She was only 4-foot-3-inches, but every inch spoke volumes.
She was so unselfish that she gave away the little food she had so Chinese children could be fed. This led to her death while on board ship in the harbor of Kobe, Japan.
This is the season of giving and many churches also give special offerings to mission causes around the world. This is the story of how one woman changed the course of history. After 40 years of mission work in China, Lottie was sent home to rest. But she went to her eternal rest while on board ship in the harbor of Kobe, Japan. One testified she weighed 50 pounds at death.
Lottie D. Moon was born into a well-to-do Southern home in 1843. She had unique educational opportunities for the times. At an early age she was tutored in French, music and the Classics. But as a youngster she had little interest in spiritual matters. During a year at Hollins Institute, she skipped required chapel 26 times in the last two quarters.
Once she climbed up the bell tower to silence the bell that called students to church. When asked what the middle initial “D” stood for, she replied, “Devil.” She gained the reputation as a brain and a heretic. No one would imagine that she would selflessly give 40 years of her life serving the poor in China.
The dramatic change came during a revival meeting led by James Broadus. She came to the meeting to scoff but came away changed forever. Not knowing what God was calling her to do, but willing to obey, she poured herself into her studies. She was proficient in Greek, Spanish, Italian, and French. Lottie became the first Southern woman to receive the Master of Arts degree. She was labeled as the “most educated woman in the South.”
July 17, 1873 she sailed to China to be obedient to God’s call on her life. She was determined to give her life away to share the good news of Christ to those who had never heard. She soon saw that the fields were white unto harvest but there were far too few laborers. She wrote strong letters to mission boards and churches urging them to give sacrificially.
She challenged the Chinese culture by attacking the practice of binding the feet of children, which caused the little feet to be deformed. She was called a “foreign devil” at first but the smell of cookies baking soon drew children to her kitchen. She began schools and rescued many young girls from a lifetime of slavery and prostitution. She would go from house-tohouse to tell about a Savior to those who never heard.
She was a controversial figure for her time, challenging other missionaries and her own denomination. But she never backed down, knowing that her cause was just. She noted the Methodists called for a time of prayer and giving for Foreign Missions during the week before Christmas.
She thought this was a great idea and urged her own Southern Baptist churches to do the same. So to this day almost every Southern Baptist Church has a Lottie Moon Christmas offering for International missions.
She suffered terribly during the Boxer rebellion. In seeing Chinese Christians eating bark off trees and sweet potato vines, she reduced her own salary to buy food for them.
Finally, facing malnutrition she was placed aboard the ship, Manchurian, to return home to rest. Her frail body gave out and she was cremated and the ashes sent to the headquarters of the Southern Baptist Mission Board. The Chinese wept, “How she loved us.”
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