D. L. Moody Converted

Dwight L. Moody was working at his uncle’s Holton Shoe Store. Moody promised his uncle he’d go to church, and enrolled in Edward Kimball’s Sunday School Class. On April 21, 1855, Kimball went to visit Moody to talk about his soul. Not sure if he should interrupt his work he walked past the store. Moody says,

“One day I recollect my teacher came around behind the counter of the shop I was at work in, and put his hand upon my shoulder, and talked to me about Christ and my soul. I had not felt that I had a soul till then. I said to myself This is a very strange thing. Here is a man who never saw me till lately, and he is weeping over my sins, and I never shed a tear about them.’ But I understand it now, and know what it is to have a passion for men’s souls and weep over their sins. I don’t remember what he said, but I can feel the power of that man’s hand on my shoulder to-night. It was not long after that I was brought into the Kingdom of God.”

From Moody.edu:

Dwight Lyman Moody was born the sixth child of Edwin and Betsy Holton Moody in Northfield, Mass. on February 5, 1837.

Dwight’s formal education ended in the fifth grade, and he rapidly tired of life on the farm. He left home at age 17, seeking employment in Boston.

Failing to secure a desirable position, he asked his uncle, Samuel Holton, for a job. Reluctantly, Uncle Samuel hired him to work in the retail shoe store he owned. However, to keep young Moody out of mischief, employment was conditional upon his attendance at the Mt. Vernon Congregational Church.

Salvation
At Mt. Vernon Moody became part of the Sunday school class taught by Edward Kimball. On April 21, 1855, Kimball visited the Holton Shoe Store, found Moody in a stockroom, and there spoke to him of the love of Christ. Shortly thereafter, Moody accepted that love and devoted his life to serving God. The following year brought Moody to Chicago with dreams of making his fortune in the shoe business. As success in selling shoes came, so did an interest in providing a Sunday school class for Chicago’s children and the local Young Men’s Christian Association (YMCA).

Featured Image Credit: Swampyank, CC BY-SA 3.0 <https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0>, via Wikimedia Commons