Stephen Lungu, one of the great evangelists of recent times and revered as the ‘Billy Graham of Africa’, has died of coronavirus, aged 78.
Stephen grew up in pre-independence Zimbabwe (formerly Rhodesia) and was the product of a dysfunctional family, living on the streets and getting involved with street gangs.
In his bestselling memoir Out of the Black Shadows he wrote about how, abandoned by his parents and angry at the white minority government which ruled Rhodesia until 1980, he and his gang plotted to petrol bomb an evangelistic tent meeting in Harare. But as they awaited an opportune moment, the preacher’s words lanced Stephen’s heart and he staggered forward to give his life to Christ instead.
