Into her 60s, Lottie Moon had put on a few extra pounds, her hair had grayed slightly and she had lost many of her teeth. Her humor and her energy, however, remained in steady supply.

Schoolteachers Ella Jeter (left) and Jessie Pettigrew (right) pose with Lottie Moon in 1907. Jeter and Pettigrew attempted to slip outside of the shot, but Lottie’s insistence brought them back. For years, the widely copied photo was believed to be the only one of Miss Moon in existence.

Lottie Moon was the consummate missions recruiter. She spent a great deal of time writing Southern Baptists back home, including Foreign Mission Board presidents, to send fresh recruits to the field.

Another letter from Lottie Moon.

One of the people Lottie Moon helped lead to Christ drew this simple map of the Shantung Mission as it appeared in 1881. Labeled villages in the North China area tracked the progression of her work.

Alongside her evangelistic work, Lottie Moon also taught throngs of girls. With diploma scrolls in hand, the first graduates of the Baptist girls’ school in Tengchow, China, pause for a portrait.

Workmen gather wheat in P’ingtu, China, about 1910. Just one year later, famine gripped the area. With no means left to help the hungry all around her, Lottie Moon also stopped eating. She died in 1912 aboard the Manchuria that was to transport her back to the United States and to better health.

The potential harvest of souls in China has always been abundant. When Lottie Moon arrived in 1873, she was one of only six Southern Baptist missionaries. China’s mission field at the time consisted of about 360 million people.

A bustling market in P’ingtu, China, draws vendors and buyers looking for the ideal trade.

Housework in China was sometimes a public affair. Here, a large, round stone provides a millet-grinding station for a number of families.

A Chinese priest smiles for the camera, proud of his Buddhist faith and his position within this temple.

Simple, yet durable padded clothing helped guard against China’s chilly winters.

Two Chinese men in traditional dress pose with a table displaying their small collection of bonsai trees and other plants.

Chinese children and women rest from their begging. The woman near the center wears pointed-toe shoes for bound feet. Lottie Moon fought hard to end this torturous practice, which crowded the heel bone toward the toes to shorten the feet. Infection leading to gangrene and death was often the price Chinese females paid to be beautiful.

Gaunt but hopeful villagers line up to receive a ration of rice during a period of famine.

Onlookers crowd a brick-lined well to glimpse the baptism of a new believer.

Less than two weeks after her 18^th birthday, Lottie Moon attended a revival at First Baptist Church, Charlottesville, Va. She intended to poke fun during the service, but instead made her profession of faith in Jesus Christ.

Monument Street Baptist Church in Tengchow, China, was built in 1872 by Southern Baptist missionary T.P. Crawford. Lottie Moon worshiped at this church located close to her home, “The Little Cross Roads.”

“The Little Cross Roads,” Lottie Moon’s home in P’ingtu, China, was also a welcome respite to her colleagues on the field.

The shentze, China’s version of the covered wagon, was a common means of transport, especially over long distances.

A jinrikisha (more commonly, “rickshaw”) supplied numbers of able-bodied men with income, but took a toll on their bodies.

Lottie Moon often got around by means of an open sedan chair, similar to this one.