Locked In with Ian Bick - 1% Outlaw Biker Becomes Machine Gun Preacher: Taking on Africa’s Warlords & Saving Thousands of Kids | Sam Childers

Episode Date: October 2, 2024

Sam Childers shares his journey from a 1% outlaw biker to the infamous Machine Gun Preacher. In this episode, Sam shares his incredible transformation from living a life of crime to taking on Africa��s most elusive warlords and saving thousands of children from dangerous militias. With a Hollywood movie made about his life starring Gerard Butler, Sam's real-life story is filled with action, redemption, and bravery. Get an inside look at the battles he's faced, the lives he's saved, and what it takes to become a true warrior for justice. #SamChilders #MachineGunPreacher #TrueStory #OutlawBiker #AfricaWarlords #ChildRescue #GerardButler #TrueCrime #RedemptionStory #Humanitarian #RescueMission #Warlord #InspirationalStory #LifeTransformation #CrimeToHero Hosted, Executive Produced & Edited By Ian Bick: https://www.instagram.com/ian_bick/?hl=en https://ianbick.com/ Connect with Machine Gun Preacher: https://www.machinegunpreacher.org/ FB: https://www.facebook.com/MGP Presented by Tyson 2.0 & Wooooo Energy: https://tyson20.com/ https://woooooenergy.com/ Buy Merch: https://lockedinbrand.com Use code lockedin at checkout to get 20% off your order Timestamps: 00:00:00 Sam Childers on Books, Movies, and Documentaries 00:05:33 Embracing Life Without Retirement 00:11:07 Transition from Wealth to Missionary Life 00:16:49 The Stigma Around Motorcycle Clubs 00:22:15 Surviving the Worst Bar Fight: A Turning Point 00:27:50 Legal Struggles and Redemption 00:33:31 First Trip to Africa and Witnessing Atrocities 00:39:54 The Origin of "Machine Gun Preacher" 00:46:28 The Horrors of Child Soldiers and the LRA 00:51:25 Confronting Rebel Groups in Africa 00:57:03 Soldier Encounters and Survival Stories 01:03:08 Building a New American Style Strip Mall 01:09:04 Experiences During the Coney War 01:15:08 The Story Behind the "Never Stopped" Documentary 01:20:36 Facing Family Challenges with Alzheimer's 01:26:01 How Clyde Carter Changed My Life 01:31:57 Angels of East Africa: A Long-Term Mission to Save Children Powered by: Just Media House : https://www.justmediahouse.com/ Creative direction, design, assets, support by FWRD: https://www.fwrd.co Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

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These savings won't last. So don't wait. Shop Wayfair's Memorial Day clearance now through May 25th. Way fair, every style, every home. Sam, machine gun preacher, welcome to Lockton. Thank you to Demons Row. So it's the ghost for making this happen all the way from Africa to be here. I'm glad we made this work and we can sit down with you.

I'm telling you. Yeah, really awesome, man. Yeah, and for the audience, he's fired up today. He's ready to lock and load. Yeah. And I want you to plug in, you know, your books, your movies, your documentaries. You're working on a third book now. You have a new documentary that just came out.

And I want to plug that in at the top of this. Yeah, I tell you what, for, I always say for a non-educated heelbelly, uh, God really done a lot in my life. You know, we got to Hollywood movie and stuff, the machine gun preacher. It's still on Netflix. It's still on Amazon, Amazon Prime, Hulu, a lot of places. But there's a documentary that's about 10 years old. And it's still last year, my preacher found out that there was a hundred and twenty-three

thousand downloads and people still buying it and watching it. That's the old documentary. So I have two books that's out. Another Man's War is one. Living on the Edge is the second one. The third book is titled The Most Unlikely. And when you open the third book, it sounds like it's about me because it has my name, but really it's about you.

And when you read the title, the front of the book says, the most unlikely, you open it, the most unlikely never to succeed in life, Sam Childers. But when you read the book, the book is about giving people opportunities. Like if a man wouldn't have given me an opportunity many, many years ago, I wouldn't be here today. I'd probably either be in prison or I'd probably be dead, you know, because the lifestyle I was living many years ago, there was only two things for you in that lifestyle, death or prison? Where were you born? My dad was part American Indian.

My dad thought unemployment was welfare. So we moved all over the U.S. I was born in North Dakota. He was working on the missile plants. My brothers were born in Minnesota. We ended up here in Pennsylvania. he was building the coal temples, you know. So I went to seven different high schools over the U.S., you know, so we traveled around a lot, you know.

Wow. What was that like hopping around as a young kid? Do you think that affected your growth and development? I don't believe that's good for children to move around like that because I believe that's what put me in, got me into a lot of situations that I made bad decisions. You know, when you go into a new school, you know, if you're raised from kindergarten all the way to 12th grade one school, you know, you can decide who you want to be. But back in my day, you were either a nerd, a jock, or a hood. You know, there was only three choices. And the ones that always welcomed everyone was the hoods.

And the hoods were the ones, you know, smoking cigarettes, doing drugs and partying, you know. So that's where a lot of my troubles came from. So you went with the hoods, I'm guessing? You know, like I said, it wasn't, I think the hoods are more open, you know. A jock was the ones that always wanted to tease you and make fun of the people that might not be right in school, you know. And so the hoods were the ones that would take up for the nerds. And I got to say the hoods were the ones that welcomed everyone. I mean, if you were a nerd, the hood was going to welcome you, you know, but welcome you with a joint, you know.

That is very true. I never looked at it that way. Yeah, yeah. So, you know. If there was one thing from your childhood, you could kind of relive or take back or wish didn't happen, what would that be if there is anything? You know, I don't think there's anything that I would want to change. I believe that what I've went through, the fights, you know, everything that I went through in life made me who I am today. So if I would want to change something, it might change who I ended up being.

And I don't really want to change yet because my heart now is saving children. I mean, that's my life. And you don't find too many people that dedicated 28 years of their life to being in a war zone, rescuing children. And I never used to really look at it until my family, my brother and me is really close. and I used to just think, well, I'm just an ordinary person until one day not too many years ago and stuff, my brother said, Sam, look who you are. Look who you are. Who dedicates 28 years to saving children?

Now I'm getting old. You know, I'm 62 years old, still suiting up, still putting on a bulletproof vest, still going into the wars, rescuing children. So if I change something of my past, it might change who I am today. And I don't want that. Yeah. And it's so, you know, interesting and unique that you're not just speaking on the past. You're living this now, like in two weeks or in a week you go back out there to continue what you're doing. Yeah.

That's one of the things that I want the world to really see, you know. I'm really pushing the new documentary. Never stop. I feel there's too many people my age that. worked hard all their life for retirement. And then they stop and they die, you know. So I believe that the documentary is for young people, but it focuses a lot on old people to realize that life is not over till you take that last breath. Now, how do you want to take that last breath? You want to take it in a lounge chair? You want to take it in a hospital bed. You want to take it in the old folks home?

him, me, I think it'd be pretty cool. Take that last breath, saving a life. Now, even though you guys hopped around a lot during your family growing up, were you guys close-knit? Did you guys have like a good family? Me and my dad. My dad was a pretty hard ass, you know. My dad was a Marine, born-again Christian, so I can't take that from him. I mean, born-again, solid Christian, but he was a badass. I mean, when I was probably 12 years old, I seen him beat up two guys, you know, grown men, you know. And it wasn't that he started it. They started it with the wrong man, you know.

And so he was a hard guy. Like I said, he was a Marine. He was a boxer. He brought me and my two brothers up that if there's a bully in the school, you better bully the bully. He brought us up, never walk away from a fight, but if you start one, he's going to beat us when we get home. And he brought us up never to walk away from someone that needs help. And I believe that's why my first book was called Another Man's War. I mean, I was fighting all the time.

If you get a close look at my hands, my hands are all messed up arthritis and everything. I broke all the knuckles in my hands, you know. And it was from fighting over the years because our dad brought us up. You always help someone that can't help their self. So the title to my first book, Another Man's War, it was like I was always fighting. To this day, I'm still fighting, and it's somebody else's war, not mine. Why do you think you needed, you know, the trials and tribulations you went through at a young age to get to where you are now?

