Lottie Moon shared a Bible with a man who could not read. He took it to Li Shou Ting, a Confucian scholar. Then, Li went to Lottie Moon and asked her to teach him about God, which she did. He became the greatest evangelist China has ever known, all because of God’s amazing grace and the obedience of one woman to heed God’s call to China.
Charlotte Diggs Moon, known as Lottie Moon, scoffed at her classmates when they shared anything about religion with her. Known for her wit and sarcasm, one day, she told her classmates she had given herself the nickname of “Deville or devil” instead of Diggs. Years later, as a missionary in China, the term would surface again. This time the sarcasm came from the children who referred to her as the “Foreign Devil or old devil woman.” It was a name given to all foreign missionaries.
Lottie Moon was the fourth child of Anna Maria and Edward Harris Moon, wealthy owners of the Viewmont estate in Albermarle County, Virginia. Lottie, her two brothers, and four sisters had a privileged, overindulged, and underdisciplined upbringing.
Tutors came to teach French, music, and other classes—providing the finest education. Lottie was proficient in foreign languages, writing, and excelled in all school subjects. “She writes the best English I have ever been privileged to read,” wrote one of her professors. Lottie also studied Greek and Hebrew. Every aspect of her education and the people she met would play a vital role in her missionary life.
While attending Albermarle Female Institute in Virginia, schoolmates invited Lottie to an evangelistic meeting led by John A. Broadus. They had been praying for her and were surprised when she came to the meeting. Later she wrote about that night, “I went to the service that night to scoff, but I went back to my room to pray. I was prevented from sleeping by a barking dog and ended up praying all night and giving my heart to Christ.”
Within days her classmates noticed a remarkable change in Lottie’s life. No longer a skeptic, she attended student prayer meetings, studying and teaching the Scriptures, and the meetings led by Broadus. In his sermons, he emphasized the need for missionaries. Lottie heard God’s call and felt led to consider Japan as her field. The Foreign Mission Board (now known as the International Mission Board) in Richmond, Virginia, officially appointed her as a missionary on July 7, 1873.
Lottie never allowed her small stature (approximately four feet five inches) and frame to hinder anything she pursued—education, teaching, and missionary goals.
8 Important Events in Lottie Moon’s Life
Lottie Moon and the month of December go together like a teacup and saucer! Many significant events in her life occurred during this month.
1. She was born on December 12, 1840, at Viewmont Estate, Albemarle County, Virginia.
2. On December 21, 1858, Lottie made a public profession of her faith at Charlottesville Church, Virginia.
3. On December 22, 1876, Eddie and Lottie Moon arrived home at Viewmont. Eddie was very sick and sent home permanently. Lottie also needed the rest. About a year later, on November 8, 1877, Lottie sailed back to China alone.
4. On December 1878, Lottie approached the Foreign Mission Board to establish regular missionary furloughs. At that time, missionaries were to serve “for life.” Almost a year later, the Board made this a policy.
5. The December 1887 edition of the Foreign Mission Journal printed Lottie’s article about how the Methodist women would observe the week before Christmas as a time of prayer and giving to missions. She recommended Southern Baptists do the same, and they did.
6. On December 24, 1912, Lottie died on the Manchuria while it took on coal in Kobe Harbor, Japan. This port held a special place in Lottie’s life because of her first trip as a new missionary. The cause of her death was dementia and malnutrition. She was 72 and had given 39 years of service.
7. In December 1918, by request of Annie Armstrong, the annual International Missions Christmas Offering was renamed the Lottie Moon Christmas Offering in her honor.
8. In December 2022, it was announced that the amount received for the Lottie Moon Christmas Offering for 2021-22 was $203.7 million, the most comprehensive offering in the International Mission Board’s 177-year history. One hundred percent of gifts go directly to missionaries.
10 Things You Probably Didn’t Know about Lottie Moon
1. Lottie’s younger sister, Edmonia, known as Miss Eddie, was appointed first to be a foreign missionary on April 9, 1872, to Tengchow, China.
