ADONIRAM JUDSON
- BIBLE TRANSLATOR & MISSIONARY TO BURMA
(Part II)
Call to foreign missions
In May 1809, Judson made a profession of his faith in the Third Congregational
Church at Plymouth, of which his father was then pastor.
The missionary spirit in the transformed young man was awakened when he read
Buchanan’s “Star in the East” but it was Syme’s “Embassy to Ava” that turned his
soul towards heathenistic Burma . The leaven of missionary enterprise had begun
to work in the Andover seminary. Three young men - Mills, Richards, and Rice —
had formed themselves into a missionary society in the college, with the object
of training themselves for work amongst the heathen. Judson joined them, and
soon became the leader of the devoted band.
He was ordained on 6th February 1812, at Salem, Massachusetts. Just a day
earlier, he had married Ann Hasseltine of Bradford, Mass., and the same month
they sailed for Calcutta, reaching there 18th June.
Labour in Rangoon
At their destination, the missionary couple, upon hearing of the evacuation
order for American missionaries to leave Bombay for England, sailed at once for
Rangoon, the principal port of the Burma Empire, arriving July 1813.
Their first day in Burma was a most gloomy and dismal one. There was no
provision for their support, slavery was rampant, brutal murders and robberies
were common. Seen on every street were gilded pagodas and “lamasaries” – homes
of the priests. Few had heard the name of Jesus, and anyone who renounced the
Buddhist faith would be executed.
The trials and disappointments were many, but the faith of the Judsons in the
promises of God kept them going. At once, Judson set himself to the weary task
of mastering a difficult language, “without grammar or dictionary or
English-speaking teacher.” For three years, he devoted himself to the study of
Burmese, and mastered it so thoroughly that he spoke like a native; having
practically abandoned the use of the English language. “We may, however, mention
here that in 1834, after twenty years of patient toil, he completed his
translation of the whole Bible; and when the last page passed through his hands,
he knelt down and prayed ‘for the forgiveness of Heaven on all the sins that had
mingled with his labours, and commended his work to the mercy and grace of God,
to be used as an instrument for converting the heathen to Himself’” - P K Walsh.
After six years of labour, the first convert, Moung Nau, was baptised at Rangoon
on 27th June, 1819. During this period, despite the hostility of the Burmese
monarch, Judson laboured tirelessly for the furtherance of the Gospel, published
tracts, and translated the Gospel of Matthew and the Epistle to the Ephesians.
Imprisonment
In 1824, he removed to Ava where he preached for a short time until war between
the English and the Burmese broke out. That placed the missionaries in great
peril and resulted in extreme hardships and suffering. During his two years’
imprisonment in Ava and Oung-pen-la, he suffered indescribable hardships - he
was confined in the ‘death-prison,’ and subjected to the most extreme cruelty,
being bound with either three or five pairs of fetters. “For most of the time of
his confinement he was shut up in a loathsome, wretched place. It derived its
remarkable, well-selected name, Let-ma-yoon -- literally interpreted, Hand,
shrink not -- from the revolting scenes of cruelty practised within its walls.
To those acquainted with the Burmese language the name conveys a peculiar
impression of terror. … The Let-ma-yoon was a building about forty feet long and
thirty feet wide. It was five or six feet high along the sides, but as the roof
sloped, the center of it was perhaps double that height. There was no
ventilation except through the chinks between the boards and through the door,
which was generally closed. On the thin roof poured the burning rays of a
tropical sun. In this room were confined nearly one hundred prisoners of both
sexes and all nationalities. … Endowed with a nervous temperament, his nature
was exceedingly sensitive to discomfort and dirt. One of his fellow-prisoners
says: ‘His painful sensitiveness to anything gross or uncleanly, amounting
almost to folly, was an unfortunate virtue to possess, and made him live a life
of constant martyrdom’” – Adapted from “Wholesome words.”
Though she was not imprisoned, Mrs. Ann Judson suffered no less than her
husband. In these straits Judson was saved from actual starvation by the
unwavering attention and fortitude of his faithful wife who “was unremitting in
her self-sacrifice, and walked fearless and respected from palace to prison
among the Burmese population.” She persistently pleaded with the prison
officials for the release of the missionaries; with her baby and a faithful
Bengalese servant, she followed her husband on foot under the sweltering heat
when he was transferred from one prison to another. Her heroic efforts to
relieve the sufferings of the English prisoners received the tributes of warmest
gratitude and praise at the time. Through the influence of Sir Archibald
Campbell, Mr. Judson was finally released, and with his wife left Ava for
Amherst, the capital of the Provinces. (… to be continued on 18th May)
- Pastor
