Latest news with #MachineGunPreacher
The Irish Sun
08-06-2025
- Entertainment
- The Irish Sun
I'm the Machine Gun Preacher who Gerard Butler played in film – here's how I survived ISIS and 10 assassination attempts
A HOLLYWOOD star who gave up being a drug dealing bikie is now fighting ISIS through the dripping jungles of central Africa. The Machine Gun Preacher is on a mission to rescue child sex slaves on the continent - and is has come up against the notorious terror group. Advertisement 11 Sam Childers in South Sudan Credit: Caters 11 The Machine Gun Preacher is on a mission to save children Credit: Caters 11 Childers was played by Gerard Butler in the Hollywood film Credit: Alamy The priest, real name Sam Childers, is battling ISIS in the Congo as he continues his holy war to save abused children. He's famously known as being the inspiration behind the movie Machine Gun Preacher. The film starred an A-list cast of Gerard Butler as Childers, Michelle Monaghan as his wife, and Michael Shannon. Machine Gun Preacher told the story of how Childers came to be fighting in Africa after growing up in Grand Rapids, Michigan. Advertisement Read more on world news Once a criminal, he found God, turned his life to charity work in Africa and dedicated himself to saving children. Machine Gun Preacher - the film - showed him battling Joseph Kony and his Lord's Resistance Army in 1997. Now he's released a self-made documentary - trying to raise money to take the fight to ISIS in Congo. He said: "I'm not worried about dying. I'm 62 years old. The last thing I worry about is dying. I worry more about living than dying." Advertisement Most read in The US Sun Exclusive Breaking After being hammered in the Middle East, ISIS turned to Africa and is now enslaving thousands of children as its militants rampage through impoverished areas. Childers has a network of orphanages, schools, and farms set up across the centre of the continent. I fought ISIS in Syria & I know bloodthirsty thugs are plotting comeback after fall of Assad - Europe must be ready, says Brit fighter But he's come into combat with ISIS as they have expanded into Congo. He said: "We don't want to see our children be kidnapped, sold in prostitution. Advertisement "We don't want to see none of that so I'm willing to do whatever I have to do... and I'm willing to answer for it. "They are murderers. They're killers. 11 ISIS has brutally used child soldiers to fight its was 11 Childers said he has battled other groups like M23 Credit: AFP Advertisement 11 ISIS in West Africa - where it is strongest in the continent "I'm not afraid of none of them." Some 5.4million people have been killed in Congo's ongoing conflicts since 1998 - but the wars have gone largely ignored in the West. Three children were beheaded by rebel fighters in February and dozens more killed when they took a village. Advertisement Childers' belief in God has given the preacher the strength to keep fighting - even against militant Christian groups. The Lord's Resistance Army raped and abducted girls, mutilated them, and enslaved boys into being child soldiers. He said: "I've been ambushed over 10 times. Been in over 10 major battles. They tried to assassinate me over 10 times. "That's just in the Kony War." Advertisement Despite the gun battles, Childers says that he was in more danger while a bikie and drug dealer in America. 11 Childers has been working in Africa since the 1990s Credit: Caters News Agency 11 Childers became a heroin addict and bikie in his youth but turned his life around Credit: Caters News Agency He said: "I fought in guerrilla warfare, or been in war over 25 years, and I never was shot in Africa. Advertisement "I was shot once and stabbed 3 times in America." Childers said the soldiering was a means to an end - supporting the good work his organisations do through orphanages and farms. "What you got to realize those rescues and to be active in stuff like that costs a lot of money. "I have a lot of children and orphanages and children's homes that got to be taken care of." Advertisement Now, he runs a private