By Saziye Gourley-Ozhayta
(Photo by Alex Rostro)
When did you fall in love with music?
When I was a young child. I used to sing at children’s church and at quinceaneras in Mexico. I was raised only listening to Spanish Christian music and traditional hymnals until I was about 16. Ever since, I discovered more contemporary worship music and seeing how God uses it to channel his glory.
Since you have been at Milligan, do you think that your music playing has improved?
The year before I came to Milligan the Lord called me to write worship music. It’s a passion that he’s put in my heart and I prayed for him to find a way for me to further my studies in music in order to grow in my craft. The Lord not only provided a school that was financially generous, but they also have a worship leadership major! In response, I have been writing more and more music recently due to the growing relationship I have with God and the people who I look up to and who God has used to touch my heart.
Tell us about Jessica. I know when you performed at Mr. Buff you talked about her in your speech.
Before arriving at Milligan, God gave me a song about a girl, which surprised me because God has never done that before! The song spoke about a very specific girl with a very harsh yet beautiful testimony. In the song I speak of holding this girl and loving this girl the way that Jesus would. At Milligan, I met Jessica in a ministry class. Soon enough we became great friends, but it wasn’t until after I heard her testimony that I realized she was the girl! We felt the Lord calling us to a relationship, and after much prayer, we began to date. A day or two after we began to date (and before it was “Facebook official”) my mother called me on the phone asking if I was seeing anyone. Naturally I said, ” Uh…no”. But she insisted that God gave her a dream where I was dating someone with a very specific testimony — the same testimony from the song and from Jessica’s life. I took this as God telling me to treasure and take care of this girl because she was a gift. We’ve been happily growing in faith and in love together since.
How do you try to convey the Word of the Lord in your singing?
I always try to make the songs that I write as biblical as I can. If I look at all my favorite songs, I realize that they are all very rooted in the Word of God. If I want to speak about the glory of God or of the mercy of God, I search for it in the Bible. Sometimes my friends and I will join together in looking through the Bible for the songs. Most of the time however, God will speak to me or put something very strongly in my heart. These are the moments when I’ve written songs with the most powerful effect on people. I give all glory and honor to God for those moments and those songs.
If you have one favorite song, what would it be and why?
This is the most difficult question you’ve asked so far. If I really have to come down to it, I think my favorite song is a simple chorus that comes from a very old Mexican hymn. It says: ” Jesus, I love you. Jesus, I love you. I do not know where I would be if I did not have you. There is no one like you, my Jesus”. The song reminds me of my childhood in Mexico and of how the people were filled with his glory even without the amazingly composed music and the awesome worship team. It brings me a heart of worship and humbles me when I write my own songs. It is the song that I warm up with before any performance or worship event.
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