Dwight Lyman Moody
(1837-1899)

D. L. Moody was born in Northfield, Massachusetts, into a very poor family. At seventeen, he went to Boston to work in his uncle’s shoe store; and it was in Boston that Edward Kimball led him to Christ. Moody arrived in Chicago in 1856; he prospered as a shoe salesman, but more of his time was devoted to Christian work. Finally, in 1861, he went into full-time ministry. His trip to England in 1873 was the beginning of an evangelistic ministry that would influence both Britain and America. During his ministry, Moody traveled more than a million miles and preached to more than one hundred million persons.

Frances(Fanny) Jane Crosby
(1820 – 1915)

Born in Putnam County, New York, Fanny Crosby was blinded through a physician’s negligence at the age of six weeks. She entered the New York City Institution for the blind around 1835, and taught there from 1847 to 1858.

In 1858 she married a musician, Alexander Van Alstyne, who was also blind.

It has been estimated that Fanny Crosby composed about six-thousand hymns
including: “Jesus, Keep Me Near the Cross”, “Rescue the Perishing,” “All the
Way My Savior Leads Me,” “I Am Thine O Lord,” and “To God Be the Glory.” There is hardly a hymn book in the English language that does not contain at least one hymn by Francis Jane Crosby.

John Bunyan
(1628-1688)

Born at Elstow, Bedfordshire, the son of a Tinsmith, John Bunyan is the author of more than sixty books. His only library was the Bible, a concordance, and Foxe’s Book of Martyrs. He was a courageous Puritan who went to prison rather than compromise his faith. It was during his nearly twelve years in Bedford Jail that he penned nine of his books. “The Pilgrim’s Progress,” next to the Bible, is the most widely-distributed religious book in the world. Bunyan came to Christ through the witness of some Godly women and the local minister, John Gifford. Wherever Bunyan preached, huge crowds gathered to listen. On one of his preaching tours to London in 1688 he developed a violent fever and died.

James Hudson Taylor
(1832-1905)

Born in 1832 into a Methodist Christian family in Barnsley, Yorkshire, Taylor was much influenced in spiritual things by both his parents and grandparents. At the age of seventeen, he offered his life to Christ and his service. In response to the Lord’s calling to China, Taylor prepared by learning Mandarin Chinese and studying theology, Latin, and Greek, as well as medicine. As a result of his hard work, Taylor proved to be one of the most profound pioneering spiritual influences in China. Going to regions where none had ventured with the gospel of Christ before, in native garb and in full dependence upon God for all his needs, he carried on a work that would culminate in the founding of the China Inland Mission.