Part 2
Last time we learned how Adoniram Judson changed from being a deist to becoming a Christian and why he decided to become a foreign missionary. He changed from being a Congregationalist missionary to a Baptist missionary. This is Part 2 of this remarkable story. It shows how, in one of God’s Other Ways©, Adoniram Judson became the first foreign missionary from the United States.
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Part Two of this story begins a few years before Adoniram began his missionary work. After his experiences in New York experience he met Ann Hazleton, nicknamed Nancy. Though in those days many marriages were arranged, almost immediately after meeting her Adoniram wrote a letter to her father asking for her hand in marriage. In it he told about the plans for his life’s work and the possible difficulties and suffering he was asking Nancy to share with him. Her father didn’t answer for Nancy; instead he let her decide and they were married.
War between England and France was imminent. Although considered dangerous, Adoniram sailed for England anyway. His purpose was to solicit support from the London Missionary Society to sanction and support his missionary dreams.
His ship, the Packet, was a British ship. It was intercepted and captured by a French ship, the L’Invencible Napoleon. Adoniram and several other passengers were thrown into the hold of the ship When the ship docked, these passengers and the crew were imprisoned in Bayonne, France, located on the Atlantic Ocean just north of the dividing line between France and Spain.
Adoniram didn’t know French. He reasoned that God must be giving him a foretaste of missionary life to test his faith and determination. Judson always felt that the time he spent in that dark, damp and chilly underground dungeon in France, lit only by a single lamp, was one of the ways God used to test him for the missionary field. He later believed that the time he spent there was invaluable.
With the help of an “unknown angel”, known only as an American who was called a Philadelphian, he escaped from the prison and went on to England. There he sought the funds and support he needed for the mission field.
It was while he was in England seeking these funds that back in America a lady named Mrs. Norris died. She left the funds he needed for foreign missions in her will. So except for the experience and time in the French prison, his trip had not been necessary. Adoniram then returned to the United States and was ordained as a Congregationalist missionary.
He and Ann (Nancy), who were now married, set sail on February 19, 1812, heading to Burma via India. Their journey was filled with sea sickness and illness. During the voyage, Adoniram studied the Bible intensely and became convicted that baptism should be by immersion. He became so convicted that when they arrived in Calcutta, he and Nancy were both baptized and became confirmed Baptists. Ethically he felt it necessary to cut off his support from the Congregationalists, and so they waited in India until support could be secured from the newly formed American Baptist Missionary Union.
After support was received they continued their journey to Burma and began their missionary work. When they arrived there was not one known Christian in that land of millions. It was after great perseverance and many hardships that six years later Adoniram finally baptized his first convert to Christianity.
Over the next couple of decades Adoniram studied and learned the Burmese language. By 1834 he completed a translation of the whole Bible into the Burmese language and later provided the Burmese people with a Burmese-to-English Dictionary. Burmese is considered by some to be one of the most difficult languages to master, second only to Chinese!
Judson served in Burma for almost forty years. When he died in 1850 there were one hundred churches and eight thousand believers in Jesus. Statistics from a government survey a few years later recorded that there were 210,000 Christians in the country. Perhaps millions more have been saved by their belief in Jesus Christ because of Adoniram Judson’s work.
The story of Adoniram Judson is fascinating and one and in which God’s Other Ways© are clearly evident. The book,The Light and the Glory by Peter Marshall and David Manuel tells additional details about Judson’s life and accomplishments. Even today Adoniram’s devotion to the Lord is evident. Judson University, located in Elgin, Illinois, is named in his honor. He was a mighty man of faith, whose sense of purpose, perseverance and love made him a mighty man for God.
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Author’s note: After retirement, my dad worked for Judson College (now University) in Elgin, Illinois. When he died a scholarship fund was set up for students. Here is a copy of a letter I wrote to one of those scholarship recipients.
Dear Mariah,
Thanks for your Christmas card. It is a blessing to know that my dad's scholarship funds are still helping others.
I don’t know if you know much about my dad, Cecil. He was quite a guy and one I was proud to call my dad. He always enjoyed young people.
Dad grew up in the 1920s and was president of his senior high school class. During the depression years he went to college full-time while at the same time working nights and weekends for the railroad. He received both a BA and MA from Texas Tech University in Lubbock, Texas. From all the report cards I’ve been able to find, he earned straight A’s.
At the railroad he worked as a telegraph operator. During WWII he escorted troop trains. He served in many executive positions including Executive Vice-President of the Burlington Truck Lines. His last position was as director of their training program. After fifty years at the Burlington Railroad he retired. Following his retirement he developed land in and near Aurora, Illinois.
One day, while he was at a bank in Aurora, he met the president of Judson, Dr. Harm Weber. They hit it off and for the next several years he worked for Judson for $1 a year. In fact, I believe that Judson would not have survived its formative years without him and many others like him who believed in Judson.
When he died in 1980 the Cecil G. Kersey Memorial Scholarship was established. I’m glad the scholarship helped you.
Here’s wishing you the best for the future in whatever God has for you to do and wherever He calls you to be. Merry Christmas and Happy New Year!
In Christ’s Service,
Kenneth Robb Kersey
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How, then, can they call on the one they have not believed in? And how can they believe in the one of whom they have not heard? And how can they hear without someone preaching to them? And how can anyone preach unless they are sent? As it is written: “How beautiful are the feet of those who bring good news!” ROMANS 10:14-15 NIV
But now, O LORD, You are our Father, We are the clay, and You our potter; And all of us are the work of Your hand. Isaiah 64:8 NASB
All Scripture is inspired by God and is useful to teach us what is true and to make us realize what is wrong in our lives. It corrects us when we are wrong and teaches us to do what is right. 2 Timothy 3:16 NLT
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If you liked this story and would like a copy of either of my books,
they are available on Amazon in both paperback and Kindle format:
If you have a story or testimony that you think might bless others,
I invite you to send it by email to me (Kenneth Kersey) at godsotherways@me.com.
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