I would like to take a moment to talk about someone who impacted my life in ways she could not have foreseen. Charlotte Digges Moon was, among other things, a very interesting woman. She was called to be a missionary in China during a time when 1) Unmarried women were often actively discouraged, if not downright forbidden from serving as missionaries and 2) China was a land that very much distrusted people from any kind of “Westernized” society, often calling them “white devils”. “Miss Lottie” however, was persistent. She baked cookies which eventually drew the curious local children to her house long enough for her to tell them of Jesus and His love for them. These children told their parents, who, while not collectively becoming believers, listened to and began to get to know Lottie well enough that she became a respected figure in local society. And Lottie, in turn, felt burdened for her beloved adopted country. Letter after letter arrived to various Women’s Missionary Societies and assorted church leaders pleading, begging for prayer, for help, for money, for personnel, for support. She was a tiny woman (some say that she was not even five feet tall) but she had a mighty call and a mighty heart. Lottie Moon was eventually -well I don’t want to say “forced to leave China”- but she WAS put on a ship bound for the United States by concerned Missionary colleagues She died on this ship on Christmas Eve 1912, having starved herself to death. There was a shortage of food in the parts of China in which she ministered and “Miss Lottie” refused to eat while her friends went hungry. She so loved the people that the Lord had called her to that with famine all around her and decreased financial support and salary cuts happening in Mission Headquarters, Lottie sacrificed her food, her money, her health, all that she had to share with and love on those around her. As a result, she never made it back to the United States alive.
Lottie impacts me in two ways.
Firstly, she is an example of service and TRUE love and sacrifice. I love many people and things but I do not know that I would be willing to give up my family, my country, my health and even my life for them, even if the Lord should ask me to. I am not the most cheerfully obedient person. She also wrote letter after letter asking for prayer, money and support only to be overlooked, ignored or outright discouraged by the very people whom she represented. I do not know if I could be that strong in the face of such rejection…especially rejection from fellow Christians.
Secondly, I am not a consistently strong person. Lottie lived for years in China with little to no response. She was isolated by her language, her faith, her nationality, her gender and yet she continued serving in the ways that she felt her Lord was asking her to. I often say I love Jesus but I have to admit to letting fear, solitude and loneliness outweigh my acts of sacrifice and service.
Also, The Southern Baptists, the Denomination to which my family and I belong, long ago took Lottie’s strong suggestion that the holiday season be a time of extra giving in order to support those who witness and minister around the world to heart. The Lottie Moon Christmas Offering is one in which churches all across North America collect funds to be used by workers in various countries for supplies, medicines, educational materials and many many other tools which are used to spread the Gospel (the message of Jesus and His love). I have been personally touched by such generosity as my parents, brother and I lived for a time as missionaries in South America and the Lottie Moon Christmas Offering funds were used to pay the living expenses not only for ourselves, but for our friends, our fellow workers. This money did, does and will continue to do so for hundreds of families in hundreds of countries around the globe.
These and many other reasons are why Lottie is so special to me. She was stubborn and independent and (by some accounts) a bit of a prickly person, so we may not have gotten along very well had we ever met, but her example of love, of dedication, of lifelong conviction is one that will forever serve as an example of someone whom I wish….I strive to be more like.
Charlotte Digges Moon
Missionary
Letter Writer
Servant
1840-1912