Imagine starting with a new company, and the first team task meeting ends in a time of prayer. Talk about culture shock. In 2018, Justin Aguilar joined the software team at Betenbough Companies with absolutely no knowledge of the company's faith-based culture. At that time, Justin described his faith as "agnostic at best." He believed in a higher power but hadn't prayed or attended church in a very long time.
Justin's team was led by software manager Michael Horton, who, along with software development manager, James Woodley, would pray every day during morning stand-up meetings. The Kingdom culture at Betenbough made Justin feel a little uneasy, yet he accepted it and decided not to become invested in it.
"For the first time, we opened our Bibles together."
As time went on, Justin found himself in more and more situations where there was undeniably a presence from the Lord. For example, Justin and his wife, Cassie, struggled personally with fertility, and Justin found refuge in one-on-one time with his leader, Michael Horton. "Those conversations gave me an outlet for my frustrations. I needed some way to express myself and work through what my wife and I were going through, and one-on-ones helped me open up," Justin said.
One-on-ones weren't the only times Justin felt the presence of God at Betenbough. The software team worked on a challenging project that presented problem after problem. The team prayed about these persistent problems and asked the Lord to give them exactly what they needed or the wisdom to resolve the issues. A solution would present itself each time. Justin couldn't believe how often the problem would get corrected, just as the team was about to give up. He remembers asking Michael Horton, "Can you believe this?" Michael so confidently said, “That’s God working in our team.” From there, Justin began the work of putting all the pieces together. This wasn't by might or power of man but a result of the Lord's providence.
Weeks later, James Woodley sent out a company-wide Discovery Bible study invitation. Justin was interested in seeing James's analytical approach to the gospel. So he began to attend the Bible study. "At this point, I was on the journey to discover my faith, but I hadn't brought my wife, Cassie, into it yet," Justin said. During quarantine in Spring 2020, Justin, Cassie, and Justin's mother-in-law started doing the Bible study. "For the first time, we opened our Bibles together." Soon after, Justin and Cassie found out they were expecting a baby girl! They wanted to know more about this miracle-working God, and they wanted their daughter to learn of Him, too. The importance of God's perfect timing is not lost on Justin. He said, "Our infertility treatments failed because it wasn't time." Justin believes that God wanted Justin and Cassie to follow Him before giving them a daughter, and not one moment sooner. Through tears, Justin said, "I wouldn't want Myla to have me as a dad before I knew God."
In 2021, Justin was promoted to software development manager. Justin now appreciates the faith-filled culture at Betenbough that once made him uneasy. "I've personally seen the transformation," he said. He leads his team in prayer every morning, viewing it as the most important part of the day. Non-believers are asking for prayer. Justin sees the similarities in some of his team members in how he was when he first started at Betenbough Companies. Justin said, "I don't need to be perfect. I don't need to be a pastor. I don't even need to know the songs or the Bible inside and out. I just need to try. That's my story as a leader and how I will connect with my people."
Justin Aguilar leading team stand-up
Justin Aguilar with his family