As a young church, Magalia Pines Baptist Church recognized the importance of being involved in many mission causes. The church contributes a percentage of its receipts to missions both locally and statewide as well as supporting missionaries in other countries. We send out and support a large portion of our congregation every year as they go on missions trips. Our Women on Mission group is also involved in mission projects and encourages the church in mission giving. We invite you to come and experience the fellowship at this wonderful church God is working through.
Missionary life of Lottie Moon
Dec. 12, 1840 – Dec. 24, 1912
Lottie Moon was passionate about people knowing Christ. She didn’t hesitate to speak her mind. Today’s China is a world of rapid change. It’s home to 1.4 billion individuals – one-fifth of the world’s population. Village dwellers flock to trendy megacities with exploding populations. And China holds its own in the world’s economy. It’s very different from the vast farmland Lottie Moon entered in the 1800s. But one thing hasn’t changed: China’s need for a Savior.
HER MISSION
When she set sail for China, Lottie was 32 years old. She had turned down a marriage proposal and left her job, home and family to follow God’s lead. Her path wasn’t typical for an educated woman from a wealthy Southern family. God had gripped her with the Chinese peoples’ need for a Savior.
For 39 years Lottie labored, chiefly in Tengchow and P’ingtu. People feared and rejected her, but she refused to leave. The aroma of fresh-baked cookies drew people to her house. She adopted traditional Chinese dress, and she learned China’s language and customs. Lottie didn’t just serve the people of China; she identified with them. Many eventually accepted her. And some accepted her Savior.
HER VISION
Lottie wrote letters home detailing China’s hunger for truth and the struggle of so few missionaries taking the gospel to the 472 million Chinese in her day. She also shared the urgent need for more workers and for Southern Baptists to support them through prayer and giving.
She once wrote home to the Foreign Mission Board, “Please say to the [new] missionaries they are coming to a life of hardship, responsibility and constant self-denial.”
Disease, turmoil and lack of co-workers threatened to undo Lottie’s work. But she gave herself completely to God, helping lay the foundation of what would become the modern Chinese church, one of the fastest-growing Christian movements in the world. Lottie Moon died at 72 — ill and in declining health after decades ministering to her beloved Chinese. But her 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.
Who is Annie Armstrong?
Each year, we honor the life and advocacy of Annie Walker Armstrong (1850-1938) when we give to the Annie Armstrong Easter Offering® for North American missions. As a tireless servant of God and a contagious advocate and supporter of missions efforts throughout the world, Annie Armstrong led women to unite in missions endeavors that ultimately led to the formation of Woman’s Missionary Union, for which she served as the first corresponding secretary.
Annie believed in and followed Christ with all her heart, but it was her hands that expressed that belief in tangible ways. She spent a great amount of time typing and handwriting letters in support of missions. Many of these letters were quite lengthy and all were filled with conviction that more could and should be done in our missions efforts. Annie also never hesitated to use her hands to reach out to hug a child or distribute food, clothing and the Word of God to those in need. Her hands held her own Bible as she studied to know how best to share Gods love with others. And, most important, Annie was a woman of prayer, folding her hands in prayer to intercede for the missionaries and for those they were helping discover Christ.
Annie rallied churches to give more, pray more and do more for reaching people for Christ. As modern-day missions advocates unite to continue that work today, we can be confident that her legacy will also be ours.