The Sunday School Teacher Who Almost Turned Back

On a spring day in 1855, Edward Kimball walked the streets of Boston with a single purpose — to find a young shoe clerk named Dwight Moody. Kimball was a Sunday school teacher, and Moody had been attending his class, restless and rough-edged, a seventeen-year-old farm boy who barely knew the scriptures. But something about the young man tugged at Kimball's heart.

As he approached Holton's Shoe Store on Court Street, Kimball nearly lost his nerve. He later admitted he felt foolish — what difference could one awkward conversation make? He had a whole class of students. Why fixate on this one?

But he pushed through the door anyway. He found Moody in the back, wrapping shoes in paper. Kimball put his hand on the young man's shoulder and, with trembling words, told him about the love of Christ. Right there among the shoeboxes, Dwight Moody gave his life to God.

That single pursuit — one teacher chasing one lost young man — ignited a flame that would touch two continents. Moody became one of the greatest evangelists of the nineteenth century, preaching to millions across America and Britain.

Jesus said the shepherd leaves the ninety-nine to search for the one who wandered off. And when he finds it, heaven erupts with joy. Edward Kimball could have stayed comfortable with the ninety-nine. Instead, he walked into a shoe store — and the Almighty used that one faithful pursuit to change the world.