When Darkness Gave Birth to Light: A Memoir of Love, Loss, And Triumph

RITA AKELLO

Part I – The Betrayal
When Love Turned into a Nightmare

We begin today with the first episode of an extraordinary life story. A journey that starts in rejection but rises into resilience and grace. Welcome to the first part of my life story. This is not an easy story to tell, but it is mine. And if even one person finds strength in it, then it is worth sharing.

My story began long before I was born almost 43 years ago. It began with rejection. You see, I was never meant to be here, at least not in the eyes of some. I was unwanted, a mistake, a child conceived in circumstances that carried no joy. At conception, I was already rejected.

But God had other plans.

My mother, despite all the whispers, despite the shame, despite the heavy weight on her shoulders, chose me. She chose to believe that I was not an accident. She chose to believe that even though others had turned away, God had set me apart. Like the scripture in Psalms 27:10 says: “Though my father and mother forsake me, the Lord will receive me.” Those words are not just ink on paper to me; they are the truth of my life.

To this day, I have never met my father. I don’t know who he is. I don’t know what he looks like. I have only heard scattered, half-told stories. But never the truth. Never the certainty of saying, “This is him.” And for years, that absence could have become a wound, a shadow. But it didn’t  because my mother filled the gap with love. She told me again and again that I was not a mistake. She anchored my childhood in the promises of God.

She would remind me of Jeremiah 1:5: “Before I formed you in the womb, I knew you. Before you were born, I set you apart.” I clung to those words. I believed them. I still do.

So while rejection was the soil in which my story began, faith and grace became the water that helped me grow. I grew up not feeling inadequate, not feeling less, but knowing that I was chosen chosen by God, even when man rejected me.

Life has not been without pain. There were many days when the weight of not knowing my earthly father pressed against me. But with time, I began to understand something deeper: that my pain was part of God’s purpose. Like Joseph, betrayed by his brothers, I too can now say: “You intended to harm me, but God intended it for good, to accomplish what is now being done.” (Genesis 50:20).

That is the story of my life: ashes turning into beauty, wounds becoming testimonies. Psalm 147:3 says: “He heals the brokenhearted and binds up their wounds.” And that is exactly what God has done for me.

Today, I do not stand before you as someone defined by rejection. I stand as someone transformed by grace. My identity is not in being unwanted; my identity is in being chosen, loved, and purposed.

And I want you to hear this clearly: If you are carrying rejection, if you have ever been told you were unwanted, if you are raising a child under difficult circumstances, please remember this God loves you. You are not a mistake. That child is not a mistake. Even that relationship that ended in pain is not the end of your story.

Psalm 139:14 says it best: “I am fearfully and wonderfully made.” And so are you. You are part of God’s masterpiece. And your story, like mine, is still being written.

This is just the beginning. Watch out for Part II of my journey…