Nicky Cruz Story

Leader of the Mau Maus Gang in New York

“He was just a skinny preacher walking streets that the police were afraid to walk. He was there because he had a message for me. One day he had been telling me and the gang about how God is powerful. I told him, ‘Preacher, you shut up. God has no power. Gangs have power.’

Then I told my gang to go. We were going to get some power…in pills, in chicks, in some weed. We left and went to a basement. We put some music on and did just that; pills, chicks, weed. Fifteen minutes later the door opened and Preacher walks in and says, ‘Where’s Nicky?’ I put my girl in one hand and asked him what he wanted. He walked right up to me, put his hand out and said he wanted to be my friend. I didn’t want to be his friend. I stood up and hit him. I spit on him, beat him and pushed him up against a wall. The other gang members tried to get me to stop. I didn’t want to. I started to walk to the door when that Preacher got off the floor and said with tears running down his face, ‘Nicky, Jesus loves you.’

I didn’t want to hear that. Nobody loved me, but I had a feeling I hadn’t had since I was eight years old. I wanted to cry. I fought it. Preacher put his hands on the sides of my face and still with tears in his eyes, began to pray. I had never heard a prayer like that. He said he had been praying for me for two weeks. He asked God for a miracle that I might see that Jesus really did love me. It was the most beautiful prayer I had ever heard. I was still fighting the tears. I had to get out of there so I turned around to call everyone to go, but there they were kneeling on the floor crying. Some didn’t know what to say so they just called out,” Jesus”. I could not believe it. These were the most powerful men in New York, but they were crying in front of a more powerful God. I began to call out to Jesus there. The tears ran and ran. I laughed and cried and I knew for the first time that Jesus loved me.” ~ Nicky Cruz, Leader of the Mau Maus in New York