The success of Teen Challenge and The Cross and the Switchblade resulted in a flood of invitations from across the country seeking Mr. Wilkerson as a speaker for youth gatherings. Requests poured in from civic leaders, school officials, national figures, ministers, TV talk-show hosts, and news media of all kinds. Thus began the David Wilkerson Youth Crusades, an evangelistic ministry characterized by Mr. Wilkerson's efforts to reach the neediest members of the population directly, offering help for both body and soul.

Mr. Wilkerson quickly discovered that ghetto youth didn't have a monopoly on the serious problems plaguing young people. In 1964, he began holding crusade meetings for "goodniks," middle-class youth who were restless and bored. He spoke plainly with them about their parents and about sex, observing at the time, "I don't harangue them with hell and judgment, because many of them are living in all kinds of hell right now. I tell them Jesus understands their problems, and that a personal relationship with him will fill the gap in their lives."