Zamperini Story 'Captured by Grace' Reaches Beyond Hollywood's 'Unbroken'
A moving, inspirational story of faith that reaches beyond Hollywood's "Unbroken" film version of the life of Olympic running champion and WWII prisoner of war Louis Zamperini will be featured on Newsmax TV Sunday at 6:30 a.m. ET
"Louis Zamperini: Captured by Grace," presented by the Billy Graham Evangelistic Association, is narrated by the Rev. Franklin Graham. Zamperini tells, in his own words, how he was saved from a life of nightmares from his horrific prison camp experiences and alcoholism which nearly destroyed his life and marriage by discovering faith in Christ.
Story continues below video.
Zamperini spent 47 days floating in a raft in the Pacific, starving, surrounded by sharks, after crashing in a bomber during a rescue mission. Captured by the Japanese, he refused to make propaganda broadcasts and was sent to a punishment camp, where he suffered brutal treatment at the hands of the guards.
He prayed, "God, if I survive this ordeal and get back to America alive, I'll seek you and serve you," but, once freed, he quickly forgot his promise.Suffering from nightmares and heavy alcoholism, Zamperini's life was nearly destroyed, until his wife dragged him to hear the Rev. Billy Graham at a tent crusade in Los Angeles in 1949.
"I came home alive," Zamperini said. "God kept his promise. I didn't keep mine. I went forward and I accepted Christ.
"That was the first night in all those years that I didn't have a nightmare and I've never had one since. You talk about a miracle! For the first time in my life I understood what the Bible was saying. Tears began to roll down my face.
"My conversion was a miracle. Understanding the Scriptures was a miracle. That's proof that the spirit of God has come into your heart."
Rev. Franklin Graham says in the film, "He was broken, not 'Unbroken.' He was broken, spiritually broken, and his life was falling apart, and when he went forward that night, God took the pieces of his life and put it back together again."
Zamperini went on to become an author and Christian motivational speaker, and traveled to Japan to visit a prison for war criminals, where he met and forgave guards who had cruelly mistreated him.
"The greatest question anyone can face is, 'What have you done with Jesus Christ,'" Zamperini, who died in 2014 at the age of 97, says in the film.
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