Nicky Cruz

Nicky Cruz: My Hero
I have read a lot of books and they have been good books and I have liked the characters. However, it wasn't until I read this book that I really understood that we can have real life heroes. The character in my book has become a hero to me in many ways and he deserves to have a medal for all the lives he has changed.

Nicky Cruz is a hero because he has helped hundreds of troubled teenagers overcome their addictions to drugs and alcohol and escape from their crazy fantasized dream world that they thought they could control, and rebuild their lives. Nicky Cruz is a hero because he went from a castaway living on the streets to prison. The path he was on was so "one-way" that he couldn't find any escape. Then one day in high security prison the face of God came to him and told him that he could have a chance to live a better life. So of course he took it, his journey to a new life was so hard but he kept at it because God promised him that it would get better but he had to try.

Now, there are so many people that are being inspired by his story. It has saved thousands of lives just from people hearing the story! After Nicky got out of jail he told people about what he experienced and they knew that if he could do it then they could do it also. He lead many people to the light and out of the darkness. God saved him because he knew that Nicky had the potential for so much more. Nicky shows such heroism in his life and thousands of people loved his story and told him to write a biography about what had happened to him so other people could hear about it to, so he did and now it is going to be made into a movie, just from that so many more people will see it and get inspired to do more! A preacher caught him while he was running to the police station and thought he had stolen a bible. He told her that one of the other pastors gave it to him and she didn't believe him. He told her that he was going to the police to give them his gun because he wanted to start a new life. That preacher got inspired so much that she started a program to take in people like him and train them in the ways of God. Most people think that a hero is a person that "physically" saves people's lives, but the truth is that it can be through their spiritual being also. Nicky was a person that knew how to get the idea into people's minds that God can save them then they end up being not only physically but also spiritually saved.

Nicky Cruz was so deeply into his situation, he thought that there could be nothing that he could ever be afraid of. One day a preacher came up to him and said "Nicky, God loves you and no matter how much you try to run away from that, it will always follow you and one day you will commit your life to Christ." The next day the preacher, David Wilkerson, held a meeting with every gang in New York. He was the only one on the stage and there were thousands of people that were against what he was doing, yet he wasn't afraid at all. Nicky asked him why he wasn't afraid and the preacher said "Nicky, I have God on my side he is always protecting me, I don't have to be scared and you don't either!" Nicky told the preacher that he wanted to devote his life to Christ to, so he did. Now, Nicky is doing the same thing as that preacher that brought him to Christ, and Nicky has never been afraid since.

He now runs a program called "Nicky Cruz Outreach" (NCO). He has written 18 books that have been translated into 40 different languages, and currently has a movie in production called "A Thousand Pieces". Part of his testimony can also be seen in the book and movie "The Cross and the Switchblade".