'Life Without limbs' founder Nick Vujicic knows a few things about overcoming adversity. Whether it be adversity born out of a rare condition called tetra-amelia syndrome which left him with no arms or legs since birth, or from the bullies that picked on him as a child. But out of all this adversity was born an overcomer's spirit, and a strong faith in God, and nowadays Vujicic likes few things more than sharing his testimony with the world. He's turned his disability into motivation to spread the Christian gospel to all corners and in his upcoming book he shows how he made it over one obstacle, and then another.
'Stand Strong: You Can Overcome Bullying,' will hit the shelves in a few weeks, and Vujicic has been in Hawaii the last few days vacationing and sharing his message with local students and fans.
According to the Garden Island, On Kauai, he gave two public programs and talked at seven schools on bullying and why it must be stopped.
"You guys are in a lot of pain," he told the kids. "All in all, you have a very high rate of people wanting to give up."
When he mentioned giving up, he was speaking of those considering suicide.
'I felt alone in my fear of bullies,' he writes in the intro to his new book, available April 15. He said he later came to realize he was not alone, and he wants to remind others of that, as well.
The minister, who's shared his inspirational message in over 50 countries, describes how to turn bullies into motivators.
'Bullies want to abuse you. Instead of allowing that, you can use them as your personal motivators,' he writes. 'Power up and let the bully eat your dust.'
Many people are very inspired by Vujicic's personal story, and he has used his struggles to bring many people to Christ. The bestselling author who was born to Serbian immigrants in Melbourne, Australia, has been happily married to his beautiful wife Kanae Miyahara for two years.
Vujicic was born with no limbs except a small 'foot' that helps him stay balanced. As a boy he mastered life's daily work and went on to show that he can do everything that others can do-including writing, typing, and even playing the drums and surfing. By the age of 17 he had started a non-profit through his church to help other people. As Nick conveys in his new book, his parents never wanted him to be treated differently, and they didn't want Nick to play the victim role. Despite the risk of bullying, his parents insisted Nick attended public school.
Nick told the students in Hawaii how who was teased and bullied by other kids at school.
'I was deeply depressed when I was eight years old,' he said. 'I went to my mum crying and told her I wanted to kill myself.'
At age ten Nick, tried to drown himself in the bathtub but luckily he didn't succeed.
Vujicic points to his faith and his family as helping him through it all.
Besides talking to the kids at schools in Hawaii, he also joined Bethany Hamilton, the famed surfer who lost her arm in a shark attack, to address a crowd of people at Ha Coffee Bar. He said nearly 13 percent of teens in Hawaii have tried to commit suicide and obviously many more have considered it. He urged young people not to believe that they don't matter.
"Guys, there is a purpose to your life, and we want you to hear it loud and clear."
He said he believes coming up in a broken home is worse than being born with no arms and legs.
"Fear will cripple you more than a shark attack. Fear will cripple you more than being limbless," he said. "We want you to know you can break through your fears."
