As you may already know, I’m gearing up for a month-long speaking tour this April as part of Sexual Assault Awareness Month.
About a year ago, I received a phone call from a representative of Wayne State College in my home town of Wayne, Neb. They had heard about my book (which I had promoted in the local newspaper, part of the magic I enjoy with being the managing editor), and wanted to know if I’d like to be the keynote speaker for their Sexual Assault Awareness Month program at the college that April.
To say I was jazzed up about the opportunity was an understatement. Not even a week’s delay due to a rare mid-April snowstorm could keep me from speaking out about the topic. I was introduced to some fantastic people that evening and, judging from the reaction friends and family saw from some of those in attendance, I made a positive impact with my speech.
I’ve since taken my talk on the road and have talked with everybody from area school kids to retired citizens. It’s become something that I want to carry forward in an effort to continue helping those who have been through the horror of life as a survivor of sexual assault.
That’s why this month-long journey is so important to me — there are so many people out there who have been sexually assaulted and feel there is nowhere to turn, nobody to talk to and nobody who has experienced what they have.
I know that feeling — for a lot of years, I spent a lot of myself and my resources trying to find avenues to deal with my experience. I’ve stood on the brink of committing suicide, feeling that the burden had become too much to deal with anymore. I couldn’t talk to anybody, I thought, because nobody had been through what I’ve been through. Nobody has suffered in silence as I have. And why would anybody care — they have their own issues and challenges to deal with.
I don’t want one survivor of sexual assault to ever feel that way — and I don’t want them to suffer in silence. That’s why it’s so important for me to tell someone, anyone and everyone about my experience, and this speaking tour is going to help me accomplish that.
It’s taken a lot of years and a lot of garbage for me to get through to realize that God has a purpose for me. It seems crazy to think this, but maybe my experience happened because He wants to use me as His voice to help those who are either dealing with the experience or have had this happen to them in their lives and don’t know what they can do about it. Maybe if I were to take my experience, easily the worst thing that has ever happened to me in my life, and turn it into a positive outcome that can help others — THAT is why I’m here.
This speaking tour is going to last throughout the month of April. I’m taking a month’s leave of absence from my full-time job (and I’m thankful to have the blessing and support of an outstanding and understanding employer) and my plans are to travel wherever I’m asked to deliver my message and — hopefully — offer hope and a voice to those who are going through this experience.
If you’d like to have me come to your school, community or organization, e-mail me at mike@mikeycproductions.com and I can share the details on what it will take on your end to help bring me to your area. I’m excited about what God has in store for me this April — the month can’t get here fast enough.