| June
2004
Mission
Heroes
Adonirum and Ann Judson
A child
prodigy of sorts, Adonirum Judson was born in Massachusetts
on August 9, 1788 to a Congregationalist minister and his
wife. His mind far surpassed any average of the time. He
was reading by the age of three and studying theology before
even his teen years. Fluent in Greek by twelve, Adoniram
started studying at Brown University at the young age of
sixteen.1
Although
he was raised in a Christian home, Judson defied his roots
once he entered Providence College. He was greatly influenced
by his close friend Jacob Eames, an atheist, that led Judson
to denounce all belief in Christ. After completing his studies,
Judson began to travel across the country chasing after
a dream to write and act in New York. The disappointment
in that pursuit sent him wandering and traveling again.
One
night after a day’s traveling, Judson stopped at an
inn. There was only one room available and he shared it
with another man that was very ill and on the verge of death.
All through the night Judson listened to the dying man’s
desperate cries of agony, knowing from the sound of his
cries that he wasn’t saved. Questions of an afterlife,
Christianity and hope raced through Judson’s head.
By morning, the man had passed away. Asking the innkeeper
who the man was, Judson ironically learned that it was a
man from Providence College named Jacob Eames.2
In hearing
this Judson was struck with horror, but this tragedy was
all a part of God’s plan. From this point on, Judson
would no longer pursue his own fame and fortune, but instead
dedicate his entire life to the Lord. The writings of Puritan
author Thomas Boston officially introduced Judson to faith
in the Jesus Christ in 1808. He joined his parents’
Congregational church and enrolled in Andover Theological
Seminary where he realized that God was his heart’s
first love. It was only a matter of time before he felt
a sure calling to the mission field.
Gathering
in 1810 with several others at a haystack on the campus
of Williams College, Judson began to pray for windows of
opportunities to minister to the “heathen”.
Today this gathering place is famously remembered as the
“birthplace of missions in America” because
the “Haystack Revival” occurred there. These
“haystack” men eventually appealed to the General
Association of Congregational Ministers at Bradford, Massachusetts
for support to go as missionaries. Their appeal brought
about the foundation of the American Board of Commissioners
of Foreign Missions.3
During
his time at Seminary, Judson was surprised with an extra
blessing of meeting the second love of his life, Ann Hasseltine.
Born in 1789, Ann was very intelligent and grew up in a
well to do, high society family.4 Ann “Nancy”
Hasseltine, as refined as she was, was probably one of the
least likely women to end up on the mission field, but after
being saved at 16, she had no doubts that her calling was
to join Adonirum as a missionary. They were married on February
5, 1812 and promptly set sail for India two weeks later.5
The
trip to India was a four-month journey and the newlyweds
used the time wisely to prepare for what was ahead of them.
Adoniram had been questioning his Covenant Theology for
some time and the Judson’s would be working alongside
Baptist missionaries in India, so they were worried about
disagreements with the other missionaries, particularly
about the topic of baptism. This sent the two into a deep
study of the Bible which brought them to a point of turning
against the beliefs of Congregationalism.6 The Judson’s
and several others traveling to the Orient as missionaries
were sent and supported by the Congregational Board, but
as soon as Adonirum and Ann arrived in Calcutta, India in
September of 1812, they were baptized by immersion by English
missionary, William Ward. They broke off from the Congregational
Board and sent fellow American missionary Luther Rice back
to the United States to gain support as Baptist missionaries.
Rice’s efforts led to the foundation of the General
Convention of the Baptist Denomination in the United States
for Foreign Missions in 1814.7
It
didn’t take long for the Judson’s to realize
they were not welcome in India. The British East India Company
believed the American’s would get in the way of their
business and wanted them out. So, Adonirum and Ann finally
landed in Rangoon, Burma - a dangerous, Buddha worshipping,
superstitious and corrupt land located between China and
India. They felt this was the exact place God wanted them.8
The
first major task upon arriving was to understand the Burmese
language and begin work on a Burmese Bible. The effort was
slow and trying but they remained as positive as possible.
Ann became pregnant and had a little boy, a source of renewed
joy and hope. However, that hope faded when young Roger
William died at eight months from cholera. The Judson’s
persevered in the harvest for six years with no fruit to
their labor. Then, at last in 1819 one man named Moung Nau
became a Christian and was baptized on June 27th. The Judson’s
remained faithful to reach out to the Burmese people and
eventually had plenty reason to give thanks when one man’s
rebirth led to 18 others over the course of the following
three years.9
Ann
became severely ill in 1822 with liver problems and returned
to America to recuperate, but she greatly missed the people
of Burma that she had grown to love. During her stateside
convalescence, Ann composed a history of the mission in
Burma and spent time speaking and influencing numerous people
to fulfill the need for more foreign missionaries, especially
women.10
When
Ann returned to Rangoon, another American missionary, Dr.
