Ocean State Libraries

Gangfighters, drug addicts, teenage runaways, and prostitutes—the toughest and most hopeless kids that New York's ghettos had to offer. That is, until a country preacher from the Pennsylvania hills arrived on their turf and began preaching a streetcorner message of renewal, miracles, and God's love.

David Wilkerson, a man on a mission, stepped onto some of the world's most dangerous streets armed only with the simple message of God's

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"In a moving example of unconditional love in difficult times, the Jesuit priest and bestselling author of Tattoos on the Heart, Gregory Boyle, shares what three decades of working with gang members in Los Angeles has taught him about faith, compassion, and the enduring power of kinship. In his first book, ... Gregory Boyle introduced us to Homeboy Industries, the largest gang-intervention program in the world. Critics hailed that book as an 'astounding...

Led by incredible faith, David Wilklerson made a seemingly bizarre step from his country pulpit in 1958 to the streets of New York City, where a murder trial of seven teenage boys churned society's antipathy toward them. Even Wilkerson was bewildered by his sense of compassion but, in spite of doubt, he followed the Spirit's prompting to help the boys. This is the amazing story of his journey and the mighty power of God to accomplish the impossible....

From Oscar-winning filmmaker Freida Lee Mock. Father Greg Boyle, a white Jesuit priest, has spent some 25 years in the toughest part of East LA, offering jobs not jail, to tough, street-smart, and amazingly sweet young people, all former gang members. Father Boyle is a charismatic visionary, but he's made the dream real: his Homeboy Industries has become the largest, most successful gang intervention and rehab program in the U.S. and an inspiration...