Biography
Edward Kimball was a Sunday school teacher in Boston in the middle of the nineteenth century, and his name would be almost unknown but for one conversation. He was born in 1823 in Massachusetts and became a businessman in the city, where he made his living in the leather trade. He was a member of the Mount Vernon Congregational Church, and he taught a class of boys in the Sunday school. He was a quiet and earnest man, and he took his duty to his students seriously.
In the spring of 1855, a seventeen-year-old boy from the country joined his class. He had come to Boston to work in his uncle's shoe store and was rough, unschooled and awkward. His name was Dwight Moody. He could scarcely read the Bible, and he sat in the class, not understanding much of what was said. Kimball felt a burden for him. He thought he ought to speak to him about his soul, and for a time he put it off. He was afraid that he would make a mistake or give offense.
On April 21, 1855, he made up his mind and set out for the shoe store. On the way he nearly turned back. He walked past the shop and then returned, wondering whether he would be intruding. He later said that he had never been so worried about a visit. He found the boy in the back of the store, wrapping shoes. He put his hand on his shoulder and spoke a few words about Christ and about the love Christ had for him. He asked him to give his heart to the Lord. The boy gave his life to Christ in that moment.
Kimball thought little of it at the time. He later said that he had not seen any great result, and that he had judged Moody to be one of the least likely of his students to become a Christian of any use. He lost track of the boy as Moody moved to Chicago the following year. Years later, he heard that the young man had become a great evangelist and had preached to crowds on both sides of the Atlantic.
In 1873, when Moody held his first campaign in England, Kimball was moved to think of what had happened. In later life, he attended some of Moody's meetings and was able to hear him preach. He remained a layman and served his church faithfully until his death. He did not seek fame from the connection. He is said to have been a modest man who regarded the matter as something God had done in spite of his own fear.
He died in 1901. He is remembered as the man who spoke the word that opened the door. His story carries a lesson that has encouraged teachers and parents for a century and a half. We do not know what the people we speak to will become. A word spoken in a back room, with trembling, may be the beginning of a great work.
The record of his life is limited, and some of the details of his later years are uncertain. What can be said with confidence is that he was a faithful teacher who followed a prompting of the heart. The influence of that single act reached millions through Moody, through the Bible institute that bears his name and through the many who were drawn to Christ by his preaching.