The vision for 180 was birthed in the heart of Steve Austin sometime in 1995. Steve was in a long-term, Christ-centered, residential treatment facility for people with life-controlling problems called Teen Challenge.  Once Steve responded to God’s call by committing to spend the rest of his life helping those who have walked the same road he has walked, God revealed how He wanted Steve to accomplish that task. 

Early one morning God spoke through His Word out of Isaiah 61:1-3

“The Spirit of the Sovereign LORD is on me,

because the LORD has anointed me to preach good news to the poor.

He has sent me to bind up the brokenhearted,

to proclaim freedom for the captives

and release from darkness for the prisoners,

to proclaim the year of the LORD's favor

and the day of vengeance of our God,

to comfort all who mourn, and provide for those who grieve in Zion -

to bestow on them a crown of beauty instead of ashes,

the oil of gladness instead of mourning,

and a garment of praise instead of a spirit of despair.

They will be called oaks of righteousness,

a planting of the LORD for the display of his splendor.” 

It was one of those “WHEW!!!” moments for Steve. Steve says,

“Could you, the God of the entire cosmos, really be inviting me to join You and start something that’s on Your mind and heart?  Can You actually use me considering ALL the bad things I have done in the past?  Once I realized that God was for real, He began showing me that I was to lay my life down for the poor, the brokenhearted, the captives, and the prisoners entangled in the same snares of addiction that once held me captive.” This was how 180 was birthed, however, God still had some work to complete in Steve before He could trust him with His plan.

God shaped Steve’s character to match the assignment through another eight years of school, teaching, preaching, counseling, and pastoring.  About 2:00 a.m. November 2, 2002, Steve got out of bed to spend some uninterrupted time with God. For the next four hours, God laid out a detailed plan for 180 Degrees Ministries®. By 6:00 a.m. the mission, purpose, vision, and scope of the ministry was clear.  What we do and why we do it was already on paper.  Steve says, “It took God only four hours to help me put it on paper, but it took me eight years of preparation to get to the place where He could trust me with His vision.  That is why my personal philosophy in life is, never underestimate the significance and importance of the process.”

The next five months were filled with lots of prayer, sharing the vision with anyone who would listen, raising start-up costs and on-going financial commitments, and making preparation to begin a new journey on faith.  Steve made arrangements to meet with a lawyer and begin the “official” process of setting up a non-profit corporation called 180 Degrees Ministries® on April 30, 2003.  Though God had clearly led Steve through the entire process thus far, he had not received direct confirmation from God’s Word for the final “go-ahead” with the lawyer.  Steve says, “anytime a major decision is to be made, I only move forward after confirmation from scripture. This way, when times get tough and they always do, when circumstances don’t line up with the vision and sometimes they won’t, I have the foundation of God’s directives speaking through His Word to buckle down and anchor into.  At times, pioneering this journey means the only thing you have is the assurance of God’s confirmation to keep you going; but you soon realize that it’s ALL you need!!!”

Waiting for confirmation, the night before the meeting with the lawyer, Steve stayed up until late into the night with his Bible closed in his lap wondering if confirmation was coming. By about 2:00 a.m. Steve decided not to go meet with the lawyer the next morning because God had not confirmed the forward movement. BUT, before going to bed, he grabbed his Bible and flippantly opened it and the page fell to Deuteronomy 1 - This is what he read:

“The LORD our God said to us at Horeb,

"You have stayed long enough at this mountain. 

Break camp and advance into the hill country of the Amorites;

go to all the neighboring peoples in the Arabah, in the mountains,

in the western foothills, in the Negev and along the coast,

to the land of the Canaanites and to Lebanon,

as far as the great river, the Euphrates. 

See, I have given you this land. Go in and take possession

of the land that the LORD swore he would give

to your fathers-to Abraham, Isaac and Jacob-

and to their descendants after them." 

Needless to say, phrases like, “you have stayed long enough at this mountain,” and, “break camp and advance into the hill country…the neighboring peoples…western foothills…along the coast…I have given you this land to your fathers and their descendants after them.” 

This caught Steve’s attention and he knew God had, again, been faithful to confirm the direction for his life and many, many others in the future!  The next day Steve went to meet with the lawyer and the ministry became “official!”