At age 15, Nicky Cruz ran away from his home in Puerto Rico to New York City to live with his brother. At 16, he became a member of the notorious Brooklyn street gang, the Mau Maus. Six months later he was their president. As warlord, Cruz fearlessly ruled the streets, leading his gang in senseless acts of violence - robberies, gang fights and killings.

One day, Nicky and his gang came across a man preaching on the street to a crowd. He was telling them about how God knew and loved them. Nicky started making fun of the preacher. The preacher turned to Nicky.

'Jesus loves you too,' he said.

'Nobody loves me!' snarled Nicky.

But the preacher quietly repeated himself.

'Jesus loves you,' he said and moved towards Nicky.

'If you come near me, I'll kill you,' Nicky warned and swaggered off down the street.

Back at their head quarters, the gang was surprised by a knock on the door. It was the preacher. He had followed them! He continued telling Nicky that Jesus loved him. The gang leader responded by punching the preacher and spitting on him. He pushed him back out through the door. But as he walked away, the preacher gave Nicky a warm smile.

Two weeks later, David Wilkerson, the preacher, was again in Nicky's area, speaking to a church meeting. The gang decided to go to disrupt the meeting, but something different happened. As David preached, Nicky began to remember all the bad things he had done during his life, the pain and deaths he had caused. For the first time in his life, he began to feel guilty.

Silently, Nicky prayed to God to forgive him. His guilt gave way to a strange, new happiness. At the end of the meeting, Nicky walked towards David and asked for his forgiveness too. They both knew that Nicky's new life had begun.

The next day, Nicky handed all his guns and knives over to the police. He began to go to church and to read the Bible. He left the gang and went back to school. Nicky worked hard and after several years of study, he too became a preacher. He revisited the gang and was able to persuade some of them to become Christians.

Nicky wrote a book about his life, which has become a bestseller. With the money from this and other books, Nicky set up a charity to tell street gangs in America and other countries about Jesus. Wherever he goes, Nicky tells gang members that Jesus loves them and wants to forgive them.