Lottie Moon

Charlotte Digges Moon was born on December 12, 1840, at Viewmont, near Scottsville, Virginia, in a wealthy family. Her father, Edward Moon, was a prosperous planter and a man of standing. He died when she was twelve, and her mother, Anna, was a woman of firm faith who raised the family. Lottie was a bright and lively girl who was a leader among her peers. She had a quick wit and a will of her own. As a young woman, she was something of a skeptic and a rebel. She was interested in books and in literature.

She attended the Albemarle Female Institute, one of the best schools for women in the South. She was a brilliant student who learned Latin, Greek, French, Spanish and Italian. She took a master's degree in 1861, which was a rare achievement for a woman. She was known as one of the best educated women in the South. She was not a Christian, though she had been raised in a believing home. In 1858, during a revival at the school, she was converted. She said that she was moved by the preaching of a visiting evangelist, and she gave her life to Christ.

She spent several years teaching at girls' schools in Kentucky and Georgia. The Civil War brought hardship to the family. She lost her home and her family's fortune, and she suffered the loss of her brother and others. She was a woman of courage who took on the burden of the family. In 1872, her sister Edmonia, who was a missionary in China, wrote to ask for help. Lottie felt the call to go. She was thirty-two, a well-educated woman with a promising career. She said that she would go.

She arrived in China in 1873, and she was assigned to Tengchow, in Shandong province. She began by teaching in a school for girls. She was not satisfied. She saw that most of the women of China were shut away in their homes and could not be reached by classroom work. She decided to go out into the villages. She dressed in Chinese clothes and learned the local dialect. She walked from village to village and visited the homes. She talked with the women and told them the gospel. She was among the first missionary women to do this. In 1885, she moved to the inland town of Pingtu, which was a hostile place, and she remained there for several years.

Her approach was marked by a deep identification with the people. She lived simply and ate Chinese food. She was said to have given most of her salary to the poor. In a time of famine, she shared her food with those who were hungry, and she herself went underfed. She became thin and ill. She was in a state of near starvation in the last year of her life. In 1912, the news reached her colleagues, and they arranged for her to be sent home. She boarded a ship at Kobe, Japan, in December, and she died on board on Christmas Eve, December 24, 1912, at the age of seventy-two. She weighed only fifty pounds.

She was also a writer and a voice for the mission. She wrote a series of letters to the Southern Baptist Convention, in which she urged the churches to send more workers and to give more funds. In 1887, she proposed that the women of the churches should make a special offering at Christmas for foreign missions. The first offering, in 1888, raised about three thousand dollars, enough to send three new missionaries. The Lottie Moon Christmas Offering has since raised more than a billion dollars and is the major source of funds for Southern Baptist missions.

She had her failings. She was an independent woman with a sharp tongue, who was often in conflict with her male colleagues. She was impatient with the restrictions placed on women missionaries. She also suffered from depression and from loneliness. She was criticized for her unconventional ways. In her last years, she had a sense of weariness. She was a woman who held a great vision and who paid a great price.

Her life shows the effect of a woman who gave up wealth and comfort. Her offering has supported thousands of missionaries. She is a name of honor in the history of missions.