military company in Congo that works with local forces to try and save children. Childers said many of the children he rescued were severely mentally damaged by their time spent in captivity. He said: "They cannot be kept in a normal orphanage with other children until after one year. "That's if the people believe they're doing well. That's doing the mental evaluations." Advertisement 11 Childers and Butler -- who played him in the 2014 film Credit: Photoshot 11 Michelle Monaghan and Butler in the Machine Gun Preacher film Credit: Alamy 11 Childers first fought in East Africa against the Lord's Resistance Army Credit: Alamy But Childers revealed that he preferred to work with children rather than adults, saying they could work through the mental challenges they faced from being victims of rape or violence. Advertisement But it's not just ISIS that his charities are fighting, with disease and hunger also continuing to kill children. Childers said: "So then we feed over 10,000 meals a day. The majority of the children we feed only eat one meal a day, and that's the meal we're feeding them." Now, the preacher has released a new film trying to raise money for his work. "Our goal is to do a hundred 1,000 downloads by the end of this year and that money's used for children, man, you know. And so, instead of telling everyone, hey, send me $20. Advertisement "We're asking everyone. Look, you want to hear a good story. You want to hear a good story of redemption. You want to hear a good story of saving people's lives. You want to hear a good story of giving all." Becoming the Machine Gun Preacher Childers was born into a difficult household with a heroin addict mum and drunkard dad. They were always Christians, but in his teens Childers got in with the wrong crowd, he said. "I started doing what they were doing to fit in, smoking cigarettes, smoking marijuana. Advertisement "12 years old: drinking, eating pills. "13, 14 years old: snorting cocaine. "Then, at 15 years old, I woke up one morning, and here I got a heroin addiction. You know, I'm shooting up cocaine, shooting up heroin." Childers quit school and said he turned himself into one of the biggest drug dealers in Grand Rapids, running narcotics from all over the US. Advertisement He said: "The only good thing was my dad brought me and my brothers up to be hardworking people. "I always held a job, even though I was a cocaine addict heroin addict. "But I made a lot of money selling drugs." Childers said he always believed in God, but "I thought I had everything I needed. Advertisement "I had money. I had drugs, guns, women motorcycles." But then in his early 20s, Childers got into a bar fight that was so awful it changed the course of his life. "There were big guys, tough guys laying on the floor crying, holding their guts in. And I said that night, if I get out of here, I'm I'm done living this life." Advertisement His charity work has seen Childers honoured with the Mother Teresa Memorial International Award for Social Justice in 2013. What's happening in Congo? ISIS has extended its bloody grip in Africa to the Congo in recent years. The terror thugs are taking advantage of high levels of poverty and an already destabalised nation. ISIS formally announced its arrival in the country - which it calls the Central Africa Province - in 2019. It claimed another rebel group - the Allied Democratic Forces (ADF) - as its affiliate in the Congo and neighbouring Uganda. The ADF, originally a Ugandan Islamist rebel group formed in the 1990s and had already established a stronghold in eastern Congo's North Kivu and Ituri provinces. The ADF rebranded to ISIS and adopted its jihadist rhetoric and tactics. The group began releasing propaganda via ISIS's media channels, portraying its local attacks—mainly against civilians, Congolese soldiers, and UN peacekeepers—as part of the global jihad. Hundreds of civilians have been killed in brutal raids, massacres, and bombings by the terror group. The Congolese army has launched several offensives to knock out ISIS - but has struggled to fully eliminate them.
