{"id":1406,"date":"2011-05-10T18:08:58","date_gmt":"2011-05-10T22:08:58","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/blog.beliefnet.com\/on_the_front_lines_of_the_culture_wars\/?p=1406"},"modified":"2011-05-11T09:58:01","modified_gmt":"2011-05-11T13:58:01","slug":"losing-david-wilkerson-was-like-losing-his-father-says-nicky-cruz","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/on_the_front_lines_of_the_culture_wars\/2011\/05\/losing-david-wilkerson-was-like-losing-his-father-says-nicky-cruz.html","title":{"rendered":"Losing David Wilkerson “like having to say goodbye to my father,” says Nicky Cruz"},"content":{"rendered":"

Back in 1958, rural Pennsylvania pastor David Wilkerson\u00a0was stirred by a Life<\/em> magazine photo of teenage street thugs \u2013 and felt compelled by the Holy Spirit to go talk to the young gangsters.<\/p>\n

However, he found himself on the dark, dangerous streets of one of Brooklyn\u2019s worst housing projects, facing off with a laughing teenage \u201cwarlord\u201d who flashed a switchblade, expecting the country preacher to retreat in fright.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>
Nicky Cruz and David Wilkerson<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Instead, Wilkerson told Nicky Cruz that even if sliced into little pieces, each one of them would love the kid.<\/p>\n

Nicky’s life was never again the same.<\/p>\n

Wilkerson died May 27 in a traffic accident at age 79.<\/p>\n

Today Cruz is an author and evangelist based in Colorado Springs who spearheads outreaches to street kids. He regularly speaks in crusades worldwide \u2013 often with Wilkerson\u2019s son, Gary.<\/p>\n

Of Dave\u2019s sudden death, \u201cIt\u2019s like somebody who was not only my spiritual father, but much more than that is gone,\u201d says Cruz. This week Nicky begins a series of outreaches in the Ukraine to street gangs and teens. He spoke at Wilkerson\u2019s funeral last week.<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019ve always felt badly that I wasn\u2019t closer to my own father,\u201d he says. His dad was an occult healer in rural Las Piedras, Puerto Rico, who put Nicky on a plane to New York when he was just a boy, shipping him off to relatives, rather than try to deal with the adolescent\u2019s rebellion.<\/p>\n

That story is told in Cruz\u2019s bestselling Run Baby Run<\/em> as well as in Wilkerson\u2019s The Cross and the Switchblade,<\/em> which became a Hollywood movie starring Pat Boone as Wilkerson and Erik Estrada as Cruz. Both books have been translated into more than 30 languages and continue to sell worldwide 50 years later.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>
Wilkerson<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

\u201cDave became my spiritual father and was like my earthly father, too,\u201d remembers Cruz. \u201cHe advised me about little things as well as big ones. He loved my kids. A year ago, we all got together. As he looked around at my children and my grandchildren, his eyes just lighted up. He was so proud of all of them.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>
Cruz<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Wilkerson could be tough, remembers Cruz. \u201cAlways Dave preached righteousness and he lived it, too. A lot of people thought he was harsh. But he had a tender heart. He was just a Teddy bear. He cared deeply and passionately about people and their relationship with the Lord.<\/p>\n

\u201cDave was a generous, giving person. You know, he was like the angel who stirred the pool in John, chapter 5. He stirred and gave. He started Teen Challenge, then gave it away.\u201d Teen Challenge today is a worldwide network of Christian rehabilitation centers.<\/p>\n

\u201cHe got World Challenge going down in Texas,\u201d recalls Nicky, \u201cand gave it all away, too, to those who would carry on the work. Then he founded Times Square Church and gave it away when it was time.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>
One of more than 20 books authored by Cruz<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Wilkerson\u2019s death shook him, says Nicky.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt hurts. It hurts really bad. I miss him. I know I will see him again. I will spend eternity with him.<\/p>\n

\u201cBut I will be there because he was bold enough in the power of the Holy Spirit to tell a kid holding a switchblade in his face that Jesus loved me.<\/p>\n

\u201cI have lost somebody who changed my life forever.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

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