Every year, NewBranch participates in what is called The Lottie Moon Christmas Offering (LMCO) for International Missions. If you’re not familiar with Great Commission Baptist (a.k.a. Southern Baptist) history, then you might be wondering, “What is a Lottie Moon?”. Well, Lottie Moon isn’t a “what”, it’s a “who”, and the LMCO is taken up each year in her honor. We will be doing so again this December, and in preparation for this offering, we wanted to give a brief biographical sketch of who this woman was and why we collect an offering for international missions each year.
Lottie Moon was a single woman, who was born into a wealthy Virginia family in the mid-1800s. When she went off to college she was an unbeliever, but God soon saved her and radically changed the direction of her life. Shortly thereafter she left her comfortable home and followed the Lord’s leading to be a missionary to China.
For the next 40 years she served as a missionary to China and her stories are recorded in many letters she wrote to her home church and the missionary society that sent her. Since then those letters have inspired generations of believers to be involved in International Missions, encouraging both new missionaries to step out in faith as well as the Church in the US to give generously to the work of missions around the world.
Lottie Moon passed away on Christmas Eve, of the year 1912 (at 72 years old), having poured out her entire adult life on the altar of sacrifice for the Gospel.
In her honor every December Great Commission Baptist (SBC) churches all over North America collect a special offering, the proceeds of which (100% of them) go to support missionaries serving literally all over the globe.
Imagine over 47,000 Great Commission Baptist (SBC) churches all pooling their resources to help support nearly 4,000 missionaries serving in places all over the globe. Last year, this offering totaled over $157 million, and the International Mission Board’s goal this year is $175 million. What a display of unity, cooperation, and Great Commission partnership!
At NewBranch we participate in the collection of the Lottie Moon Christmas offering, and so during the month of December we will be collecting this offering for international missions along with our normal offering. You’ll be hearing more and more about the Lottie Moon Christmas Offering (LMCO) in the coming days and weeks. But for now I want to encourage each of us to pray and ask the Lord how He would have us participate in this offering so that the gospel can continue to penetrate the dark places of this planet.
Written by Ken Rucker