December 28, 2011
A film set to air on the Documentary Channel Jan. 22 will chronicle the life of Joshua Blahyi, one of Liberia's most brutal and feared warlords who found Christ and dramatically turned his life around, the Christian Post reports. Blahyi, who was dubbed "General Butt Naked" for entering battle with nothing but shoes and an AK-47, now renounces his violent past, including the murders of nearly 20,000 during Liberia's 14-year civil war. Since a dramatic encounter with Jesus in 1996, Blahyi has reinvented himself as an evangelist, traveling the nation as a preacher and asking for forgiveness from those he hurt in the past. Filmmakers Eric Strauss and Daniele Anastasion spent five years with Blahyi to create "The Redemption of General Butt Naked," which documents Blahyi's interactions with his former child soldiers and victims and highlights faith and forgiveness. "Christianity ... is the only belief, the only faith that tell[s] you to love your enemies," Blahyi says in an excerpt from the movie. "Only God is able to turn lives around."
