Well, Bruno Ierullo was a seasoned mobster by the time

he was 15 years old.

And then six years later, he heard a voice

that changed his life forever.

NARRATOR: Bruno Ierullo got involved

in organized crime at a young age in Toronto, Canada.

By the time he was 12, Bruno was sneaking heroin

into a maximum security prison.

But six years later, after being held at gunpoint

by the Colombian drug cartel, Bruno

turned from his life of corruption.

Since then he hasn't looked back and travels

the world connecting people to the power of God.

His Conference, Kairos 2017, takes place in Kansas City,

October 24 through 26.

Please welcome Bruno to the "700 Club."

It's great to have you with us.

Well, thank you very much, Gordan.

How do you become a mobster when you're just 15 years old?

Well, I was in a rough and tough area in Toronto.

It was an Italian community, and that's

all there was out there, really.

It seemed.

It appeared.

When I think of Toronto, I just

don't think of rough and tough, but maybe I just don't know it.

You probably don't.

Toronto, back then, 40 years ago, it was quite a tough city.

It really was.

GORDAN ROBERTSON: Well, how did you get started?

How do I get started?

Well, I was looking for a role model.

I was the only son in the family.

I was looking for a role model, and I found it on the streets.

That's how it really began.

GORDAN ROBERTSON: So you looked up to the folks

that seemed to have power and money--

Absolutely.

--on the street.

They were your idols, and you said,

I want to be like that guy.

Exactly.

That didn't work out for you, did it?

It didn't.

It brought me through some experience though.

I bet it did.

You had a dramatic encounter where

you heard an audible voice.

As I understand it, you're in the middle

of some kind of drug deal.

And they think that you're getting ready to rob them.

And so they attack you.

Correct.

And you heard a voice.

That's right.

What did the voice say?

The voice said, if you live by the sword,

you die by the sword.

GORDAN ROBERTSON: Wow.

How did that react to you?

Did you have any Christian background

to know that's a quote from Jesus in the Bible?

I really didn't, to be quite honest.

But the moment I had actually been stabbed in the stomach

and held at gunpoint.

And just after the stabbing, I heard that voice.

And it's just like where does this voice come from?

And I guess, in time, I figured out it was Jesus.

Well, let's talking about that time.

I mean, what happened to you after that?

I mean, here you are stabbed in the stomach,

and you confront them and they flee from you.

Correct.

GORDAN ROBERTSON: You're stabbed, and they have a gun.

And they run away from you.

But what then caused you--

I mean, you've taken a faith journey

that is pretty incredible.

What then got you to say, well, that was Jesus talking to me?

I think it was like at the end of my rope.

It was like the bottom of the bottoms for me,

and that was just the turning point in my life.

And that just led me on the path of surrender.

And so at that point, I said, God, I'm giving it all to you.

And then I woke up my mom at 4 o'clock in the morning

and said, listen, I'm going to be a Catholic priest

because that's all the kind of background

that I knew in terms of serving God.

What did she say to that?

She was just excited.

She was excited for me to be home

and set on a straight and narrow path.

GORDAN ROBERTSON: All right.

Well, you didn't become a priest,

but you became a pastor.

Correct.

How did that work out?

Well, I went to St. Stephen's University

in the town of St. Stephen, New Brunswick.

And I went to Christian University

thinking I was going to seminary.

And there I met the Lord.

GORDAN ROBERTSON: Yeah.

Yeah.

Well, tell us about the Kairos Conference

you've got coming up in Kansas City in October.

Yeah.

It's going to be an exciting conference.

It's more than just a conference.

It's more than just an event.

It celebrates, commemorates 40 years of the big Ecumenical

Conference in Kansas City where 50,000 people

gathered in Arrowhead Stadium.

It commemorates the 500th anniversary of the Protestant

Reformation and 50th of the jubilee Charismatic Catholic

Renewal, and the Messianic movement as well,

a jubilee year for that.

So you're trying to bring all these groups together.

Exactly.

What got you started on that, because you've

been doing that for a while?

Well, I'm part of a group that used to meet here annually

called the Charismatic Leaders Fellowship.

You probably recall the group very well.

And they were the pioneers of events

that took place around the US, the United States of America.

And being part of that, I've been involved in unity

and promoting Christian unity.

And so you're trying to get Catholics,

you're trying to get Messianic believers--

That's right.

--you're trying to get Protestants,

you're trying to get Charismatic Evangelicals all together,

and what's the aim of that?

The aim is that the world would know him

through our Christian unity.

See, the world is saying, hey, why don't you guys

get it together because I see you're divided?

And why should I be part of this group?

So unless we can get it together, so to speak,

we've got no buy in.

It's going to take a unified church to heal a divided world.

GORDAN ROBERTSON: How can people get involved?

Easy.

They can register online kairos2017.com,

and we want to see everyone there.

There's great speakers, of course.

You included.

I don't know if I'm a great speaker,

but anyway, I'll take it.

But it's going to be a great event.

It's more than an event.

It's kind of a launching into the new.

It's a time to work together with different denominations,

different churches.

All right.

That the world may know I like that.

Kairos 2017.

It takes place in Kansas City, Missouri from October 24

through 26.

And if you want more information how you can be involved,

just go to cbn.com.