Give Sunday morning, December 5!

What is the Lottie Moon Christmas Offering?

The Lottie Moon Christmas Offering makes up 50 percent of the International Mission Board's total income. The International Mission Board is the cooperative missions effort of Southern Baptist Churches. Presently, Southern Baptists have 5,344 international missionaries spread across the globe.

Every penny given to Lottie Moon is directly used to support Southern Baptist missionaries as they share the Gospel overseas.

The Lottie Moon Christmas Offering, as well as other gifts our church gives to Southern Baptist missions efforts throughout the year, allows our church to join in a strategic global effort to reach the whole world. It also enables our missionaries to spend their time working to reach lost souls instead of raising their own support.

How much does it cost to support an international missionary?

The average cost to support an international missionary for one year is $43,846 per year, or about $3,654 per month.

Where do my Lottie Moon dollars go to support?

To find out how gifts to the Lottie Moon Christmas Offering are being used visit the Lottie at Work site hosted by the International Mission Board.

Who was Lottie Moon?

Standing a mere 4’ 3” tall in life, Charlotte Diggs Moon, “Lottie” as she was called, stands as a giant in her legacy. For 39 years, she overcame loneliness, local hostility, and even the social upheaval of the Boxer rebellion to bring the light of Christ to the Chinese. Like the apostle Paul in 2 Corinthians 6, the 19th century Southern Baptist missionary to China labored to clear away every barrier in order to relate to the Chinese. She dressed as they did, worked as they did, lived where they did, and even earned the name “the cookie lady” for her reputation for baking cookies for her neighbors’ children to earn the families’ trust. She began to get sick in 1887, but refused to leave until she could be replaced. Rumor was that she gave away her food to children as China suffered great famine at the close of the 19th century. Lottie died in 1912 in Kobe, Japan en route back to the United States (the missions board had sent a nurse to retrieve her), frail, exhausted, and emaciated from starvation. The Lottie Moon Christmas Offering is named in her honor and continues her work of taking the Gospel around the world.

How can we give in these tough times?

This years, dozens of ready families who have answered God's call to go to the nations have seen their appointment delayed. Imagine: hundreds of the worlds unreached people groups left to continue living--and dying--in darkness for another year. Of course, God is not limited by our budget plans!

In times of economic hardship, we might be tempted to scale back our giving. But we must remember that as Christians, our hope can never be in economic security and comfort. Our hope is in God. To do the "prudent" thing with our offering this year can say more about our view of God than it does about our wisdom. How many times do we plan to eat out in the coming month? How much do we plan to spend needlessly around the holidays? No, tough times are the perfect opportunity for God to do an amazing work of which only He is capable. Tough times are the perfect opportunity for us to learn dependence on the one who created all that is and continually provides.

Ask the Lord how he might have your family give this year and consider some of the following creative ideas to increase your giving this year:

1. If your family makes Christmas lists, put a $20 or $50 gift to the Lottie Moon Offering at the top of your list.

2. Instead of doing gift exchanges at your Sunday school class Christmas fellowship, consider pooling that money into a gift for the offering.

3. Ask your employer to match your gift. You might be surprised. Sometimes employers will gladly match their employees' gifts to non-profit, tax-deductible causes.

4. Help your kids make a Lottie Moon piggy bank to collect loose change in over the coming month.

5. If you are a youth, consider baby-sitting one or two nights this month and giving that money to the offering.

How can I help promote the offering?

If you are a Sunday school teacher working with children or students, visit the IMB's website to find out creative ways that you can help promote the Lottie Moon offering.

Also, you can participate in the week of prayer for international missions from November 28-December 5. Look for the prayer guide in your Homepage on Sunday morning, November 28.