Sam childers biography

The body of a child torn apart by a landmine lay in the sunburnt grass of Southern Sudan -- This was the moment former US 1%ER & Outlaw biker Sam Childers decided to devote the rest of his life to saving the children of East Africa.

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"The body may have been there for about 12 or 16 hours," Sam Childers said

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"As I stood there over the child I said 'God I'd do anything I can to help these people'."

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Sam Childers will be on his 2024/5 World Tour - speaking to youth detention centres, drug rehab centres, prisons, schools, businesses, churches and organisations where he believes his story will inspire hope and motivate anyone that wants to make successful changes in there lives.

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Sam gave up a life of drugs, crime & violence in the US Outlaw Motorcycle Gang circle - after he noticed his life began to change when he joined his then-girlfriend on her visit to church.

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His dedication to Africa was sparked in 1996 when he stumbled across the child's body during a church mission to rebuild huts destroyed by war in Southern Sudan -- not long afterwards, Childers began building his first orphanage in Southern Sudan after selling his construction business back in the US.

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Most of the orphans have lost their parents due to the atrocities of war , accidents or diseases such as AIDs and malaria -- others are former child soldiers or sex slaves rescued by Childers & his team from local militia and rebel groups.

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"Joseph Kony was wanting to destroy me as much as I wanted to get a hold of him," Childers said of the murderer who is now believed to be hiding somewhere deep in the Congo.

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With an AK47 in one hand and a bible in the other, Childers has become affectionately known as the Machine Gun Preacher.

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His life story was published in his 2009 biography, Another Man's War.  It was turned into a Hollywood feature film in 2011, called The Machine Gun Preacher and starring Glaswegian

While in the Sudan, Sam came across the mutilated body of a child killed by a land mine. The experience shattered him, and Sam made a pledge to God to do whatever he could to help the children of the Sudan.

In spite of war-zone conditions, Sam embarked on a project that locals considered impossible: He built an orphanage near the Ugandan border. A dozen years later, over 1000 children have been sheltered in Sam’s orphanage, with over 150 children there today. In the United States, Sam pastors a church that he built himself, Shekinah Fellowship Church in Central City, Pa.

Sam’s work in the Sudan is controversial. Complaints have been lodged that the children in his orphanage are neglected and in poor health. A pair of American medical experts who visited the compound expressed grave concerns and asked Christianity Today magazine to investigate. However, when Christianity Today staff visited the site earlier this week, they found the children happy and in good health. (Read more at ChristianityToday.com.)

Sam Childers blames the controversy on a Sudanese former staffer who he says was fired for corruption and mismanagement of the orphanage. Still, he admits that at times he has failed in his commitments, including his obligations as a husband and a father, along with mortgage and car payments.

Actor Gerard Butler portrays Sam in Marc Forster’s Machine Gun Preacher, which opens tomorrow, Sept. 23. Sam spoke with me last week (prior to the revelations from Christianity Today) about the film and his work.

Before I get to the serious questions, I just have to ask: You make quite a first impression, and a big part of that is that flamboyant ’stache of yours ...

(Laughing) Thank you.

Do you have any idea why Gerard Butler didn’t wear his facial hair more like yours?

Probably because he can’t grow a good mustache like mine! (Laug

American activist, born in 1962/06/23

Sam Childers (born 1963), also known as the Machine Gun Preacher, is an American motorcyclist, author, and humanitarian. A member of the Highwaymen Motorcycle Club, Childers became well known after Dateline NBC broadcast a profile of him by Keith Morrison and Tim Sandler that documented his interactions with Joseph Kony, the leader of the Lord's Resistance Army in 2005. Childers subsequently dedicated his life and resources to rescuing children in the war zone of South Sudan. Childers and his wife Lynn founded and operate Angels of East Africa, the Children's Village Orphanage in Nimule, South Sudan, where they currently have around 185 children in their care. Childers also has orphanages and homes in Uganda and Ethiopia with another 160 children in his organisation's care.

In 2013, Childers received the Mother Teresa Award for Social Justice.

Early life

Childers was born in Grand Forks, North Dakota, the son of Paul Childers, an ironworker and former Marine. Childers had two older brothers, Paul Jr. and George. He also had a sister, Donna, who died of a heart problem before she was a year old. While he was growing up, his parents moved the family from place to place, following construction projects.

In the spring of 1974, shortly before Childers turned 12, his family moved to Grand Rapids, Minnesota. Going into seventh grade he discovered cigarettes, marijuana, alcohol and heroin, which led to many years of drug addiction, drug dealing, and alcoholism. Childers also developed a love for motorcycles and the lifestyle that led him to become a member of the Outlaws Motorcycle Club.

Childers married a woman named Lynn before converting to Christianity, and had a daughter (Paige) and a son.

Career

Childers converted to Christianity in mid-1992, with t