It is impossible to adequately summarize 50 plus years of memories. For decades, Ihave told people, and especially my family, that without David Wilkerson’s obedience to go into the pits of hell, I wouldn’t be here. Neither would millions of souls who have come to the Lord through Nicky Cruz Outreach, Teen Challenge, Victory Outreach, and World Challenge. History will tell of the legacy that he has left behind and the countless number of people like me that he touched whom nobody else would have gotten close to.

Coming from my background, I lacked the influence and guidance of a father in my life. David stepped in and took on the role of not only my spiritual father, but also that of anearthly father. I loved him. He was always very concerned that everything would goright with me spiritually. He was always there when I needed him. He would often counsel me that being in the ministry was rarely easy. One time I remember him telling me:

“Nicky, I sometimes get discouraged. When I do, I think of the day of your conversion and the miracle Jesus did in your life. Thinking of that day always lifts my spirits and I keep going. That memory always makes me happy.”

David reminded me in some ways of Jesus. Like Jesus, he never stayed in the sameplace. Like Jesus, he had active eyes and was compassionate, looking at the peopleand seeing their needs. His heart was full of compassion. David Wilkerson was a man who was always taking detours when there was a need to meet. David had such asensitive heart for the pain of others. And you know what? That’s what made him a
great man – his willingness to go out of his way for the lost and broken.

Many people saw David as a harsh prophet. But in his heart of hearts, he was a teddybear – that’s the David Wilkerson many people never knew, but whom I knew personally.

Whatever people say, I can say that I really knew him. This man who became my mentor, left his heart in my heart, and that’s the reason I became an evangelist.

Evangelism was the heart of David Wilkerson.

Dave told me one time that what a man does for Jesus is never in vain. I was always soproud of him when I heard him preach. He was an awesome preacher and was right onin his discerning of the times. His death is a loss for us but a gain for heaven.

Son of God, husband, father, grandfather, evangelist, pastor, author, prophet, friend, confidant-my spiritual father and friend, David Wilkerson. The world has lost a truly great man.

“Precious in the sight of the Lord is the death of His saints.” -Psalm 116:15

It is still difficult to comprehend everything God has done during our Outreach conferences in Riga and Ukraine in May 2009. The results and the miracles we have seen went above and beyond our expectations and prayers. One of the biggest miracles and huge blessings to us was the very fact that Nicky Cruz, a well-known evangelist, has accepted our invitation and came alongside of our team to minister to the lost and the weary in the former Soviet Union.

The fact that Nicky has graciously agreed to come and preach the gospel and tour with our team for a whole two weeks, was extraordinary and such a miracle from God. He did not know any of us previously to this trip, and only God could lead him to make this decision to come along.

Bishop Nickolay Grib wrote to us after the Outreach Conference in Riga, Latvia, and expressed heartfelt gratitude, especially for pastor Nicky’s visit and the powerful message of forgiveness and redemption. Bishop Grib explained that never before have they been able to gather such a large crowd in Riga for the message of the Gospel, and he does not remember last time he has seen so many come to the altar to accept Jesus in one evening in their city. They are especially grateful for the teaching and the personal life testimonies Nicky shared with the pastors and ministers during the morning and afternoon Leaders’ seminars. Riga was left in awe of God’s grace and in gratitude for pastor Nicky’s visit.

Donetsk, Ukraine, was a whole other level of miracles, besides the fact that pastor Nicky’s seminars for church leaders were attended by 2,000 – 3,000 pastor and ministers who gathered to hear the word and teaching from all regions of Ukraine, it was also extraordinary to see so many gather during a weekday. One of the most powerful experiences for hundreds of pastors and church leaders was Nicky’s message on Forgiveness. Pastor Nicky did not hold back on speaking the Truth of how unforgiveness continues to be the plague in the lives of so many church leaders and how it continues to destroy churches.

The glory of God was so evident and so strongly present on the last evening of the Outreach Conference, when pastor Nicky spoke the message of the Gospel and shared of the power of the blood of Jesus upon his own life. Over 7,000 people flooded the biggest stadium in the city of Donetsk, hundreds were standing in all possible entrance ways and hallways. As Nicky spoke of the great love of the Father and the sacrificial love of Christ, over 400 rushed to the altar to give their lives to Jesus, to turn toward God and accept His everlasting and unconditional love for them. The biggest miracle of all, of course, was the hundreds of people who have believed that God truly loves them, that He really cares, He cares so much that He sacrificed His own son for the sake of us all. It is the new-born faith of these people, that will continue to lead them closer and closer to the heart of God.

