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Women on Mission December 2017

Who is this Lottie Moon, anyways?                                                                             
         Charlotte Diggs Moon, 1840-1910, better known as Lottie Moon, became a legend in her own time.  A daughter of old Virginia and one of the best educated women in the South, Miss Moon was petite 4 feet 3 inches.  Her voice is described as deep, rich , gentle, musical, which she used skillfully as a teacher/missionary.  But no photographer ever captured on film the animated, attractive, charming, delightful, energetic, fearless Lottie Moon, although a few photos do exist.

For 40 years she represented Southern Baptists in China.  Again and again she wrote back to America, “Send on the missionaries.”  Once she wrote, “It is odd that the million Baptists of the South can furnish only three men for all China.  I wonder how this looks in heaven.  It certainty looks queer in China.”

After the Japanese-Russian war, economic conditions in China produced much poverty, but there were some new missionaries.  Miss Moon welcomed them, advised them, mothered them, and loved their children, who adored her in  return.  The Chinese women and children came and went in her home as if it were their own.  If the Pingtu Christians were starving, Miss Moon would not eat.  By December of her seventieth year she was so frail the doctors sent her back to the States.  But enroute on Christmas Eve, while the ship rode at anchor in Kobe, Japan, Miss Moon died.  The memory of such a life never ends.

In 1918, Annie Armstrong, the woman who refused marriage to a China missionary so she could fulfill her calling as the leader of mission support among Southern Baptist women in the homeland, wrote: “Miss Moon is the one who suggested the Christmas offering for foreign missions.  She showed us the way in so many things.  Wouldn’t it be appropriate to name the offering in her memory?”* And so it was.

Our Lottie Moon Christmas offering goal is $15,500.  Offering envelopes will be made available to each family.

Women on Mission will meet at 6:00 pm on Monday, December 11th at the home of Jean Hitchcock for a Week of Prayer program.  We will carpool from the church leaving at 5:45 pm.

We collected 680 boxes of cake mix for the Evansville Rescue Mission.  Thank you to all who made this possible.
*Experts from The New Lottie Moon Story.

Spare Change December 2017

Lottie Moon Christmas Offering

Every year around this time we start talking about the Lottie Moon Christmas Offering.  If you have not been in a Southern Baptist church long, or didn’t grow up in one, you may not be familiar with what this is.  The simple answer is that this is an annual offering that SBC churches collect in the month of December to support our International Missionaries.  Last year SBC churches collected $153 million to support our almost 4,000 missionaries.  The funds collected from the Lottie Moon offering go directly to support these missionaries.

But who is Lottie Moon and why do we brand our big annual offering with her name?  Lottie Moon was appointed to Tengchow and Pingtu, China in 1873.  She served faithfully for 39 years.  She taught in girls’ schools and made many trips to rural farm communities to share the gospel of Jesus Christ.  Although initially the people rejected her, she pressed on.  She adopted traditional Chinese dress and learned the language and       customs of China.  She would win people over with her kindness and fresh-baked cookies.  Eventually people did accept her and some accepted her Savior.  Her work  continues today, much of it in secret, since the Chinese government controls the religious activities in their county.

This woman's sacrifice and perseverance reminds us that we need to be on mission wherever God has sent us.  We also need to be praying about giving to this amazing offering that supports missionaries like Lottie Moon.  Will you pray about giving to this special    offering?  Our national goal is $160 million, our church goal is $15,500.

 YES! Account

YES! stands for Youth Event Savings Account.  We established these accounts a couple of years ago to help parents save for student and children’s events including retreats and camps.  You can give by placing a check or cash in an envelope in either the offering plate or the drop box by the Welcome Center.  Make sure the envelope has your name and the name of your child.  You can also contribute to your child’s YES! Account through our online/mobile giving app Pushpay.  When you make a deposit make sure to put your child’s name in the “memo” line.  With Pushpay you can set up a recurring payment, so you don’t have worry about it.

One great thing about the YES! account is the money is always yours, it remains in your name until you withdraw it or pass it onto one of your other kids.  It is not a payment to the church until you use it for an event.  Kristi and I use the YES! account for our kids to save up for camp.  It is such a blessing when summer rolls around to not have to worry about paying for camp, which is usually about $300 per kid.

Over time the money really adds up.  If you give just $5 a week your child will build up $260 in a year.  With that amount you will almost have camp paid for, while $10 a week will accrue to $520 in a year; with that amount you will pay for camp and probably any other event that your child might want to participate in.  Don’t wait, start contributing this week!

The greatest thing about the YES! account is not the financial savings it will provide for your family but the fact that your child can participate in spiritually enriching programs and you don’t have to feel stressed trying to make it work or even worse, having to say no to them.  The next time your child comes to you about that church event just say YES!