Even with that, you know, the values he was teaching you, it feels like you had the tools you needed to succeed in what you're doing now, but something stopped you. You know, as a Christian, I am a Christian. I'm not a Bible thumper, okay? I'm a Christian. I believe in the Lord Jesus Christ. But a lot of times people think that when you give your life to the Lord, you've got to change everything. Listen, I'm not here to preach today, okay? I'm here to get you to buy my documentary. But God don't want to change your whole life. All he wants to do. is pull your heart out and give you a new heart. You can still live the same lifestyle. I'm still the same person I was all my life.

I'm still a biker. I'm a one-percenter living a dream now, okay? But I just got a different heart now. And my heart is that he gave me was to save children. That's my life, you know. Did you ever want to go to college or have a career? What was high school saying? I was in college, man.

I was selling drugs, but I never went to class. No, I never finished school. If you read my second book, you know, my second book, everyone says, what's in your second book? Everything that wasn't in my first. But my second book, you know, I had girls that worked for me when I was 15, 16 years old, you know, prostitutes. I used to do some of my teachers, you know, and people would say, well, how come that never hit the news? Listen, I was the guy that never wanted to tell because I didn't want to stop it, you know. But I lived a life when I was 13, 14 years old, I'm doing my teachers, you know.

And so I lived a pretty crazy lifestyle, you know. So as I said, I wouldn't want to change anything in my life. You know, nowadays you can't get away with that without someone telling on you. Well, no, you don't tell nobody. Yeah, but that's what they do now. Even my buddies back then would always say, hey, you're doing the social studies teacher, aren't you? And I'd say, no, man, no, come on, you know. Because I didn't want it to stop.

You know, if you squill, you tell the wrong person, you know. But that stuff's been going on a long time, you know. It's so interesting that it was even going on back then. But getting back to what I was saying, you know, and I'm not a person that's thumping Jesus Christ down somebody's throat. But without him, I wouldn't be who I am. Okay, he's the one that gave me the calling to saving children. And when I started in Africa, and this is what's good about the documentaries and the books that I've wrote, you know, I was always a businessman, even though I have no education, no high school education, I was always good at business and a hard worker. That's how my dad brought us up, work hard.

So when I first went to the mission field, I was in my early 30s. I wasn't I wasn't some young kid like you going to the mission field, man. I owned a real estate company. I had 17 houses and eight stores that I rented out. I had a construction company. My last year, before I said, I'm going to be a missionary, my last year, I filed taxes on 180,000. Of gross. Yeah.

No, that's what I made. That's what you made profit. No, that's what I made profit, man, 180,000. Which is good for back. A lot. That's not just good. That's very good for, you know, that many years ago. And then all of a sudden, I get this calling to be a missionary. I didn't want to be a missionary. I mean, I lived a lifestyle where I could go into a store, buy what I wanted. I never looked at the price. I could go into a restaurant. I never looked at the price on the menu. I ordered what I wanted to eat, you know. Then all of a sudden, I go. to the mission field, I spend all my money, sell all my real estate, two and a half years later, I'm broke, you know, wondering what am I going to do? I got to keep this thing going, you know. I love to tell the story. I started over 18 years ago, one of my first feeding programs.

And that feeding program started with 20 kids. And to this day, it's over 10,000 meals every day. That's incredible. And I'm telling you. Now, before you had a successful real estate business or construction business, you were down a whole entirely different path. It's almost like your life was in stages. Well, yes and no. I mean, when I quit school at 15 years old, I moved out of my home. My mom and dad, both born again, spirit-filled Christians, but cool parents, okay?

and what I mean by that, my mom would come over to my house after I moved out. They knew I was selling drugs and everything. She'd bring in a meatloaf and food for everyone. You know, everyone's going to chow down. You know, you got the munchies and stuff. But, I mean, at 15 years old, and from the first documentary, you'll see people interviewed that says, yeah, at 15, 16, he's walking around the suitcase full of drugs, you know. and I did. So I made big money. And so all those years, the enterprise, if you want to call it the

enterprise of selling drugs kept getting bigger, you know. There was a time in my life, I just thought, well, I don't need God. I knew God was real, okay? I never doubted God. Always knew he was real. It's just when I was younger, like 15 to 22, even 25 years old, I had money, I had drugs, I had guns, I had guns. I had women, motorcycles. I had everything I thought I needed in life, you know. So even when I was a thug, scum of the earth, whatever you want to call it, I still made money. You're always entrepreneurial.

That's a kind of a key takeaway. Yeah, kind of a hillbilly, you know, businessman, you know. Now, did you ever use the drugs for yourself? Yeah, no. I was a heroin addict. And I shouldn't say heroin addict. I was probably more of a cocaine addict. I never snorted.

When I was 13, 14 years old, I would snort. But I started shooting up at 15. There was probably two years of my life that I lived as a bad addict. I mean, you get up in the morning, you're sitting on the toilet, ramming a needle, you know, throughout the day, four or five times throughout the day, you know. You learn how to control it to be able to find. function and still be able to sell your drugs, you know. Now that you're older, do you ever think about those times? You know, I have never, I wouldn't even want to do cocaine.

My heart would probably just burst out like a cannonball, you know. But no, I have never had a craving once I gave my life to the Lord. And there again, I'm not here to preach, but I got to tell you, okay? When I started to experience the true power of God, it was a high that I never got off drugs. So maybe I'm still addicted, but just addicted to a different kind of drug. Yeah, I feel like we all have like an addiction personality within us. It's just people fuel it in different ways. Right, right.

So as I said earlier, I'm the same guy I was when I was 20. You know, I'm just on a different drug. Now it's the Lord, you know. So were you ever with like a motorcycle club or anything like that growing up? Yeah, I've rode with motorcycle clubs since I was 15 years old. What attracted you to that? You know, there again, you know, I think it's, if you're looking to category people, your motorcycle clubs would be known as hoods, you know.

And I believe they welcome people, you know. And I believe that they don't look down on you if you're, or not very bright or you've done something stupid, you know, they accept you who you are. You know, the only thing that a motorcycle club wants is brotherhood, you know, brotherhood. They want good, honest people, you know. And I found out, you know, and I know a lot of the, a lot of the world today that isn't in that culture, they look at the motorcycle clubs from the top ten, they look at them being bad people and you don't want to talk to them and they're the people that help you get out of a mess, you know.

So and and I say this in almost every interview I do. My dad always said if he was broke down, he had rather a bunch of bikers stop to help them than one carload of gangbangers. Because we know the gangbangers what they want to do, you know. Was there a negative stigma around motorcycle clubs back then? We know what it is now. Yeah, I think I think there always been. There always been from the very beginning, you know. Why?

Because, you know, I believe that most of the world, they want to fill that freedom. And I won't say world. Most people in the United States, they want to fill that freedom. They want to know what it's like to just be a badass for one day, you know. So everyone's curious of that lifestyle. I believe the government fears that lifestyle because they want to control us. You know, and we all know that's what they want from us. That's why they give out so much free money.

That's why we have welfare for people that don't want to work. Come on, man. I mean, I always tell people I started mowing grass when I was seven years old, okay? And people would say, you can't even start the lawnmower. I'd tell them, you started, I won't shut it off till I'm done. You've got kids nowadays that are 15, 16 years old. They don't know how to start a lawnmower, you know. But the life that I grew up in, we were taught how to work.

We're taught how to work hard, you know. And there again, I believe that the people in the biker world, the people in the hoods, those are the people that will invite you in and show you the most love and loyalty. Do you feel like you represent the modern day or the old school type biker? No, I'm definitely old school biker. Yeah, definitely old school. You know, I don't know what's going to happen here with Harley Davison. Harley Davidson, I don't know what's going to happen to you.

