An amazing true story Stephen was born into a dysfunctional family. At 13 his mother had been forced to marry a much older man who had other wives. Stephen was born when his mother was just fourteen. By the time he was five his mother had become a single parent of three small children. One day she promised to take the excited kids for a treat in town. Howeverq, she left under them in the charge of Stephen while she went to the toilet, but never came back. Huge shock! After unhappy attempts to house Stephen, latterly with relatives, he ran away becoming a street kid. He found his food in the garbage bins of the rich white people in the suburbs of Salisbury, Rhodesia (now Harare, Zimbabwe). By 20, and illiterate, he was the leader of a violent gang filled with hatred. They survived by stealing, maiming and killing people as well as destroying buildings using their homemade bombs. Stephen lived under a bridge, covering himself with sand at night for warmth. Late one day, they set out to blow up a bank but stumbled across a colossal Christian tent meeting. Instantly they decided instead to destroy the tent and all in it. Inquisitiveness drew Stephen into the tent for a few minutes. It was those few minutes that changed the path of his life forever. This astonishing story continues ... Starting formal education after the age of 20, he eventually becomes a world renowned speaker. This condensed, illustrated version of Stephen's autobiography (Out of the Black Shadows) is written especially for the young and for those who don't like reading much. It is recommended by 10 to 80 year old readers. Stephen's story is a modern chapter from
the book of Acts and deserves to be widely read. Michael Cassidy, founder of African Enterprise