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In June 1871 Moody met Ira D. Sankey, the Gospel singer, with whom he soon partnered. In October the Great Chicago Fire destroyed his church, his home, and the dwellings of most of his members. His family had to flee for their lives, and, as Mr. Moody said, he saved nothing but his reputation and his Bible. His church was rebuilt within three months at a near-by location as the Chicago Avenue Church. His lay follower William Eugene Blackstone was a prominent American Zionist.
It was while on a trip to [[England]] in 1872 that he became well known as an evangelist. He preached almost a hundred times and came into communion with the Plymouth Brethren. His preaching had a great impact within Britain, Scotland and Ireland. On several occasions he filled stadiums of 2,000 to 4,000 capacity. In the Botanic Gardens Palace, a meeting had between 15,000 to 30,000 people.
This turnout continued throughout 1874 and 1875, with crowds of thousands at all of his meetings. During his visit to Scotland he was helped and encouraged by Andrew A. Bonar. The famous London Baptist preacher, [[Charles Spurgeon]] invited him to speak and promoted him as well. When he returned to the [[United States]], crowds of 12,000 to 20,000 were just as common as in England. President Grant and some of his cabinet attended a meeting on January 19, 1876. His evangelistic meetings were held from Boston to New York, throughout New England and as far as San Francisco, and other West coast towns from Vancouver to San Diego.
Moody aided in the work of cross-cultural evangelism by promoting "The Wordless Book", a teaching tool that had been invented by Charles Spurgeon in 1866. In 1875 he added a fourth color to the design of the three-color evangelistic device: gold - to "represent heaven". This "book" has been and is still used to teach uncounted thousands of illiterate people - young and old - around the globe about the Gospel message
