Get to Know Lottie

by Tom Goodman

I hope you'll join Diane and me in giving to the cause of international missions this Christmas. The "Lottie Moon Christmas Offering" that our church promotes each December is named for a Southern Baptist missionary who served in China in the late 1800s.

Nicknamed "Lottie" by those around her, Charlotte Moon was born to a wealthy Virginia family in 1841. She began her work as a missionary to China in 1873. Slowly, she overcame her language problems and cultural differences to connect with the Chinese people. She wrote about her experiences to churches in the United States, and her letters became popular sources of information about Christian mission efforts.

When China was swept by a famine, Lottie suffered this deprivation with those she served, refusing to eat any more than what was available to those around her. She soon became ill and she was ordered back to the States. But before the boat left port, she died. It was Christmas Eve 1912, and she was 72 years old. Now, Southern Baptists have an offering called "the Lottie Moon Christmas Offering" to honor her service.

Today, our church contributes to the support of 4,850 missionaries through our giving to the International Mission Board. Their work is essential to the spread of the gospel. A total of 6,946 people groups of all sizes are classified as “unreached,” meaning that less than 2 percent of the population identifies with an evangelical church. What’s more, 3,605 unreached people groups that were also classified as “unengaged,” meaning that no church planting strategy is underway by evangelicals

It costs $41,000 a year to support an IMB missionary, which includes things like housing, food, children's education, and retirement. A portion of your regular contributions to Hillcrest already go to missions work through the Cooperative Program, but at Christmas time we challenge you to give directly to missions through the Lottie Moon Offering.

Make this year’s Christmas Offering more meaningful by tapping in to these important resources:

To learn more about Lottie, go here.

To participate in this week’s “Week of Prayer,” go here.

To read a one-page summary of last year’s IMB work, including the number of baptisms conducted and the number of churches started, go here.

To give, turn in your contribution during church attendance, or go to the “giving” page on our website.