“I was never looking for love, but love found me”. So simple remains the message of Nicky Cruz, who at 85 has told his story to more than 50 million people around the world.

The former bandleader in 1950s New York has written 17 books, including his autobiography Run, Baby, Run. He is best known for the classic book-turned-movie The Cross and the Switchblade (1970) and has spoken to thousands of people in European countries including France, Norway, Russia, Ukraine, Albania and Finland.

In an interview with Evangelical Focus prior to his participation in an event in Madrid, Spain, Cruz said his aim is to bring people to Jesus, in a current context where "loneliness" and "lack of ethics" are harming young people.

Young people often consider suicide as an option, he said, something he himself tried to do at the age of nine, coming from a family where “my father was a satanic priest and my mother a witch”.

But “transformation is in Christ”, Cruz told Evangelical Focus.

Among other initiatives, the evangelist now leads a urban evangelism program called TRUCE, through which hip hop, R&B, and spoken word are used to present the Gospel.

“Jesus breaks the curses”

Experiencing the love of Jesus firsthand only came after years of involvement in “crime and violence”, he continued. “People were getting killed” and he was aware that he could be the next to fall. “I thought I’d never have a chance in my life to know what love is all about”.

But “Jesus breaks the curses (…) I was a nobody, it was Jesus who made me a somebody”.

Evangelising today

Asked what is central to his role as an evangelist, Cruz reflected on the need to be “honest” and “vulnerable” when speaking to today's generations. He admitted that he often prefers to speak on topics other than his personal testimony, but that the central message about the Gospel remains the same as he experienced decades ago: “I threw myself into the mercy of Jesus, I received his forgiveness, and he healed my heart and my mind”.  

Cruz is joining Gary Wilkerson, Jim Cymbala and Zach Meerkreebs for the “Fire in your bones” (Fuego en tu huesos) conference for Christian leaders (2-4 May in Madrid), which will conclude with an outdoor evangelistic event in central Madrid.