Nick Vujicic was born in 1982, surprising his parents and doctors when they saw he had no arms or legs. It’s a rare birth defect known as tetra-amelia syndrome. Nick tells us the Australian doctors were extremely apologetic that they had not detected the syndrome and offered his mother the option of abortion. For a growing boy, not having limbs and knowing what the doctors had said, gave little Nick a rough path.
“Looking at my brother and sister born after me – and them having arms and legs – kind of felt a little unfair and weird. And with no answers, it’s easy to start believing the lies, the little voices that say, ‘you’re not good enough, you’re a mistake, there is no greater purpose for your life,’ and so as I went to school, I was facing bullying. I went through depression at age 8 until age 12, and I felt like there was no hope for my life.” During that period, Nick attempted to take his own life by drowning. Fortunately, he failed.
Fast forward to today. “Here I am now at age 40, with a beautiful wife, four beautiful children, and this incredible ministry Life Without Limbs – being the hands and feet of God (even without hands & feet), standing in front of the gates of hell and redirecting traffic. I now try to encourage everyone that no matter what pain we go through, that God can do beautiful things with our broken pieces…if we give those broken pieces into his hands.”
But what happened in between his dark childhood and adult years to turn his heart to God and away from self-doubt?
You’ll hear all about that in our podcast interview just below. In our podcast, Nick shares his drive to share the message of Christ, and a lofty goal. He also focuses on what stops people from considering a relationship with Jesus, and how that can be overcome. You’ll also learn how Life Without Limbs is currently training believers to be certified and serve as counselors in churches to address what Nick sees as a tremendous problem of brokenhearted-ness among so many people. Nick emphasizes, “It’s one thing to have your soul saved and then continue to come back to church, but some of us go to our graves still brokenhearted – and I feel that’s part of our mission here at Life Without Limbs to see children of God healed as well.” Give a listen.
And Nick is also featured in a special revealing I Am Second Video where he shares encouragement.