You know, you can send this to Harley because, I mean, they're talking a new breed of biker. There is no new breed of bikers, okay? You're either a real biker or you're not, okay? Like I seen the other day somebody posted a picture that Harley did of somebody riding a new Harley, down the street in a rainbow suit. Come on. Don't even go there. I mean, it's so stupid, you know, you're either a biker or you're not a biker. Don't be a wannabe or a weekend biker, you know, you're either living in that world, but, you know, with the 1% clubs, I don't know what they're going to end up doing with Harley. Seriously, because some of the newer Harleys,

they're making this electric Harley now. Come on. I'm not getting on no. electric bike, you know. But yeah, they got this, all this new stuff coming out in Harley and they're wanting to change the biker world. Stop it, okay? But I believe Harley's going to run their self into the ground. I believe Indian has a very good chance of pulling their self back up again to being the top. Oh yeah, I forgot about it. Yeah. You know, Ecclesiastic says everything only lasts for a season. You remember when Kmart was the big store? Yeah. Now it's Walmart. Yeah. Who's coming next. Target? I don't know. But, you know, there's everything only last first season. You, me, everything. And that's like what social media represents. Like, you could be on top one day and then,

you know, it's up and down until the next influencer comes out. Yeah. What do you think is the biggest change? I know you just listed some changes, but from old school bikers to present day. You know, I believe that We're wanting too much of the comfort, you know, like for me, I'm an old panhead guy. I have a bike shop in Pennsylvania. We do custom bike work and everything. And I have six old panheads, you know, I got a couple in the museum with a biker museum at the bike shop. If you're out our way, Central City, Pennsylvania, you got to stop in and check us out. But I have some old panheads that are basket cases and everything.

So I like the old bikes, you know. They're not comfortable. They're nothing like my new street glide, you know. But you get a filling when you're on that bike you don't get when you're on a new one, you know. So I know the old guys out there, and I shouldn't say old guys. I just met a guy at church this weekend. He was 16 years old. He had a street glide.

His parents owned a rental company, and his dad just bought him an old panhead. So here's a 16-year-old kid. He looks at me and he says, I like my panhead better than the street light. And I was like, all right, we've got a young kid that's kind of old school, you know. That's incredible. Yeah. So what happened in your 20s? That was like the defining moment that shifted your lifestyle completely.

You know, it would have been in 1990. I was living in Orlando, Florida, or living in a popka Florida, but Orlando everyone heard of. I went out to a bar room one night with some friends, and we got into a. nasty, nasty bar fight. I mean, it was bad. People got shot, people got stabbed. The worst bar fight I've ever seen, worse than anything you'd see. You got to remember what we watch on TV is not true, okay? But this was reality. And even the police would not come in to the bar. They blocked off streets around the bar. They had a helicopter hovering over top the bar. They said, started arresting people as they were coming out that night in that bar room, I said,

if I make it out of here, I'm done living this life. Now, that wasn't, you know, a lot of Christians, they say, oh, that's when he gave his life to the Lord. No, I didn't, okay? That's when I made up my mind. I'm done, okay? I don't have a problem with dying, but I have a problem with what I'm going to die for. I don't want to die because of a jealous husband or jealous boyfriend. I don't want to die because a drug deal going bad. I don't want to die because of a bar fight. I mean, the road I was living, I was going to die for some stupid reason. So when I got out that night and I went home, made it to my house, I went in a house. I told my wife at the time, she was a stripper. I told her, I said,

we're moving, she started crying because she wanted out too. She was waiting to hear those words were moving. And we moved back to my hometown, the central city, Pennsylvania, from Florida, you know. And in the biker world, I just walked away. People that were my friends and the club that I wasn't, I didn't, I didn't wear their cut or nothing, but I rode with all these guys. I walked away from them. Like, I just disappeared. Many of them thought I was dead, you know. So I went to Pennsylvania, and two years later is when I walked into a church and said, here I am, God. So you're allowed to just walk away from those clubs? You know, at that time, I wasn't, I wasn't wearing a cut. I was associating with them. You know,

I was like a hang around, you know. And yeah, you can walk away from any club. Now, you don't to walk away bad. You always want to walk away good, you know. And how do you walk away good? You just go in and talk to the national president and say, man, I'm done, you know, I can't do this no more. And you walk away good, you know. If you walk away bad, you might find yourself in trouble one evening, you know. Would you say that's the biggest difference between like a motorcycle club and an actual street gang where they don't let you off as easily? You know, I don't know nothing about street gangs, okay? I don't know anything about them besides I think they're almost like cowardless a lot of them, you know. They work with a gang, you know, a gang.

It's never one-on-one, you know. In the biker world, you got to remember there's a lot of us, we travel by herself, you know. I'll wear in the area where I live in Pennsylvania, the club that I ride with, there is no club brothers in my area. So I'll wear my cut. I'll wear who I am uptown shopping in Walmart, you know. And so I'm by myself. I'm not with a bunch of club brothers, you know,

and I'm willing to stand up for the club I ride with, you know. So it's interesting what you're saying about your wife because the movie does depict that she already had, you know, wanted out of the life and you were refusing to kind of. No, what happened, my wife, the movie, didn't quite, it wasn't quite accurate. But when, when we moved to Pennsylvania, my wife was still stripper. When we got to Pennsylvania, she started going to church with my mom. And then within just a month or so, she gave her life to the Lord. It was actually two years later, she was

pestering me every week. Will you go to church? Will you go to church? Like I tell people, you know, in my area of Pennsylvania, we call that nagging. And when we, we're just, and when we, we're We have a woman that nags us every week. We shut them up. We just do what they want to do. They shut up, okay? So I said, okay, I'll go. And that's how I ended up back in church.

You got to remember, no one had to convince me that God was real. Okay. No one had to convince me that God was real. I just needed to know that I needed him. That was all. Why did they set it up with you making it look like you were in a long prison sentence, coming out of prison? You know, I was arrested five times. If you Google Sam Childers or if you do a background check, you'll see there's two Sam Childers, 164 and 162.

The 164 was a fake ID. And I can tell you this and you can check it out and you'll say, my God, the guy is telling the truth. I was going to have it expunged at one time. I was going to have it expunged. But my stepdad, after my dad died, my mom remarried, he said to me, well, you know, that story, no one's ever going to believe it. And if you get it expunged, no one will ever believe it. So it's still there. So if I go to buy a firearm, because I was never convicted of a felon, I was never convicted of a crime.

But that old Sam Childers, the one that says I'm two years older, I would have never been able to buy a firearm. He's convicted of a felony? You know what's so crazy. I sat in jail, everything. And my brother had his old panhead up for my bond. This is a true story. And the bell bondsman is in one of my books. And I even went and seen him.

He called my brother up. They made a mistake. The bell bondsman did. All these papers come in that said my charges was all dropped. So he calls my brother and he says, hey, you can come down and get your motorcycle. everything's dropped on your brother. Here, it wasn't dropped. They dropped two charges.

I had like five felony charges against me. So anyways, my brother, he went right down for the motorcycle, and my brother and me still close to this day. And he said, Sam, I'm getting you out of here. You're going to end up dead or in prison. So we went back to Minnesota. We moved from Florida back to Minnesota. He didn't know where we was when he found out he made the mistake.

It was actually three years later when I got arrested. And just to tell you how God works, I got to tell you this. They had one witness they could get a hold of. He was the bouncer. And the bouncer, I walked him to my car with a gun in his throat. And he walked me, that's what saved me that day of not getting shot. And then I busted him on the side of the head. He fell to the ground.

Here literally, three years later, the only one, witness they had on me had a stroke about two weeks before the court hearing when I was arrested. And I'll never forget that day. The judge said, Mr. Childers, do you believe in God? And I said, well, yeah, yeah, I believe in God. He said, well, you better thank him because I got to cancel this whole thing today because the only witness here is back there setting. He was in a wheelchair. And so I got saved because I would have went to jail a long time, man. And he couldn't testify at all. No, he had a stroke.

He was sitting there in a chair like this, you know. He couldn't talk or nothing. Do you think about how different your life would be now if you had felonies? Well, I wouldn't be able to own the security company that I own, you know. So I do, I speak in high schools. I go around to rehabs. I do a lot of speaking. And I tell people how important it.

is to really watch your actions and what you do. Because I own one of the top 10 security companies in East Africa. I wouldn't own that if I had one felony. And people say, well, you're in Africa. I had to do a background check and everything in Africa. You know, you got to remember there's things that will follow you around the world, you know. Would I be able to do good things? Yeah, I could still be rescuing children, but I wouldn't be able to be in a third world country carrying a firearm. Oh, so I know in some countries you can have a firearm as a felon. No, not in East Africa. In Africa, you can't.

