Lottie Moon Christmas Offering hits cumulative $5 billion

International Mission Board leaders are celebrating a monumental milestone in Southern Baptist life. On March 31, the Lottie Moon Christmas Offering surpassed $5 billion total gifts since collection to send missionaries to China began in 1888.

“I praise God for this significant milestone in giving through the Lottie Moon offering as it indicates that the love of Southern Baptists for the lost has not waned, nor has their commitment to sending and supporting missionaries through the IMB,” said Paul Chitwood, president of the International Mission Board.

Gifts were calculated from the inception of the Woman’s Missionary Union in 1888, when the organization first began raising money for international missions. In 1918, the international missions’ offering was named the Lottie Moon Christmas Offering to honor the service of Lottie Moon (1840-1912), a single missionary who dedicated her life to serving in China. While overseas, she wrote letters challenging churches in the U.S. to send and support more mission-field workers.

“WMU was birthed to pray for and systematically raise money for missions,” said Sandy Wisdom-Martin, executive director-treasurer for national WMU. “It’s simply astonishing to think what started as a WMU offering in 1888 to send two women missionaries to help Lottie Moon has surpassed the $5 billion mark.”

“This is absolutely a fishes-and-loaves story,” she said. “Because commitment to the Great Commission was embedded in the hearts of WMU members, they gave sacrificially to fuel the Southern Baptist missionary enterprise. When the offering became a churchwide emphasis in the 1960s, the legacy of Lottie Moon beckoned all Southern Baptists to generosity for the sake of taking the gospel to the nations.”

Through funding from the Cooperative Program and the Lottie Moon offering, statistics gathered since 1845 indicate that the IMB has been equipped to send more than 25,000 missionaries to serve in 189 countries. These dedicated men and women represent 228,000 years of gospel service.