From Violent Poverty to Oxford Success: How Faith in God Empowered This Young Man to Achieve the Impossible

Coming from one of the most dangerous, gang-ridden cities in America, the odds of Caylin Moore realizing his academic and life goals appeared slim at best. But when Moore embraced his mother’s steely faith in God and his desire to make it out of “the hood,” he began to dream big, and big things began to happen for him.

Eventually, those Christ-inspired dreams led him to the football fields of Texas Christian University and then on to Oxford University in England, where he became a Rhodes Scholar. The improbable journey from cruel poverty in Compton, California, to success as an author, motivational speaker and role model for hope-deprived kids became a reality.

In Compton, Moore’s family lived in a neighborhood ruled by the Bloods. He often lay awake, terrified by both the sounds of gunfire and the scratching of rats and roaches moving across the walls. The hurdles seemed insurmountable.

“Who would have dreamed that someone from Compton would walk on to the campus at Oxford and becomes a Rhodes Scholar? Not me. I never really considered it,” Moore told Dr. Steve Greene on a recent episode of “Greenelines” on the Charisma Podcast Network. “For me, a dream like that was simply too big. As big of a dreamer as I was, that dream was beyond me.

“When you walk outside your house and you see needles on the ground and bullet casings, you don’t think about one day being a student at Oxford. But that was God’s dream for me. When I walked onto the campus, I thought about every single thing that I had been through up to that point. But to end up there, there was zero doubt in my mind that I belonged there because that’s where God wanted me.

“And that’s what I want to tell people: It’s never too late to accomplish your dreams. But you first have to know what those dreams are, and then work out a plan to accomplish them. I’ve never met a person who didn’t have a dream of some sort. Go back to a childlike mindset when it comes to being what you want to be. Then just take that first step toward your dream.”

For more of Caylin Moore’s incredible story, listen to this podcast.