We are so truly grateful for pastor Nicky’s heart, for his genuine love for his Jesus, for the personal sacrifices he continues to make in his life by preaching the Gospel at the ends of the earth and at all costs. His life has been and will continue to be an inspiration for many!

With love and respect,

Alex Shevchenko – senior pastor House of Bread church

Valeriy Khimich – director of Outreach Ministry

Ex-gang member Nicky Cruz’s 1968 autobiography, “Run Baby Run,” became a bestseller and launched a movie two years later. Now a new movie will focus on his story of turning his life around through Christianity. Photo provided by Nicky Cruz Outreach.

By Mark Barna
The Gazette
July 23, 2009

Nicky Cruz is well known in evangelical circles as the former gang member who turned his life around after converting to Christianity.

His autobiography, published in 1968, became a best-seller, and his life provided fodder for “The Cross and the Switchblade” a 1970 movie starring Erik Estrada.

But Cruz, who leads a Christian outreach organization in Colorado Springs, remains relatively unknown to the general public.

That may change next summer when a feature film about Cruz’s life is scheduled to hit movie theaters.

David Urabe, president of Convolo Productions in Los Angeles, wants to bring Cruz’s story to a mainstream audience, not just a Christian one, as was largely the case with the 1970 movie.

The new film, tentatively titled “Run Baby Run: The Life Story of Nicky Cruz,” has a $12 million budget, Urabe said.

The director is Antoine Fuqua, who directed the 2001 film “Training Day,” which made more than $76 million at the U.S. box office. The screenwriter is Gregory Anderson, who wrote “Stomp the Yard,” which made nearly $61.4 million in the U.S. in 2007.

Cruz, the film’s creative consultant, said it will not be a “cheesy” Christian movie. It will be critical of how mainstream Christianity has been practiced over the last 10 years, he said, and will delve into the world of dysfunctional families.

“I hope that teenagers and parents looking for release from their problems will finding something helpful in it,” he said.

You don’t have to wait for the film to come out to find out more about Cruz. He’s speaking during the 9 and 11 a.m. services Sunday at The Springs Church, 640 Chapel Hills Drive. For more information, call the church at 488-8331

—
Original article:
http://www.gazette.com/articles/life-59028-cruz-nicky.html

The Gazette

Run, Baby, Run:
http://tinyurl.com/qdabm6

Book: Run, Baby, Run

“And afterward they asked for a king; so God gave them Saul…and when He had removed him, He raised up for them David as king, to whom He gave testimony and said, I have found David, the son of Jesse, a man after my heart, who will do all My will.” (Acts 13:21-22)

Nicky, Gloria, Alicia and I and our children just finished an outreach in Riga, Latvia, and Donetsk, Ukraine. Nicky spoke multiple times during Slavic conferences that took place in both countries. He was able to minister to hundreds of pastors and their families in addition to conducting citywide outreaches. In both nations, the ministers are extremely discouraged by the lack of salvations and growth in their churches. The results were miraculous. What follows is part of a blog that we posted on our website (Nicky Cruz speaks in Eastern Europe).

Donetsk, Ukraine

Nicky at Pastors Conference in Ukraine

We are in eastern Ukraine, in Donetsk, near the Russian border, in an area known as the bread basket of Russia. Coal and mineral reserves lay under fields of corn, wheat and potatoes. For centuries, this country has fed the vast Soviet Empire. Nutrient-rich soil erupts in bumper crop after bumper crop, year after year. Even though Ukraine won her independence more than a decade ago, this region still makes no apologies for affections and loyalty paid to Moscow. I was told that as NATO courts the nation, this part of it would probably seek to secede from the state and join with Russia.

Prophetic Bomb – Today’s conference for the pastors was nothing less than historic. Nicky spoke passionately about not forgetting where you come from, never forgetting what it was like not to know Christ. He exhorted the ministers not to make Jesus so inaccessible through laws and legalism that the people couldn’t see or reach Him. He implored the People of God to fall in love – romantically, no less – with Jesus. None of us has the power to change anyone, only the Holy Spirit. Our condemning people pales in comparison to the Spirit’s power and desire to bring conviction and forgiveness.

(For it is His kindness that leads us to repentance.)

Nicky charged the people to grab a hold of God’s heart for people and to fight to bring His hope and deliverance to the streets. He then asked the people to come forward and cry out to God for a new heart, a new vision, a new burden.

Silently, steadily they came. Baptist. Pentecostal. All denominations. Old school. New school. No school. Just men and women, with raised hands, silently crying out to their God for their families, for their cities in Russia and the Ukraine and other countries, and for their churches.

