Courage to Care Day story written by Marshall Bantom

My name is Marshall Bantom and I am a MOT Alumni. I was trained as a Young MOTivator in 2019.

Kindness is not always what we do for others, but it can be as easy as just saying “thank you” or “I’m here when you need to talk about anything”

I’ve experienced it first hand. A mutual friend of mine invited me to a Youth Day event.

The programme for the day which was organized by Pastor Emeul Sauls was so blessed. The theme was, “BRING THE GLORY INTO YOUR STORY”.

We as the youth had an opportunity to stand on the platform and share our stories of courage and testimonials. Watching the other youth sharing their stories to a group of 40 – 50 people was so inspiring to me and this gave me the courage to share mine. My story moved everyone that day to a point where everyone was crying. Pastor Emeul called me closer and gave me a tight hug and with tears in his eyes he said soothingly, “from this day onwards you are part of my family and whatever you need we are here for you”. I received the same energy from everyone else that day.

They say blood is thicker than water, but I always ask myself this question “where was blood when I almost drowned?” 

From that day onwards I have felt nothing but unconditional love, care, kindness and love from strangers that I now proudly call my family. And I’m forever grateful to this day for that opportunity to share my story and the kind words I’ve received from my pastor.

These simple acts gave me even more courage to share my story with others and to show others even more kindness because there are lots of people out there in similar or worse situations.