No, in East Africa, you can't. Okay. Yeah, you can't have a firearm if you're a felon. Oh, interesting. But anyways, I was arrested five times, sat in jail every time. I was in probably a total six, eight weeks total in jail, but I was never convicted of a crime. I mean, God really blessed me, you know. Yeah.

So after that happens and you go to the church and you guys move and you start to rebuild your life with the new beginnings with the construction company and real estate? Well, when I went back to Pennsylvania, like I said, I was always good at business. So I started a roofing company, roofing and painting. So for those two years from the time we moved in 1990 to 1992, I was making big money, man. You know, I'd smoke a little weed, you know, and drink a little bit. But then finally, when I walked into the church and said, here I am, God, I started making big money. I mean, everything just changed, you know. You can't ever outgive God.

So the more good I would try to do, God kept blessing me. So finally, the night I gave my life to the Lord, the second night, I went back to a church and the preacher prophesied over me. He said I was going to Africa. And I'm thinking, hey, going to Africa, I'm a white guy. Why would I go to Africa? That's stupid, you know. Now I have dual citizen and my wife is black, you know.

But I didn't think I'd ever go to Africa. and then he told me that I was going to be in a war. And I'm thinking in my mind, I'm not going to get in another war. I'm already married, you know. So here, all of that happened in 1998. I end up in Africa, you know. But I knew for years, I knew that preacher what he said was true. There was even a time in my life like 96, 97.

I was trying to buy my way out. I was making big money. In 1997, I wrote out a check for $20,000 and gave it to a mission in Africa. And I was literally thinking, God, wouldn't you rather have my money? And he said, no, I want you. So when I went to Africa, my very first trip, I heard about a village that was rated. And, you know, I've always been the kind of person. You tell me something.

and if I'm interested, I'm not going to believe you. I got to go see it. So I heard this village. It was early morning that these rebels raided this village. And I said to some soldiers, I said, man, I got to go see this. And they said, Sam, you don't want to go. Well, I went and seen it. And when we got there, there was bodies everywhere dead, you know.

And they weren't just shot. Most of them were hacked up with machetes. So you're looking at pieces of body. You're looking at the ground that was clay and dirt now stained with blood. And I mean, your mind, you're thinking, it's just gone. You're almost in shock. And the one soldier said, we've got to start looking for children hiding. And I can't even comprehend what's happening.

You know, my mind is just, you know, wondering everywhere. and he said, Sam, we got to look for children. So I was walking on the outskirts of the bush, you know, like the woods. And I came across the body of a small child may have been nine, eight, nine years old. But I couldn't even tell if it was a boy or a girl. The waist down was gone. They stepped on a mine. And I'll never forget, I stood over that body and I said, God, I'll do whatever it takes.

to help these people. And I didn't realize what I said till probably eight years later because I'm still there. And now it's more than two and a half decades. I'm still there. You know, and I think God has a purpose for all of us.

You know, the Bible says we're all called, but few are chosen. And I think the big thing is he called us all to a purpose. But there's not very many that's willing to say, here I am. And I know that day, when I stood over that body, I meant what I said. I'll do whatever it takes to help these people. And now it's been thousands, thousands of children saved.

You know, there's a really good movie out, The Sound of Freedom. And I mean, that movie made millions of dollars worldwide. And I'm not putting it down because if one, child is saved anywhere in the world. That's awesome. But that movie was only about two children. The work that we're doing in East Africa is not about two children. It's about thousands of children that's been saved. This is a paid message from GoFundMe. Meet Juan Naula. When a son was hospitalized for a viral infection, Juan started a GoFundMe to pay for medical expenses. It was 5K to pay the bill for my son. And I need a child.

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Start your GoFundMe today at GoFundMe.com. That's gofundme.com. Gofundme.com. This message reflects one person's experience. I'm Serena Williams, and I'm healthier on Roe. I've lost 34 pounds in a year with GLP1's diet and exercise. On Roe, you can access GLP1 options, including the first FDA-approved GLP1 pill for weight loss.

to row.com slash journey to see if you qualify. 14 to 20% average weight loss in one year in non-diabetics with obesity or overweight with a weight related medical condition versus 2.2% to 3.1% in placebo R. Rx only. To stay informed about serious side effects, go to row.com slash safety. And it's still going on. After you saw that village, what did you do? Did you just immediately move to Africa or did you go home and? No, I went home and nothing meant anything anymore.

You know, this was before I was preaching and I was really a nobody, you know. But I made big money. I had a lot of properties, a lot of houses. I started selling everything. And three months later, I was back in Africa with a pocket full of money and went back home, you know. And I was ambushed in those times. You know, I've been ambushed over 10 times, been in over 10 major battles. They've tried to assassinate me over 10 times, you know.

I mean, even being the machine gun preacher, even here in the U.S., like I live in the clubhouse on the back of my bike shop when I'm here, you know. But you still have to take precautions. You can't even walk around my house outside and me not know it, you know. Because you have, I mean, I get death threats a lot, you know. U.S.-based or? No, I get death threats everywhere I go. Everywhere. Really?

Why do you think that is? You know, there's always some wacko out. there wants to make a name for himself. Look at the movie, The Sniper, you know, awesome movie. That guy was the awesome man, fought for our country. Some wacko does him in, you know. You know, there's always wackos. We'll never get rid of wackos. It's like Jesus said in the Bible, the poor will always be with us. The wackos will always be with us, you know. So even though the life that I live, doing good, you still got people that want to cause you. harm. You know, my home in Africa is well guarded. And, you know, that's why I have a security

company, too, you know. How did your first wife take the news of what you wanted to do when you got back? You know, my first wife, I can't really talk about her, man. She was a good woman. Fateful woman, godly woman, you know, good with money. I mean, I can't talk about her. But 17 years in, she just one day says, let's quit. Africa. She wanted me to walk away, put a big sum of money in the bank, which was all legal, nothing illegal about it, rock our grandbabies on the porch and, you know, take care of the little church we had from the movie. And she just wanted me to walk away and quit. I couldn't do it. You know, for me and my mind, you know, so I rescued children.

17 years later, the children made me famous. It wasn't me that made myself famous. The children made me famous because they gave me a purpose. So now I'm going to walk away. You know, I don't think there was nothing wrong with it, but I couldn't handle it. You know, so I knew that I had to keep going for the rest of my life, you know. and I'm sure I'm going to die in Africa. You know, I have no plans of quitting.

You know, even, God forbid, if I'd get in a wheelchair or something, I was still going to do my days in Africa. What was the evolution of becoming, you know, machine gun preacher, saving the children? What was that first instant? You know, what's really crazy is a lot of people say, where did the name come from? God gave me the name.

And I'll never forget. This was before books. This was before movies, documentaries. God gave me this name, machine gun preacher. So I called my mom. And, you know, in the Christian world, God will give us a new name, some of us, you know. And I called my mom because my name was Samuel. I was named after Samuel in the Bible.

So I called my mom, and I said, Mom, God gave me a new name. And my mom's all excited. And she says, praise God, you know. And she said, what is it? And I said, machine gun preacher. No, no, no, no, that's not a good name. But when God gave me the name, he told me it would be a marketing tool. So the name Machine Gun Preacher, it's just a marketing tool.

You know, if they put a sign up and it said Reverend Samuel Childers at the church this week, probably not too many people show up, you know. It's not the same effect. But when they put the name, machine gun preacher will be here this week at such and such First Baptist Church. People drive by, they turn around to make sure they read it right. You know, machine gun preacher. And then when you Google, they find out, boy, this guy is the most controversial preacher in the world. So they don't really come to hear the message from Jesus.

they come to hear the message from me, but then they end up hearing about him, you know. So that's how I got the name, you know. And I had the name long before the movie, long before any of the brand, you know. It's interesting. Did you ever think that, you know, it would become this brand when you were given that name? You know, I was the most likely never to succeed in life. And I remember, you.

years ago, I was in a church of about 3,000. My mom never traveled much with me when I preached, but I loved her to be with me. And she was in the church, and I gave my testimony. And she come up to me after church, and she said, Sam, you don't have to tell people all that stuff. Because my mom was a little bit ashamed. How could her son start using drugs at 11? how could her son become an addict putting a needle in his arm at 15? Because my mom was always a Christian. I think she'd come out of the womb born again, you know. And I always tell people she only sinned three times in her whole life when she gave birth to me and my two brothers.

