Nicky Cruz (born December 6, 1938) is a Puerto Rican

Christian Christians () are people who follow or adhere to Christianity, a monotheistic Abrahamic religion based on the life and teachings of Jesus Christ. The words ''Christ'' and ''Christian'' derive from the Koine Greek title ''Christós'' (Χρι ...

evangelist Evangelist may refer to: Religion * Four Evangelists, the authors of the canonical Christian Gospels * Evangelism, publicly preaching the Gospel with the intention of spreading the teachings of Jesus Christ * Evangelist (Anglican Church), a c ...

, the founder of Nicky Cruz Outreach, an evangelistic Christian ministry. He was also once the director of

Teen Challenge Global Teen Challenge is a network of Christian faith-based corporations intended to provide rehabilitation services to people struggling with addiction. It was founded by David Wilkerson in 1961. The global headquarters is in Columbus, Georgia, ...

, serving under

David Wilkerson David Ray Wilkerson (May 19, 1931 – April 27, 2011) was an American Christian evangelist, best known for his book ''The Cross and the Switchblade''. He was the founder of the addiction recovery program Teen Challenge, and founding pastor of th ...

before founding another ministry home himself in California. Prior to his conversion he was the leader of a

New York City New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the List of United States cities by population, most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the L ...

gang A gang is a group or society of associates, friends or members of a family with a defined leadership and internal organization that identifies with or claims control over territory in a community and engages, either individually or collectivel ...

, the Mau Maus.

Early life

Cruz was born in Las Piedras, Puerto Rico where he was raised by his parents. His parents practiced

brujeria Various types of witchcraft and occult religious practices exist in Latin American and Afro-Caribbean cultures, known in Spanish as (pronounced ). Influenced by indigenous religion, Catholicism, and European witchcraft, the purpose may range ...

and were followers of

spiritism Spiritism (French: ''spiritisme''; Portuguese: ''espiritismo'') is a spiritualist, religious, and philosophical doctrine established in France in the 1850s by the French teacher, educational writer, and translator Hippolyte Léon Denizard Riva ...

("espiritismo"). They mentally abused him; his own mother would call him "Son of

Satan Satan,, ; grc, ὁ σατανᾶς or , ; ar, شيطانالخَنَّاس , also known as Devil in Christianity, the Devil, and sometimes also called Lucifer in Christianity, is an non-physical entity, entity in the Abrahamic religions ...

". The neighborhood in which he lived was one of the worst in

Puerto Rico Puerto Rico (; abbreviated PR; tnq, Boriken, ''Borinquen''), officially the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico ( es, link=yes, Estado Libre Asociado de Puerto Rico, lit=Free Associated State of Puerto Rico), is a Caribbean island and Unincorporated ...

and Cruz was always getting into trouble. According to his book ''Run Baby Run'', his parents sent him to live with his brother in New York City when he was 15, and Cruz soon ran away and started living on the streets of the city. He became a member of the Mau Maus street gang, and about six months later Cruz was selected Warlord of the gang. He quickly rose to become their president."Run, Baby, Run"; Nicky Cruz (Author); Publisher: Bridge-Logos (December 1, 1988);

Conversion to Christianity

Shortly after Cruz became the gang leader,

was preaching in the neighborhood when Cruz encountered him. The preacher told Cruz that "Jesus loved him and would never stop loving him". Cruz responded by slapping Wilkerson and threatening to kill him. Wilkerson attempted again later to convert Cruz, and received the same response. Later, Wilkerson organised an evangelistic meeting in the neighborhood with the intent of converting the Mau Maus. When Cruz heard about it, he headed with some of the members of his gang for the boxing arena where the meeting was being held, on a bus sent specially by Wilkerson. According to Cruz, when he arrived at the arena, he "felt guilty about the things that he had done" and began to pray. After preaching, Wilkerson asked the Mau Maus to take up a collection. Cruz volunteered and led a group of the gang through the crowd, insisting on people giving money. Going backstage, he saw an exit, but convinced the group to give the money to Wilkerson on stage. Later, Wilkerson gave an

altar call An altar call is a tradition in some Christian churches in which those who wish to make a new spiritual commitment to Jesus Christ are invited to come forward publicly. It is so named because the supplicants gather at the altar located at the fro ...

