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1[[quoteright:350:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/machinegunpreacher.jpg]]
2[[caption-width-right:350:Hope is the greatest weapon of all.]]
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4When ex-biker-gang member Sam Childers (Creator/GerardButler) makes the life-changing decision to go to East Africa to help repair homes destroyed by civil war, he is outraged by the unspeakable horrors faced by the region’s vulnerable populace, especially the children. Ignoring the warnings of more experienced aide workers, Sam breaks ground for an orphanage where it’s most needed in the middle of territory controlled by the brutal Lord’s Resistance Army (LRA), a renegade militia that forces youngsters to become soldiers before they even reach their teens.
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6But for Sam, it is not enough to shelter the LRA’s intended victims. Determined to save as many as possible, he leads armed missions deep into enemy territory to retrieve kidnapped children, restoring peace to their lives - and eventually his own.
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9!!Contains Examples Of:
10* AfricanTerrorists: The Lord's Resistance Army.
11* AmazingFreakingGrace: During the scene where Childers gets baptized.
12* BadassBiker: What he was.
13* BadassPreacher: What he became.
14* ChildSoldiers: Part of the reason the LRA is abducting so many children. Also [[spoiler: the sniper turns out to be younger than Sam expected]].
15* ChildrenForcedToKill: In the opening sequence the boy with the scarred face is forced to club his mother to death in order for his brother & him to be left alive, though forced into fighting for the Lord's Resistance Army.
16* ChurchMilitant: Sam becomes one to fight his EvilCounterpart, the LRA
17* ClusterFBomb: Childers was prone to dropping these during his criminal days. This noticeably ceases after his conversion and baptism.
18* CorruptChurch: The [[HidingBehindReligion LRA]]
19* CrisisOfFaith: Sam briefly has one after [[spoiler: the death of his friend Donnie]].
20* FilmOfTheBook: Based on Sam Childers' memoir ''Another Man's War''
21* GoneHorriblyRight: Sam's wife became a born-again Christian when he was in jail. After he got out, she persuaded him to start coming to church because she wanted him to share her new-found faith. She probably wasn't expecting him to take it ''quite'' so seriously.
22* HeWhoFightsMonsters: A female relief worker [[{{Foreshadowing}} warns Sam about this]], and he blows her off, saying, "You fight the evil here your way, I'll fight it my way." A few scenes later, we seem him on a slippery slope in that very direction.
23* HeelFaithTurn: Sam finding salvation and redemption in Jesus.
24* HistoricalBeautyUpdate: As the footage at the end shows, the real Sam Childers is balding, heavyset and has a far rougher appearance in contrast to the lean, wavy-haired and ruggedly handsome Creator/GerardButler.
25* PapaWolf
26* RealMenLoveJesus: The Movie!
27* ReformedCriminal
28* SavingTheOrphanage
29* ScaryBlackMan: The members of the Lord's Resistance Army.
30* TheDogBitesBack: One of the ChildSoldiers shoots the last LRA soldier then pulls off a HeelFaceTurn.
31* TookALevelInJerkAss: He turns from an idealistic, NiceGuy Anti-Hero to an angry, bitter WellIntentionedExtremist. Although eventually he gets better.
32* WhiteMansBurden: If you feel cynical about it.

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