2. Professor Crawford Toy taught Lottie English when she was at the Albermarle Female Institute. Later it is said that Lottie Moon and Dr. Toy were engaged. The engagement ended, though the reason why is unclear. There is speculation that it was because Crawford’s theology was different than hers or because her commitment meant that Jesus came first in her life.
3. Lottie set sail on the Costa Rica on September 1, 1873, and arrived in Tengchow on October 25, at 33 years of age.
4. Missionaries T. P. Crawford and J. B. Hartwell conflicted for years on how to conduct business affairs, which took a tool on other missionaries working in China. Crawford eventually left the Foreign Mission Board and started the Gospel Mission Movement. Often caught in the middle, Lottie remained friends with both families and worked around the tension.
5. Lottie took a stand against the Chinese custom of foot binding for women, also opium smoking. She knew that a Christian education could impact and change these practices. Foot binding did become “out of fashion.” Eventually, the Heavenly Foot Society became the trend—unbound feet.
6. In June 1985, Lottie was ready to turn in her resignation. She had written an article for the Woman’s Work in China, and Dr. Henry A. Tupper had written a disclaimer, which upset her. Lottie did not resign, but it took several months to resolve the issue.
7. Around 1900, Lottie and the other missionaries had to seek safety during the Boxer Rebellion. She devised a plan to disguise herself as an official to make her way to P’ingtu, back to Tengchow, and then to Fukuoka.
8. Lottie often wrote about her work in North China for the Foreign Mission JournalShe would share stories, asking for more missionaries and money to be raised. She also wrote for the publication, Woman’s Work in China.
9. Lottie worked with Annie Armstrong, corresponding secretary from Baltimore, Maryland, together to promote giving to missions. They shared the platform at several Woman’s Missionary Union (WMU) meetings in Virginia and the annual Southern Baptist Convention’s WMU conventions.
10. Loneliness and worry over mission debt broke down her spirit. While she worked in P’ingtu, she wrote it had been months since she had spoken English, creating an emptiness. In her bankbook, Lottie wrote, “I pray no missionary will ever be as lonely as I have been.”
What Made Lottie Moon a Trailblazer?
Lottie Moon was a pioneer for single women entering the mission field. She had fortitude, patience, perseverance, strength, and willingness to tackle challenging issues. Lottie was a mentor, mediator, and motivator. As a scholar, she grasped the language, opened schools, and taught many people. She taught her students hymns, catechism, English, and Scripture memorization.
Understanding Chinese culture and customs were a vital part of her making inroads into sharing the Gospel. She wrote a paper about the “native dress” and adopting Chinese clothing and hairstyles. When she moved to P’ingtu, her “native dress” was a tremendous asset as she evangelized and ministered within the city.
Soon upon her arrival in China, she realized the only way to reach the women and children was to provide woman-to-woman evangelism. This meant meeting the women in their homes and spending time with them and their children.
As Lottie worked with the Foreign Mission Board, she was able to make suggestions regarding many areas of a missionary’s life. Her ideas remolded some of the mission policies.
Great Quotes by Lottie Moon
Lottie’s reply to a letter from Dr. Henry A. Tupper about why she hadn’t written more for the Foreign Mission Journal: “I once had strength enough to work all day in the villages and at night sit down on a kang and write off the day’s experiences. But somehow, mission life takes the strength and energy out of us before we know it, and we have to learn to be watchful and not overwork lest the time comes too soon when we can work no more.” (quoted in The Story of Lottie Moon by Cathy Butler)
A young relative asked an elderly Lottie if she had ever been in love. Her reply was, “Yes, but God had first claim on my life, and since the two conflicted, there could be no question about the result.” (The Story of Lottie Moon)
In a note in her Bible, Lottie wrote, “Words fail to express my love for this holy Book, my gratitude for its author, for His love and goodness. How shall I thank him for it?” (The Story of Lottie Moon)
Lottie’s favorite expression: “Isn’t it jolly?”
“Send two, now” was her motto when pleading for women to join her in her work.
