Skip to content
  • The Alabama Baptist
  • The Baptist Paper
  • The Alabama Baptist
  • The Baptist Paper
  • Log In
  • Subscribe
  • Renew
  • Donate
  • The Alabama Baptist
  • The Baptist Paper
  • The Alabama Baptist
  • The Baptist Paper
  • Log In
  • Subscribe
  • Renew
  • Donate
The Baptist Paper
The Baptist Paper
  • SBC 2025
  • Latest News
  • Trending
  • Your state news
  • Classifieds
  • SBC 2025
  • Latest News
  • Trending
  • Your state news
  • Classifieds

‘Miss Lois’ traces her family’s Christian faith back to Baptist missionaries serving in China

  • April 8, 2022
  • Trennis Henderson
  • Featured, International Mission Board, International News, Latest News, Missions, North American Mission Board
Lois Lin, who grew up in China and immigrated to the United States in 1949, traces her family’s Christian faith to Southern Baptist missionaries who served in China prior to the communist revolution.
(Screengrab from “Lois Lin Leaves Legacy” video)

‘Miss Lois’ traces her family’s Christian faith back to Baptist missionaries serving in China

Lois Lin

Lois Lin’s rich missions heritage can be traced back more than a century to a Southern Baptist missionary serving in Kwotien, China. That missionary, W.W. Lawton of South Carolina, was influential in leading her father, Peter Lee, to faith in Christ as a 13-year-old.

Lee’s conversion was just the beginning of his family’s faith journey. As an adult, he became a renowned pastor, seminary professor and Baptist World Alliance leader.

Mrs. Lin, one of six children, immigrated to the United States in 1949 amid the Chinese communist revolution. She managed to escape Shanghai just days before it fell. As a teenager with limited English skills when she first arrived in the States, she went on to earn undergraduate and medical degrees, specializing in anesthesiology.

“The missionaries that were in China had an influence on my mom as far as her salvation and her coming to Christ,” said her son, Jon. “She was very appreciative of the missionaries that were in China and it had a profound effect on her. She wanted to give back and afford others to hear the gospel just like she had.”

Noting that his mother “led a very simple life,” he added, “she quietly did things and she would identify needs and missions needs. If she was aware of them, she would reach out and offer financial assistance.”

Lois Lin’s home congregation of First Baptist Church Ocala, Florida, has a strong history of missions support and involvement. “We wholeheartedly endorse and embrace legacy giving,” affirmed Pastor Darren Gaddis. He added that “Miss Lois” was “an example of one who gives beyond themselves.” (Photo by Pam Henderson/The Baptist Paper)

Affectionately known as “Miss Lois” to her pastor and fellow church members at First Baptist Church in Ocala, Florida, she became a faithful supporter of local, state, national and international missions efforts. On a practical level, she also taught Vacation Bible School and English as a Second Language.

‘Synonymous with missions’

“When I think of Lois Lin, her name to me is synonymous with missions,” said Darren Gaddis, senior pastor of FBC Ocala. “She embodied it not just with the things that she said, not just with her background and her story, but with her actions. 

“Southern Baptists sent missionaries to China that reached her family and she is a product of that,” Gaddis added. “She comes to the United States and now is a part of the sending capacity of our church and of our convention. And just as we had sent monies there to reach unreached peoples, she has been a part of sending people and sending money and resources to reach unreached peoples.”

In a video interview promoting her church’s Lottie Moon Christmas Offering for International Missions a few years ago, Lin said she actually traces her family’s missions history back to the legendary Baptist missionary’s appeal for funds to support missionaries in China.

“I always say that my journey to the United States started not in 1949 but in 1888” because of Lottie Moon’s long-term missions impact in Lin’s home country, she reflected.

“There are millions of people who have never heard” the Gospel of Christ, Lin emphasized in the video. “They need someone to go and tell them. How are they going to go if we do not support them by our offerings?”

She died in January 2021 at age 88. Hank, her husband of more than 60 years, died in February of this year. They are survived by their daughter, Eunice; son, Jon; and two granddaughters.

Generous estate gifts

Extending her missions commitment far beyond her lifetime, Lin left generous estate gifts to several missions organizations and educational institutions. Recipients include National Woman’s Missionary Union, the International Mission Board, the North American Mission Board and Florida Baptist Children’s Homes as well as her two alma maters, Carson-Newman University in Tennessee and the Wake Forest School of Medicine in North Carolina.

“Her passion for missions stemmed from the fact that Southern Baptist missionaries had led her father to Christ,” said David George, president of the WMU Foundation. “That changed the entire trajectory of her life [which]  involved supporting missions and WMU and all SBC missions efforts throughout her life.”

“It was only natural for her that at the end of her life on earth she supported all of those missions enterprises through her estate. It was not an ‘add on’ or a special something that she did at the conclusion of her time on earth. It was a continuation of who she was and the passion that God put in her heart.”