Scottish Sun
08-06-2025
- Entertainment
- Scottish Sun
I'm the Machine Gun Preacher who Gerard Butler played in film – here's how I survived ISIS and 10 assassination attempts
Click to share on X/Twitter (Opens in new window) Click to share on Facebook (Opens in new window) A HOLLYWOOD star who gave up being a drug dealing bikie is now fighting ISIS through the dripping jungles of central Africa. The Machine Gun Preacher is on a mission to rescue child sex slaves on the continent - and is has come up against the notorious terror group. Sign up for Scottish Sun newsletter Sign up 11 Sam Childers in South Sudan Credit: Caters 11 The Machine Gun Preacher is on a mission to save children Credit: Caters 11 Childers was played by Gerard Butler in the Hollywood film Credit: Alamy The priest, real name Sam Childers, is battling ISIS in the Congo as he continues his holy war to save abused children. He's famously known as being the inspiration behind the movie Machine Gun Preacher. The film starred an A-list cast of Gerard Butler as Childers, Michelle Monaghan as his wife, and Michael Shannon. Machine Gun Preacher told the story of how Childers came to be fighting in Africa after growing up in Grand Rapids, Michigan. Once a criminal, he found God, turned his life to charity work in Africa and dedicated himself to saving children. Machine Gun Preacher - the film - showed him battling Joseph Kony and his Lord's Resistance Army in 1997. Now he's released a self-made documentary - trying to raise money to take the fight to ISIS in Congo. He said: "I'm not worried about dying. I'm 62 years old. The last thing I worry about is dying. I worry more about living than dying." After being hammered in the Middle East, ISIS turned to Africa and is now enslaving thousands of children as its militants rampage through impoverished areas. Childers has a network of orphanages, schools, and farms set up across the centre of the continent. I fought ISIS in Syria & I know bloodthirsty thugs are plotting comeback after fall of Assad - Europe must be ready, says Brit fighter But he's come into combat with ISIS as they have expanded into Congo. He said: "We don't want to see our children be kidnapped, sold in prostitution. "We don't want to see none of that so I'm willing to do whatever I have to do... and I'm willing to answer for it. "They are murderers. They're killers. 11 ISIS has brutally used child soldiers to fight its was 11 Childers said he has battled other groups like M23 Credit: AFP 11 ISIS in West Africa - where it is strongest in the continent "I'm not afraid of none of them." Some 5.4million people have been killed in Congo's ongoing conflicts since 1998 - but the wars have gone largely ignored in the West. Three children were beheaded by rebel fighters in February and dozens more killed when they took a village. Childers' belief in God has given the preacher the strength to keep fighting - even against militant Christian groups. The Lord's Resistance Army raped and abducted girls, mutilated them, and enslaved boys into being child soldiers. He said: "I've been ambushed over 10 times. Been in over 10 major battles. They tried to assassinate me over 10 times. "That's just in the Kony War." Despite the gun battles, Childers says that he was in more danger while a bikie and drug dealer in America. 11 Childers has been working in Africa since the 1990s Credit: Caters News Agency 11 Childers became a heroin addict and bikie in his youth but turned his life around Credit: Caters News Agency He said: "I fought in guerrilla warfare, or been in war over 25 years, and I never was shot in Africa. "I was shot once and stabbed 3 times in America." Childers said the soldiering was a means to an end - supporting the good work his organisations do through orphanages and farms. "What you got to realize those rescues and to be active in stuff like that costs a lot of money. "I have a lot of children and orphanages and children's homes that got to be taken care of." Now, he runs a private military company in Congo that works with local forces to try and save children. Childers said many of the children he rescued were severely mentally damaged by their time spent in captivity. He said: "They cannot be kept in a normal orphanage with other children until after one year. "That's if the people believe they're doing well. That's doing the mental evaluations." 