A FORMER African terrorist who turned to Christianity after being sent to bomb a gospel meeting in Malawi will give a talk to a Clitheroe church congregation next week.

Stephen Lungu, who was a child of the streets after being abandoned by his parents when he was seven, will tell the congregation of St James' CE Church how, in 1960, he became active in terrorism as a Communist against the Government of southern Rhodesia.

In 1962 he and fellow gang members decided to throw their bombs into a large tent where a gospel meeting was being held and shoot anyone trying to escape.

But before he could throw his bombs he listened to the gospel and was converted.

In 1963 Mr Lungu, now 60 and a father-of-five, became an evangelist and his life story is the subject of a best-selling book 'Out of the Black Shadows'.

He has since become a popular international speaker and now heads the Malawi Team of African Enterprise, an international organisation whose objective is to evangelise the cities of Africa in partnership with the church.

His talk will be on Thursday, May 23, at 7.30pm.