At the beginning of last century there was a woman only 130cm tall, she knows nine languages, went to China, but died on the ship coming home, yet she helped 5000 missionaries that came after her. How?

In 1845, the Southern Baptist Convention founded the Foreign Mission Board (current International Mission Board or IMB), one of its first target was China. Lottie Moon was the first single woman missionary sent out in 1873. She served the Chinese for nearly 40 years.

While Moon was in China, she begun writting tirelessly to the secretary of the Foreign Mission Board, H.A. Tupper, to plead for more money and resources, and to asked for prayers for the overseas missionaries. In 1888, the Southern Baptist Convention listened to her pleas and conducted a special offering for the overseas missionaries a week before Christmas. They collected 3315 dollars, enough at that time to support three additional missionaries to China.

Toward the end of her days, Lottie suffered with her Chinese people in the terrible famine at Shantung province. She gave all she had to her Chinese people. Literally starving, she grew steadily weaker. Before Christmas, 1912, Lottie Moon was sent home on a ship, on her way back to America, at the harbor in Kobe, Japan, death came to the frail missionary who was bearly 25kg on Christmas Eve.

Lottie Moon's love for China touched many christians back home, she encouraged more to offer what they can towards foreign missions.

In 1918, Woman's Missionary Union (WMU) named the annual Christmas offering for international missions after the woman who had urged them to start it.