Biography
Nicky Cruz was born on August 1, 1938, in Las Piedras, Puerto Rico, the fifteenth of eighteen children. His parents were spiritists, who practiced a form of witchcraft. He grew up in a home that was violent and fearful. His father was a hard man, who beat his children and treated his wife harshly. His mother, who was a spiritist medium, sometimes told Nicky that he was a son of the devil. He was a lonely and troubled child. At the age of fifteen, he was sent to New York City, to live with his brother. He was thrown into an unfamiliar world of poverty and crime.
He soon fell in with a street gang, the Mau Maus, who were a violent group in Brooklyn. By the age of seventeen, he had become the leader of the gang. He was known for his brutality and his fearlessness. He fought with knives and chains and took part in robberies and killings. He later said that he lived by the law of the street, and that he was ready to kill and be killed. He was a feared figure in the neighborhood. He was also deeply unhappy and had a death wish.
In 1958, a young preacher, David Wilkerson, came from Pennsylvania to New York to help the gangs. He began to hold street meetings in Brooklyn, and he came across Nicky. The story is that Wilkerson came up to him and said that he loved him. Nicky threatened to kill him and to cut him into a thousand pieces. Wilkerson replied that if he did, every piece would still love him. Nicky was shaken. He was not able to forget the encounter. A few weeks later, he attended a meeting in a church, at which Wilkerson spoke. He was moved to tears and gave his life to Christ.
The change was radical. He gave up his gang life and began to study. He enrolled at a Bible college in California, the Latin American Bible Institute, and trained for the ministry. He worked with Wilkerson in the Teen Challenge ministry, in which he helped young addicts and gang members. He began to speak in churches and in public meetings. He was a gifted speaker, with a dramatic story. His message was one of the power of the love of Christ to change a life.
His story was told in the book The Cross and the Switchblade, in 1963, by David Wilkerson, and in his own autobiography, Run, Baby, Run, published in 1968. The latter became a best seller, with millions of copies sold. A film based on The Cross and the Switchblade was made in 1970, with Pat Boone and Erik Estrada. He became an evangelist and traveled to over a hundred countries. He has spoken to millions of people, including youth in schools and prisons. He founded Nicky Cruz Outreach, an organization for evangelism among young people. He has written a number of other books.
He has had trials in his life. He admitted that he struggled with the memory of his past and with the pressure of public life. He had his share of conflicts and of controversy, and some people have questioned parts of his early story. He has also had a number of health problems. He is a man who is outspoken and strong-willed. He is a living man, and the details of his later years should be checked against reliable sources.
His life shows the power of a loving word to a violent boy. A gang leader who was ready to kill became a messenger of peace. His story has been told to millions as a testimony of the grace of God.