The Cross and the Switchblade

Description

“Go to New York City and help those boys.”

David Wilkerson was taken aback when he heard God speak those words to him late one night as he stared at a picture of seven young gang members on trial for murder. He was simply a country preacher at a small church in Pennsylvania. What impact could he possibly make–especially in New York City?

But God continued to lay those boys on his heart, and he sensed this was his calling. So he uprooted himself from his comfortable life to pursue the dangerous mission God was calling him to. Not long after, he was moving among the most violent gangs and drug users in New York, sharing the Gospel.

This captivating story describes the founding of Teen Challenge–an inner-city ministry that today maintains residential and crisis counseling centers around the globe–and the man who obeyed God’s summons to reach out to the least of these. It is also the story of how God can use anyone to save those we may think are beyond saving.

About the Authors

David Wilkerson (1931-2011) founded Teen Challenge and World Challenge (www.worldchallenge.org) and was the founding pastor of Times Square Church in New York City. He authored more than forty books, including the bestselling The Cross and the Switchblade and Have You Felt Like Giving Up Lately? With a particular longing to encourage pastors, he traveled around the globe. On the day of his death, he was still ministering.

John Sherrill (1923-2017) and his wife, Elizabeth, co-authored numerous bestsellers–classics such as The Hiding Place, The Cross and the Switchblade and God’s Smuggler–and traveled the world researching and writing articles and books. Longtime editors for Guideposts magazine, they also co-founded Chosen Books. The Sherrills have three grown children, eight grandchildren, and four great-grandchildren.

Elizabeth Sherrill and her husband, John, coauthored numerous bestsellers–classics such as The Hiding Place, The Cross and the Switchblade, and God’s Smuggler. They were associated with Guideposts magazine for many years and were cofounders of Chosen Books, along with Leonard and Catherine Marshall LeSourd. Elizabeth has three children, eight grandchildren, and four great-grandchildren. In May 2018, the Sherrills were awarded ECPA’s Kenneth N. Taylor Lifetime Achievement Award during the 40th Anniversary Celebration of the Christian Book Awards in Washington, DC, with Anne Graham Lotz.