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Each year, we honor the
life and work of
Annie Walker
Armstrong (1850-1938) when we give
to the annual offering
for home missions named
after her. As a tireless
servant of God and a
contagious advocate and
supporter of mission
efforts throughout the
world, Annie Armstrong
led women to unite in
mission endeavors that
ultimately led to the
formation of the
Women's Missionary Union,
for which she served as
the first corresponding
secretary.
Annie believed in Christ
with all her heart, but
it was her hands that
expressed that belief in
tangible ways. She spent
a great amount of time
typing and handwriting
letters in support of
missions. Many of these
letters were quite
lengthy and all were
filled with conviction
that more could and
should be done in our
mission efforts. In
1893 alone, she wrote
almost 18,000 letters!
Annie also never
hesitated to use her
hands to reach out to
hug a child or
distribute food and
clothing and the Word of
God to those in need.
Her hands held her own
Bible as she studied to
know how best to share
Gods love with others.
And, most important,
Annie was a woman of
prayer, folding her
hands in prayer to
intercede for the
missionaries and for
those they were helping
discover Christ.
Annie rallied churches
to give more, pray more,
and do more for reaching
people for Christ. As we
continue to unite to
make her vision a
reality in North America
today, we can be
confident that her
legacy will also be
ours. |