But so, but she always was kind of ashamed of me to tell my testimony. But I told her, I said, mom, people got to realize. that God is still alive and still in the miracle working business, you know, and there again, the average person out there, if you said, do you go to church? No, I won't still have fun. Listen, man, if you're going to a church, you're not having fun, then you need to find a church you fit in. Like our church, three-sees church, my pastor was here with me the other week, okay?

He's like all tattooed up, man. I mean, he has a good time. He's out there. You know, he does all kinds of sports and everything, you know. So the only thing, the only thing that we don't do is get high out of our mind, you know. But we might sit down and eat a pizza and drink a beer. And I don't drink a beer, but I might have a glass of scotch, okay? I mean, I do have a drink now and then.

But I always tell people I only drink very, very expensive whiskey. and they say why? And I said, that's the way I don't drink too much. What was your mom's reaction when you said you were going and moving permanently to Africa? She was so happy. Yeah. Yeah. When I first started going, I remember when I'd come back because of stuff I've seen, you know, I've seen probably the most horrible things I don't even like to talk about.

but I'd come back and I'd go down to her house for breakfast. And the thing I loved about my mom, when I sat at the table with her, I didn't have to tell no stories. She would just look at me, make me breakfast, and she'd just sit and watch me. And you didn't have to tell her no story because she knew. She knew what happened and, you know, what was going on. During the Coney War, it was pretty bad, you know. I've seen women with their breasts cut off.

You know, when you watch the documentary, the new documentary, you'll see women with their noses cut off, their ears cut off. And 25 years later, we're interviewing these people. 20 years later, we're interviewing them. You know, people went through so much pain. and me, I lived through it, okay? But I'm not the one that got to look in the mirror every day. You know, you imagine being one of the ladies

that had her nose cut off and her ears cut off. Every day she has to look in the mirror. But I shouldn't say that because some of them that we interviewed said that was one thing they don't do. They never look in a mirror. The one lady that was interviewed said she don't even have a mirror in her little house that she lives in the bush. She says, I can't look at myself.

You know, so, I mean, there's a lot of things up here that, you know, I wrote now my third book coming out in movies and documentaries and everything, but there's still stuff that you can't see. There's still stories I haven't told, you know. How did you come up with your first plan to say? children when you went back there that second time. You know, Joseph Coney was a coward. The LRA were cowards.

They pride on children. They couldn't get men to fight their war. So they would raid villages and steal children. And they would turn children into child soldiers by making them kill their parents or kill a relative. You know, a lot of people say, well, I don't see how a child. 10 years old could kill their parent. You got to remember your mom is setting there and the rebels will whisper to her,

if your child doesn't kill you, we're going to begin to cut your child up piece by piece in front of you. We'll start by skinning him alive. You know, if you guys ever come up to my office in Pennsylvania, I can show you pictures of people scumns. alive. And so the mother, you know, a mother loves her child so much, she'll beg her son, kill me. It's okay. And so the child will end up killing the parent because the parents don't want to see their child die. So the child, that's the beginning of being brainwashed because

that child believes there's nothing worse they could ever do in their life besides killing their mom or dad. So that's how they begin to make a child soldier. And Joseph Coney, he was, he was coward. Yeah, I mean, he's done, he needs to pay for everything that he's done, you know. The LRA, I've seen children that were raped so bad when they were three, four, five years old, their bottoms was hanging out, you know, children knell to trees, children and grown-ups scun alive, you know. Joseph Coney needs to pay for what he has done, and every LRA soldier needs to pay that was involved. Now, I believe when I was in middle school or like early 2000s, this went viral. Coney.

I remember seeing posters and all of that, too. Yeah, absolutely. There was a group of young people out of California that was really invisible children. You remember that was the name of them. And I don't know if they're still out there or not. they run into a lot of problems. I think the thing that I tell a lot of people, we're not the best nonprofit out there.

We're not the best 501C3. I'm not trying to say we are, but what I will say to you, we're still there. 28 years is a long time to start something and never stop and it keeps getting bigger. I know that my day, are numbered, whether it's health or whether it's somebody to kill me. But I knew when I was 55,

I didn't want to die or be on my deathbed and know everything I gave my life for is going to fall apart if I die. So at 55 years old, I started forming and working and making the organization that if I die, it's going to keep going on. And right now, the organization, is fixed, it's set. If something happens to me, it still goes on. I used to have a lot of people say, well, Sam, where are you going to get buried at? You know, even if I would die in the U.S., I want to be buried in Africa. And so in Africa, I have a cemetery at my farm, you know.

So I used to always tell my wife, I ended up remarrying in 2018, beautiful young African girl. She's 20-some years younger than me. beautiful man i mean hot not beautiful hot so anyways uh i'd always tell her i went buried at the farm so we have a american style truck stop in northern uganda uh two restaurants hotel supermarket uh uh auto parts or or auto place tire shop we're we're very big into working people there It works about 130 people. So every day people stop at this American-style truck stop, and they'll get out and they'll say to a guard or one of the workers, it's a machine gun preacher around. And they'll say, well, no, or sometimes I am, you know, and they get pictures with me and everything.

So my wife says, you know what? Maybe we shouldn't bury you at the farm. And I said, okay, why? And she said, we bury you in back of the truck stop. So when people stop and they say, is machine gun preacher around, we can still tell him, yeah, he's out back. You know, so I'll probably get buried at the truck stop now, you know. That's incredible. And for all the love you get out there, I'm sure there's, you know, people that despise you and are after you, which is why you need security too.

You know, there's, you know, the biggest problem we have, and I really don't care. And if ISIS hear me saying their name, ISIS, you're a coward. I'm very easy to find Google Machine Gun Preacher, come see me, I got something for you. But, you know, ISIS can be a problem worldwide, you know. And in the Congo right now, the ones that's giving a lot of problem is ISIS, Islamic State, and ADF of Congo. You, them three groups have come together.

But they're coward. I mean, I don't, listen, you're either going to fight for, a cause or you're a coward. Okay? And these rebel groups, they're not fighting for a cause. How can you say you're fighting for a cause if you're killing an old lady? How can you say you're fighting for a cause if you're stealing children and raping children? That's not fighting for a cause, okay?

What does ISIS want in Africa? What is their goal out there? You know, ISIS want the same thing. They want to rule the world, you know. they believe in their mind that they will rule the world one day. And, you know, I don't want to start talking politics, but I will tell you, like, the war we have going on right now, you know, Israel and what's going, what's the Habas or whatever this rebel group is, people are wanting to negotiate with them. You cannot negotiate with a terrorist. What's the wrong with our, what's the wrong with our world today?

You know, we cannot negotiate with a terrorist, okay? It's like putting a Band-Aid on cancer. It's not going to go away. So when you start seeing these terrible things happening in these villages, how did you yourself go in and save it? Because you're very hands-on. It's not like you had people going in. You know what we'd done one time. They were getting that they wouldn't want to ambush.

They knew my truck. So they didn't want to ambush me anymore because they knew I was going to get out in front. fight. So we actually took a small food truck, you know, and I put dresses on soldiers. So they just thought they were like women in the back of a truck, you know. And then as soon as as soon as they would ambush us, they found out we were soldiers, you know. So we'd done all kinds of things. You know, people say, oh, machine gun preacher was hunting Joseph Coney. No, I would never hunting Joseph Coney. Joseph Coney was hunting me. But what we done is we've been ambushed so many times. And I had it in my head. You know, I'm not saying I was right. And I'm not saying my head was right at the

time. But I had it in my head if I travel the road as many times as I can during the week, and every time they ambush me, we're going to win. You know, so we start to eliminate the problem. And so we traveled the road all the time, you know. We traveled the road hoping to get ambushed that we could fight, and we would always win. So you would never provoke, but you would always be on the defense, which would, and it technically be an offense. They were ambushing. The Lord Resistance Army, you get on the Internet, you start Googling. You know, like the movie showed them having automobiles.

