Malcom X

One of my favourite testimonies of transformation is tha tof a young man who was born in Omaha, Nebraska, in 1925. He grew up in rural Michigan in the 1930s and 1940s. He was a poor black boy whose father was a Baptist preacher. One day his father was killed in a racial incident. Eventually, the boy and his siblings were forced to go into foster care because his mother could no longer care for them.

He was a bright boy, but was never given a chance to pursue his dreams of becoming a lawyer. Everyone told him "That's not a realistic goal for a coloured boy". He eventually dropped out of school.

He went to live in Boston with his older sister where he started into a life of crime. Ultimately, he ended up in prison in 1945. There he met a man who told him of a way he could turn his life around. This man preached to him regularly, In time, he began to listen. One night in 1947, while in his cell, he says the Messiah came to visit him. His life changed from that moment on and he became a model prisoner and devout believer.

Upon his release from prison in 1952, he poured himself into his faith. He became a preacher of nation renown. His name became a household word. He was no longer a drug addict and criminal. He had been completely changed. He single-handedly planted over one hundred houses of worship and influenced an entire generation.

His name? Malcom X. The militant Nation of Islam leader who was eventually converted to orthodox Islam and who was later assassinated by members of the group ot which he once belonged. "The Messiah" to whom he referred was Elijah Muhammad, the leader of the Nation of Islam. He eventually recognised it as a cult, but his life had been changed none the less.

We learn several things:

1) experiences can be misleading

2) a changed life is not irrefutable evidence

Source: Magazine Name, January 1, 2006