by Frank Sambrick
In the early morning of August 11, 1977, in a Brooklyn police station interrogation room, David Berkowitz calmly confessed to his captors that he was the one they had all been looking for. One of the largest and most chronicled manhunts in the history of New York City was finally over. At the time of his arrest just one day earlier, Berkowitz’s first words were, “Well, you got me. How come it took you such a long time?
Nearly 37 years later, on March 17, 2014, a letter arrived at the Raleigh offices of CLI. It began, “Dear Brethren in Christ, Warm greetings to you in the name of our wonderful Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ. My name is David…” By the time he was finally stopped, thirteen innocent victims would be shot. Seven of those would lose their lives to the man who would become known as The Son of Sam. His year-long reign of terror left the city of New York in a state of panic. On June 12, 1978, Berkowitz, who pleaded guilty, was sentenced to 25 years to life for his crimes.
In 1987, 10 years into his sentence, a stranger approached Berkowitz in the prison yard. He said, “David, Jesus Christ loves you. He wants to forgive you and he sent me to this prison to tell you this.” The stranger handed Berkowitz a New Testament with Psalms and Proverbs. At first, Berkowitz refused to believe that Jesus would want to save a man like him. But one day, as Berkowitz was reading his Bible, he came across Psalm 34, and as he read verse six, “This poor man cried and the Lord heard him and saved him out of all his troubles,” David knelt on the hard, prison floor and began to weep. At that moment, the Son of Sam died. The Son of Hope was born.
Now, grasping the power to reach lost souls that his life in Christ has given him, David Berkowitz spends his days spreading hope to the imprisoned. In a recent statement to CLI, he said, “God is using my infamous past as a platform to display His power to transform even the worst of sinners, and to show forth His great mercy and salvation is available to everyone (Romans 10:13).”
Trying to make sense of David’s story is like trying to understand the mind of God. The very idea that God would choose to open the eyes of a man like David Berkowitz almost defies human understanding. And yet, maybe David Berkowitz is more like us than we are willing to admit. Even the apostle Paul was a cruel persecutor of Christians before God met him on the road to Damascus.
In cities and towns across America, mothers and fathers, sisters and brothers mourn for loved ones sitting behind prison walls. For them, the redemption of David Berkowitz means that there is still hope for their own sons and daughters behind bars—the hope that they will one day find freedom in the salvation of Christ. In his letter to CLI, Berkowitz said, “The reason I am writing is to thank you for all the literature you have provided my church with over the years. We no longer have a Bible-believing Christian pastor at the prison so CLI’s quarterly delivery of Christ-honoring materials has been a big help.” God used the 34th Psalm and the kindness of a stranger to turn a serial killer into a Disciple of Christ.
You can send make a donation of cash or gently used Bibles, Christain books, and other resources to join Christian Library International in providing Christian literature to inmates. You never know how God can use your generosity to transform someone’s from a story of darkness to a story of redemption. You can learn more about donating your gently used materials here or make a more immediate impact by making a cash donation.
0 Responses
No one can out run God’s grace! I don’t understand Love of the type God has for us all, but I have seen so man examples throughout my life.
Thank you for sharing this! I’ve heard before of David’s marvelous salvation and I fully believe it! This gentleman will enter heaven much more surely than some very nice unsaved people in the free world. And thank you for sending the Christ-centered books to the prisons. It’s so very important to disciple newly saved people and good books are a good way to do that!
His words ring true. I am heartened to read this. I have informally kept a mental note every time someone faces the death penalty. Nine times out of ten they find Christ.
This is so inspiring and builds my own faith. What an amazing testimony. Praise God for His unfathomable mercy!
F&@? this piece of trash
Lol fuck this murdering piece of shit. Christians are so fucking stupid to believe that a psycho like this could change. He’s trying to get out of jail, nothing more, and you fools are trying to give him a get out of jail free card.
https://www.corrections1.com/probation-and-parole/articles/son-of-sam-killer-says-he-will-not-seek-parole-phk19aGOVIg6d5vN/
David Berkowitz is not seeking parole, he believes he’s more useful in jail reaching other inmates who may get a chance of freedom, have Jesus change their lives and do something different and better for the world when they get out. Why are you so filled with hate? God loves you.
Read the post above from 8 months ago. God can change anyone!
M is probably too ignorant to be aware that Berkowitz has already been eligible for parole for years and has repeatedly rejected it. He has repeatedly said he believes he deserves to be in prison out of recompense for his victim’s families and has refused every option to apply for parole. They have held parole hearings as required by state law for him every 2 years, and he has refused to attend and has written to the parole board that he should be denied for all 6 of them so far since he’s been eligible.
I find it interesting that a couple people comment here cursing this man and Christians as a whole for being open to the idea that people an change. No one has said he should be released/paroled. No one has said he has served his time. And yet, those filled with hate want to curse others for believing the worst of us are redeemable. I don’t know anything about this man outside of the coverage of the crimes he admitted to. Based on what John said (I haven’t looked into it) it sounds like he believes he is where he deserves to be, and doesn’t want out. I choose to believe in the Lord and accept his free gift. If you choose not to, that’s your choice. God bless.
For M and Joe mama
10“Two men went up to the temple to pray, one a Pharisee and the other a tax collector.
11“The Pharisee stood and prayed thus with himself, ‘God, I thank You that I am not like other men—extortioners, unjust, adulterers, or even as this tax collector.
12‘I fast twice a week; I give tithes of all that I possess.’
13“And the tax collector, standing afar off, would not so much as raise his eyes to heaven, but beat his breast, saying, ‘God, be merciful to me a sinner!’
14“I tell you, this man went down to his house justified rather than the other; for everyone who exalts himself will be humbled, and he who humbles himself will be exalted.”
May God bless him, and keep him to reach out to other inmates who may not have had other wise been able to see how God can redeem any of us. Jesus uses our past to help others in their future choices, by seeing what our consequences, and hopefully choose to make a better choice than the other person did in that situation.