LIFE WITHOUT LIMBS

Nick Vujicic doesn't have any arms or legs.

He was born missing both. His only appendage is a left foot attached to his lower torso.

So it almost goes without saying this 22-year-old Australian has struggled greatly. "At school, kids would pick on and tease me," said Vujicic in a recent telephone interview. "People would ask, What happened to you? I told them I didn't know. At times I would look at my life and think, If God really loves me, why has he made me different?"

Nick Vujicic

Growing up, no one seemed to offer sufficient spiritual or medical explanations for his missing limbs, even though his father was a Christian pastor and his mother a nurse. He was bitter until age 12, when his mother showed him a newspaper article about a man dealing with a severe disability. It would change his outlook on life. Suddenly, he wasn't the world's only struggling person.

Then at 15, he began believing in God. "Everything happens for a reason," he said of his disability. "God knew my pain. I wanted somebody who knew my pain and say everything was all right. That was something only he could do. Now I see his great plan."

With only a seven-inch left foot, he in time would learn to type, write, walk, comb his hair, brush his teeth, and take care of personal needs. And he would earn a Bachelor of Commerce degree.

As a public speaker today, he travels the globe. "It's my passion," he said. "One of my goals is to give people hope." When speaking at corporate functions, he said "grown men" have wept on his shoulders because of his story. He receives scores of emails, some from teens that had been contemplating suicide until they heard him speak at their school.

Nick said, "I used to hate it when people stared at me, but now I take it as an opportunity. I deliberately make sure I smile back. One day this lady put her arms around me, and without saying a word, started crying on my shoulder. She said, 'Your smile just brightened my day.'"

He is especially passionate about reaching people with disabilities in third world countries. He said, "I may not be able to change the world, but by God's grace I want to change the world of thousands of people."

For more, see www.danieljvance.com or www.lifewithoutlimbs.org

• missing [´misiŋ] a.缺掉的；失踪的 (初中词汇)
• interview [´intəvju:] n.&vt.接见；会见；交谈 (初中词汇)
• spiritual [´spiritʃuəl] a.精神(上)的；神圣的 (初中词汇)
• medical [´medikəl] a.医学的；医疗的 (初中词汇)
• severe [si´viə] a.严厉的；苛刻的 (初中词汇)
• commerce [´kɔmə:s] n.商业；社交；交流 (初中词汇)
• speaker [´spi:kə] n.演讲人；代言人 (初中词汇)
• saying [´seiŋ, ´sei-iŋ] n.言语；言论；格言 (高中词汇)
• pastor [´pɑ:stə] n.牧师 (高中词汇)
• dealing [´di:liŋ] n.交易；来往 (高中词汇)
• bachelor [´bætʃələ] n.未婚男子；学士 (高中词汇)
• suicide [´su:isaid, ´sju:-] n.&a.自杀(者)(的) (高中词汇)
• deliberately [di´libərətli] ad.故意地；慎重地 (高中词汇)
• passionate [´pæʃənit] a.易动情的；易怒的 (高中词汇)
• outlook [´autluk] n.眺望；景色；展望 (四级词汇)
• speaking [´spi:kiŋ] n.说话 a.发言的 (六级词汇)