11 Childers and Butler -- who played him in the 2014 film Credit: Photoshot 11 Michelle Monaghan and Butler in the Machine Gun Preacher film Credit: Alamy 11 Childers first fought in East Africa against the Lord's Resistance Army Credit: Alamy But Childers revealed that he preferred to work with children rather than adults, saying they could work through the mental challenges they faced from being victims of rape or violence. But it's not just ISIS that his charities are fighting, with disease and hunger also continuing to kill children. Childers said: "So then we feed over 10,000 meals a day. The majority of the children we feed only eat one meal a day, and that's the meal we're feeding them." Now, the preacher has released a new film trying to raise money for his work. "Our goal is to do a hundred 1,000 downloads by the end of this year and that money's used for children, man, you know. And so, instead of telling everyone, hey, send me $20. "We're asking everyone. Look, you want to hear a good story. You want to hear a good story of redemption. You want to hear a good story of saving people's lives. You want to hear a good story of giving all." Becoming the Machine Gun Preacher Childers was born into a difficult household with a heroin addict mum and drunkard dad. They were always Christians, but in his teens Childers got in with the wrong crowd, he said. "I started doing what they were doing to fit in, smoking cigarettes, smoking marijuana. "12 years old: drinking, eating pills. "13, 14 years old: snorting cocaine. "Then, at 15 years old, I woke up one morning, and here I got a heroin addiction. You know, I'm shooting up cocaine, shooting up heroin." Childers quit school and said he turned himself into one of the biggest drug dealers in Grand Rapids, running narcotics from all over the US. He said: "The only good thing was my dad brought me and my brothers up to be hardworking people. "I always held a job, even though I was a cocaine addict heroin addict. "But I made a lot of money selling drugs." Childers said he always believed in God, but "I thought I had everything I needed. "I had money. I had drugs, guns, women motorcycles." But then in his early 20s, Childers got into a bar fight that was so awful it changed the course of his life. "There were big guys, tough guys laying on the floor crying, holding their guts in. And I said that night, if I get out of here, I'm I'm done living this life." His charity work has seen Childers honoured with the Mother Teresa Memorial International Award for Social Justice in 2013.
The Sun
08-06-2025
- Entertainment
- The Sun
I'm the Machine Gun Preacher who Gerard Butler played in film – here's how I survived ISIS and 10 assassination attempts
A HOLLYWOOD star who gave up being a drug dealing bikie is now fighting ISIS through the dripping jungles of central Africa. The Machine Gun Preacher is on a mission to rescue child sex slaves on the continent - and is has come up against the notorious terror group. 11 11 The priest, real name Sam Childers, is battling ISIS in the Congo as he continues his holy war to save abused children. He's famously known as being the inspiration behind the movie Machine Gun Preacher. The film starred an A-list cast of Gerard Butler as Childers, Michelle Monaghan as his wife, and Michael Shannon. Machine Gun Preacher told the story of how Childers came to be fighting in Africa after growing up in Grand Rapids, Michigan. Once a criminal, he found God, turned his life to charity work in Africa and dedicated himself to saving children. Machine Gun Preacher - the film - showed him battling Joseph Kony and his Lord's Resistance Army in 1997. Now he's released a self-made documentary - trying to raise money to take the fight to ISIS in Congo. He said: "I'm not worried about dying. I'm 62 years old. The last thing I worry about is dying. I worry more about living than dying." After being hammered in the Middle East, ISIS turned to Africa and is now enslaving thousands of children as its militants rampage through impoverished areas. Childers has a network of orphanages, schools, and farms set up across the centre of the continent. I fought ISIS in Syria & I know bloodthirsty thugs are plotting comeback after fall of Assad - Europe must be ready, says Brit fighter But he's come into combat with ISIS as they have expanded into Congo. He said: "We don't want to see our children be kidnapped, sold in prostitution. "We don't want to see none of that so I'm willing to do whatever I have to do... and I'm willing to answer for it. "They are murderers. They're killers. 