She Could Have Lived Comfortably
Lottie Moon was one of the first women in the South to earn a master's degree. She could have lived comfortably in Virginia society. Instead, she became a missionary to China in 1873.
For nearly 40 years, Moon worked in rural China, often in dangerous conditions. She dressed in Chinese clothes, learned the language and customs, and earned deep respect from the people she served.
The Power of Her Pen
But her greatest influence came through her pen. Moon wrote passionate letters back to American churches, describing the needs of China and pleading for reinforcements. Her vivid writing brought distant mission fields to life for comfortable churchgoers.
The Christmas Offering
In 1888, Moon proposed that Southern Baptist churches take a special Christmas offering for foreign missions. Women across the denomination organized the collection. That first year raised over $3,000 for China.
Today, the "Lottie Moon Christmas Offering" has raised over $5 billion for international missions. Moon's writing transformed how American churches thought about the Great Commission.
In 1912, during a famine in China, Moon gave her food to starving Chinese around her. Colleagues found her weighing only 50 pounds. She died on Christmas Eve, on a ship headed home.
One woman's faithful writing ignited a missions movement that continues today. Her letters proved that sometimes the pen is mightier than even the most powerful sermon.
