amazing family, of which I am daily thankful. My parents have been involved in Christian ministry since I was born, and are such a testament to truly living a life in faith and obedience to God. They have poured unconditional love into my life, and it is thanks to them that I have a relationship with Jesus Christ. I also have two amazing sisters that fill my life with joy through their humor, wisdom, spontaneity, and willingness to sit and talk for hours over coffee.  

For the first 15 years of my life, my walk with God was something I “did” because my dad was a pastor and we were always in church…where I usually never wanted to be. The Lord turned that around for me in high school when I went on a retreat with a ministry called Teen Advisors, and truly met God there for the first time. He rocked my world with what a real relationship with Him meant & looked like. 

Also in high school, I had the opportunity to go on a mission trip with my church to Ukraine and whoa buddy did God do something radical in my heart on that trip. The purpose of our trip was to minister to several orphanages in the area, bringing clothes, toys, and our love and time.

We spent two weeks loving on those kids. In that trip, God forever sealed my heart for the nations & His children. I remember honestly thinking through how I could scoop up and rescue these orphans. My heart yearned to remove them from the pain, loneliness, and fear that I saw, and replace it with a life of peace, security, and love (and a warm shower in the winter!) My plan to immediately adopt and return home with these kids seemed logical to me, until my father shed some realism onto my plan that I had obviously neglected to think through. And yet, my heart ached at the thought of how much these children needed to hear someone say, “I love you. I desire you; you are valuable. I am here for you and will never leave you“. I thought taking them to America would provide those securities, but God showed me that He, their true Father, is the only thing that can satisfy those needs. Oh how the Lord shattered my perception of what is important in life. Our God is GLOBAL and yet created us for an intimate relationship with him. That relationship is meant to bring healing, peace, freedom and JOY that we will live forever with Him. Those two weeks sealed the deal: I want to take the good news of Jesus to people around the world who need to hear it. The broken, neglected, the orphaned.

 

God continued to cultivate that passion for the world throughout high school and into college. The Lord led me to Berry College where he pulled me even deeper to Himself. He surrounded me with an incredible community of believers who challenged me, loved me, laughed & initiated crazy adventures with me, and held me accountable over the past four years. College was the first chance I had to make my walk with God my own. My parents were not making me go to church and I finally felt the freedom to do whatever I wanted!! I experienced a desire to pursue God because of his love and sacrifice for me, not because it was something I had to “do”, but because my relationship with Jesus Christ defined who I am.
 
College has been a beautiful time to really work through my beliefs and where my identity lies. God is continuing to mold and stretch me, and I can only image what He has in store in this next season of our journey together….