Adoniram and Ann Judson.

“The people who know their God shall be strong and carry out great exploits” (Daniel 11:32b).

The first Evangelical missionary to set foot in Myanmar was Adoniram Judson of Massachusetts, who arrived in 1813, aged 25, and is regarded as “America’s first foreign missionary.” Judson remained in Myanmar for 37 years, before he died on board a ship in 1850. During those 37 years of pioneer service, he only returned to America once.

Adoniram Judson gave every ounce of his life to serving Jesus Christ and the people of Myanmar. An insight into the level of wholehearted dedication he had can be seen in the classic letter he wrote to the father of his first wife, Ann, asking for his daughter’s hand in marriage. Judson’s letter stands in stark contrast with much of Western Christianity today, where personal safety and comfort are placed first. He wrote:

“I have now to ask, whether you can consent to part with your daughter early next spring, to see her no more in this world; whether you can consent to her departure, and her subjection to the hardships and sufferings of a missionary life; whether you can consent to her exposure to the dangers of the ocean; to the fatal influence of the southern climate of Burma; to every kind of want and distress; to degradation, insult, persecution, and perhaps a violent death.”

Remarkably, Ann’s father read Adoniram Judson’s letter and willingly agreed to give his beloved daughter to him in marriage.

Judson’s words, by the way, were not an exaggeration. Ann had a brief and painful life in Burma, wracked by tropical disease and violence, and she suffered gnawing loneliness when her husband was falsely accused of being a British spy. While he was being tortured in prison for three years, Ann moved to a little shack outside the prison gates so she could visit her husband more easily.

The most difficult trial Ann endured was the personal heartache she carried. Her first pregnancy ended in a miscarriage; their son Roger died when he was eight months old; and baby daughter Maria died six months after Ann perished from smallpox at the age of 36.

Meanwhile, when he was not behind bars, Judson preached the Gospel and translated the Scriptures for seven long years before he won his first convert to Christ. He soldiered on, enduring unbelievable hardships for the Name of Jesus. In 1834 he married a widow, Sarah, but their union ended when she died of illness ten years later.

The following year Judson married his third wife, Emily. She gave birth to a son, Charles, who only lived a few hours. Judson himself died in 1850, and Emily returned to the United States where she perished four years later, aged 36.

On the surface, it might appear that these brave pioneer missionaries wasted their lives, when they could have remained at home and enjoyed a more comfortable existence. But, like the Apostle Paul, they were willing to pour out their lives “like a drink offering” to God (Philippians 2:17).

Did Adoniram Judson and the brief lives of his three wives achieve anything of note for the kingdom of God? Prepare to read our April newsletter, and you will discover that their labors were not in vain, as the Lord Jesus never lets a sacrificial life go unrewarded.

During the 37 years Adoniram Judson served God in Myanmar, an interesting dichotomy took place. Whereas he focused on reaching the cultured Buddhist Burmese people, with little apparent success, he took under his wing a rough character named Ko Tha Byu. He was a member of the Karen tribe, who at the time were considered the most backward and uncivilized people group in the country.

Ko had been a violent robber and murderer in his younger years, but after becoming Judson’s servant he became fully convinced of the claims of Jesus Christ. Judson loved him and gave him the name Tha Byu, meaning “little brother.”

Often, as Judson spent countless hours traveling around the nation debating with Buddhist monks and educated Burmese people, Ko would quietly sit around the campfires and share the Gospel with small numbers of Karen people in each location. While it took Judson seven years to win his first Burmese convert, Ko Tha Byu led handfuls of Karen families to Christ, and soon small pockets of believers had been established across a widespread area. The Holy Spirit breathed life into the work, and after 12 years a total of 1,270 Karen had believed in Jesus and been baptized, plus many people from other tribes.

For nearly two centuries, Christianity in Myanmar has followed the same general pattern, with the poor tribal groups in the country’s border areas often warmly embracing the Gospel, while the proud majority Burmese have proved resistant. In Myanmar, many tribes have large Christian populations, but the 31 million Burmese people have continued to live and die apart from God, with less than half of one percent estimated to be Christians today.

One of the greatest contributions Adoniram Judson made for the kingdom of God was to translate the Scriptures into Burmese. The task was so intense that it often felt like every demonic power in the land had been mobilized to stop him. Judson persevered, and the first Burmese Bible rolled off the printing press in 1835.

We hope you will look forward to our April newsletter, when we share about what the Lord Jesus Christ is doing in Myanmar today, and how the lives of Adoniram Judson and his wives continue to bear fruit today.