They never had automobiles, you know, they were foot people. That's why they were so hard to find and hunt down. They lived in the bush. They would come out to the roadways, ambush, cause their terror, and then go back into the bush, you know. When did you first become on their radar that they needed to retaliate against you? Within the first year that I was in Africa. Yeah, within the first year, you know, my very first trip in, I was ambushed. My second trip I was ambushed.

My very first trip is when I seen the body of the small child that, like I said, you know, when we turn our life over to God, God has a plan for every one of us. The plan is not your plan. I mean, I had a plan. I was a high school dropout that could make money, you know, and I love to make money. And I love to have money. And then all of a sudden, God had to plan for me. And the first eight years I was broke.

One guy done an interview, and he told the story about how when he first seen me, I had a pair of work boots on that had cardboard in the bottom to cover up the holes. And I had a pair of jeans on that was all ripped, and they weren't designer jeans. you know so the first eight years that i was there it was rough but i never stopped you know and even know when i first went it was hard for me to go because i i spent everything just like the movie showed i started selling everything i had a gun collection but it didn't show out of camper trailer i sold my camper trailer i had uh four willers i had motorcycles had a fishing boat man i sold everything i had just to rescue children. Now, when you say ambushed, is it, you know, like a bunch of soldiers coming after you or these rebels?

No, usually what they would do, you know, there's no roads that like in the rainy season, it's like mud holes. So areas that, areas that you would get stuck in, areas that were, they knew you had to go slow or going to get stuck, they would have their soldiers in the bush next to the road and just start shooting. Like there was one time, Ding from the movie, Ding still works with me to this day. Ding is a soldier. He's still in the military, but he's at the orphanage. I'm with Ding all the time. Ding was just with my wife and secretary all last week guarding them in South Sudan. So Ding is a real life soldier.

ding was in my passenger seat and I'm driving and one guy jumps up and shoots through the front window. It comes through the front window and out my side window. The bullet literally went in front of my face. And I'm driving with a pistol in my hand. And I literally just turned like that and right in front of Ding's face shot at the person. You know, I don't like the – I never talk about hurting. people, but I shot at the person that was shooting at us right in front of Ding's face. And when I shot, Ding was like, and we're driving down the road.

And I said, Ding, you okay? And he said, don't do that again. He said, I can't hear. Because the gun went off. You know, you imagine taking a high-powered pistol and shooting it right here in front of your face, you know. So it kind of, his ears were ringing, you know. What about kids soldiers do you encounter those at all? So many times, and I love to tell this, I have never had to lift a firearm to a child soldier. Would I? Absolutely. Every time I was ever in a presence of a child soldier, see, a child soldier, they're looking for a way out. That 10-year-old, that 12-year-old, that 14-year-old.

Now, you get older than that, it could be different, but the child soldiers, they're looking for a way out. And they would just throw their guns down and hands in the air, you know, just like it showed in the movie Machine Gun Preacher. Yeah. And I tell you what, the new documentary. And yes, I'm pushing the new documentary. You can go to a website. You can download it. You can call the office.

We can send it out to you. we have a professional company made flash drives, DVDs, they're all branded, or you can download it. But I mean, it still shows this stuff still going on to this day. This ministry, now our ministry name in America is called Angels of East Africa. But Angels of East Africa is surrounded by the branding Machine Gun Preacher. You know, there's even a clothing line, Mishingen preacher. Yeah, there's a clothing line. You can go on Mishingen Preacher Facebook and you can see the clothing line.

I mean, it does probably $800,000, $900,000 worth of clothing a year, you know. It's just, all it is is branded clothing, you know. And all of that stuff goes back to the work I'm talking about. We drill wells, you know, in East Africa right now, 1,200 children dive. per day of diarrhea caused by bacteria and parasites from water. We drill an average of one well per month, deep well. That cost us between 9 to 10,000 for a deep well every month that we drill. Some months we might not drill one and then the next month we drill two or three. We do the Bush Kids project. We treat children, started out children only, malaria, bacteria,

infections, wounds of all different kinds. We started out just children only. Now it's anyone that gets in line. It started out one day a month. Now it's three days a month. The Bush Kids Project, most people don't realize children alone in East Africa, 1,400 die per day malaria. you know so keep in mind that our organization we're just not in a battlefield work and we're out there where no one else wants to go we go into the bush with doctors nurses blood lab security medicine and we treat every day we go out between two and 300 people a day we end up treating mainly children three days a month that's almost a thousand people a month we're saving That project's been going on, going on three years now.

What does a typical day like look for you from the time you wake up over there to the end of the day? It all depends where I go. A typical day is getting up, you know, doing your thing, you know, getting yourself ready and everything, doing your breakfast. But I arm myself. Same thing I do anywhere I go. You know, like I said, you're always armed, you know, so you arm yourself. depending where I'm at, I might be, if I'm at the farm, I might be on a tractor. You know, if I'm at the farm, I might be out looking at the crops, looking at the cows, you know,

might go out for a little hunt, you know, might go down to the river where we're not far from the now. I might go down with a fishing pole, you know. If I'm in Compala, I do most of the, when there's problems at nighttime with a security company. I'm the first one to get up, jump in the truck, and run out to the problem. At the truck stop, right now I'm building a new building. I'm building a American-style strip mall, nine more businesses, some more hotel rooms, VIP rooms on top. And people say, why do you want to build all this business? To make money? Not necessarily. Now, I do make money.

Just this one building I'm building now, it will create 35 more full-time jobs. Right now we're at about 130 at the truck stop. So that means this massive piece of property, 70-some acres, is going to have full-time workers because it's basically 24-7 working. We'll basically have 160-some workers. Plus there's a big conference room that I've dedicated it Sunday, morning seven till 12 having church in a high-tech conference room, you know. So it all depends where I'm at. If I'm in South Sudan at the orphanage, I'm going to lay back and relax and have

fun with the children. If I'm in Gulu at my orphanage or Campalo at the orphanage, I'm going to hang out with the children, you know, they're always dancing and singing and, you know, and they like to braid my mustache and braid my wannabe ponytail. on the back, you know. So I enjoy everywhere I go, but I work everywhere I go as well. How does the government respond to you out there? And how is your relationship evolved with I have a very good relationship with the government, the president of Uganda, very good man, born again. You know, some people don't like him, just like some people don't like Trump. You know, I'm a Trump guy. Some guy was going to buy a motorcycle from me, and he Googled our shop,

seen a big Trump sign in front of my bike shop. And he said, well, look, are you guys really for Trump? And the secretary said, yeah, yeah, the boss is. And he said, well, I'm not going to buy the motorcycle. And like I said, we don't need your money, okay? I mean, I'm a Trump guy, you know, and the president of Uganda, Mesa70, President Maseudi, President Masevon is a good man. I seen what he done for that country over 20 years. And he's getting old so my worry is now who's going to come in next but whoever he's going to support I'm going to support because I know he's going to follow the same shoes that president mesey has been wearing and hopefully he'll run another term but we you know he always wins a

landslide you know so the country of Uganda I call the land of milk and honey I don't believe there's no reason for anyone to leave Uganda. If you have a little bit of money and you're business-minded, you can do well there. If you're a farmer, you can do well there because everything will grow there. So Uganda, the land of milk and honey, South Sudan, I'm there only because of the children. If you Google the top 10 most dangerous places in the world to travel, right? We're almost halfway through the year, and a lot of people are running on empty without fully realizing it. Grow therapy helps you find care that's covered by insurance before burnout becomes

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Sessions average about $21 with insurance, and some pay as little as $0 depending on their plan. Visit growth therapy.com slash book now to get started. That's growth therapy.com slash book now. Grothorapy.com slash book now. Availability and coverage vary by state and insurance plan. Now, South Sudan is number four. Why? Why is it so dangerous? Because of the rebels and politics and everything. You know, the country was basically being attacked by President Bershear, of northern Sudan. That's why there's a South Sudan and Northern Sudan. Northern Sudan right now is in a lot of bad politics going on. You know, there's really no president. President Bashir is out of office. He's been arrested, been charged with genocide, big long story. South Sudan has a lot of tribal issues going on right now.

if they could get their self together, there's billions, billions of dollars poured in from the oil in South Sudan. But, you know, there's too much tribal stuff going on, too much bad politics going on right now. Like I said, the only reason we're there, children. I don't want to get in the middle of politics in South Sudan. Uganda, I love Uganda, love the, you know, the government. there. They treat me very well, you know, and Congo, I definitely don't want to, I mean, we're involved there only because of children, you know, everywhere that we're involved, it's only because of children. Do they give you military support at all?

