I grew up hearing all about her every Christmas season, her love for the Chinese people that she served, and how she ultimately gave her life serving Jesus. I also grew up eating the horrendous cookies she was famous for making and sharing with the children that she served.
I don’t know when, but through the years, she just kind of became that missionary hero for me. That someone I looked up to (even though I never met her obviously!) and that someone that just intrigues me! She lived and served well before her time, especially in the Southern Baptist church culture. It was unheard of to see single women serving and speaking out in such bold and brave ways. But she did.. and I’m thankful today that she was obedient to what God had called her to do and say. Lottie Moon’s life and legacy is simply amazing to me for several reasons.
She loved Jesus and the Gospel more than anything else! When she left for China to share Jesus with a people who had never heard the gospel, she left behind a future of marriage and possible children. She left behind her family and the wealth and education and the comforts. She counted the cost and knew that Christ was worth it ALL! And on July 7, 1873 at the age of thirty-three, Lottie Moon was appointed as a single missionary to China.
“O that the people of God would rise to their opportunities!”
“I long to see Southern Baptists rise up to the measure of duty and privilege in giving the gospel. . . .”
She was BOLD and called others to action! She was known for the letters that she wrote back to her brothers and sisters challenging them to give and to go and to pray like never before. She didn’t stop even when it seemed like no one was listening. She also didn’t just focus on connecting with single women, like her. No, she boldly called out the pastor, the men, and the women. She wasn’t okay with the status quo and she was bold enough to stand up against it.
She left a lasting legacy! Every Christmas season, millions of dollars are raised by the International Mission Board in her honor. This money keeps missionaries serving around the world. It started with her bold letters when she pleaded with her Christian brothers and sisters in America to give like never before. While I don’t believe she ever dreamed that years later the largest missions offering would be collected yearly in her honor, I do believe that she knew God had called her to do and say BIG things, lasting things and she obeyed! Because of her obedience, hundreds of missionaries have been sent to the mission field (including me) and countless people have entered into an eternity with Jesus.
So I want to be like her in a lot of ways…
I want to set my eyes and my heart, my bank account, my time – all that I am on Jesus. I want to be BOLD. I want to speak words that are filled with truth and that call myself and others to radical obedience, even when it’s a lonely place. I want to invest in the eternal things so that many more will hear about the Jesus that I love.
What about you? Who’s your missionary hero? Who challenges you to give, to go, to welcome, to send, and to pray like never before?
You can learn more about the life of Lottie Moon here!
There are also a LOT of fun resources to learn and celebrate the life of Lottie Moon over on On Mission Moms Pinterest. You can also get the recipe for the cookies she was known for.
Resources to share with our littles about the Life of Lottie Moon:
onmissionmoms.com 