Then it happened: the bomb was dropped.

“God is not going to put up with you not having His heart – a heart for worship, for evangelism, for people. A heart for passion and for mercy. If you don’t get His heart, you Sauls, He is going to replace you with a David who will have His heart.”

Pastors at the altar call

It was like Muhammed Ali had just hit everyone in their solar plexus. I was taking pictures, but I couldn’t catch my breath. Besides, the tears made it impossible to see through the viewfinder. Hundreds of men and women, the redeemed, weeping and gasping for breath…for the breath of God to breathe afresh on them…

…on us…

…on me.

Final Thoughts - As these nations and these churches continue to shake off the grave clothes of their past, what will they will find? Will it be the emptiness of capitalism with its fleeting, transient hope for a better life? Will these people grab onto man’s dream – a dream that is just exchanging one form of slavery (collectivism) for another form (materialism)? I pray that we/they will give up our petty dreams and become bathed in God’s dream of freedom and hope, that we will bear fruit for His Kingdom. For we are receiving a Kingdom that cannot be shaken (Hebrews 12:28).

Thank you again for you faithfulness to God and to this ministry. I truly believe that these are the glory days for Nicky and this ministry. I have seen a level of anointing, brokenness and conviction in the crusades that is unsurpassed. Large crowds are fine. But when you see hundreds at the altar – in countries where we were told that salvations are rare – then you sense that God is doing something historic. He is sovereign and faithful. Please continue to lift us up in prayer and support us with your finances as you are able. Let us know how we can pray for you.

Continue to pursue Him,

Patrick Dow
CEO, Nicky Cruz Outreach

The Ramada Inn

70 Gertrudes iela

Riga, Latvia

Day One of the Slavic Conference – our plane was delayed out of New York City, so we arrived just one hour before Nicky was scheduled to speak to the hundreds of pastors gathered at the conference. Nicky and I hurried to the hotel, showered, and put on our wrinkled suits. We were whisked back to the venue–Blagaya Vyest–where the pastors awaited us.

Nicky Spoke strongly to the ministers, their wives, youth pastors, and church lay people about the need to be broken before the Lord. He passionately implored them to ask God to break their hearts for the lost and hurting and to go to the streets. Several hundred came forward to the altar call–all kneeling–and wept for a long time in God’s presence.

Day Two - I am sitting in the small lobby of the hotel listening to the front desk personnel speak alternatively in Latvian, Russian, and English.

(The AM radio is playing, oddly enough, 1940s-era American Christmas music. Go Tell it on the Mountain has just finished, and Bing Crosby has just started crooning I Heard the Bells.)

This nation, the middle of the three Baltic States of Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania, is still shaking off the shackles and shadows of its most recent oppressor, the Soviets, and is decidedly looking westward. An ancient race, the Latvians have been ruled at various times by the Swedes, the Germans, and most recently, the Russians. Riga, the capital, is more than 50% ethnic Russian. Decaying buildings stand side by side with modern construction. Hideous Stalinist-era cement block apartments–monolithic and devoid of personality–stand barely a mile from Old Riga, a UNESCO-protected world heritage site, the largest such site on the planet.

Alexei, the Latvian-born Russian who manages the Ramada, seems to be everywhere. Today in the black suit of a manager, he was our waiter yesterday at the hotel’s new restaurant, Vintage, a nearly world-class eatery located in the building next door. He works seven days a week and speaks English with an accent that betrays eight years spent in Limerick, Ireland.

(Frank Sinatra has just started singing Jingle Bells in his unforgettable style.)

Sergei, our Belorussian driver and self-appointed security guard, just arrived in the church mini-bus to pick us up for the second service. Today, Nicky continued admonishing the attendees to have the eyes of Jesus and see the hurting around them. For too long, the church has insulated herself from the outcasts, the lepers of society. Again, altars filled with the remnant that is Christianity in this part of the world – Estonians, Swedes, Latvians, Lithuanians, Russians, Belorussians, and Moldovans. As the East continues to close its doors to Western missionaries, these are the ones who will be able to evangelize and reach the masses. But they are battle weary and overwhelmed. Infighting over doctrine has replaced fighting for souls.

Sunday, 17 May - tonight Nicky preaches at a citywide event. As he prepares to give his testimony once again–he has lost count how many times he has delivered the story of his conversion–we all continue to fight off the jet lag and disorientation that comes from being 9 time zones away from home. In 19 years with Nicky Cruz Outreach, I have seen and heard him tell his life story countless times. In all those years, I have never seen him not cry when he gets to his conversion. Tonight, as has happened miraculously for nearly 50 years, people will repent of sins and find hope in Christ. Christians will be heartened and encouraged to carry on the fight. The redeemed will receive a fresh vision and calling to advance His Kingdom.

