DWIGHT L. MOODY-THE GREATEST LAYMAN (PART 7)

A Bold Move

Dwight started a Sunday school in “The Sands,” the worst slum of Chicago, an area that many referred to as “Little Hell.” The Sands was inhabited mostly by single-parent families, and it was not uncommon for the single parent to be an alcohol or opium addict. The children who lived there were more likely to be sent to work to earn a living for their families than to attend school. They were also frequently abused (physically and sexually), malnourished, and exposed to constant vice, filth, and disease.

A Unconventional Approach
While the word in Chicago was to avoid The Sands, Dwight followed his impulses and rented a vacant saloon in the heart of the area, where he established a “Sabbath School.” Children would sit on the floor and listen to Dwight preach from his “pulpit” – an old, discarded barrel. An early visitor described the scene: “When I came to the little old shanty and entered the door, the first thing I saw by the light of the few candles, was a man standing up, holding in his arms a Negro boy, to whom he was trying to read the story of the Prodigal Son. A great many words the reader could not make out and was obliged to skip. My thought was, “If the Lord can ever use such an instrument as that for His honour and glory it will astonish me!”

A Heart for the Children
When the meeting was over, Mr. Moody said to me, “I have got only one talent. I have no education, but I love the Lord Jesus Christ, and I want to do something for Him.” I have watched him since, and have come to know him thoroughly, and for consistent walk and conversation I have never met a man equal to him. Touching the lives of these “Little Arabs,” as they were not so affectionately called, become Dwight’s passion, and he was willing to throw convention out the window to do it.

Winning Hearts
Probably remembering the shiny penny he had been given by the old man when he was ten, Dwight loaded his pockets with pennies and pieces of maple sugar candy to offer children in exchange for coming to his school. Dwight would join in their games, teaching them to follow the rules and to understand the power of teamwork. He learned to alternate five minutes of listening time with five minutes of playtime – five minutes that looked more like a bar brawl than a a game of tag. Dwight also seemed to believe the old adage, “Music calms the savage beast,” and so he followed this playtime with five minutes of music before returning to the lesson. This would go on for roughly two hours, until the meetings were called to a close.

TO BE CONTINUED…

Tale Tuesday 075

Date:   13th February 2024
Title: : Dwight L. Moody – The Greatest Layman (Part 7)
Source: God’s generals- The Revivalists
Author: Roberts Liardon