11 11 11 "I'm not afraid of none of them." Some 5.4million people have been killed in Congo's ongoing conflicts since 1998 - but the wars have gone largely ignored in the West. Three children were beheaded by rebel fighters in February and dozens more killed when they took a village. Childers' belief in God has given the preacher the strength to keep fighting - even against militant Christian groups. The Lord's Resistance Army raped and abducted girls, mutilated them, and enslaved boys into being child soldiers. He said: "I've been ambushed over 10 times. Been in over 10 major battles. They tried to assassinate me over 10 times. "That's just in the Kony War." Despite the gun battles, Childers says that he was in more danger while a bikie and drug dealer in America. 11 11 He said: "I fought in guerrilla warfare, or been in war over 25 years, and I never was shot in Africa. "I was shot once and stabbed 3 times in America." Childers said the soldiering was a means to an end - supporting the good work his organisations do through orphanages and farms. "What you got to realize those rescues and to be active in stuff like that costs a lot of money. "I have a lot of children and orphanages and children's homes that got to be taken care of." Now, he runs a private military company in Congo that works with local forces to try and save children. Childers said many of the children he rescued were severely mentally damaged by their time spent in captivity. He said: "They cannot be kept in a normal orphanage with other children until after one year. "That's if the people believe they're doing well. That's doing the mental evaluations." 11 11 11 But Childers revealed that he preferred to work with children rather than adults, saying they could work through the mental challenges they faced from being victims of rape or violence. But it's not just ISIS that his charities are fighting, with disease and hunger also continuing to kill children. Childers said: "So then we feed over 10,000 meals a day. The majority of the children we feed only eat one meal a day, and that's the meal we're feeding them." Now, the preacher has released a new film trying to raise money for his work. "Our goal is to do a hundred 1,000 downloads by the end of this year and that money's used for children, man, you know. And so, instead of telling everyone, hey, send me $20. "We're asking everyone. Look, you want to hear a good story. You want to hear a good story of redemption. You want to hear a good story of saving people's lives. You want to hear a good story of giving all." Becoming the Machine Gun Preacher Childers was born into a difficult household with a heroin addict mum and drunkard dad. They were always Christians, but in his teens Childers got in with the wrong crowd, he said. "I started doing what they were doing to fit in, smoking cigarettes, smoking marijuana. "12 years old: drinking, eating pills. "13, 14 years old: snorting cocaine. "Then, at 15 years old, I woke up one morning, and here I got a heroin addiction. You know, I'm shooting up cocaine, shooting up heroin." Childers quit school and said he turned himself into one of the biggest drug dealers in Grand Rapids, running narcotics from all over the US. He said: "The only good thing was my dad brought me and my brothers up to be hardworking people. "I always held a job, even though I was a cocaine addict heroin addict. "But I made a lot of money selling drugs." Childers said he always believed in God, but "I thought I had everything I needed. "I had money. I had drugs, guns, women motorcycles." But then in his early 20s, Childers got into a bar fight that was so awful it changed the course of his life. "There were big guys, tough guys laying on the floor crying, holding their guts in. And I said that night, if I get out of here, I'm I'm done living this life." His charity work has seen Childers honoured with the Mother Teresa Memorial International Award for Social Justice in 2013. What's happening in Congo? ISIS has extended its bloody grip in Africa to the Congo in recent years. The terror thugs are taking advantage of high levels of poverty and an already destabalised nation. ISIS formally announced its arrival in the country - which it calls the Central Africa Province - in 2019. It claimed another rebel group - the Allied Democratic Forces (ADF) - as its affiliate in the Congo and neighbouring Uganda. The ADF, originally a Ugandan Islamist rebel group formed in the 1990s and had already established a stronghold in eastern Congo's North Kivu and Ituri provinces. The ADF rebranded to ISIS and adopted its jihadist rhetoric and tactics. The group began releasing propaganda via ISIS's media channels, portraying its local attacks—mainly against civilians, Congolese soldiers, and UN peacekeepers—as part of the global jihad. Hundreds of civilians have been killed in brutal raids, massacres, and bombings by the terror group. The Congolese army has launched several offensives to knock out ISIS - but has struggled to fully eliminate them.