Next Tuesday – After a day of rest, we will fly to Kiev, Ukraine, where a 12-hour overnight train ride awaits us. We will be traveling from the capital to a mining town near the Russian border, called Donetsk. Where Latvia and the Baltic States have a distinctly modern tendency, Eastern Ukraine stills slumbers under the thrall of Russian communism. I wonder what lingering effect this will have on the Christians there?

Final Thoughts - As these nations and these churches continue to shake off the grave clothes of their past, what will they find? Will it be the emptiness of capitalism with its fleeting, transietn hope for a better life? Will these people grab onto man’s dream–a dream that is just exchanging one form of slavery (collectivism) for another form (materialism)? I pray that we/they will give up our petty dreams and become bathed in God’s dream of freedom and hope, that we will bear fruit for His Kingdom, for we are receiving a Kingdom that cannot be shaken (Heberews 12:28).

Nicky Cruz speaking at a church

Edgar

Several years ago, I was conducting a series of crusades in El Salvador. I had received a request to visit the maximum security prison where the leaders of the two major gangs in this hemisphere are incarcerated (the 18th Street Gang, and MS 13). I have been told by people in Central America as well as by the U.S. Department of Justice that these organizations are responsible for much of the drug trafficking that occurs from that area, up through Mexico and into the US. More than this, it has been documented that Islamic terrorists groups fund these gangs in their on-going attempt to destabilize the US.

During the crusades in El Salvador, I was asked to meet with the President of the country – Antonio Saca – to discuss their problems with gangs and crime. The request to visit the prison actually came from the prisoners themselves, many of whom had read Run, Baby, Run. Due to an extremely hectic schedule, I was unable to visit the prison at that time. When the leader of one of the gangs inside the prison called me personally, I promised him that I would return.

The first opening in my schedule was a few months later, on my birthday. There were hundreds of men inside the prison, most of them tattooed from head to toe, who essentially had control of the prison. Just weeks prior to my visit, there had been a riot where 8 inmates had been killed and a Catholic priest had been kidnapped.

So, on December 6th, I walked into the prison with a couple of friends and spent the next 4 hours ministering, praying and leading many to the Lord. The prisoners surprised me with a birthday cake, fried chicken, and bottled water (you do not even want to know what kind and color of water they have to drink!).

During that visit, I met the top two gang leaders for one of the gangs – El Viejo Lin and Edgar (his street name was El Diablo – The Devil). Both accepted Christ that day. After returning to the U.S. I spoke with them several times over the phone (they both had cell phones!).

Edgar was released not long after that meeting and began to be discipled by a local pastor. Edgar soon began to testify in churches about his dramatic conversion. One day he accompanied a missionary to testify at a high school in an area where there were rival gangs. After the assembly, several rival gang members followed Edgar and the missionary. They were cornered and shot multiple times. The missionary was injured severely and died a few hours later; Edgar was killed instantly, leaving behind a wife.

Urgency

Nicky Cruz preaching in the streets

God is using these two tragedies to continue to inspire me and create a sense of urgency in reaching others for Christ. Life is short and there are no guarantees. But God is faithful and trustworthy. In Psalm 37, King David describes the reactions most people have when confronted by evil and evil doers: fear or envy. But David chooses a third reaction:

“Trust in the Lord and do good…commit your way to the Lord…Be still before the Lord and wait patiently for him.” (vv. 3,4,7)

This is an evil world and evil things will continue to happen. Our only choice is to continue to trust in Him, to keep fighting for His Kingdom and to stay close to Him.

Thank you for your continued support in prayers and finances. I have seen thousands come to Christ over the past several weeks. There is such a hunger and desperation out there. If you and I aren’t the ones presenting the answer, the only answer, then the enemy will offer his counterfeit answer. My prayer is that as you continue to invest in His work through NCO and TRUCE, He will in turn supply your needs miraculously.

Continuing to trust,

Nicky Cruz

P.S. Pray for Gloria and me as we prepare to go to Latvia and the Ukraine next month to minister to hundreds of Slavic pastors and thousands of Slavic people. Also, your continued support helps us to minister to people such as these two who sent in these prayer requests in the last several months: “Nicky, please pray for my 15-year-old daughter who was gang raped…,” “I feel like I shouldn’t be alive sometimes…I need help…” The need is great.