Sam Childers

Childers at an autograph session (2009)

Sam Childers (* 1962 in Grand Forks , North Dakota ) is a former American outlaw motorcycle gang member who is now committed to helping orphans in South Sudan . He and his wife founded in Nimule the Children's Village Angels of East Africa ( English for, Angels of East Africa '), where more than 300 children are cared for. The village takes in children from the combat zones in South Sudan.

Life

Sam Childers was born in Grand Forks, North Dakota, in 1962, to a steel worker and ex-Marine . He has two older brothers. A sister died of a heart defect when she was one year old. His parents moved frequently because of work.

In the spring of 1974, his family moved to Grand Rapids , Minnesota . There the twelve-year-old Childers attended the local middle school and came into contact with cigarettes, alcohol, marijuana and heroin for the first time in the following two years . It was at this early age that his interest in motorcycles and the rocker subculture began, to which he belonged as Hells Angel until 1992 . His lifestyle led to a long drug addiction and criminal life. He worked as a drug dealer and also as a shotgunner , a kind of bodyguard for drug dealers.

In the summer of 1992, Childers turned to the Christian faith at a mass evangelization of the Assemblies of God and went into business for himself as a builder. Childers visited Sudan for the first time in 1998 through an aid project to build schools in Africa . Several more trips followed. There he saw the deeds of the Lord's Resistance Army (LRA) on the spot , which left a lasting, terrifying impression on him. Among other things, he had to watch how child soldiers were forced to fight and a young boy was torn to pieces by a mine. Due to the tragic and unforgettable experiences and the growing realization that the members of his parish hardly supported him, he turned more and more away from the church in order to live a free religious life. Shortly after his visit to Sudan, he and his wife Lynn founded the Angels of East Africa (Engel Ostafrika), a children's village in South Sudan. The organization provides a home for around 300 children (as of 2010) and also takes care of the education and upbringing of the orphans . Since its inception, over 1,000 children have been rescued from war and conflict areas. Most of the organization's employees are orphans and widows themselves. It is the largest children's village in South Sudan and the only one that sends armed relief missions directly to the LRA area.

Childers published a book about his life in 2009. A German translation was published in 2012 under the title Machine Gun Preacher: The true story of a preacher who goes to extremes to save children . November 2009 Childers appeared on Debra Peppers ' television show Outreach Connection in Quincy , Illinois and made public that he is also trying to rescue children kidnapped in Uganda .

filming

In 2011, Relativity Media published a biopic about Childers. The film titled Machine Gun Preacher is based on Childers' autobiography. The screenplay was written by Jason Keller and directed by Marc Forster . Gerard Butler took on the leading role . Other cast members included Michelle Monaghan as Childers' wife and Michael Shannon as his best friend Donnie.

Works

• Machine Gun Preacher: The True Story of a Preacher Who Goes To extremes to save children . Translated by Eva Weyandt . Gerth Medien, 2012, ISBN 978-3-86591-743-0 .

Web links

• Angels of East Africa
• Interview with Sam Childers about the movie Machine Gun Preacher (Engl.)

Individual evidence

1. ^ Machine Gun Preacher - About Sam . machinegunpreacher.org. Retrieved July 2, 2012.
2. ↑ Keith Morrison: In war-torn Uganda, kids only emerge at night - Dateline NBC - msnbc.com . MSNBC. September 26, 2006. Retrieved October 8, 2010.
3. ↑ Interview with Sam Childers about Machine Gun Preacher ( Memento of the original from September 29, 2011 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. 
4. ^ World Missions New Sudan . Boyerspond.com. June 27, 2009. Archived from the original on July 8, 2011. Info: The archive link was automatically inserted and not yet checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. Retrieved October 8, 2010. 
5. ^ Angels of East Africa . Angels of East Africa. Retrieved October 8, 2010.
6. ^ Missionary Fights for Children of East Africa - Christian World News - CBN News - Christian News 24-7 . CBN.com. Retrieved October 8, 2010.
7. ^ Angels of East Africa . Angels of East Africa. Archived from the original on October 8, 2010. Info: The archive link was automatically inserted and not yet checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. Retrieved October 8, 2010. 
8. ↑ Another Man's War | Book Videos, Interviews & Podcasts from B&N Studio . Media.barnesandnoble.com. Retrieved October 8, 2010.
9. ^ Machine Gun Preacher - Sam Childers facts . Freebase. September 22, 2010. Retrieved October 8, 2010.