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Modern Era Testimony

Nicky Cruz - The Gang Leader Who Met Love

Violent Warlord Transformed by Radical Love

1958•🇺🇸New York, Kings County, United States

Nicky Cruz, the most feared gang leader in 1950s New York, encountered radical love through preacher David Wilkerson and was instantly transformed from...

Source:Internet Archive
“You can cut me in a thousand pieces and lay them out on the street, and every piece will love you.”
Nicky Cruz — the most feared gang leader in 1950s New York — instantly transformed when preacher David Wilkerson showed him radical love

Warlord of the Mau Maus

Nicky Cruz was the most feared gang leader in New York City. As warlord of the Mau Maus, he had stabbed, beaten, and terrorized Brooklyn. Psychiatrists labeled him unreachable.

Every Piece Will Love You

Then a skinny preacher named David Wilkerson walked into gang territory.

"I'm going to kill you," Cruz told him.

"You can cut me in a thousand pieces and lay them out on the street," Wilkerson replied, "and every piece will love you."

Something cracked in Cruz's hardened heart. No one had ever spoken to him about love. At a rally in 1958, Cruz surrendered his gang life to Christ.

Run Baby Run

The transformation was immediate and dramatic. The violent warlord became peaceful. The feared gang leader became a preacher. Today, at 85, Cruz has shared his story around the world through his book "Run Baby Run."

"I had tried everything - drugs, violence, sex - but nothing filled the void. When I met Jesus, I found what I had been searching for my whole life."

About This Testimony

What did God do?
Set Free, Found Faith
Where in life?
Church, Prison, Online
How did it happen?
Through Someone

Source & Attribution

Curated by Doxa from 'Run, Baby, Run' by Nicky Cruz and Jamie Buckingham and 1 other source.

Sources

Verified
🏛️
Run, Baby, Run
Nicky Cruz and Jamie Buckingham•1968•Primary Source
https://archive.org/details/runbabyrun1968cruz ↗
🌐
Nicky Cruz Outreach
Nicky Cruz
https://nickycruz.org/ ↗

We work hard to provide accurate attribution for all testimonies. If you notice any errors, broken links, or have better source information, please let us know.

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