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| Nicholas James Vujicic |
Nicholas James Vujicic was born on December 4, 1982 in Brisbane, Australia. He was born with a rare disease called Tetra-amelia, characterized by the absence of all the four limbs. His dad was a pastor. His mom was a nurse. He struggled as a child, and eventually started his own non-profit organization Life Without Limbs at the age of 17. He was one of the first disabled students integrated into a mainstream school due to his physical disability. He was bullied and teased through school. He struggled with depression and loneliness. At age 10, he tried to drown himself in 4 inches of water, but did not go through with it out of love for his parents. He tried electronic and artificial arms, but they were too heavy for his body to operate. He went through a season of blaming God. Nick questioned the purpose of his life.
Nick credits his strength and courage to Jesus Christ. He prayed that God would heal him, and he wasn’t healed. So in desperation he prayed, “Lord, if you do not change my circumstances, change my heart.” Interestingly, Nick unflinchingly embraces God’s sovereignty in the unique circumstances of his birth. He says, “the life I now live is what has been given to me by His design.” God showed him about the man in John 9 who was born blind and how his blindness was intended so that God’s glory might be displayed in his life. Nick came to realize that Christ could use his hard circumstances for his own glory. And gradually, Nick’s attitude began to change about his circumstances.
A key turning point came when his mother showed him a newspaper article about a man dealing with a severe disability. He began to master the daily tasks of life. He learned to write using the two toes on his left foot with a special grip that slid onto his big toe. He learned to use a computer and type using the "heel and toe" method. He learned to throw tennis balls, play drum pedals, get himself a glass of water, comb his hair, brush his teeth, answer the phone and shave. When he was seventeen, he started to give talks at his prayer group, and eventually started his non-profit organization, Life Without Limbs. Vujicic graduated from university at the age of 21 with a double major in Accounting and Financial Planning. Subsequently he became a motivational speaker, travelling internationally and focusing on teen issues. Having addressed over three million people in over 24 countries on five continents, he speaks to corporate audience, congregations and schools. Vujicic promotes his work through television shows and through his writing. His first book, Life Without Limits: Inspiration for a Ridiculously Good Life (Random House, 2010). It was published in 2010. He markets a motivational DVD, Life's Greater Purpose, a short documentary filmed in 2005 highlighting his home life and regular activities. The second part of the DVD was filmed at his local church in Brisbane – one of his first professional motivational speeches. He markets a DVD for young people titled: No Arms, No Legs, No Worries: Youth Version.
Today Nick travel’s around the world sharing his motivating message of hope. “Look beyond your circumstances,” he tells his audience. People need to know that there is hope beyond the things that imprison us. That hope is found in Christ. Reflecting on the opportunities to speak around the world, Nick says, “I am humbled by the fact that my life is most likely making a bigger impact because I don’t have arms and legs than if I did.” So Nick implored the Sunday morning crowd—“see what God can do with what you have……If God can use a man without arms and legs to be His hands and feet, then He will certainly use any willing heart.”
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