Wilkerson reads a Life magazine article about seven boys charged with murdering Michael Farmer and feels called by God to help them.

Wilkerson attends the Farmer murder trial in New York and attempts to approach Judge Davidson; guards eject him from the courtroom.

Photographers goad Wilkerson into posing with his Bible outside the courthouse, and newspapers portray him as a wild-eyed religious zealot.

Teen gang members in New York recognize Wilkerson from newspaper coverage of the trial and accept his presence on the streets.

Wilkerson drives around Central Park until he feels divinely guided to stop directly in front of the Alvarez family's house.

Wilkerson's grandfather tells him God is calling him to help all troubled youth in New York, not only the seven boys on trial.

Chaplains gang leaders Buckboard and Stagecoach kneel in the street to pray with Wilkerson after his Fort Greene street sermon.

A lawyer volunteers to pay for St. Nicholas Arena, allowing Wilkerson's week-long youth rally to move forward.

On the final rally night, Mau Mau members Israel and Nicky come forward to accept God and leave the arena with Bibles.

A year after the rally, Wilkerson reconnects with Nicky, who has left the Mau Maus and wants to become a preacher.

After learning that former rally convert Israel has been arrested for murder, Wilkerson decides to leave Philipsburg and move his ministry to New York.

At the Savoy Hotel, Wilkerson and Bredesen meet philanthropist Clement Stone, who agrees to fund their ministry for up to $10,000.

Following a vision from God, Wilkerson purchases a red brick mansion on Clinton Avenue in Bedford-Stuyvesant for the Teen Challenge Center.

The Teen Challenge Center officially opens, and within five months over 500 teenagers leave gangs and join a church.

A check from Clement Stone for exactly $15,000 arrives at the last moment, allowing the Center to make its overdue mortgage payment.

David Wilkerson, a small-town Pennsylvania pastor, reads about seven boys charged with murder in Life magazine and feels called by God to help them. His first trip to New York ends in public humiliation when guards eject him from the courtroom and photographers mock him, but gang members recognize his face from the news and accept him on the street. After his grandfather reveals that God's calling extends to all troubled youth in New York, Wilkerson organizes street ministry and a major youth rally, during which Mau Mau gang members Nicky and Israel experience transformative conversions. When Israel is later arrested for murder, Wilkerson commits fully to New York, securing donations and purchasing a building in Bedford-Stuyvesant to establish the Teen Challenge Center. The Center opens and flourishes, drawing hundreds of teens away from gangs and addiction within its first five months. The book closes as a last-minute $15,000 check arrives to rescue the Center from financial collapse.

David Wilkerson's journey from Pennsylvania preacher to New York City teen missionary.

Wilkerson and Gwen tour the dilapidated Philipsburg parsonage; Gwen discovers cockroaches in the kitchen and begs Wilkerson not to take the job.

Wilkerson prays for a unanimous committee vote as a divine sign, and the committee votes unanimously and offers to fix the parsonage unprompted.

Wilkerson and youth pastor Miles Hoover drive through Times Square for the first time and are scandalized by the sex shows and nude theaters.

Unable to find Luis Alvarez's family any other way, Wilkerson calls every Alvarez listed in the New York City phonebook without success.

Gang member Angelo escorts Wilkerson around New York to obtain signed permission from the remaining six families to visit their sons.

The prison chaplain refuses to allow Wilkerson to visit the seven boys, declaring him a spiritual threat to the inmates.

During months of weekly visits to New York, Wilkerson witnesses a shooting in Bedford-Stuyvesant and spends the night sleeping in his car.

Wilkerson hears a calling from God to build a loving home for troubled teenagers where they can start a new life.

Coney Island Dragons president Jo-Jo initially rebuffs Wilkerson but accepts a pair of shoes and agrees to attend the youth rally.

Jo-Jo tells Wilkerson he is trying too hard, helping Wilkerson realize he must step aside and let the Holy Spirit work directly.

The new mission's pamphlet distribution project fails entirely; a televised variety show featuring reformed teens proves more successful but proves costly.

Magazine editor Chase Walker cannot donate but writes Wilkerson and Bredesen a letter of introduction and sends them to meet philanthropist Clement Stone.

