Through his unsuccessful attempts, Wilkerson was introduced to the turbulent underworld of NYC's youth gangs, to their lives of misery, despair, squalor and sense of hopelessness, and to the solace they found in gangs and that life of serious crime, violence, hard drugs and sexual promiscuity. Wilkerson would leave his tidy life in his rural parish and commit his his time to helping the gang members by introducing Christ to their lives. Teen Challenge was born, and the book describes its growth from loftily conceived idea to reality and the incredible efforts of its team of workers who, defenceless except for the carapace of their religition, would bring hope and divine redemption to literally hundreds of the city's most incorrigible youth. The charity is now a major orgnization working throughout the world.
The story ties particularly well with the best-selling book by Nicky Cruz, whose story parallels Wilkerson's own. Cruz, the renouned former leader of the notorious 'maw maws' gang, experiences a metamorphosis through the help of Teen Challenge, commits his life to the Lord, and evenutally becomes a preacher himself working with Wilkerson's team. There could be no greater volte face.
The book's theme of the enormous force of the Holy Spirit as an insrument for positive change might turn off those readers who have not been touched by its power. However, the story has a magnetism that will draw you in, page after page, giving comfort and hope that - with a little help from above - good can be extracted from the very nadir of our humanity. This significant message makes compelling reading for all. DO read it and your life will be touched.
It is the unique focus on the personality and power of the Holy Spirit which separates this work from so many others.
The call to action was spoken into his life, and into the lives of a New York City street gang, headed by Nicky Cruz, in the late sixties. The Cross and the Switchblade is a modern day classic of God's power and grace infusing the most dangerous and difficult layer of society; the violent gangs.
The message is life changing, then and now.