Yeah, Uganda or South Sudan. They both, yeah, they both do. Yeah, both of them do, you know. Are you looked at as like an outlaw out there? No, not really. I'm probably looked at as an asset, you know, an asset. You know, an asset. that everyone needs a machine gun preacher. Yeah, that is true. But I'm sure, like, how do you think the violent groups are looking at you as? Like, I'm sure they have you wanted and they're offering a lot of money for you. Yeah, well, you know, in the past, there was a reward on my head, but that was from President

Bershear of northern Sudan. He even had like a rest thing. They wanted me to be arrested anywhere that they could find me, but now he's arrested now, you know. So things change, you know. The ecclesiastics, as I said earlier, you know, everything only lasts for a season, you know. So I believe that the bad rebels, I don't want to say they're scared of me. I hope they are. But they know they could have a problem.

Yeah, they could have a problem. Now, you were there during those early years of the different groups. Like I know there's like Hotel Rwanda and all of those movies that are based on those times. I come in after Hotel Rwanda. But I was there during the time. I wasn't in the area of blood diamonds, but I was there during that time. But the Coney War, I was not just there in the Coney War. I was the man known for fighting in the Coney War.

Anything you Google, like you said, you looked into Google. You know, there's a lot of different documentaries, other people's documentaries that have me in, newspaper stories, stories that I didn't do that other journalists came in and did. I mean, I was there during the Coney War from 98. Have you inspired other 1% bikers to come out there with you at all? I've had other 1% bikers come out on mission trips and serve. And yeah, so there's been many in the past. I have a few guys from the club that I ride with, some of my brothers that want to come out, you know, just to visit, not to, you know, not to go in and shoot people or anything, just to come visit.

You got to remember Uganda, like I call it the land of milk and honey, but they got wonderful game parks, man. There's a part of Uganda that you got to Google to see it, you know, Merchant Falls. You know, you Google Merchant Falls. You imagine being within 20 or 30 feet of an elephant or a lion, you know, you can go into the game park. And I'm trying to get you to come. We'll go to Merchant Falls, you know. Imagine going to Chobie Lodge. You can Google Chobie Lodge, beautiful Lodge, right on the Nile, man.

You know, so there's a lot of beauty of Uganda that people don't see that you need to really see the beauty. How, like, structured is it, is it like a suburban area? Is it more country? What is the infrastructure? No, when you go into the game park, it's very rural, very rule into the game parks. But if you're in Kampala, you know, they got shopping malls that if I took you to the shopping mall, which I won't, I'll let a driver take. because I don't like the city, but I mean, my wife or driver will take you into the shopping malls. When you're walking through that mall, you're going to say, oh, my God, am I really in Africa?

Because they're better than the United States, you know. Compala is amazing. Now, keep in mind, when I first went there, there wasn't even a shopping mall. There wasn't fine five-star, six-star hotels. I got to give the president the credit, you know. he's really done good in that country. You won't believe Kampala. I'm telling you there's six-star, seven-star hotels in Kampala, Uganda, man.

And beautiful restaurants, if you love Indian food, beautiful Indian food, there never used to be a Japanese or a Chinese restaurant. Google Kampala, Uganda, I think there's 13, 14 Japanese, Chinese, you know, Asian, style restaurants there now. I didn't even know about any. There's a pizza hut, you know, McDonald's. I'm telling you, it's all there now, you know. Kentucky fried chicken is on every side of town there now, you know. But Uganda is really a country. I want to tell people, no matter what you have heard of Uganda 20 years ago, you need to visit Uganda. It's the land of milk and honey. That's interesting how it's evolved so much. Because in school, when I was growing up and then we were learning about this, this is not how it was.

But there's still areas that need work. You know, they say that it takes 10 years before recovery really begins after a war. And then it takes another 10 years to do the recovery. So you're talking a country that was in war before it starts to stabilize. You're talking 20 years. So there is areas in the bush of Uganda that still needs help. You know, like where we do our Bush Kids project, you know, if you look, the worst cases of malaria in East Africa is in northern Uganda. You know, so there's children dying.

There's over 1,200 children dying today or dying a day from bad water, 1,400 dying malaria. So there's still a lot of work. But in some of these cities, the progress has really took hold. Is it less dangerous for you now than it was when you first got there? You know, when I first got there, I was constantly in the war, constantly every day. So I'm going to say it was years ago. But, you know, you don't really, you know, when you get my age, if life isn't a little bit of danger, It's not very exciting anymore, you know.

So, and I'm not saying you get used to it, but you kind of miss the adrenaline rush, you know. So I like the adrenaline rush a little bit. Have you ever talked to anyone from like the American government, like FBI, CIA or anything that you're doing out there? Many. And what do they think about all of this? Are they supportive? You need to watch my new documentary. You'll see some on-scene footage where the federal.

government came after me and raided my motorcycle shop, raided my home. That was all in 2014, all in this documentary. In Pennsylvania? Yeah, Pennsylvania. The federal government tried to shut me down at one time. That's why the documentary, that's one of the things, when you watch this new documentary, you're going to see 28 years of storms, 28 years of falling on your face. 28 years of blessings, 28 years of God's favor, but you're going to see 28 years where people tried to stop you or stop me, but I never stopped. That's why the title of the documentary is never stopped. And even you as a young man, you run into difficulties you don't want to talk about. You run into difficulties that you might go to bed at night, scared. You wake up in the morning

and you're scared, but something keeps you going. And I believe when people watch this documentary, at the end, it's not about me. It's about you. It's about them leading their life with the attitude never stop. It's about the message. I mean, imagine this. 2013, I received the Mother Teresa Award, the largest award in the world for social justice. six months later the federal government comes after me trying to shut me down six months before

new york times square big building my picture every hour is showing up for about two three minutes my picture the hillbilly from pennsylvania time square telling everyone i received a mother teresa award six months later the federal government armed with guns watch the documentary armed with guns, raiding my motorcycle shop. Imagine that. They literally auditors said, we want to shut you down. The best thing you can do is shut your nonprofit down. I never stopped.

So it was about the money. They were looking at the money aspect. Well, there was a lot of things. I was accused for many different things, you know, for fraud, smuggling guns. I had a container ready to be shipped to Africa, full of clothing and toys. It's all, you'll be shot. You've got to watch the documentaries.

I didn't even know about it. But I mean, everyone out there that's hearing what I'm talking about now, just to see what you're going to see is worth the $19,000, whatever it is to buy the documentary. Because it's unbelievable. And it's unseen footage. No one ever seen it. Fed's didn't even know I had it. Do you think you're targeted more or less because of that biker persona?

Like if a normal finance guy was running this operation, right, without the machine gun part and all of that, would he be targeted like you are? You know, I don't really know, but I know they don't like me to say this. But at one time, I was the only person to ever receive the Mother Teresa Award that wasn't a millionaire. They don't like me to say that. But money can buy you about anything you want. Money's got a lot of power. I'm telling you. you know, for me, it was just about doing good.

You know, it wasn't that I wanted to do it. It was God called me to do it. And then when I started doing it, it was the faces of those children that we've rescued. And I think it's the faces of the children I've rescued that keeps me going. And there's a few faces that I couldn't rescue that definitely can't. keeps me going. Do you think about more of the ones that you don't rescue than the ones that you do? I try not to focus on what I've done. You know, to be honest with you, I talk about it because it gets people like you and other people interested to help me and do something. But I try not to focus on

what I've done and I try to focus on what I need to do because Americans and I'm American, so I can talk about Americans. When we focus on what we're doing and what we have done, we get lazy. So I don't want to focus on accomplishments, you know, because I feel when we focus on accomplishments and getting people, look what I have done, then we start thinking it's finished, you know. Why do you keep roots in America? You know, my brothers I have here, I have a daughter here, I have grandchildren here. I have grandchildren here. I have four granddaughters and my daughter. My brothers and me are really close. Yeah. What does your family think about what you do? Oh, yeah. My oldest brother, his health isn't

real good, but, you know, I'm like, I'm like his hero. My brother George and me, he's in the documentary. We've always been really close. you know, but we, we stayed very close, you know. It's hard seeing each other get old, but we keep going. My brother George works with me every day. He's, like I tell everyone, I don't want to say he works at the bike shop. He's my eyes at the bike shop, you know. So he's there every day, you know, and makes all the decisions. He has power of attorney over me.

