(Watching intro video for Compassion Int'l.)
And here we go.. Wess is on stage.
(Wess doesn't look like I thought he would. Do I detect a Midwestern accent?)
Leadership without passion really isn't leadership at all.
What should I talk about to-day?
Leadership has to be earned everyday...
"Wess, we want you to speak about pain and hardship."
My passion for children came out of the great suffering I experienced as a young person.
Did I get the laziest guardian angel in all of heaven? Why didn't I get the mercy that I cried out far as a young boy.
There were days where I was writing the story of my abuse and wrote one sentence, then wept the rest of the day.
I learned very early on that terrible things can happen when children are second-rate priority.
He's telling a story about abuse at the hands of missionaries as a kid.
We did everything in our power to avoid the adults and their God.
The same people who were reading us Bible stories were the same people who were prowling the halls and preying on us sexually.
If you tell what happened in this place, you will ruin what your parents have done here in Africa (as missionaries.)
I broke the code of silence. I had told what happened in that place. Everyone turned on me.
"There will be Africans in hell because of this little boy." (Sheesh, that's heavy.)
I was a little boy whose heart was healed by the poor.
When I wake up in the morning, let me be black like all my friends!
I could actually win. I knew it. I wasn't Satan's tool, but a little boy who cried out for help.
Enough, I said, enough shame. Enough pain. Enough abuse.
Eventually Wess' abusers were held accountable, but the damage had been done. A lot of his friends who were abused fell down and never got up.
167,00 accepted Jesus as Lord through Compassion last year. 50,000 were Africans.
The passion that gripped me at age 10 still grips me.
People expect me to grow weary and slow down, but I won't. Because of my story.
I'm never more than 10 seconds away from tears.
By God's grace, I am still useful in his Kingdom.
What's your cause? Can it move you to tears? Tears of joy? Sorrow? What is it that moves you passionately?
Nothing? Oh please, don't live like that. Don't lead like that. God has crafted us all a story that can be redeemed and used.
I want you to look at yourself and ask the question, "Who is this person in front of me?"
if the pain in your life is fueled by someone who hurt you, I have one word for you: Forgiveness.
You're allowing those people to live rent-free in your heart.
You have to give up your right for revenge. Unforgiveness is an open invitation to Satan's bondage in your life.
That's my story. What's yours?
When Jesus wipes the tears from my eyes, I want him to wipe the sweat from my brow.
God Bless you. (And Wess is off the stage.)
