Nicky Cruz
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Nicky Cruz (b. December 6, 1938 in San Juan, Puerto Rico) is the former leader of a notorious New York City gang, The Mau-Maus. He later became a world renowned religious minister.
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[edit] Childhood
When Cruz was a child, he was raised by his parents who practiced brujeria and were followers of spiritism ("espiritismo"). They mentally abused him; his own mother would call him "Son of Satan", and his father was a witch doctor. The neighborhood in which he lived was one of the worst in Puerto Rico and Cruz was always getting into trouble.
[edit] Gang-life
On January 1,1953, when Cruz was fifteen, he was sent away from home to live with his older brother in New York City. Cruz moved to Fort Greene, Brooklyn in the heart of a tenement that housed over 30,000 Puerto Rican and Black people. In the ghettoes of New York, such as Fort Greene, life can be very difficult, and Cruz ended up joining one of the city's largest street gangs, the Mau-Maus. He quickly became the gang's "warlord." The position of warlord was important within the gang because the warlord is the person who meets with the warlords of other gangs to discuss the time and place of a gang fight and which weapons are going to be used. In 1956, Cruz was 18 years old and already the gang's "president." Cruz was also into drugs and his friend Mannie Durango, died in his arms during a gang fight. His gang was also involved in robberies and killings.
[edit] Conversion
A preacher by the name of David Wilkerson was in Cruz's neighborhood preaching when Cruz ran into 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.
Two weeks later, the preacher was back in the neighborhood for an evangelistic meeting. 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 St. Nicholas Boxing Arena (where the rally was being held). According to Cruz, when he arrived at the arena, something strange happened to his body. He started to feel guilty about the things that he had done before and started to pray. The preacher prayed with Cruz and HE asked God to forgive him. He also asked for the preacher's forgiveness.
The following day Cruz went to the police and turned in all of his weapons. Cruz began to study the Bible and returned to school. Cruz studied many subjects, including theology, for years. He himself became a preacher and returned back 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 himself accepted Jesus as his savior.
[edit] Ministry
Cruz is the founder of the "Nicky Cruz Outreach," which is a program that helps teenagers with troubled lives. The program has been a huge success and 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. He is a member of the Honorary Committee of The Presidential Prayer Team which included the likes of the late former President of the United States Gerald Ford, Jerry Colangelo, and others.
[edit] Literature
In 1970, a movie production about the life of Nicky Cruz, titled The Cross and the Switchblade, was made, starring Pat Boone as Rev. David Wilkerson and Erik Estrada as Nicky Cruz. In February 2000, a television special about Nicky Cruz titled Run Baby, Run was telecast in the United States.
Cruz also did a 55 minute documentary with Art Linkletter called "No Need to Hide". Nicky took Art to his old stomping grounds and showed him his old turf and showed how heroin broke the gang up.
The following books about Nicky Cruz have been written in various languages: 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.
