Reverend David Wilkerson, founder of Teen Challenge, World Challenge Ministries and Times Square Church in New York, was killed the afternoon of Wednesday, April 27, in a car accident in Tyler, Texas.
Sources have reported that Wilkerson, 79, was traveling east on U.S. 175 when he was killed in a head-on collision with a tractor-trailer. His wife, Gwen, was also involved in the accident and reportedly remains in critical condition at East Texas Medical Center in Tyler.
Wilkerson lived in Texas with his wife, and together they have four children and 11 grandchildren.
“Today, the kingdom of God has lost a giant of the faith. His life touched millions,” says George O. Wood, general superintendent of the Assemblies of God. “The Assemblies of God enjoyed a life-long relationship with David Wilkerson. He was godly, humble and represented everything that is best in a spiritual leader. Our heartfelt sympathy and prayer is extended to his wife, Gwen, and family.”
On February 9, 1958, David Wilkerson felt the Spirit prompting him to spend late evenings praying rather than watching the Late Show, and he obeyed. At the time, he was pastoring a rural Assemblies of God in Pennsylvania, according to Wood.
“Two weeks and two days later, during his late night time of prayer, he felt prompted to pick up the February 24, 1958, edition of Life magazine,” Wood says. “On pages 30-31, he wept as he looked at an ink sketching of seven members of the Dragon Gang on trial for killing 15-year-old polio victim, Michael Farmer. He felt the Spirit say to him, ‘Go and help those boys’.”
Read the rest of this story on the Assemblies of God web site.
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