Mark David Chapman is a big hit — in Africa.
The man who killed John Lennon 32 years ago outside The Dakota on Central Park West may have recently lost his parole bid, but that hasn’t stopped him from spreading his “ministry” to inmates across the Atlantic.
Chapman, who pumped four hollow-tip bullets into Lennon’s back in 1980, is spreading the gospel through a new spiritual mentor, who told The Post that the murderer’s born-again message is wildly popular among criminals in South African jails.
“He has a great testimony,” said Stan Thurber, the preacher who has offered Inmate 81A3860 a home and work. “The fact that he’s incarcerated adds a lot of punch to it.”
Thurber, who has served as a prison chaplain and who has preached to upstate congregations for more than 40 years, sends copies of Chapman’s two-page testimonials to South Africa and said the demand has been so great, he has only one copy left.
“That’s the impact he’s having,” Thurber said.
One copy of the killer’s sermon posted online by the Texas-based Don Dickerman Ministries says, “I no longer wrestle with demons.
“I have the Light inside of me, the one that God told me to keep bright,” it says. “I once asked Satan to help me, to commit a crime, a crime I now deeply regret. I now ask GOD to help me, to help me be free from these lies and dangers.”
At his most recent parole-board hearing, on Aug. 23, Chapman talked about his bond with Thurber, who lives in upstate Medina, and what he described as his own “deep relationship to Christ.”
“My wife met [Thurber] several years ago at a church function, and she was really impressed by his deep commitment to Christ,” Chapman said.
If paroled, Chapman said he planned to stay with Thurber, who would put him to work cutting down trees behind his home.
Thurber seconded the sentiment.
“I’d trust it with my checkbook,” he said. “I have this place available here, and I’m very comfortable about it.”
Chapman conceded in his parole hearing that he had “zero” relationship with God before gunning down Lennon, who once infamously proclaimed that The Beatles were more popular than Jesus.
“I’m looking forward to my future of helping others find Christ,” Chapman told the parole board. “That’s what I’m interested in now.”