‘Forever grateful’: 7 notable mothers of Christian history

By Michael Gryboski, Mainline Church Editor Sunday, May 09, 2021

Anna Moon

Anna Maria Moon, the mother of influential overseas Baptist missionary Lottie Moon, was widowed in 1852 and had to raise four children and manage a farm in Virginia.

Christian George, assistant professor of historical theology at Midwestern Baptist Theological Seminary, told Baptist Press in a 2015 interview that Anna played an important role in Lottie Moon becoming a Southern Baptist missionary.

“Anna’s belief that her daughter should receive a higher theological education placed Lottie on a trajectory that, in 1859, would intersect with a revival led by John Broadus at the Southern Baptist Theological Seminary,” explained George at the time.

“It was during this revival that Lottie experienced a spiritual awakening that would later result, in 1873, in her decision to move to China and join her older sister Edmonia as a missionary through the Foreign Mission Board.”