Anti-Bullying Rally in Flint

We held an Anti-Bullying Rally in Flint yesterday!

Rocking the Violence Out Of Flint was amazing!

Ryan LoRee from Team Revelation Gym put the event together. He had talked to some people out at Walmart when we were doing our fundraising event there and that's when he got in touch with us about speaking and doing our Abuse Bites presentation. Anything to team up with others to stop abuse, bullying and violence! 

Together we can do this!

Ryan (above) founded Team Revelation a non-profit judo/wrestling type place to give free instructions and mentoring to troubled kids and youth! Kudos Ryan!

Ryan's two beautiful little girls fell in love our Yorkie, Lover.

This little boy stopped to play with Lover.

This boy's little sister was afraid of dogs...

At first she even turned her head away and wouldn't look at him...

But then I actually got her to play with Lover!

Great Things Happened All Day! And we met some really amazing people!

The Judge William Crawford (right) and a Respite Volunteer from a local shelter.

A lady & her daughter are entering our Free Book Drawing! We donated a whole box of books so that everyone who entered could win!

Judge Crawford stayed longer than he intended just to do the special honor of signing Brian's Memory Quilt! It was a very emotional moment!

The man behind the judge is making a documentary about this event.

We played some fun interactive games!

These Kids Learned How to FIGHT BACK to Stop Bullying!

Then I had the privilege of sharing "The Change Of Heart Program" in memory of my precious son, Brian. And I could not believe the results! People were coming up to me, one by one, telling me what a difference my speech made in their lives. WOW!

This young man came up after and confessed he had been a bully until the 8th grade, but had since asked forgiveness from his victims. He also explained that he often spent the night at his cousins house when he was younger and they would bully him and his brother, so he thought he had to fight like them to be cool. I gave him a hug and thanked him for sharing.

Another young man had a shirt on that said "I love Haters" and he was so loving, but said to me, "I shouldn't have worn this shirt probably to something like this." I said, "I love your shirt, and I love Haters too! With people like you and I they will learn to be Lovers!" And he gave me a hug! He works with the Reach program to help troubled youth.

A woman came up and thanked me. She said her husband wasn't going to attend the event at all, but at the last minute changed his mind. Later he told her, "I think I was meant to here this lady speak, it really touched my heart." This man had been bullied and abused his entire life!

Several others thanked me as well and were really happy about what we're doing.

But the grand finale and best part is when Jeremiah sang, "We Are The Body" by Casting Crowns. It's the first time in quite awhile he's sang in front of a crowd. 

Just to think, a month ago Jeremiah nearly committed suicide, but God spared him and is using him once again to change hearts and save lives! This is one proud mamma, excited about taking this message forth!

Thanks Ryan Loree, Team Revelation, and The Bridge Church for allowing us this great opportunity to present at your 1st Rocking the Violence Out of Flint Benefit! May we do even more awesome things together next year!

Written by: Lisa Freeman, CEO of AbuseBites.com, offering healing anti-bullying workshops to schools, workplaces, and communities. More Info 

Youth Anti-Bullying Rally Jackson, Missouri

We had an amazing time in Jackson, Missouri this week at the the Rock International Ministries Church! Thank you Pastor Derrick Beasley for inviting us to come. I had my "I Love Being Me" shirt on that I found at Penney's right before the trip--it was an amazing message on top of everything else!

We started the program off with a Youtube video of Jeremiah singing, since he was still in the hospital and couldn't be with us. 

Jeremiah is battling Post Traumatic Stress Disorder and Depression related to bullying. Bullying is tragic, and can have tragic results. That's why we are passionate about going wherever the door opens to educate and bring about the safety and prevention that is needed to change hearts and save lives.

As you can see above, a nice group of kids and adults came out to the Anti-Bullying Rally. There was a conflicting event going on in the community for back to school, so sadly many kids missed out because they had to attend this other event or they would not have gotten the school supplies they needed. Still we had a great time!

We had so much fun interacting, playing games, and doing demonstrations. Below we are playing our peer pressure and self abuse games. Pastor Derrick is assisting in the first game. My hubby, John, was assisting in the second one.

But we also got serious--down to business--and watched a big CHANGE take place! This beautiful little girl that was labeled the bullying in one of our demonstrations, kept the tag on and labeled herself the "bully".

But at the end of the program she crumpled up the bully label and threw it away! 

I said, "What, you don't want to be a bully no more?" She said, "No!"

Nearly everyone came forward when we had our CHANGE CHALLENGE, only about 4-5 kids stayed in their seats. All the others wanted to make a change in their own lives and hearts so they could go out and be the change for others and stop abuse, bullying and violence!

Another great thing that happened, this was our SIGNING of the Memory Quilt. I'm so thrilled and honored that the FIRST HEART was signed by Pastor Derrick Beasley, a young man that grew up in our neighborhood, who has always been like a son to me, and now is a Youth Pastor at Rock International Ministries and is a fine preacher and teacher! He has such a love and passion for kids and is raising three children that aren't even his own, right now! I couldn't be more proud!

We were blessed so much with not only really nice hotel accommodations, but also took up a love offering, and even took us out for a delicious lunch. We met Pastor White and his lovely first lady. We were able to share our heart and our mission, and they are hoping to bring us back to do a community wide event with some schools! YAY!