NEW LIFE JUNE 2008
Issue 172
40p
GOOD NEWS STORIES
WIN WIN WIN A COPY OF SIR CLIFF’S NEW BOOK PAGE 5
WE’RE
Bring ing h o
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pe bac k to B
B AC K
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ritain
LONDON MAYOR’S PRAYER PLEA OVER RISE IN VIOLENCE PAGE 3
PLUS ... THE OLYMPIC SWIMMER LOOKING FOR DIVE-INE INTERVENTION – BACK PAGE
I WAS LEFT FOR DEAD BRUTALLY BEATEN... Jacques Lapergue who was attacked by a mob during a visit to Zambia
...But I want to forgive my attackers A BUSINESSMAN left for dead after being beaten by a mob in Zambia has revealed that he wants to meet his attackers... to FORGIVE them.
Jacques Laperg ue, from Brad ford, was pounced on after he found a corpse in a street in the village of Chipata, Zambia. A baying mob brutally beat the stained-glass factory boss thinking he was connected to the death. The Christian missionary told New Life how he was: Beaten beyond recognition, temporarily losing the sight in one eye
Stripped naked and humiliated in front of more than 40 locals Made to walk on stones in bare feet But despite the sickening attack, which left him needing treatment at the town’s intensive care unit, Mr Lapergue prayed throughout his ordeal. He said: “I told them that Jesus was coming soon and they just attacked me. They tried to strangle me, and at one point, one of them told me I was going to die that night.
NAKED “Despite them shouting and beating me, I had no fear and remained calm. I prayed in silence
because when I prayed out loud the attacks would increase.” After being dragged across the village and having alcohol thrown on his body, police rescued the barely-conscious Mr Lapergue. His injuries were so severe that he was taken to an intensive care unit at the town’s hospital – and handcuffed to the bed by police who wrongly suspected him of murder. After being released from hospital, Mr Lapergue was flung into a Zambian jail, and spent a week in a prison cell with 80 inmates. But the plucky missionary decided to use his imprisonment to talk about his Christian faith. He said: “My first night in jail the Continued on Page 2
Hope from horror of genocide A VICTIM of the Rwandan genocide that saw 800,000 murdered in cold blood has told how she was battered and buried alive. Fr ida Gashu mba ma naged to escape from a shallow grave after she and her family were attacked by Hutu militias. She went through the horror of watching her mother being beheaded and the rest of her family being brutally killed by the evil regime. Frida was left wandering homeless until she was found by a Christian woman, who then led her to Christ. She tells her harrowing story in Chosen to Die, Destined to Live. And in the book she explains how she has learned to forgive the people who took the lives of her family. She said: “I needed to step out in faith, believing that he [God] would do the rest. “I decided to begin with [forgiving] the man who had killed my father.” READ ABOUt FRIDA’S ORDEAl IN hER OWN WORDS – Page 6
Jimmy mum’s not bitter vow BITTERNESS and anger will not be allowed to destroy the family of tragic teenager Jimmy Mizen, his mother has said. Jimmy, who died in an alleged street attack, said the faith of the family was keepi n g t he m goi n g after the death of t h e 16 -y e a r - o l d in Lee, south-east London. Margaret Mizen said: “God is with is and in our family.” Mrs Mizen also Jimmy Mizen urged people not to blame the family of the suspect in Jimmy’s killing. FUll StORY – Page 3