“We wholeheartedly endorse and embrace legacy giving,” Gaddis agreed. Affirming Lin’s faithful example he added, “She was storing up treasure in heaven through her legacy giving. And in her death, we’re still seeing an example of one who gives beyond themselves.

“It wasn’t a show. It was who she was,” Gaddis concluded. “She lived what she believed.”

To learn more about legacy giving opportunities to benefit missions and ministry, contact David George at the WMU Foundation at dgeorge@wmu.org or 205-408-5501.

View more photos here.

Share with others:

Facebook
X/Twitter
LinkedIn
Email
Facebook
Twitter
LinkedIn
Email

Latest News

  • Persecution, violence and religious freedom addressed at BWA Congress
    Persecution, violence and religious freedom addressed at BWA Congress
    July 16, 2025/
    0 Comments
  • First person: Why no one’s listening to your church and how to fix it
    First person: Why no one’s listening to your church and how to fix it
    July 16, 2025/
    0 Comments
  • Lifeway names interim CEO, begins search for new president
    Lifeway names interim CEO, begins search for new president
    July 15, 2025/
    0 Comments

Sign up for the Highlights

Get all latest content delivered to your email a few times a month.
Email is required Email is not valid
Thanks for your subscription.
Failed to subscribe, please contact admin.

Related Posts

Persecution, violence and religious freedom addressed at BWA Congress

Bruce Webb, pastor of The Woodlands First Baptist Church of Woodlands, Texas, recounted the history of Baptist advocacy for freedom of religion during a breakout

First person: Why no one’s listening to your church and how to fix it

You’re leading. You’re preaching. You’re promoting. But still… it feels like no one’s really listening. That’s not just frustrating; it’s exhausting.

Lifeway names interim CEO, begins search for new president

Trustees have asked Lifeway’s Executive Vice President and Chief Operating Officer Joe Walker to serve as interim president and CEO until a new president is named, in accordance with Lifeway’s bylaws.

John MacArthur, megachurch pastor and voice of ‘Grace to You’ radio ministry, dies at 86

John MacArthur, megachurch pastor, culture warrior, author and longtime voice of the “Grace to You” radio program, has died. 

Want to receive news highlights throughout the week? Sign up here!

Email is required Email is not valid
Thanks for your subscription.
Failed to subscribe, please contact admin.

About

  • Our Story
  • Our Team
  • Our Partners
  • Advertise and Promote
  • Classifieds
  • Contact us
  • Our Story
  • Our Team
  • Our Partners
  • Advertise and Promote
  • Classifieds
  • Contact us

Explore

  • State-specific news
  • Archive
  • Opinion pieces
  • Sunday School lessons
  • Persecuted Church
  • Podcasts
  • Videos
  • State-specific news
  • Archive
  • Opinion pieces
  • Sunday School lessons
  • Persecuted Church
  • Podcasts
  • Videos

Submissions

  • Story suggestions
  • Your Voice/Letter to the Editor
  • Photos / Videos
  • Corrections/other
  • Submission Policy
  • Story suggestions
  • Your Voice/Letter to the Editor
  • Photos / Videos
  • Corrections/other
  • Submission Policy

Subscribe

  • Subscribe
  • Renew subscription
  • Gift a subscription
  • Start a new member subscription
  • Start a new group subscription
  • Start a new subscription at the group rate
  • Hosted Church
  • Manage your group
  • Manage your account
  • Request free trial
  • Subscribe
  • Renew subscription
  • Gift a subscription
  • Start a new member subscription
  • Start a new group subscription
  • Start a new subscription at the group rate
  • Hosted Church
  • Manage your group
  • Manage your account
  • Request free trial
The Baptist Paper
Address:
3310 Independence Dr.
Birmingham, AL 35209
Copyright © 2025 TAB Media Group
  • Privacy/Terms of Use
  • Help
  • FAQ
  • Privacy/Terms of Use
  • Help
  • FAQ

Email:
news@thebaptistpaper.org

About

  • Our Team
  • Advertise and Promote
  • Classifieds
  • Donate
  • Photo Galleries
  • Contact us
  • Hosted Church
  • Our Team
  • Advertise and Promote
  • Classifieds
  • Donate
  • Photo Galleries
  • Contact us
  • Hosted Church

Explore

  • Latest News
  • Trending
  • Your State News
  • Persecuted Church
  • Editorials
  • Opinions
  • Podcasts
  • Videos
  • Archive
  • Submit your news
  • Latest News
  • Trending
  • Your State News
  • Persecuted Church
  • Editorials
  • Opinions
  • Podcasts
  • Videos
  • Archive
  • Submit your news

Subscribe

  • Manage your group
  • Manage your account
  • Subscribe
  • Start a new subscription at the group rate
  • Manage your group
  • Manage your account
  • Subscribe
  • Start a new subscription at the group rate

Log Out?

Lost your password?

Log In

Lost your password?

Log in

Become a part of our community!
Forgot your password? Get help
Privacy/Terms of Use

Reset password

Recover your password
A password reset link will be e-mailed to you.
Privacy/Terms of Use
Back to
Login
×
Close Panel