The Call of God to Missionary Work

Charlotte "Lottie" Moon held education vital to her work and life. In 1861 Lottie received one of the first Master of Arts degrees awarded to a woman by a Southern Baptist institution. Lottie, being gifted in language, learned Latin, Greek, French and Italian and in time she would become an expert in Chinese. Although in the mid nineteenth century there were very few opportunities for a women, but her sister Orianna became a physician and served as a doctor for the Confederate Army. To the surprise of the whole family her younger sister Edmonia accepted a call to North China as the first single woman Baptist missionary in 1862. Lottie, as well, felt the call to follow her sister to China. On July 7, 1873 the Southern Baptist Foreign Mission Board officially appointed Lottie as a Missionary to China. Her service was her life and though she suffered many difficult times she continued on, no matter the circumstances she would face. Who would have known what the future held for Lottie? We will see later in these short articles.