Nicky Cruz’s story is a powerful testimony of how Jesus Christ can completely transform a life shaped by violence, hate, and hopelessness into one marked by forgiveness, purpose, and love.
From abuse to gang violence
Nicky grew up in Puerto Rico in a deeply troubled home, surrounded by spiritual darkness, abuse, and rejection, especially from his own parents. As a teenager he was sent to New York City, where he ended up living on the streets and was soon drawn into gang life in Brooklyn. By 16, he had joined the Mau Maus, one of the city’s most feared gangs, and quickly rose to become their leader, known for brutality, knife fights, and constant conflict with rival gangs and the police.
Despite his hard exterior, Nicky was tormented inside—haunted by nightmares, violence, and a deep sense that his life was headed nowhere but prison or death, a verdict even a court psychiatrist pronounced over him. Pain, anger, and fear shaped his identity, and he saw no way out of the cycle of hatred and bloodshed.
Encounter with a fearless preacher
Into this world stepped a young country preacher from Pennsylvania named David Wilkerson, who believed God had called him to reach the gangs of New York. When Wilkerson first spoke to Nicky on the streets, Nicky cursed him, threatened to kill him, and even beat him, but the preacher refused to back down. Wilkerson’s famous words to Nicky were that even if Nicky cut him into a thousand pieces and scattered them on the street, every piece would still cry out, “Jesus loves you.”
Those words pierced through years of hatred because Nicky had never experienced love that did not run away in fear or respond with violence. Though he tried to resist, something in him could not shake the message that God’s love was stronger than his sin and violence.
The night violence lost its grip
A short time later, Wilkerson organized an evangelistic rally at St. Nicholas Arena in New York City and invited the gangs to come. Nicky and his gang showed up ready to make trouble, but as Wilkerson preached about the crucifixion of Jesus—how Christ willingly suffered and died for sinners—Nicky felt overwhelmed. He described being choked with pain as tears he tried to hold back began to flow; in that moment he stopped fighting and surrendered his life to Jesus Christ.
Nicky prayed, asking Jesus to forgive him, and for the first time he told someone, “I love you,” as he realized that Christ loved him despite all he had done. He later described it as if Jesus took out his old heart, kissed it, and put it back in his chest—a picture of the new birth and a brand new creation. When he opened his eyes, he knew he had been born again and that he now belonged to the Lord.
From weapons to the Word
Nicky’s conversion was not just emotional; it led to concrete change. He and some of his fellow gang members went to the police station and turned in their weapons, publicly renouncing the violent life that had defined them. Nicky left the gang scene entirely and enrolled in a Bible college to be trained in God’s Word and ministry.
During this season he met Gloria, who became his wife and partner in ministry, and together they returned to New York City to work with Teen Challenge, the ministry David Wilkerson had started to reach addicts and gang members. Nicky even went back to his old neighborhoods and saw many of his former gang associates come to Christ, including later leaders of the Mau Maus.
A life spent rescuing others
In the years since, Nicky Cruz has traveled the world preaching the gospel, sharing how Jesus rescued him from gang violence, hatred, and spiritual darkness. Through Nicky Cruz Ministries and related outreaches like TRUCE (To Reach Urban Communities Everywhere), he has focused on reaching young people trapped in cycles of addiction, gangs, and despair, using urban arts and clear preaching about Christ’s power to save.
His story was popularized in David Wilkerson’s book and the film “The Cross and the Switchblade,” which has inspired many other former gang members and addicts to seek a new life in Jesus. Today, Nicky’s journey from a prison of inner and outer violence to a life of faith and service stands as a vivid picture of how Christ can take a hardened gang leader and turn him into a compassionate evangelist, proving that no one is beyond the reach of God’s grace.
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