From gangster to preacher

It took a year, but Lu's prayer was answered. During a retrial he was found innocent of kidnapping and the charges were dropped. Two years later, in 1979, he was released on bail.

A man of his word, Lu joined the Christian Disciple Training Institute (門徒訓練中心), where he was finally united with his female pen pal, Chen. The two married and moved to the US where Lu completed a doctorate in Theology.

Two children and 10 years later, Lu returned to Taiwan to make amends with his victims. The most difficult was the mother of a childhood neighbor, a man he almost beat to death. "I was bad. I kicked his head and jumped on him. There was so much blood and his mother just stood there screaming, begging me to stop. Now I was returning as a pastor."

After having the door slammed in his face several times, Lu was finally allowed inside to apologize. Before he left town, he had converted the whole family and opened a small community church.

On a mission to convert the masses, Lu has opened 35 churches in Taiwan and converted thousands. His biggest project is prison. Through letters and weekly visits, Lu has converted 3,000 prisoners, 150 of whom were previously gang members.

He even attempted to convert his former boss, the Bamboo Union leader, Chen Qi-li (陳啟禮). A few months after Lu's release from prison, a welcome-home banquet was held in his honor. At the end of the banquet he invited all his old gang friends to his basement, where he had set up his church. Minutes after they arrived, the group fled.

With Lu's colorful past, there will always be those who refuse to believe him. But it is something he has come to terms with.

"They say a leopard can't change its spots. Now it is my responsibility to prove them wrong," Lu said.