Nicky Cruz
 |
Nicky Cruz | |
|---|---|
| Nationality | Puerto Rican |
| Notable works | Run Baby Run |
Nicky Cruz (b. December 6, 1938 in San Juan, Puerto Rico) is the former leader of a New York City gang, The Mau-Maus. He later became a world-renowned religious minister.
Conversion
A preacher by the name of David Wilkerson was preaching in Cruz's neighborhood when Cruz encountered him. The preacher told Cruz that God loves him and will never stop loving him. They exchanged some words and Cruz threatened to kill him. That afternoon the preacher showed up in Nicky's gang's headquarters and was slapped by Cruz. David Wilkerson then broke down crying, and prayed for Nicky.
Two weeks later the preacher had an evangelistic meeting in the neighborhood. When Cruz heard about it, he decided to go and teach the preacher a "lesson" and, with some of the members of his gang, he headed for the church where the rally was being held. According to Cruz, when he arrived at the arena, he felt guilty about the things that he had done and started to pray. The preacher prayed with Cruz and Cruz asked God to forgive him.[1]
The following day Cruz and some of the gang members who converted went to the police and turned in all of their weapons. Cruz began to study the Bible and returned to school. He became a preacher and returned to his old neighborhood, where he preached and persuaded some of the Mau Maus to accept Jesus, including the gang's new leader, Israel Narvaez, who was also converted.
Ministry
Cruz is the founder of Nicky Cruz Outreach, which is a program that helps teenagers with troubled lives. The program has branches in the United States, Latin America, and Europe. Nicky Cruz is also the founder of halfway houses which help in the rehabilitation of drug addicts.
Literature
A film about the life of Nicky Cruz, The Cross and the Switchblade, starred Pat Boone as Rev. David Wilkerson, with Erik Estrada as Nicky Cruz. In February 2000, a television special about Nicky Cruz titled Run Baby Run was aired in the United States.
Cruz also participated in a fifty-five-minute documentary with Art Linkletter called No Need to Hide. Cruz took Linklater to his old stomping grounds and discussed how heroin broke the gang up.
Several books about Nicky Cruz have been written in various languages, including The Cross and the Switchblade by David Wilkerson, Run Baby Run by Nicky Cruz, and The Gangster Who Cried: The Story of Nicky Cruz by R.J. Owens. He has also co-authored a book, The Magnificent Three, with Charles Paul Conn.
Rev. Nicky Cruz now lives in Colorado and continues preaching all over the world.
References
- ^ The Cross and the Switchblade
Run Baby Run ` in 2009 the book Run Baby Run is being put out in a movie
