Kansas Nebraska Convention of Southern Baptists (KNCSB)

Christmas offering honors legendary missionary

(Editor’s note: the information for this article was compiled from the International Mission Board Web site. The illustration also is courtesy of the IMB Web site.)

Southern Baptists’ Lottie Moon Christmas Offering for International Missions is named after a legendary missionary to China.

Lottie Moon was appointed as a missionary to China in 1873 and served there for 39 years. She wrote many letters home to the United States telling about the great physical and spiritual needs in China.

She also made passionate pleas for Southern Baptists to go to China or give money so others could go. By 1888, Southern Baptist women had organized and helped collect $3,315 to send workers to China.

During a time of war and famine in 1912, Lottie silently starved, knowing her beloved Chinese didn’t have enough food. Her fellow Christians saw the ultimate sign of love: giving her life for others. On Christmas Eve, Lottie died at age 72 on a ship bound for the United States.

In 1918, Woman’s Missionary Union named the annual Christmas offering for international missions after the woman who had urged them to start it.

Lottie Moon’s legacy lives on. And today, when gifts aren’t growing as quickly as the number of workers God is calling to the field, her call for sacrificial giving rings with more urgency than ever.

Lottie Moon Christmas Offering
Every penny given to the Lottie Moon Christmas Offering is used to support Southern Baptist missionaries as they share the gospel overseas. The offering represents 55 percent of the International Mission Board’s total income. This year’s national offering goal is $175 million.

Cooperative Program
Thirty-two percent of the IMB’s income is received from the Southern Baptist Convention’s Cooperative Program.

Other income
Southern Baptists’ gifts to the IMB’s World Hunger and General Relief ministries comprise 2 percent of the IMB’s income. Field-generated funds, investment returns and other income constitute the remaining 11 percent.

Supporting missionaries
How much does it cost to support a missionary?

• $43,846 a year
 
• $3,654 a month
 
• $843 a week
 
• $120 a day
 
• $5 an hour
 
• 8 cents per minute