The Ripple Effect

Recent surveys of Christian leaders reveal that a startling percentage of them are not convinced they are having any real impact on anyone. This is particularly regrettable because making a difference is the very reason most Christian leaders go into the ministry.

A Sunday school teacher named Edward Kimball wasn’t always sure his life had much consequence. In 1858, he at least was able to lead a shoe clerk to Christ. The clerk, Dwight L. Moody, became an evangelist, and in 1879 Moody awakened an evangelistic zeal in the heart of F.B. Meyer, the pastor of a small church in New England. Meyer, preaching on a college campus, won a student named J. Wilbur Chapman to Christ.

While Chapman was engaged in YMCA work, he employed a former baseball player named Billy Sunday to help with evangelistic meetings. Sunday held a series of services in the Charlotte, N.C. area, and a group of local men were so enthused by the meetings, that they planned another campaign, this time they brought preacher Mordecai F. Ham to town.

During one of his meetings, a young man named Billy Graham yielded his life to Christ. Since then, millions have heard the gospel though Graham’s ministry. Kimball had started quite a ripple effect! So can you.

In fact, you’re probably already making a greater impact than you think!