He signs checks. and if, you know, if I'm buying something, he buys it for me, you know. We don't argue. Me and my brothers don't argue. When we seen our mom getting old, she ended up getting Alzheimer's, we sat together and we made a decision that we would not argue over nothing. We made a decision if one brother didn't like something, the decision would be no. We won't do it.

So we don't argue. Yeah. we kept a good relationship. Maybe when we were younger, we argued and fought a lot, you know, but now that we're getting old, we don't argue. What do you think is America's or the world's biggest misconception about you and what you do? You know, I think in the Christian world, a lot of people is turned off by the gun.

But you've got to remember there's never been a war ever won without a weapon. and I think a lot of people, you know, a lot of people say, well, you know, Jesus was not about weapons. Well, I'm not the one that said what Jesus did. Jesus told his disciples before he was crucified. Go out and preach gospel. Don't take a money bag. Don't take an extra coat. Go.

Okay? After he was crucified, God raised him from the dead. He told his disciples again. Now go preach the gospel. Take a money bag with you. take a coat with you, and if you don't have a sword, buy one. I didn't say that. That's in the Bible, okay?

I know a lot of people's going to be going to be texting you and stuff on what I'm saying. But it's there. What did he mean by it? It wasn't to butter toast. What was he saying? Scholars will tell you. He was telling the disciples, there may come a time that you're going to have to defend yourself. when he said that you're worse than infidel if you don't take care of your family.

What did he mean by that? Especially when he said, who is my family? And he made it clear anyone that believes in me is my family. So Jesus was not a wimp. Jesus was somebody that took the cross for you and for me and everybody out there. He was not a wimp. He could have destroyed everybody. But he didn't.

He took the cross for us. You know, so I believe that as Christians, some people thinks were to be whims. That's not true. Every top 10 motorcycle club out there, there's a lot of born-again Christians, and a lot of them are badasses, okay? So being a Christian does not make you a wimp for sure. What do you think out of all of your years, out of everything you've been through is the biggest lesson you've taken away from it that you want to share to others? I think the biggest thing is you can be whoever you want to be.

If you want to go all through life and be a thug, you can be a thug. If you want to go through life being known that you was a thug, that you was the scum of the earth, and showing the world that you can change, especially with the help of God. And that's what I write in my books. You know, some people will say, oh, that machine gun preacher, all he wants to do is brag about what he's done. I'm bragging about what God done in my life. Not me. I couldn't have done it, man.

You know, I couldn't have done it. I do business conferences around the world. I won't even tell you what you got to pay to get me in a business conference. But my booking agent is Kevin Evans out of Australia. And he starts at 10,000. and plane tickets to get me in a business conference, you know. So how can that happen? I'm not educated.

I don't have a college degree. I don't even have a high school degree. Now, I would be pretty stupid if I sat here and said I read a lot of books because I couldn't read or write at 14 years old. But I can tell you I never went back to school. I just started serving someone that knew how to mold me and make me to who I needed to be. So, yeah, I do business conferences. I talk to people how to make money.

I do it all the time. I do probably three or four business conferences a year. Yeah. I mean, experience is the greatest asset, you know, and the greatest teacher. But, you know, when it comes to business, what I always ask people is, why do you want to be in business? What do you want to accomplish? And for who? And if you answer one of those three questions wrong, I'm going to tell you, just work.

for someone. And business doesn't necessarily have to be building like a franchise. Like this, this conversation, this is my business. Absolutely. I'm not ever going to be one of those corporate type people. But see, the big thing is you got a heart for helping people. And see, when I look at someone like you, the bigger you get, the more help you're going to do for people, you know.

It's purpose driven. Right. That's what it's all about, man. You know, they had something a number of years pay forward, I think it was called. I watched that movie in high school. I'm telling you, man, that's what it's all about. Pay forward, you know. Pay forward, yeah.

And that's what my third book is all about, helping someone. You know, the guy that helped me was Clyde Carter, Jimmy Carter's third cousin. He was the guy that gave me the opportunity in business. I remember when I came to his house, he's seen me on a roof. or I was putting a roof on for him. And when I got, or that morning, he said, I'll be by tomorrow to pay you. And I was really mean and look mean and biker, you know, and I cussed at him. And I said, you better be by here today to pay me.

I want to pay today. And he said, you won't be done today. And I said, I'll be done. And I cussed at him again. And he come by late that afternoon. I was sitting on the ground on some shingles that we didn't use. and he said, I didn't think you'd be done. And I cussed at him again.

And I said, just pay me my blank, blank money. And he paid me. And he started to walk away and he turns around and he hands me a business card. He said, if you want to change your life, call me one day. About a week later, everything was falling apart, you know, drug addiction and partying and just my whole life falling apart. and I had that card on my mirror of my dresser, and I pulled that card off and I called him from a pay phone. There was no phone back then, you know, no cell phones. So I called him and he gave me an address.

So I went to his house and he opened up the door. He handed me a $20 bill. He said, if you want to change your life, go down the road, get a haircut and come back. I snatched that money out of his hand and I went walking away Cussin, who's he think he is? And I drove down the road there was a bar not far from his place

that I was, it was like in a strip mall. I drank there before and I figured he's going to give me a buzz, $20 buzz today. And when I was walking up to that bar, there was a barbershop in that strip mall. And I'll never forget something said to me, and I knew it was God, because I wasn't going to church back then,

something said to me, remember, you called him. He didn't call you. So I walked into that place and got my hair cut. They trimmed my beard up, and I went back to his house, old Clyde Carter. And when he opened up the door, the first thing he said was, he was on crutches. Clyde was. He had his legs crushed. And the first thing he said to me was, what took you so long? He was the man that started changing my life. And my third book that's going to be coming out, that's what it's all about. Are you using your life to give someone else an opportunity in theirs?

Do you think that no matter what path you chose in your childhood, you were going to be destined to be where you're at now? You know, yes, you know, I do. Because how I believe, I believe that God's the one that will open doors for us. When God opens a door for you and you stand in the threshold of that doorway, the decision you make at that moment will determine your destination in life. And I preach that almost every day, man. I don't think there's a day go by that I don't say that to someone. You might have to go through 10 doorways to get to where you're going, but there's always a door going to open. You know, here I am at 62 years old.

I still have opportunities happening in life. Another door is going to open. So I always tell people, don't be too fast. Don't be too quick. Think about it. You know, unless you're rescuing somebody out of a burning house, you got time to think about it. for a moment. 62 is still young.

I mean, my dad's turning 80 soon, you know, and he's still working every day, 5 a.m. Hosseling, you know. You've got a lot more to live. He probably didn't harm his body like I did. True. But for me, I'm not, I mean, if God lets me live to 82 and still work, praise God. If I leave out of here today, praise God, you know.

I lived a good life and I've done things that no one else has ever done, you know. But I think he'll keep me around a few more years. Incredible. Well, Sam, thank you so much for coming here and sharing your awesome story. And we'll have the links to your documentary in the books and the description of this. You know, what I can say to anyone, really look in, go to YouTube, go all over, look in to the machine gun preacher Sam Childers. But right now in life, I need your help with this documentary. You know, I said earlier, everyone has made money off the machine gun preacher.

The movie Machine Gun Preacher never paid me. O me over $800,000. My first book, number one seller, made millions. I got $250,000. My first documentary, more than $600,000 downloads and sales. I got about $100,000 out of it. I need listeners out there. Go to the MGP or www.

never stop, download the documentary today, call the office, buy the documentary. The money is not going to me. It's going to a 501C3 Angels of East Africa that is focused on another 20, 30 years of saving children.