WMU experiences life of Lottie

The life of Lottie Moon and her legacy in China was brought to life as Candace McIntosh and Rosalie Hunt delivered the state Woman’s Missionary Union (WMU) report to convention messengers Nov. 19.

“In looking back, we might find the light to lead us forward,” McIntosh, executive director of Alabama WMU, quoted an old historian, as she shared about a trip Alabama’s WMU recently took to China.

And it was on that trip these women were able to experience the legacies of Southern Baptist missions heritage, walk in the steps of Alabama’s beloved Kathleen Mallory (who served as executive secretary of national WMU from 1912 to 1948) and Lottie Moon and see a vision cast for a missions future.

Hunt, president of Alabama WMU, told of the unexpected opportunity for the group to tour the Kathleen Mallory Hospital that was rebuilt after a bombing in World War II. The women were joined at the hospital by a local church congregation and learned the church “had not seen a missionary or believer from America in more than 50 years,” Hunt explained.

And that is why WMU is pressing forward with its task, McIntosh continued, to train “generation after generation to pray for missions, give to missions and go on missions.”

In the past year, WMU has collected a total of $18,671,434 through the Lottie Moon, Annie Armstrong and Kathleen Mallory offerings, with more than 2,400 participating in missions and ministry efforts.

While in China, the team had the opportunity to talk with their tour guide, Vivien, about Christ. On their last night there, Vivien shared about the ways God moved in her heart.

McIntosh said Vivien turned toward Hunt and said, “You have shared with me in my heart language. You have spoken to me in Chinese and helped me understand. Rosalie, you have been Lottie Moon to me.

“And that statement has seared itself upon my heart,” McIntosh continued. “And it echoes in my mind. … We must live our life with the heard of a missionary so that when we encounter those God places in our path they could say, ‘You have been Lottie Moon to me.’”

Reiterating that in looking back at legacies like Moon, we find light to lead us in further efforts, McIntosh asked, “Who will you be Lottie Moon to?”