Jack Voelkel
Ann Hasseltine Judson (1789 – 1826) PART 2
This is Part 2 of a 2-Part Series. Click Here for Part 1.
As soon as she was able, Ann formed a group of fifteen to twenty women. Each Sunday she studied with them the few translated portions of the Bible available, visited them in their homes, prayed with them, talked with them, and counseled them. “They were attentive, and willing to ask and answer questions, but for a long time experienced no abiding conviction of sin or of duty. Some were willing to serve Christ if they could do it without renouncing dependence on their own merits. Others would serve God, if they might serve Gaudama [Buddha] also” (Chain).
As Ann came to know these women, she grew to love them. She wrote, “The females of this country are lively, inquisitive, strong, and energetic, susceptible of friendship and the warmest attachment, and possess minds capable of rising to the highest state of cultivation and refinement” (Chain).
She wrote home gripping accounts of their problems, and made a heart rending appeal for women’s work. “She told of the child marriages, female infanticide, and how women were kept under subjection by the ‘tyrannic rod’ of their husbands”, who called them “my servant” or “my dog.” Referring to the more well-to-do, she bemoaned their “imbecility,” since they were taught nothing and spent their days in “listless idleness” (Tucker p. 25).
She became convinced of their great need for education, and the literacy that would give them access to the Scriptures, which would, in turn, free them from their chains. She prayed, “O Thou Light of the world, dissipate the thick darkness which covers Burma, and let Thy light arise and shine. O display Thy grace and power among the Burmese. Subdue them to Thyself, and make them Thy chosen people (Glimpses). “So that women might read the Bible for themselves instead of having it read to them, Ma Min Lay, the first Burmese Baptist woman convert, started a school where, for the first time, girls could get the same education as boys…The mission schools that arose were major centers for teaching the Bible (Chain).
As her language ability improved she translated several tracts, as well as the biblical books of Daniel and Jonah. She wrote a catechism in Burmese. Then she noted the number of Siamese (Thais) in the city of Rangoon where they lived, many of whom were prisoners of war. She learned their language and translated into Siamese: The Gospel of Matthew, the Burmese Catechism, and a Gospel tract So that people from her culture could understand the Siamese better, she translated one of their sacred texts into English. Her appeals for help for the Saimese resulted in two independently supported medical missionaries responding to God’s call to serve in Siam (Thailand).
In the midst of all these activities, while enduring the terrible heat and humidity of the tropical climate and struggling with unusual diseases, her health broke. In addition, she suffered the tragedy of losing two children. The emotional and physical strain was too much. Adoniram sent her back to America for a time of rest and recuperation. While in the United States she wrote “A Particular Relation of the American Baptist Mission to the Burman Empire.” She hoped that the proceeds from the sale of this book would enable her to redeem female children who were sold as slaves. She planned to educate them and so convince the Burmese of the usefulness of education for girls and women. Upon returning, in 1824, she started a school with three small girls.
But in 1824, war broke out between Burma and Great Britain. Burmese leaders insisted that all Europeans and Americans were spies. Adoniram was soon arrested and thrown into a horribly crowded, filthy building with no ventilation. “He was chained to other prisoners and subjected to various types of torture” for a period of 19 months (Durso).
Though Ann supposedly was to have been confined to her house, she slipped out, carrying her newborn baby girl in her arms, going from one government office to another pleading for his release since he was not a British subject. She supplied him with food each day since the prisoners were not fed, walking two miles to and from the prison. She “won the hearts of high and low, making savage jailers and scarcely less savage nobles weep…protected by her own dignity and sublimity of purpose [as she walked] like a queen along the streets” (Robert, quoting Francis Wayland, p. 24).
In December of 1825, Burmese officials finally freed Adoniram. When he arrived home, he discovered that Ann had been ill with cerebral spinal meningitis for a month. She never completely recovered. In July of 1826 she contracted another fever and died three weeks later (Durso). Their infant daughter also died within six months. She was only 37.
Adoniram was distraught, and nearly lost his mind. It took him a full year to recover, but finally he experienced God’s peace and restoration. He went on to complete his translation of the whole Bible in Burmese from the original Hebrew and Greek, which is still being used today.
Before Ann left the United States, fourteen years earlier, she had written the following:
O, if [God] will condescend to make me useful in promoting His Kingdom, I care not where I perform His work, nor how hard it will be. “Behold the handmaid of the Lord; be it unto me according to Thy Word” (Robert p. 23).
Reflection Questions
1. How did the Lord prepare Ann for her ministry in Burma?
2. What was her goal and vision?
3. How did she accomplish her vision?
4. What do you learn about pioneer missions as you review the lives of the Judsons?
Bibliography
Chain, Anna Mary. Wives, Warrior and Leaders: Burmese Christian Women’s Cultural Reception of the Bible. http://www.sbi-site.org/Article.aspx?ArticleId=455.
Durso, Pamela. Ann Hasseltine Judson: Missionary Icon. http://www.ethicsdaily.com/article_detail.cfm?AID=8128.
Glimpses: Ann Hasseltine Judson: America’s First Woman Missionary. Issue # 46. http://chi.gospelcom.net/GLIMPSEF/Glimpses/glmps046.shtml
Robert, Dana L. “The Mother of Modern Missions.” En Christian History and Biography. Spring 2006, Issue 90, pp 22-24. (Adapted from her book, American Women in Missions. Mercer U:niversity Press, 1997.)
Tucker, Ruth. Guardians of the Great Commission. The Story of Women in Modern Missions. Grand rapids, MI: Academie, 1988, pp. 24-27.
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