“In a city and in a village, thousands of women will never hear the Gospel until women bear it to them. They will admit women, but men cannot gain acceptance to their homes, nor will they come to church. The only way for them to hear the good news of salvation is from the lips of foreign women. Are there not some, yea many, who find it in their hearts to say, ‘Here am I; send me’?” (The Story of Lottie Moon)
“Need it be said why the week before Christmas is chosen? Is not the festive season, when families and friends exchange gifts in memory of The Gift laid on the altar of the world for the redemption of the human race, the most appropriate time to consecrate a portion from abounding riches and scant poverty to send forth the good tidings of great joy in all the earth?” (quoted from an article to the Foreign Mission Board regarding a time of prayer and giving, quoted in The New Lottie Moon Story by Catherine B. Allen)
In a note on her Bible’s flyleaf, Lottie wrote, “O, that I could consecrate myself, soul and body, to his service forever; O, that I could give myself up to him, so as never more to attempt to be my own or to have any will or affection improper for those formed to him.” (The New Lottie Moon Story)
Lottie Moon’s Tea Cake Recipe
Rudeness was not something Lottie Moon tolerated. When the Chinese children called her “Devil woman,” she told them they were disrespectful. When she spoke with their parents, she often found they referred to her by the same name. What could be “something” that would help Lottie become friends with the children and their parents? The answer came! Teacakes, the kind she had when she was a child. Soon, children and parents came to her door, and relationships were built, providing an opportunity to share the Gospel.
Ingredients
1. 2 cups flour
2. 1 heaping cup of sugar
3. ½ cup butter
4. 1 egg
5. 1 tablespoon cream
Directions
1. Cream the butter and sugar.
2. Add the well-beaten egg and mix well.
3. Add the flour and cream.
4. Dust a board with flour. Roll the dough very thin. Cut cookies with a round cookie cutter.
5. Place on a greased cookie sheet. Bake at 475 degrees for 5 minutes.
The original recipe can be found on the International Mission Board’s website.
Why You Should Remember Lottie Moon
In The Story of Lottie Moon, Cathy Butler writes, “The simplest answer for why this tiny woman has had such gigantic influence. Not because she was brilliant, though she was. Not because she led an unusual and adventurous life, though she did. Not because she was a gifted communicator, though she was. She inspires us because she shows us what happens when we put God first” (pages 12-13).
One of the most incredible things about Lottie was her love and commitment to the Chinese people. She wanted the people to see that “a Chinese life could be a Christian life.” Her sacrificial legacy is one to emulate!
Bibliography and Additional Reading about Lottie Moon
1. Lottie Moonby Una Roberts Lawrence. Sunday School Board of the Southern Baptist Convention, 1927.
2.The New Lottie Moon Story by Catherine B. Allen. Broadman Press 1980.
3. The Story of Lottie Moon by Cathy Butler. Woman’s Missionary Union, 2004.
4. Send the Light: Lottie Moon’s Letters and Other Writings edited by Keith Harper. Mercer University Press, 2002.
5. Lottie Moon: Giving Her All for China by Janet and Geoff Benge. YWAM Publishing, 2001.
6. The Never Ending Legacy of Lottie Moon, Missionary to China by Julie McDonald. 2021.
7. The Story of Annie Armstrong by Cathy Butler. Woman’s Missionary Union, 2004.
If you enjoyed this article, you may enjoy the following:
Lottie Moon: The Southern Belle Who Went to China
20 Christian Women Who Shaped History
Photo Credit: Public domain photo via Wikimedia Commons
Laura Lee Leathers is a writer and speaker. Imagine Lois Lane, over sixty-five, and living on a farm. Her metropolis is the area of freelance writing. Her primary love interest is the Word of God. She digs for information, interviews fascinating people, offers a cup of biblical hospitalit-tea, encourages, and helps others with the ‘how-to’s’ of life. To sign up for her newsletter, connect with her at http://lauraleeleathers.com - - - “Helping You Flourish in Faith & Finish Well by His Word”