Indian Express
08-05-2025
- Entertainment
- Indian Express
Stick trailer: Owen Wilson seeks redemption through young prodigy in sports comedy seres
Apple TV+ on Thursday released the trailer for their sports comedy series titled Stick. Created by Jason Keller, who has written films like Ford v. Ferrari (2019), Escape Plan (2013) and Machine Gun Preacher (2011), the show revolves around a former pro golfer, Pryce Cahill, played by Owen Wilson. The trailer starts with a scene in a bar, where Cahill is presumably drowning his sorrows after a long day when he is recognised by Mitts (Marc Maron). Much to Cahill's dismay, Mitts proceeds to narrate the story of his downfall to the entire bar, and how he had a breakdown on live television during a tournament. To add injury to insult, he does this while laughing at him and saying, 'Bet you can't even look at a golf club after a train wreck like that, right?' Watch Teaser | Denzel Washignton and Spike Lee reunite for Highest 2 Lowest, featuring ASAP Rocky and Jeffrey Wright The scene transitions to a montage of the life of Stick (Pryce Cahill's moniker), where he reflects, 'Things were supposed to be different for me. I look in the mirror, and I would not bet on the guy.' This montage also depicts his divorce proceedings, revealing his struggle to cope and his denial. He is even seen receiving a lackluster pep talk from Mitts, the same man who previously insulted him. Finally, Cahill is shown teaching golf to seniors, his attention suddenly captured by the crisp sound of a well-hit ball. He follows the sound and discovers a kid who, in Cahill's words, 'swings the golf club like a dream,' and to no one's surprise, he tries to convince the kid to become his student. In a twist no one saw coming, the young talent had a tough childhood, and his father, who taught him golf, has passed away. Cahill convinces his mother to let him take the kid to the US amateur championship and tells her that he thinks 'he can win it all'. The main narrative of the series seems to be pretty clear, as Pryce Cahill will try to coach the kid to glory while he will learn some truths about himself along the way. The show, also starring Peter Dager, Lili Kay and Judy Greer, will start streaming from June 4 on Apple TV+.
Forbes
28-03-2025
- Entertainment
- Forbes
Chris Cornell's Early 2000's Smash Reaches A New Peak
Chris Cornell's 'Like a Stone' climbs to No. 11 on the Hard Rock Streaming Songs chart, giving ... More Audioslave a new peak decades after its initial release. TORONTO, ON - SEPTEMBER 11: Musician/actor Chris Cornell arrives at the premiere of "Machine Gun Preacher" at Roy Thomson Hall during the 2011 Toronto International Film Festival on September 11, 2011 in Toronto, Canada. (Photo by) Years after his tragic suicide, Chris Cornell is still making his presence felt on the Billboard charts. The legendary rocker, who fronted both Soundgarden and Audioslave and also carved out a successful solo career, occasionally returns to the rankings thanks to fans who keep playing his best-known tracks. This frame, one of the biggest hits he helped write is climbing once again, and it helps one of his bands reach a brand new peak. On this week's Hard Rock Streaming Songs chart, 'Like a Stone' steps up one rung, rising from No. 12 to No. 11. That movement may seem minor, but it's meaningful. That new placement represents a brand new all-time high for the band on this specific tally, as it surpasses its previous best showing. 'Like a Stone' is currently the only Audioslave track that has ever managed to find a home on the Hard Rock Streaming Songs ranking. Every time it advances, the band breaks its own record. 'Like a Stone' debuted on the Hard Rock Streaming Songs list in August of last year, decades after it was first released. Since then, it has appeared on the roster a dozen times, making intermittent returns as listeners flock to one of the most recognizable rock songs of the early 2000s. Its latest stint marks its twelfth stay somewhere on the ranking. After reaching stardom with Soundgarden and proving he could stand on his own, Cornell teamed up with former Rage Against the Machine members to form Audioslave a little more than 20 years ago. The band's first single, 'Cochise,' got the group off to a strong start, but it was 'Like a Stone' that turned the outfit into a chart-topping rock force. 'Like a Stone' reached No. 31 on the Hot 100, which not an easy feat for a hard rock composition in the early 2000s. It has since been certified gold in the U.S., and while the band claimed several hits, none matched that success or staying power of this tune. At No. 11, 'Like a Stone' is closer than ever to breaking into the top 10 on the Hard Rock Streaming Songs chart. It has already hit new peaks several times on this tally over the past few months, and the track could easily crack that upper tier in the coming weeks. If it manages to do so, 'Like a Stone' would give Audioslave its first top 10 on this particular tally — and grant Cornell a posthumous win that reminds everyone just how deeply loved and respected his work still is.
