Hello all,
I want to apologize for not posting much while in Zimbabwe. I heard several times while preparing for this trip, people say that it was going to go by in a blink of an eye but I didn’t know they meant it literally. Zimbabwe was everything and more than we expected it to be.
I want to share a story with you that shows the importance of vulnerability. My team and I spent the entire month showing the Youth for Christ team what it looks like to be open and vulnerable with each other, and in turn, that helped them be open and vulnerable with us.
Here is a beautiful story (and my favorite) of one of our friends watching us throughout the month and then being brave enough to do the same. It’s a story that may be hard for some to read but it’s one that shows God’s immense love for His children. A story of redemption.
Nearing the end of our time with Youth for Christ, one of our sweet friends asked if he could bother me while I was eating my five star lunch (made of hard boiled eggs and carrots). He said he had been intrigued by me the entire month, because of my story. He admired my blodness to get a tattoo of it on my arm. I was confused why it was so hard for him to comprehend that someone would do that. Probably, because I live in a culture where it’s common for people to express their memories, good or bad, in tattoo form.
He then started sharing his story with me. He is a guy who never wears short sleeves, even if it’s a hot summer day in Zimbabwe. If he wears shirts that have no sleeves, his scars would show. He was embarrassed of them. He didn’t want people to know he was struggling. He didn’t want people to know that he wasn’t okay.
He was so thankful for me to be so willing to share my story because he saw me and knew that if i could make it though the things I have gone through, then maybe he could too. While trying to tune into what he was saying, I was having a side conversation with God.
Please, just speak through me, because I have no words.
It’s a beautiful thing, to have Holy Spirit do just that. If you are willing to open your mouth He will say exactly what needs to be said. I spoke so much wisdom and words that I didn’t even know I knew. That’s the beautiful thing about allowing the Holy Spirit to work in and through you.
I stepped away that day, and all I could think to say was thank you.
The next day, he came up to me and told me he needed to talk with me. Seemed pretty important. Lord, prepare my heart for whatever he needs to tell me. He proceeded to give me a shirt. He said it was his favorite shirt, and he wanted me to have it. He wanted me to bring it with me everywhere I went, because when I have a bad day or go though hard things, he wants me to remember that I saved a life.
In his exact words, “Calla the day I came to you, I had bought pills. Lots of them. I was going to cut my blood vessels vertically, on both arms. With the plan to overdose and let myself bleed out in bed, that night. So in the morning it would be too late”.
The day that I allowed myself to be used by the Holy Spirit, was the day that God needed to breathe life back into one of His children. I can’t take credit for saving his life, but I do know that I belong to a God who does incredible things.
I know that sharing your story can be intimidating, but I encourage all of your to step out in boldness to be vulnerable with people you are surrounded by. You never know who needs to hear yours, and you never know who needs someone safe to share theirs. We all have our own story, none better or worse than the next. Allow your story to become a story of redemption.
Because They Haven’t Heard,
Calla Rae