, and a large number of gang members responded. Wilkerson prayed with Cruz, and Cruz asked

God In monotheism, monotheistic thought, God is usually viewed as the supreme being, creator deity, creator, and principal object of Faith#Religious views, faith.Richard Swinburne, Swinburne, R.G. "God" in Ted Honderich, Honderich, Ted. (ed)''The Ox ...

forgive Forgiveness, in a psychological sense, is the intentional and voluntary process by which one who may initially feel victimized or wronged, goes through a change in feelings and attitude regarding a given offender, and overcomes the impact of t ...

him. Afterward, Cruz and some of the gang members who were converted went to the

police The police are a constituted body of persons empowered by a state, with the aim to enforce the law, to ensure the safety, health and possessions of citizens, and to prevent crime and civil disorder. Their lawful powers include arrest and t ...

and turned in all of their bricks,

handguns A handgun is a short-gun barrel, barrelled gun, typically a firearm, that is designed to be usable with only one hand. It is distinguished from a long gun (i.e. rifle, shotgun or machine gun, etc.), which needs to be held by both hands and also ...

and knives, shocking the police officers in the station. They stated that if they had seen the group approaching, they probably would have shot them down. Cruz began to study the

Bible The Bible (from Koine Greek , , 'the books') is a collection of religious texts or scriptures that are held to be sacred in Christianity, Judaism, Samaritanism, and many other religions. The Bible is an anthologya compilation of texts of a ...

and went to

Bible college A Bible college, sometimes referred to as a Bible institute or theological institute, is an evangelical Christian or Restoration Movement Christian institution of higher education which prepares students for Christian ministry with theological educ ...

. He became a preacher and returned to his old neighborhood, where he preached and converted more of the Mau Maus to Christianity, including the gang's new leader, Israel Narvaez.

Written works

Nicky Cruz has written two autobiographies, ''Run Baby Run'', with Jamie Buckingham (1968), and ''Soul Obsession'', with Frank Martin (2005). He has also written several books with a Christian theme, including ''The Corruptors'' (1974), ''The Magnificent Three'' (1976), and ''Destined to Win'' (1991). Cruz's conversion was depicted in the 1970 film '' The Cross and the Switchblade'' starring

Erik Estrada Henry Enrique Estrada (born March 16, 1949) is an American actor and police officer. He is known for his co-starring lead role as California Highway Patrol officer Francis (Frank) Llewelyn "Ponch" Poncherello in the police drama television series ...

as Cruz and

Pat Boone Patrick Charles Eugene Boone (born June 1, 1934) is an American singer and actor. He was a successful pop singer in the United States during the 1950s and early 1960s. He sold more than 45 million records, had 38 Top 40 hits, and appeared in mo ...

as David Wilkerson. In 2013, Cruz authored ''The Devil Has No Mother'' which shares Cruz's understanding of the

devil A devil is the personification of evil as it is conceived in various cultures and religious traditions. It is seen as the objectification of a hostile and destructive force. Jeffrey Burton Russell states that the different conceptions of t ...

's hunger to gain power, but contrasts this with

's ability to nevertheless win the day.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Cruz, Nicky 1938 births Living people People from Las Piedras, Puerto Rico Former gang members Puerto Rican Protestant missionaries Assemblies of God people Puerto Rican non-fiction writers Puerto Rican religious leaders 20th-century American novelists Hispanic and Latino American novelists Religious leaders from New York City American autobiographers Hispanic and Latino American autobiographers American male novelists Puerto Rican novelists 20th-century American male writers Novelists from New York (state) 20th-century American non-fiction writers American male non-fiction writers

Early life

Conversion to Christianity

Written works

See also

References