Annie Armstrong was instrumental in establishing the Woman’s Missionary Union (WMU) in 1888, and was the first WMU leader. She was an advocate for missionaries, and communicated between missionaries, leaders, and denominations. She asked churches to support mission work through prayer and sacrificial giving.
She was an extensive letter writer, handwriting 18,000 letters in one year alone. It was through the steely determination of Annie and many other like-minded Southern Baptist women that WMU had been forged against opposition from the male SBC leadership.
Annie and the women of the WMU established the annual Easter mission offering in the Southern Baptist Churches in 1895, to benefit the work of the North American Mission Board. In 1934, the annual offering was named in honor of Annie.
The Annie Armstrong Easter Offering is the primary way Southern Baptists fund missions in North America. 100% of gifts given go to the field to support more than 2,400 missionary families serving across the United States and Canada. Check out some of the supported missionaries in the expansive mission field of North America.
Watch a very good three-minute video about Annie Armstrong.