Moon Mission - Lottie Moon

1840–1912

Three billion dollars—a huge sum of money in any era. In the late 1800s, that was most likely an unimaginable sum to someone like Lottie Moon. A Southern Baptist missionary in China, Lottie struggled to collect even the smallest donations during her early years of ministry, and the needs were great.

Lottie was already thirty-two when she followed the Lord’s calling into missionary service. She was frustrated by the restrictions placed on her as a single woman in ministry—basically, she was relegated to teaching women and children—but she soon grabbed this as a unique area of ministry. “Women and children” constituted significantly more than half of the Chinese population, and she could reach them in ways that men never could. Soon she was running herself ragged and imploring the missions board to send more missionaries. There just wasn’t enough money.

But in December 1887, Lottie wrote an article that appeared in the denominational missions journal, suggesting that churches take up a special offering for foreign missions the week before Christmas. The idea was picked up, mostly by the women’s missionary societies in Baptist churches. That first year, $3,315 was collected in these special offerings—enough to send out three more missionaries.

And the giving hasn’t stopped. In the years since then, the annual “Lottie Moon Christmas Offering” has brought in three billion dollars for international missions. And it all started with one overworked woman who didn’t mind asking for help.

How good are you at asking for help from others? Or even from God? We’re created to need God and each other. It should be natural to ask for help and to give help. But our culture frequently makes us question whether asking for help will make others think less of us. We’re told it might make us look needy or weak or unintelligent or unprofessional. Someone might figure out that we’re not perfect if we ask for help, and then what would happen?

What would happen? Chances are, help would happen. Our friends, family, and neighbors most likely would ask, “What do you need?” Even when help cannot come from other people, God has promised to help, if we just ask.

I look up to the mountains—does my help come from there? My help comes from the LORD, who made heaven and earth!

Psalm 121:1-2