Episode Description:

At the tender age of nine, Nicky Cruz wanted to end his life. This was during a traumatic time when his mother disowned him and made him feel so unloved that suicide felt like the only solution. Until, his brother cried out to save him.

Since that day, Nicky's life has taken many twists and turns, but it's God that finally got him on the straight and narrow. This transformation led him to being my spiritual mentor and a Christian leader who has spoken to over 50 million people.

In this episode of The AR Bernard Show, he gets vulnerable and shares his life story of growing up with two parents who practiced witchcraft, leading an infamous gang in Brooklyn, and becoming an evangelist who has brought many people to Christ — including myself.

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Guest Bio:

Nicky Cruz is the author of eighteen books, including the all-time Christian classic, Run Baby Run, published in 1968 and translated into more than 40 languages worldwide. It continues to be a top-10 bestseller in the United Kingdom, and is required reading in many high school curricula in the UK, Finland, Australia, New Zealand, and many more.

Nicky Cruz was born in Puerto Rico. His parents were heavily involved in Santeria. His mother was a witch and his father was a satanic priest. Nicky was the victim of repeated physical abuse and rejection at their hands. As a teenager, he was sent to New York City to live with his brother Frank. He quickly got caught up in the gang violence that was sweeping the city. He rose through the ranks of the notorious Mau Maus gang in Fort Greene, Brooklyn to become their warlord.

His life was a downward spiral of violence and dysfunction. A court-ordered psychiatrist told the court and Nicky that he was “doomed...finished...on a one-way trip to jail, the electric chair and hell.” The one day a young country preacher from Pennsylvania named David Wilkerson came to the war-torn streets of Brooklyn. Initially, Nicky confronted and threatened to kill the preacher, but Wilkerson delivered a message to him: “You can kill me and cut me into a thousand pieces and throw them right there on the street. But every piece will cry that Jesus loves you, Nicky!”

Remembering this confrontation with Wilkerson, Nicky says: “Jesus sent him there to bring a message to the gangs. I almost killed him then because I really was totally full of hate. That was when he told me that Jesus loved me.”

Several weeks later at a rally at the St. Nicholas Arena in NYC, Nicky surrendered to Jesus Christ and exchanged his weapons for a Bible.

For nearly 60 years, he has been traveling around the world preaching the gospel of Jesus Christ. It is estimated that he has spoken in person to tens of millions of people. His life story has been told in the bestselling book, The Cross and the Switchblade, and in the movie of the same title, which starred Pat Boone and Erik Estrada. Nicky Cruz continues to minister in inner cities, prisons, street corners, and stadiums around the world.

He is the president of Nicky Cruz Outreach, and Executive Producer of TRUCE, an aggressive international evangelism ministry dedicated to reaching urban communities. The father of four daughters and ten grandchildren, Nicky lives in Colorado Springs with his wife, Gloria. He was recently awarded the degree of Doctor of Divinity by the Latin American Theological Seminary, as well as Doctor of Philosophy in Christian Therapy from Dayspring Christian University. After numerous awards and commendations, the burden of his heart is only to reach those who are lost and broken, just as he was.

The Wall Street Journal described Nicky as the “Billy Graham of the streets.”