Biographical Sketch on Lottie Moon, Essay Example

The Little Missionary With a Big Heart

Lottie Charlotte Moon was born and raised in the little town of Viewmont, Virginia on December 12, 1840; seventy-two years later, she died as far away from the American Old South and the Dominion of Virginia as humanly possible–Kobe, Japan where at the time, Moon was ministering to the Japanese in order to bring them to Jesus Christ and the teachings of the Baptist faith. Due to being raised as a Southern belle, Moon was educated at some of the finest schools for girls in the Old South, namely the Female Seminary at Botetourt Springs, Virginia, and the Albemarle Female Institute in the city of Charlottesville. It was here in Charlottesville, the home of the University of Virginia and the alma mater of poet Edgar Allan Poe, that Moon was converted to the Baptist faith. Shortly after, due to her splendid education, Moon found teaching positions at Danville, Kentucky, and Cartersville, Georgia. In 1873, at the age of thirty-three, Moon “volunteered for missionary service. . . in response to a sermon on the text, “Lift up your eyes, and look on the fields; for they are white already to harvest.” ¹

In 1888, Lottie Moon who stood a mere four foot-five inches in height, was appointed as a Baptist missionary to the nation of China. Upon her arrival, Moon found the conditions so distressing that she wrote several pleading letters to the “Baptist women of the South, pleading for reinforcements,” meaning that she desperately needed the assistance of other Baptist missionaries. Something that Lottie had said in these letters certainly worked, for within a few months, the Baptist women of the Old South came

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1. “Lottie (Charlotte) Moon,” Southern Baptist Historical Library and Archives, Last modified 2013, accessed February 26, 2014, http://www.sbhla.org/bio_moon.htm.

through with more voluntary missionaries to China. ²

To say that Lottie Moon was a hard and dedicated worker is only the tip of the tale, due to the fact that Lottie spent almost fifteen years in China before taking a much-needed break from her missionary activities. And then, sometime around 1900 during the terrible days of the Chinese Boxer Rebellion, many of Lottie’s converts found themselves in dire economic straits, due mostly to a famine that at the time was sweeping through China. In several of her letters from this time period, Lottie expresses how lonely and despondent she has become and how she was being affected by the famine. As it turned out, Moon was starving to death. ³ Lottie’s physical condition continued to deteriorate, and by Christmas of 1912, it had become obvious to her full-time nurse that Lottie was dying. This prompted the nurse to make plans to return to the United States, but unfortunately, during the voyage home to Virginia, Lottie Moon died while her ship was anchored at Kobe, Japan. ⁴

The best indicator of Lottie Moon’s dedication to the Chinese people and to the life of a Christian missionary can be seen in many of her letters sent to the women of the Old South, particularly in the Dominion of Virginia. One unidentified recipient of a letter from Lottie remarked, “I admire anyone who can live in those horrible conditions,” a reference to Lottie living in destitution and doing without adequate food and medical care. “She has to sleep on the floor, travel to the roughest places, and work dreadfully long hours every day!” To make matters worse, her Chinese converts could not speak a

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2. Ibid.
3. Ibid.
4. Ibid.

word of English which only increased Lottie’s loneliness. ⁵

Another “Southern belle” named Annie Armstrong, a devout Southern Baptist and the only daughter of a prestigious and wealthy plantation owner in Albemarle County, Virginia, quickly realized the importance of Lottie’s missionary work in China. Annie allegedly remarked after reading one of Lottie’s letters that “she has certainly shown us that women can do things we never thought we could.” This revelation prompted Miss Armstrong to commence a letter-writing campaign to other “Southern belles” in AlbemarleCounty and throughout Virginia which result in more than $2000 in donations and the assigning of two more missionaries to China to help out Lottie. ⁶

As noted by the International Mission Board, Lottie Moon possessed a great and deep vision for the people of China whom she felt needed to be brought to the word of God as practicing Christians. She also possessed a great vision for “her fellow Southern Baptists in the United States” to whom Lottie wrote hundreds of letters, detailing “China’s hunger for truth and the struggle of so few missionaries sharing the Gospel with so many people,” being almost half a billion Chinese in 1900. Lottie also wished to share another vision which still strikes home today–“the urgent need for more workers and for Southern Baptists passionately supporting them through prayer and giving.” ⁷

Perhaps the best way to sum up the extraordinary life of Lottie Charlotte Moon is ____________

5. “Lottie Moon: The Southern Belle Who Went to China,” Christianity.com., last modified 2012, accessed February 26, 2014, http://www.christianity.com/church/church-history/church-history-for-kids/lottie-moon-the-southern-belle-who-went-to-china-11636188.html.
6. Ibid.
7. “Lottie Moon,” International Mission Board, last modified 2014, accessed February 26, 2014, http://www.imb.org/main/give/page.asp?StoryID=5527&LanguageID=1709.

to reiterate her devotion to the Chinese people as an American Baptist missionary during an historical period when China was in the stages of a great social transition. In essence

then, Lottie Moon who followed in the footsteps of earlier Baptist missionaries, lived a life “punctuated with selfless acts of devotion and faith in God,” and as a teacher and evangelist, ⁸ helped to increase the worldwide Baptist support for missions to countless nations hungry for the Word of God and the teachings of Jesus Christ.

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8. “Lottie Moon–1840-1912,” New Georgia Encyclopedia, last modified 2014,accessed February 26, 2014, http://www.georgiaencyclopedia.org/articles/arts-culture/lottie-moon-1840-1912.

Bibliography

“Lottie Moon.” International Mission Board. Last modified 2014. Accessed February 26, 2014. http://www.imb.org/main/give/page.asp?StoryID=5527&LanguageID=1709.

“Lottie Moon–1840-1912.” New Georgia Encyclopedia. Last modified 2014. Accessed February 26, 2014. http://www.georgiaencyclopedia.org/articles/arts-    culture/lottie-moon-1840-1912.

“Lottie (Charlotte) Moon.” Southern Baptist Historical Library and Archives. Last modified 2013. Accessed February 26, 2014. http://www.sbhla.org/bio_moon.htm.

“Lottie Moon: The Southern Belle Who Went to China.” Christianity.com. Last modified 2012. Accessed February 26, 2014. http://www.christianity.com/church/church-history/church-history-for-kids/lottie-moon-the-southern-belle-who-went-to- china-11636188.html.