Edward Kimball was not a famous preacher. He was simply a Sunday School teacher at Mount Vernon Congregational Church in Boston. But God had placed on his heart a burden for an awkward young shoe clerk named Dwight Moody.
Moody had been attending Kimball's class, but he knew little about the Bible and even less about Christ. Kimball felt he should speak to the young man about his soul, but he kept hesitating.
A Sunday School Teacher's Hesitation
"I started toward the store," Kimball later wrote. "When I got almost to the door I began to wonder whether I ought to go just then, during business hours. I thought maybe my mission might embarrass the young man, that when I went away the other clerks might ask who I was, and when they learned might taunt him."
He almost turned back. But something pushed him forward.
Finding Courage to Share Faith
"I determined to make a dash for it and have it over at once," Kimball recalled. He found Moody in the back of the store, wrapping shoes. Without elaborate preparation, Kimball simply told him how much Christ loved him.
A Life-Changing Conversion at Work
The result was beyond anything Kimball could have imagined. Moody was converted on the spot. That rough young clerk would become one of the greatest evangelists in Christian history, preaching to over 100 million people.
"I have seen few persons whose minds were spiritually darker than his when he came into my Sunday School class," Kimball said later. "I think the great purpose which controlled his life during all the rest of his days was formed that day."
God Uses Ordinary Faithfulness
Kimball's testimony reminds us that God uses ordinary faithfulness. One Sunday School teacher's moment of courage - despite all his hesitations - set in motion a chain of spiritual influence that continues to this day.