Pierce, joined the Judsons. When Ann was two months pregnant
with her second child, war struck Burma and Ann’s
husband and Dr. Pierce were arrested as British spies. While
in prison they were hardly fed and kept in a room with 100
other men. They would eventually spend a total of 21 months
bound in shackles and tortured in different positions in
the “death prison”.11
Meanwhile,
Ann was watched in the mission-house by violent and cruel
guards who stole everything inside. She managed to find
out where her husband and Dr. Pierce were being held and
snuck in food to them to keep them alive. She fought with
every government official and bribed anyone she could to
try and rescue her husband from prison.12
Ann
had a second baby, a girl named Maria, and not long after
her birth Ann realized that she was unable to nurse, and
had to beg strangers to nurse her child for her.13 One heartache
after another hit the Judson family. Soon Adonirum became
sick with a tropical fever in prison. As best as she could,
Ann followed him to every prison he was transferred to so
she could look after him. She even followed Adonirum after
he was pushed down an eight-mile trek barefoot to a prison
in the middle of the night. In the midst of everything else,
Ann developed smallpox and spotted fever. Amazingly, her
faith never wavered. She kept many letters throughout her
experiences overseas, and in one letter to her brother she
wrote, “The acme of my distress consisted in the awful
uncertainty of our final fate. My prevailing opinion was,
that my husband would suffer violent death; and that I should,
of course, become a slave…But the consolation of religion,
in these trying circumstances, were neither few nor small!
It taught me to look beyond this world, to that rest…where
Jesus reigns and oppression never enters.”14
Finally,
relief came and Dr. Pierce and Adonirum were released to
assist the Burmese as translators and negotiators. Sadly,
two months later, Ann passed away from a tropical disease
on October 24, 1826. By the time of her death she had written
“her history of the Burman mission…translated
the Burman catechism, and the Gospel of Matthew into Siamese…assisted
in the preparation for a Burmese grammar and made some translations
for the use of the Burmese.”15 She was the first American
female missionary to ever go overseas.16 Six months after
Ann’s death, baby Maria passed away as well.
The
grief and depression that these losses caused Judson seemed
to be more than he could handle. For forty days he lived
in a hut all alone in a “tiger-infested jungle”
where he could think and ponder the reason for continuing
as a missionary. Incredibly the Lord protected Judson’s
life while in the jungle, and he was affirmed of his call
to the “heathen people.” The natives in that
area compared his survival to Old Testaments story of Daniel
in the lion’s den.17
With
the energy and motivation that God provided, Judson moved
on to a new city where he encountered the Karen people.
They were undomesticated but Judson was able to lead one
slave/murderer named to Christ in 1828. That man became
a preacher and was nicknamed the “Karen Apostle.”
With Judson and the Boardmans, another missionary couple,
11,878 Karen’s were saved and baptized in 25 years.18
Judson
started a new life when he married Sarah, the widow of missionary-colleague
Mr. Boardman. In their 11 years of marriage they had 8 children,
2 of which died while they were young. During his marriage
to Sarah, Judson completed the Burmese Bible in its entirety.
Sarah became sick and passed away while the two journeyed
back to America.
Judson
landed in America to a warm welcome he had not expected.
This visit to the United States was his first 34 years and
through letters, the American Christians were familiar with
him and proud of all he had done. He traveled to tell about
the adventures and blessings he had experienced over this
time and on these travels Judson met his third wife, Emily
Chubbock, who returned with him to Burma in 1846.19
Sick
again, Judson left Burma and spent his last days on a voyage
at sea in failed attempt to improve his health. He died
at the age of 62 and was buried on April 12, 1850. By the
time he died, Burma was thriving with 7,000 Christians,
63 churches and 123 missionaries. By the year 1950 there
were 200,000 Christians. Globally, the General Convention
that was co-established by Judson was sending out more than
2,700 missionaries.
When
Adonirum Judson was speaking across America his first and
only furlough, a man complained that he wanted to hear more
stories of exciting voyages and journeys. In accord with
his genuine character Judson replied, “I am glad they
have it to say (that I) had nothing better to tell than
the wondrous story of Jesus’ dying love.”20
1http://world-evangelism.com/judson.htm
2http://www.wholesomewords.org/missions/
biojudson.html
3http://world-evangelism.com/judson.htm
4http://www.hornpipe.com/ba/ba7a.htm
5http://www.gospelcom.net/chi/GLIMPSEF/
Glimpses/glmps046.shtml
6http://www.baptistpage.org/Portraits/judson.htm
7http://www.sbhala.org/bio_adoniramjudson.htm
8http://trailblazerbooks.com/books/imprison/
imprbio.html
9http://www.wholesomewords.org/missions/
biojudson.html
10http://www.gospelcom.net/chi/GLIMPSEF/
Glimpses/glmps046.shtml
11http://world-evangelism.com/judson.htm
12http://www.wholesomewords.org/missions/
bjudsonann.html
13http://world-evangelism.com/judson.htm
14http://www.gospelcom.net/chi/GLIMPSEF/
Glimpses/glmps046.shtml
15http://www.wholesomewords.org/missions/
bjudsonann.html
16http://www.gospelcom.net/chi/GLIMPSEF/
Glimpses/glmps046.shtml
17http://world-evangelism.com/judson.htm
18http://world-evangelism.com/judson.htm
19http://www.baptistpage.org/Portraits/judson.htm
20http://www.baptistpage.org/Portraits/judson.htm
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