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Scripture for this chapter
Now the LORD had said unto Abram, Get thee out of thy country, and from thy kindred, and from thy father's house, unto a land that I will shew thee.
Genesis 12:1 KJV
At a glance
Doors open for two converts even as another boy is drawn back into violence, and Wilkerson senses a larger calling.
Wilkerson's decision to found a dedicated ministry marks the shift from a personal mission to an institution.
UECF.NET summary
With Wilkerson's help, Nicky and Angelo are admitted to a Bible institute in California — a hopeful, forward-looking development for two young men who had been at the center of gang life. The chapter does not let the moment become simply triumphant, however: another young man, Israel, is drawn back into gang activity and ends up imprisoned for murder, a sober reminder of how fragile these turnarounds can be and how much is still at stake for others.
Holding both outcomes together, Wilkerson senses a call to leave his own church and give himself fully to what he begins calling “Teen-Age Evangelism” — no longer occasional visits from Pennsylvania, but a dedicated, ongoing ministry to New York's youth.
Key points
- Real ministry includes both hopeful breakthroughs and painful losses in the same season.
- Nicky and Angelo's path toward Bible college shows one possible future for a converted gang member.
- Israel's imprisonment is included honestly, resisting the temptation to tell only success stories.
- Wilkerson's decision to found a dedicated ministry marks the shift from a personal mission to an institution.
Related Scripture
For reflection and discussion
- Why is it important that this chapter includes Israel's story alongside Nicky and Angelo's?
- What does it cost to move from helping informally to committing to a work fully, as Wilkerson does here?
- How do you keep hope alive for people who are drawn back into old patterns even after real progress?
This page is an original UECF.NET study companion. It does not reproduce any text from The Cross and the Switchblade by David Wilkerson (with John Sherrill and Elizabeth Sherrill), which remains under copyright. Read the full chapter in a legally available edition of the book — see Further Reading & Legal Editions — or borrow the original 1963 edition via Internet Archive’s Open Library controlled digital lending.