Tuesday, April 19, 2005
FORMER GANG LEADER NICKY
CRUZ
TO SPEAK TO U.S. DEPT. OF JUSTICE ON GANG VIOLENCE
By Jeremy
Reynalds
COLORADO SPRINGS. COLO. (ANS) --
Former gang leader Nicky Cruz will be the keynote
speaker in an upcoming roundtable discussion.
 According to a news release
from Waterbrook Press, the session is being sponsored by the U.S.
Department of Justice (DOJ), and the Office of Juvenile Justice and
Delinquency Prevention (OJJDP).
The May 10 session will take place in Washington D.C., and in addition
to Cruz will feature faith-based community leaders discussing ways to
prevent gang-related activity.
The seminar is an effort, the Waterbrook news release commented, by the
federal government to promote collaboration between the faith-based
community and the OJJDP-sponsored gang reduction programs.
Cruz is known worldwide as an expert on gang violence and has been
described by the Wall Street Journal as the “Billy Graham of the
Streets.”
He is the also the author of an upcoming Waterbrook publication, “Soul
Obsession”(www.randomhouse.com/waterbrook/catalog/results2.pperl?authorid=42075),
where he shares several recent stories of reaching young gang members
in Harlem and Houston.
Cruz is the founder of Nicky Cruz Outreach (www.nickycruz.org) and
T.R.U.C.E. (To Reach Urban Children Everywhere), both based in Colorado
Springs.
CRUZ THEN AND NOW
The world first read about Cruz in David Wilkerson’s best selling book
and subsequent movie, “The Cross and the Switchblade” (www.davidwilkerson.org/hislife/crossSwitchblade.html)
As Cruz’s story reads on his web site
(www.nickycruz.org/about/testimony.htm,) he
was only three-and-a-half years old “when his heart turned to stone.”
As one of 18 children born to witchcraft-practicing parents from Puerto
Rico, bloodshed and chaos were routine in his life. Cruz suffered
severe physical and mental abuse from his parents, he recounted, at one
time being declared the “Son of Satan” by his mother while she was in a
spiritual trance.
When he was 15, Cruz’s father sent him to visit an older brother in New
York. However, that didn’t last long. Full of anger and rage, Cruz
opted to make it on his own, he recounted on his web site.
Cruz joined the notorious and dreaded Brooklyn street gang known as the
Mau Maus (named after a bloodthirsty African tribe). Within six months
he became their president. Cruz ruled the streets as their warlord.
Lost in the cycle of drugs, alcohol and brutal violence, the web site
recounted, Cruz’s life began spiraling downward after a friend and
fellow gang member was stabbed, beaten and died in Cruz’s arms.
As Cruz' reputation grew, according to his web site, so did his
haunting nightmares. Arrested on innumerable occasions, a court-ordered
psychiatrist reportedly pronounced Cruz’s destiny as “headed to prison,
the electric chair and hell.”
Cruz’s life continued in the same vein until he met a street-preacher
named David Wilkerson (www.davidwilkerson.org/hislife/crossSwitchblade.html).
The relentless love and concern shown by Wilkerson to Cruz was
something he had never before experienced. Although Cruz beat Wilkerson
up and even once threatened his life, Wilkerson continued reaching out
to Cruz.
Finally, Cruz’s web site recounted, Wilkerson's presentation of the
gospel message and the love of Jesus broke through to Cruz and he
committed his life to Jesus. Since then, Cruz has dedicated that life
to helping others find the same freedom.
Writing on his web site, Cruz said, “These kids (I help) are young,
hardened criminals who don’t respond to parents, teachers, or the jail
system. They receive a glorified message of gang activity everyday in
rap music, television, and films. They need to hear a different message
- and they need to hear it now! They come to our ‘invasions’ looking
for an alternative to the hopeless cycle of drug abuse, alcoholism and
violence. We must offer them an alternative source of security than the
one they find in the gangs. They won't surrender to authority figures
(who) have let them down all their lives. But, believe it or not, they
will respond to a message about God if it comes from others who have
survived their same living hell.”
Jeremy Reynalds is a
freelance writer and the founder and director of Joy Junction, New
Mexico's largest emergency homeless shelter, http://www.joyjunction.org or http://www.christianity.com/joyjunction.
He has a master's degree in communication from the University of New
Mexico and is a candidate for the Ph.D. in intercultural education at
Biola University in Los Angeles. He is married with five children and
lives in Albuquerque, New Mexico. For more information contact: Jeremy
Reynalds at jgreynalds@aol.com.
Tel: (505) 877-6967 or (505) 400-7145.
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