Tabitha Carmen Acang was three years old when she was diagnosed with alopecia, an autoimmune disease that causes partial or complete hair loss. Her parents bought her a wig to ease the emotional pain, but childhood was relentless. The wig would sometimes slip or fall off, isolating her further from peers who already did not understand.
The Weight of Insecurity
By her early teens, the insecurity had metastasized into something darker. Tabitha was not just struggling with how she looked. She was struggling to want to be alive. Self-harm became a coping mechanism. Suicidal thoughts became a companion. The girl from Memphis, Tennessee was drowning in a pain no one around her fully understood.
The Camp She Almost Did Not Survive
Her youth pastor urged her to attend Tennessee Youth Camp in Nashville. She was eleven. She went. During an afternoon at camp, she slid down a makeshift waterslide and her wig flew off in front of everyone. Mortified, she grabbed it and ran into the girls' restroom to cry. Everything she had been trying to hide was suddenly exposed.
But something else happened at that camp. During a worship service, Tabitha, who had only just begun learning guitar that year, felt God calling her to become a worship leader. It made no sense. She could barely hold herself together. But the call was unmistakable.
The Night She Was Set Free
The following summer, Tabitha returned to Tennessee Youth Camp. This time she came ready. During worship, she completely surrendered everything: the alopecia, the self-harm, the suicidal thoughts, the shame. And in that moment, she was instantly set free. The desire to harm herself was gone. The suicidal thoughts were gone. Not gradually. Not through a process. Gone.
The Holy Spirit did in one worship service what years of pain could not undo.
What God Built from the Ashes
Tabitha did not just survive. She became the very thing God called her to be at that first camp. In 2017, she received an Award of Merit for Worship Leading Solo at the National Fine Arts Festival. She was invited to lead worship at the Tennessee General Council of the Assemblies of God.
When Tabitha stands behind a microphone, strums her guitar, and sings, something happens. People weep. God's presence fills the room. Her youth pastor says it plainly: with her testimony and the insecurities she has been able to overcome, she speaks to so many people, especially young girls.
The girl who once hid behind a wig and long sleeves now stands in front of crowds, fully seen, leading others into the same presence that set her free.