Teenage volunteers clear junk from the new building, and sanitation workers who first demand a bribe then refuse all payment.

Linda Meisner, a college student from Iowa, joins the Center as its dedicated missionary to girl gang members called Debs.

Wilkerson announces the expansion of Teen Challenge Centers beyond New York to Chicago, Philadelphia, Boston, Los Angeles, and Toronto.

From the moment Wilkerson accepts his Pennsylvania congregation—confirmed by a miraculous unanimous vote—his life is shaped by divine signs and the willingness to sacrifice comfort. His early visits to New York expose him to the raw violence of gang life and the depths of drug addiction, and he comes away with a vision to build a loving home for troubled teens. Encounters with unexpected figures, such as gang president Jo-Jo and missionary Linda Meisner, help shape the ministry's approach and expand its reach to young women. The mission faces relentless financial pressure, surviving through improbable events like a telegram mix-up that leads to a major donor and sanitation workers who unexpectedly refuse payment. The Teen Challenge Center is constructed through the combined effort of teenage volunteers, pastors of many denominations, civic leaders, and college students willing to risk their lives on New York's streets. Wilkerson closes the book by announcing the expansion of the Teen Challenge model to cities across America, declaring the Holy Spirit in charge of what comes next.

The supporting miracles, sacrifices, and street-level encounters that built the Teen Challenge Center.

Wilkerson's father warns that newspaper reports of the courtroom ejection could cost Wilkerson his ministerial ordination.

Despite the public embarrassment of the courtroom ejection, Wilkerson feels a second powerful calling to return to New York.

A teen named Willie threatens Wilkerson with a knife on the street; gang president Tommy intervenes and sends Wilkerson to safety.

Wilkerson meets Maria at a gang clubhouse; she is a teenage heroin user who declares there is no hope for her, even from God.

Luis Alvarez's father recognizes Wilkerson from news coverage, tells him God brought him to their door, and gives permission for Wilkerson to visit his son.

The Farmer murder trial verdict is announced: four of the seven boys are sentenced to prison and three are released.

While high on heroin, Maria visits the Ortez apartment, threatens suicide, and must be calmed down by Wilkerson.

Although Gwen's mother berates Wilkerson for leaving his heavily pregnant wife, Gwen freely gives him her blessing to go to the rally.

Six Mau Maus volunteer to collect the offering at the final rally night and astonish Wilkerson by returning every cent.

Rival gangs shout grievances at the rally until Wilkerson prays silently, a hush falls over the crowd, and teens begin to weep.

Wilkerson hears a voice in a wheat field calling him to leave Philipsburg; Gwen tells him she received the identical message.

Wilkerson watches helplessly as Shorty and Tammy inject heroin; they refuse to leave with him, and later he finds the apartment empty.

Joe shows dramatic improvement after three days of prayer-supported withdrawal at the Center, but is arrested the next morning for robbery.

Wilkerson asks former addicts when they felt truly free from addiction, and every single one answers that freedom came after baptism.

Maria receives baptism of the Holy Spirit at Reverend Ortez's church, immediately stops using heroin, and begins preparing to train as a missionary.

Wilkerson's mission is repeatedly shaped by pivotal moments of crisis and revelation, beginning with a public humiliation that unexpectedly opens doors with New York's gang youth. The Farmer trial verdict leaves Wilkerson unable to reach the boys who first called him, but a series of divine encounters—including Luis's father declaring that God brought Wilkerson to his door—confirms that the mission is genuine. During the youth rally, two dramatic turning points redefine Wilkerson's approach: the Mau Maus' inexplicable decision to return the offering money intact, and the mysterious hush that falls over the crowd as teens begin to weep and come forward. After leaving Philipsburg following a shared divine calling with Gwen, Wilkerson confronts the full horror of heroin addiction through Maria, Shorty, Tammy, and Joe, and discovers that baptism of the Holy Spirit is the missing key to lasting recovery. Every former addict he interviews confirms that their freedom came only after baptism. Maria's transformation—from a hopeless heroin user who declared God could not help her, to a sober mother preparing for missionary training—serves as the book's most powerful evidence of that discovery.

The revelations, confrontations, and spiritual turning points that defined Wilkerson's mission.