Aim for the Ripple, Not the Splash!

No doubt you have heard of D.L. Moody, the great 19th-centrury evangelist. But have you heard of Edward Kimball?

Moody, when 18 years of age, was a boot salesman in his uncle’s store in Boston. His manners were brash and crude. His uncle told him he must attend church as a condition for employment in the store. So, he chose to go to a Sunday School class with other teen-age boys.

His Sunday School teacher was a dry goods salesman named Edward Kimball, and he had set his heart on winning the young man for Christ. After praying about the matter, he arranged to visit him at the boot store. “I was determined,” to use his own words, “to speak to him about Christ and about his soul and started down to Holton’s boot store. When I was nearly there I began to wonder whether I ought to go in just then during business hours. I thought my call might embarrass the boy… In the meantime, I had passed the store, and, discovering this, I determined to make a dash for it, and have it over at once.”

“I found him in the back part of the building wrapping up shoes. I went up to him at once, and putting my hand on his shoulder, I made what I felt afterwards was a very weak plea for Christ. I don’t know just what words I used, nor could Mr. Moody tell. I simply told him of Christ’s love for him, and the love Christ wanted in return. That was all there was. It seemed the young man was just ready for the light that then broke upon him, and there in the back of that store in Boston, D. L. Moody gave himself and his life to Christ.”[1]

Edward Kimball became a lifelong friend for Moody. He mentored and helped him grow spiritually, laying a solid foundation. Moody didn’t attend school beyond 5 thgrade, couldn’t spell and his grammar was atrocious. He was never ordained. Yet, it’s estimated that Moody preached to 100 million people and personally led 1 million to Christ. He also founded Moody Bible Institute that has launched thousands of graduates into the ministry around the world.

But the story doesn’t end there. Through his ministry, Moody was responsible for a London pastor named F.B. Meyer coming to faith. Meyer was responsible for J. Wilbur Chapman coming to faith, and Chapman influenced Billy Sunday, another prominent evangelist of the 20th century. Billy Sunday was integral in a man named Mordecai Ham coming to faith. And Mordecai Ham was the preacher responsible for leading a young man named Billy Graham to Christ. Billy Graham asked Dawson Trotman and The Navigators to train counselors at his crusades and discipling became mainstream.

And here you are today — reading a blog and touched by a legacy that started with Edward Kimball and eventually impacted Billy Graham, Dawson Trotman, and now you. That’s a part of your spiritual heritage!

Legacy is what lasts after you are gone. Legacy is the ripple of your life, touching many who you will never meet.

Aim for the ripple, not the splash!!

Written by Tom Yeakley

[1] Story from NewLife Christian Fellowship website; Wethersfield, CT

Originally published at https://movementeer.org on September 18, 2019.