Machine Gun Preacher

One Man Can Make A Difference!

Come and hear the true story of Sam Childers, who overcame a life of drugs and violence to embrace Christianity and wage a 13 year 'war' to free enslaved child in Northern Uganda and Southern Sudan.

Oxford Bible Church is pleased to host Sam Childers, the 'Machine Gun Preacher' on Monday 19th March. Sam's story is one that will inspire and motivate you - from being a drug dealer/user & gun toting thug - to rescuing thousands of South Sudanese and Northern Ugandan children.

Sam Childers grew up in the hills of Pennsylvania. His parents were decent, honest people but at an early age Sam started to show a knack for getting into trouble. His father, a former marine, grew fond of saying “Boy, somebody’s gonna kill you one of these days!”

By his early teens Sam was sliding deeper into a life of violence and crime. He became a Shotgunner – an armed guard for drug dealers. It was during this stage of his life that he met Lynn, a stripper, who would later become his wife.

Haunted by his father’s words, Sam distanced himself from his former life and, together with his wife, found new hope through faith in Jesus Christ. Slowly, things began to change for the better. Lynn gave birth to a healthy baby girl and Sam started his own construction business. Little did they know that their greatest challenge was just around the corner.

In 1998, Sam arrived in Southern Sudan. The African nation was in the midst of the Second Sudanese War, and Sam, urged by his Pastor in America, had joined a mission group to help repair huts damaged in the conflict. During this assignment Sam stumbled across the body of a child torn apart by a landmine. He fell to his knees and made a pledge to God to do whatever it took to help the people of Southern Sudan.

Sam established and run a mobile clinic and later began building an orphanage for the children on the Ugandan border. The local people though he was mad. At the time, the Lord’s Resistance Army, a brutal rebel militia that had kidnapped 30,000 children and murdered hundreds of thousands of villagers, was laying waste to the area. But Sam was adamant and slowly the orphanage began to take shape. During the day Sam cleared the brush and built the huts that would house the children. During the evening, he slept under a mosquito net slung from a tree: Bible in one hand, AK47 in the other.

With the orphanage finished, Sam began to lead armed missions to rescue children from the LRA. It wasn’t long before tales of his exploits spread and villagers began to call him “The Machine Gun Preacher.”

Today the orphanage is one of the largest in Southern Sudan and has fed and housed over 1,000 children. In 2017, more than 185 children call the orphanage home.

Sam is just as dedicated today to the plight of the Sudanese children as he was to when he first went there. Sam’s biography, Another Man’s War, was made into a Hollywood feature film starring Gerard Butler. The film was released in September 2011

MACHINE GUN PREACHER: Come and hear Sam's story and invite others to join us too. All are welcome to what promises to be a powerful evening: Monday 19th March, 7:00PM for a 7:30PM start at Cheney School Hall, Cheney Lane, Headington, Oxford, OX3 7QH.

Entry is FREE. There will be a free-will offering for the work Sam does in South Sudan & Northern Uganda.

For more information email This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. or call 01865 515086