Adoniram (1788-1850) and Ann (1789-1826) Judson

“At the age of 25, Adoniram Judson was the first American (raised in Massachusetts) missionary to Burma (he arrived in Burma in 1813). He and Ann married two weeks before they boarded a ship bound for India, from which they eventually were able to make their way to Burma. Judson would spend the next nearly forty years of his life living among and witnessing to the Burmese people. Until her death, Ann was the friend of many and even more fluent in the Burmese language than her academically inclined husband. Judson’s efforts were slow-going. (AI: Adoniram Judson was charged by the Burmese during the first Anglo-Burmese War with being an English spy and was imprisoned in June 1824. In a 21-month period of incarceration during the Anglo-Burmese War, he suffered from fever and malnutrition and underwent a forced march.”) He was imprisoned and tortured, but he never gave up on his God-given calling to reach Burma for Christ. Before his death, Adoniram Judson had not only established several churches in Burma, but he had also given Burma one of the greatest gifts: the Bible in their own language. .” From Kindred Grace Magazine

AI: “Judson had two master goals (passions): (1) translate the Bible into the Burmese language, and (2) live to see 100 converts. As mentioned earlier, it was six long years of witness before the first Burmese soul came to know Christ. By the time of Judson’s death, there were 63 churches and 7,000 converts. But that is out of a population of 4 milliion in Burma in 1800’s. Now there are 54 million people in Burma. Christianity was brought to Myanmar by missionaries from England and France in the 17th century. It was not until the 19th century however, that large numbers of converts were made in the country.”

AI: “Judson developed a serious lung disease and doctors prescribed a sea voyage as a cure. On April 12, 1850, he died at age 61 on board ship in the Bay of Bengal and was buried at sea, having spent 37 years abroad with only one trip back home to America. Ann died at Amherst, Lower Burma, of smallpox in 1826.”

Here’s a great article about the Judsons, the suffering Ann went through, the first convert and how more converts were made in Burma. https://www.asiaharvest.org/adoniram-judson-a-life-poured-out-to-god

Where is Burma, now called Myanmar?

AI: “The history of Burma (now Myanmar) is marked by ancient city-states, the rise of the Pagan Kingdom (850-1300), periods of Mongol invasion, and British colonial rule, culminating in independence in 1948, followed by decades of military rule and ongoing conflict. British rule in Burma lasted from 1824 to 1948. This started from the successive three Anglo-Burmese wars through the creation of Burma as a province of British India to the establishment of an independently administered colony. The rule finally ended with independence. Some 40,000 British and Indian troops fought in the First Anglo-Burmese War, of whom over 15,000 died. Since staging a coup on February 1, 2021, the Myanmar military has carried out a brutal nationwide crackdown on millions of people opposed to its rule, killing 6,000 people and displacing 1 1/2 million people. Christians have been persecuted, caught in the middle of the military and rebel groups fighting. The dominant religion in Myanmar is Theravada Buddhism, practiced by about 88% of the population, with significant minorities of Christians (6%) and Muslims (4.3%).” Pray for the Christians in Myanmar.

Have you ever studied Buddhism? Buddhism originated in India around the 6th to 5th century BCE, with the teachings of Siddhartha Gautama, also known as the Buddha, forming its foundation. It spread to many countries and a number of different schools of Buddhism evolved, such as the Therevada Buddhism of Burma. Here is an AI summary of Buddhist teachings: The Four Noble Truths:These truths address the nature of suffering (dukkha), its origin, its cessation, and the path to its cessation. First Noble Truth: Life is characterized by suffering, which arises from attachment and craving.  Second Noble Truth: Suffering arises from attachment to impermanent things, leading to dissatisfaction and craving.  Third Noble Truth: Suffering can be overcome and ended. Fourth Noble Truth: The path to the cessation of suffering is the Eightfold Path.  The Eightfold Path:This is the practical guide for achieving enlightenment and ending suffering, comprised of eight interconnected practices: right understanding, right thought, right speech, right action, right livelihood, right effort, right mindfulness, and right concentration.”  I sum it up like this: Life is suffering and unfulfilled desires. Suffering is due to the desire to not suffer, to want things. The end of suffering is to cease to want to not suffer, to want things. Quit wanting to not suffer and you won’t be upset when you do suffer. Buddhist are actually very good people living by the 8 fold path. They just don’t have a Savior for their sins. Buddha never claimed to be such a savior. You can be a Buddhist and not believe in any god, as Buddhism is often described as a non-theistic or nontheistic religion, meaning it doesn’t require belief in a creator god. Buddhism has some good teachings, but no Savior.

That was the predominant religious culture in Burma when Judson worked for 37 years. 6 long years and much suffering before the first Burmese convert to Christ. I am a numbers person and would probably have given up after a couple of years and returned to America. But that one convert, Byu, led 1,270 members of his tribe to Christ in 12 years, and then Christianity spread to other tribes.Judson spent 37 years in Burma and only returned to America one time (in 1845) during those years. My wife and I spent 5 years in mission work in Trinidad, West Indies and Colombia, South America. We went home once a year during those 5 years. I must admit that I longed for life back in Alabama even though we loved our mission work abroad. I can’t imagine 37 years abroad and ony returning one time. Can you imagine that one visit Judson made back home to Massachusetts in 1845? He saw where Texas had just become the 28th state. He probably saw the conflict brewing in the states which led to the Civil War in 1861. He probably saw a lot of indifference and materialism. He stayed for 9 months and headed back to his passion, Burma.

All these great missionaries inspire me. Maybe I can’t or won’t do mission work abroad again as we did back in the 1970’s. But I teach students in my Bible classes that might become a Byu. Indeed a few grads are doing mission work in Ecuador, Tunisia, etc. My rant again: churches need to quit spending so much money on ourselves (buildings, staff, and assembly comforts) and start spending the vast majority of their contributions on printing Bibles to get the gospel to all these Hindu, Buddhist, Muslim, and atheistic countries. Judson had a goal to print the Bible in the Burmese language, and he did. I wonder how many were converted by that Burmese Bible? We need to make the printing and distributing of the Bible in all the main languages a priority in our spending. If you can go do mission work, go, even if on a short term trip. If you can’t go, then live modestly and give your tithing to organizations that print Bibles like Eastern European Ministries (EEM).