Dwight Lyman Moody grew up poor after his father died when he was young, leaving his mother to support nine children. After moving to Chicago, he felt called to religious work and began teaching Sunday school, which grew rapidly. He eventually chose to dedicate his life fully to religious work, founding a large center in Chicago and becoming a famous preacher who influenced hundreds of thousands of people in the United States and abroad. Though successful, Moody remained humble and honest about money, trusting God to provide for his family as he had for his ministry.

1. Dwight Lyman Moody
A life of service to God

2. Dwight Moody's father was an
alcoholic and died at age 41,
leaving his mother alone to create
and sustain Dwight and his eight
siblings and the eldest, only
twelveyears. Showing courage
and dedication, the widow Moody
kept all the children always at his side,
despite the insistence of friends
telling him that he should send them
for adoption.

3. It was then that she realized the lack of
religion in his home and tried, once, to
enroll them all in a Sunday School
.

4. So, Dwight was growing; poor student
began work early to help the family,
until the day he turned 17, he decided
go against the wishes of his mother and
brothers. Their destination was the city of
Boston, where he found employment in
the shoe store that belonged to his uncle.

5. One of the requirements of his
uncle was that Moody had to
attend a church, so he joined the
Congregational Church He but
did not establish a
personal relationship with God
until later. One day a teacher told
him about how much God loved
him. Moody then converted to
Christianity. His conversion
began his career as an
Evangelist.

6. In 1856, he moved again, in search of greater
riches to the brand new city of Chicago.
But in Chicago, the boy would eventually choose
other paths in your life that would change the
direction not only of their plans, but would affect
thousands of people around the world.

7. One day, he visited the Sunday School of a small church
and asked permission to teach a class. The officer
replied: "There are sixteen teachers and only twelve
students, but you can teach all students that might come to
school." Much to everyone's surprise, the next Sunday,
Moody taught eighteen street children, bareheaded,
barefoot and dirty clothes. He continued to take
more and more. Until a few weeks later he decided to
open another school elsewhere in the city, so that would
fit all students. Before the year ended, six students on
average attended Sunday School, then he went to assist
the thousand students and sometimes reached
1,500, while sixty volunteers from various churches
worked as teachers.

8. Moody felt torn between two worlds:
the business and the religious and
knew he would soon have to make a
decision between them. Finally, after
six months of doubt and agony,
decided to give herself completely to
God's work. He choose this path
that Moody became known in the
United States. He was invited to
minister
in conferences on Sunday School
throughout the country. He built a
large religious center in Chicago.

9. Years later, he decided to travel
to England to preach in many cities.
When he left the United States, he
was considered one of the greatest
teachers of the country, when he
returned, however, he was already
known as one of the greatest
preachers in the world. And eventually it
became, after the apostles, as
remembered by Christians of all time.
It is said that at least 500,000 people
were directly influenced by the
preaching of Dwight Lyman Moody.

10. Moody was simple and an honest man in
terms of money, as in everything else.
He never accepted anything and all profits
from his sales of his own hymnal and Ira D.
Sankey were administered by a board of
commissioners, and were intended for the
support of schools in Northfield. Nearing his
death, he was still relatively poor. He said:
"My wife and my kids just have to trust the
same God that I have trusted."

11. "D. L. Moody, an
ordinary man to
whom the Lord
used to do
extraordinary
things. "