March for Life UK Speaker Awarded An MBE For His Work With Youth
Christie Spurling who shared his testimony at March for Life UK in 2018 has just been awarded an MBE for his work with young adults. Last year Christie spoke about the challenges he faced as a black child adopted into a white family, growing up in a predominantly white area. He also shared how he was told as a child that he was conceived through rape and the impact this had on him. He didn’t find out until much later in life that his conception was also the result of incest.
Christie found his teenage years a troubling time and ended up in a residential home at aged 14 living with people who he described as ‘very broken and damaged individuals’.
This was clearly the inspiration behind the charity he set up years later called ‘N-Gage’ which helps young people who are going through challenges like the youth he had lived with, and indeed had faced himself once as a young man. The work that ‘N-Gage’ does helps dispel the myth that those who describe themselves as pro-life only care about the unborn as Christie’s charity has helped countless children and young adults regain their sense of self-worth and go on to unwrap their potential in life.
Whilst Christie’s life and achievements are rightly recognised now one can’t help but question the contradictory mindset of some who celebrate his life but claim others like him are disposable if still in the womb. Christie wrote in his autobiography, ‘Facing My Past Unlocking The Future’, that when he found out about the manner of his conception he visited his GP to discuss his feelings. She told him that he was the first person she knew who had been born as a result of ‘that kind of rape’ as ‘Most cases like this are aborted’. Speaking of his birth mum, Christie said ‘What an amazing young girl she must have been – she was in her teens when she was raped so for her to keep me was nothing short of a miracle. My birth mum was a hero!’.
The application for Christie’s MBE was put forward by his wife Jo and supported by letters from many who know him. Christie said ‘As many of you well know I had a difficult start in life and have overcome some challenges but I ended up in a place where I used my experiences, good and bad, to try and help the next generation. All of this has been possible because a couple saw a need and decided to adopt me. It just goes to show you never know how things will turn out’. Christie said that he ‘Was both humbled and honoured to be receiving this award’.
Watch his interview with Ruth from March for Life UK 2018 here
