D. L. Moody's Impact On The Children Of Chicago

D. L. Moody was born on February 5th, 1837 to Edwin and Betsy Moody. He was the sixth of eight children. His father died at age 41 when moody was only four years old, and a month after his father's death, his mother gave birth to twins. While moody was growing up, his mother struggled to support the family. He eventually would be sent away with some of his siblings to work for food and lodgings. At the age of seventeen moody moved to Boston to work for his uncle selling shoes. His uncle let him work at his shop, as long as he attended Mt. Vernon Congregational Church. Here he was apart of a Sunday School Class led by Edward Kimball. One day Edward came to talk to moody at his uncle's shop. He told Moody about the love of Jesus. Afterword he
became a Christian and lived his life for God.

In 1856 Moody moved to Chicago in hopes of success in the shoe business.
This success did come, but he also becoming interested in starting a Sunday school class for the children of Chicago. His goal was to reach out to the children of Chicago with had little education, family problems, and a state of poor living. Many attended the class, and number of people coming continued to grow. Associates of moody suggested that he start his own church after seeing how many people had come to his class. So Moody founded the Illinois First Street Church which is now known as The Moody Church

During the 1860s, Mood spent a lot of his time ministering to soldiers involved in the American Civil War. This ministry started when camp Douglas was established outside of Chicago for volunteer troops. In !861 Moody went with a few others to camp Douglas to speak to the soldiers stationed their. For the next four years he went all over the country ministering to thousands of Union and Confederate
soldiers.

D.
L. Moody was born on February 5th, 1837 to Edwin and Betsy Moody. He was the sixth of eight children. His father died at age 41 when Moody was only four years old: one month later, his mother gave birth to twins. After his fathers death, Moody's mother struggled to support the family. With only a fifth grade education, Moody was sent away with some of his siblings to work for food and lodgings. At the age of seventeen he moved to Boston to work for his uncle selling shoes. His uncle allowed him to work at his shop, as long as he attended Mt. Vernon Congregational Church. There he attended a Sunday school Class led by Edward Kimball. One day Edward came to visit Moody at his uncle's shop. He spoke to Moody about the love of Jesus, and Moody responded in faith and dedicated his life to God.

In 1856 Moody, moved to Chicago in hopes of building a successful shoe business which he achieved. During this time, he became interested in starting a Sunday school class for the children of Chicago. His goal was to reach out to the youth of Chicago, those with little education, family problems, and who lived in a state of poverty. Many attended, and the class continued to grow. After seeing the number of people attending his class, Moody's associates suggested that he start his own. In 1864, Moody founded the Illinois First Street Church which is now known as The Moody
Church.

During the 1860s, Moody spent much of his time ministering to the soldiers involved in the American Civil War. This ministry started when Camp Douglas was established outside of Chicago for volunteer recruits. In 1861 Moody and a few others went to camp Douglas to speak to the soldiers stationed their. For the next four years he went all over the country ministering to thousands of Union and Confederate soldiers.

On October 8, 1871, The Great Chicago Fire started and lasted two days. It was a devastating fire, and it burned 3.3 square miles of Chicago and left 100,000 People homeless. The fire destroyed Moody's church. This was a hard time for Moody, but it caused him to take a fresh look at his ministry. Up until this point, he had done what he thought was best and then asked God to help it succeed. From then on, he sought to find out what God wanted him to do. After seeking God he believed that God wanted him to be an evangelist and share the gospel throughout the world.

Over the next three years, Moody traveled across Europe as an evangelist along with Ira Sankey, a well known gospel singer and an associate of Moody. Both of their goals were to strengthen the Christian revival that was spreading across Europe.

Soon after his trips, he returned to the United States with Sankey and his family. Moody had a desire to raise up the next generation of Christian leaders and in 1879 he stared the Northfield Seminary for young women. Later, he started the Mount Hermon school for boys. These schools were meant to provide a Christian education to the poor and minorities. In the year 1886 Moody founded the Chicago Evangelization society which is now known as Moody Bible Institute. Moody did not want expenses to hinder young people who desired to enter the ministry from receiving the biblical training they needed. Even today the Moody Bible Institute remains tuition paid which has allowed thousand of students to be trained for gospel ministry over the years. Moody continued to preach and evangelize until his death on December 22nd 1899, from cardiovascular disease at the age of sixty-two.