With the mantra, “You can’t do everything, but you can do something,” David Wilkerson dedicated his life to helping some of the most dangerous men and women escape the destructive spiral of drugs and violence while traveling the world sharing about the love of Jesus. His son and ministry partner, Gary Wilkerson, is now releasing the amazing story of his father’s life and service in David Wilkerson: The Cross, the Switchblade, and the Man Who Believed.
The first book about David Wilkerson’s life, The Cross and The Switchblade, was published in 1962, sold more than 15 million copies in 30 languages, and was later made into a movie. But, some of David Wilkerson’s most important contributions came after the best-selling book was published. He later founded World Challenge, an international mission organization in 1971, wrote almost 40 books, and planted Times Square Church as a place where these outcasts could find a home. Today, it has 8,000 members.
“For reasons of his own, he had turned down every invitation from a U.S. president to visit the White House, but he would drive hundreds of miles out of the way during an evangelism tour so he could meet an obscure nun who had written something about Christ that had moved him,” said author Gary Wilkerson. “Always, he saw the world and those around him through the lens of eternity.”
Gary Wilkerson is not only David’s son, but he was also his partner in ministry before his father died in an automobile accident in 2011. Gary Wilkerson is the President of World Challenge and the lead pastor of The Springs Church in Colorado Springs, Colorado.
“Dad’s vision for people also aroused their faith. He preached that supernatural things could be accomplished through imperfect but yielded human beings,” said Gary Wilkerson.
The story told in David Wilkerson: The Cross, the Switchblade, and the Man Who Believed, opens the curtain to show the struggles David Wilkerson faced during his ministry, the sacrifices he made, and even his vulnerabilities.
“At his most vulnerable times, my father wondered whether he was loved by God at all,” Gary Wilkerson wrote. “Although doctrinally he knew he was free in Christ, something in him still made him feel he had to work hard—that nothing he did was enough, that more was required to fill what was missing in his righteousness in Christ.”
David Wilkerson’s humility and complete dedication to his ministry shows the authenticity of his ministry. David Wilkerson: The Cross, the Switchblade and the Man Who Believed has a message for today’s world and culture—a message of grace and hope and justice for the least of these.
The book will be available in all major retailers beginning September 2.
