Pastor Jeff Lunn of the Park Baptist Church in North St. Louis, MO County highlights the life of a great nineteenth century missionary heroine, Lottie Moon. A southern aristocrat, she left her social status, homeland and family in sacrificially offering her life to share Christ’s love in China. Late in her live, during a time of famine, she gave away most of her food to her beloved Chinese, which eventually reduced her weight to 50 pounds. She basically died of starvation in a Japanese harbor on Christmas Eve while returning on only her third journey home.
So in 1912, Lottie Moon spent the last part of Christmas Eve, Christmas day, and is now spending forever, in the presence of Jesus and all the residents of Heaven! A great missionary offering is named in her honor – the Lottie Moon Christmas Offering — which each and every year provides multiplied millions of dollars from thousands of churches. It amounts to half the support for more than 5,000 foreign career missionaries serving with the International Mission Board of the Southern Baptist Convention.
Pastor Jeff tells of how his church, like many others, is giving major focus to this important means of advancing the Gospel of Jesus worldwide. (Donations need not be restricted only to Christmastime.) Perhaps our Heavenly Father is bringing even more “Heaven” to Lottie Moon’s heart right now: the mission board through which she served estimates that 30,000 Chinese are now coming to faith in Christ – every day!