Nick Vujicic's Visit to Liberia

A little over a week ago Nick Vujicic of Life Without Limbs (http://www.lifewithoutlimbs.org/) visited Liberia on a world tour that he is doing and we had the privilege of having him and his team stay on the m/v Africa Mercy. Nick is from Australia and was born without arms or legs. He struggled with the pain of being different from the other kids in school and has had to learn, with great difficulty, to do things that most of us would consider simple, but would probably seem impossible to conceive of doing without limbs. Nick questioned why God made him with no arms or legs, but eventually realized that God had a purpose for his life. Nick is now travelling the world encouraging others and sharing the good news of life in Christ. I was able to go out to the Samuel K. Doe arena (named for one of Liberia's former dictators who rose to power through a bloody coup and who's end was equally as bloody) in Monrovia and photograph Nick's public speaking engagement there with thousands of the Liberian people. There was much singing and dancing prior to Nick's arrival. They also played Michael W. Smith's "Healing Rain" over the loud speakers. For me that was a very poignant moment. It is my prayer that God would continue to bind up Liberia's wounds. How desperately it continues to need healing!

After a couple of hours of singing, Nick spoke on a table on top of a raised platform. He shared Jerimiah 29:11 with the people: " 'For I know the plans I have for you,' declares the Lord, 'plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future.' " He told them that if God can use a man with no arms or legs to be His hands and feet, then He will also use war-torn Liberia for His purposes as well. Nick's story was one of redemption, redemption of Nick's seemingly hopeless situation. And he encouraged the people there to believe in God's redemptive purposes for Liberia.

One interesting thing I saw there was a man with a tape recorder with a large amount of orange wire hanging from it. I spoke to him briefly and found out that he was reporting on Nick's visit in the Bassa language so that he could later reach the Bassa-speaking people, who would otherwise be hard to reach, though radio broadcast. He told me that often, in the bush, if a woman gives birth to a child with birth defects that this is considered a curse and the baby is often discarded. He wanted to spread the news of Nick's visit and his testimony to encourage families not to consider birth defects as a curse, but rather as an opportunity.

Above is a photo of a young man in a wheel chair that attended the event. One thing that I heard Nick say while he was here was that if you put "Go" in front of "disabled", you end up with "God is abled". Nick's message is very powerful for anyone and we felt very privileged to have met him. We wish him and his team well on their continued journey around the globe.

John