I’m excited, delighted and grateful to God that my newest biography, Adoniram Judson: Devoted for Life, is being released in the U.S. this month. Judson (1788-1850) was a pioneer missionary in Burma (modern Myanmar) for thirty-eight years. Here are several significant reasons it’s worthwhile to read an account of his life and ministry:
- Judson was reared in the home of a conservative Congregational minister. But as a precocious young man full of carnal pride and ambition, he rejected his parents’ Christian faith. The true story of how God used a stunning turn of events to graciously show Judson the error of his way and to draw him to Himself is both fascinating and instructive.
- Judson has the distinction of being the foremost member of the very first group of foreign missionaries ever sent out from the United States. So in reading his history we also learn the exciting story of the birth and rapid growth of the foreign missionary enterprise in the U.S.A.
- Judson became America’s first great foreign missionary hero. Accounts of the Judson family’s trials, triumphs and tragedies captured the hearts of Americans and British alike and became the most widely ready American missionary lore of the nineteenth and early twentieth centuries. To this day their story remains one of the most inspiring and compelling sagas of the modern missionary movement.
- Judson is a premiere example of steadfast service to Christ, even in the face of numerous sacrifices and hardships. The trials he endured while carrying out nearly four decades of costly missionary service included: permanent separation from family and friends in the homeland; isolation and loneliness; spartan living conditions; challenging ministry circumstances in a pagan religious culture that resisted and opposed Christianity; recurring illness from foreign disease; the deaths of several family members and missionary colleagues; a brutal and protracted period of imprisonment. Judson’s example motivates us to remain faithful in our service of Christ, despite the challenges and hardships we encounter in doing so.
- Judson persevered through staggering trials with unshakable trust in God’s all-wise, ever-loving providential will. In spite of the ongoing challenges, Judson continually manifested undimmed faith in the power and ultimate conquest of God’s Word and the Christian Gospel. In doing so, he models for us some of the primary keys to carrying out steadfast Christian service despite attendant difficulties.
- Judson’s missionary career reminds us of the considerable spiritual fruit that can be borne through patient, persevering ministry effort. In Judson’s first six years of tough, slow pioneering work in Burma, only one Burman came to faith in Christ and Judson was able to translate only the Gospel of Matthew into the Burmese language. By the end of Judson’s life, there were 5,000-6,000 indigenous Christians and scores of churches in Burma. Judson had not only translated the entire Bible into Burmese but had also produced an extensive Burmese-English dictionary to assist other missionaries in their ministry endeavors.
- In his ministry, Judson was first and foremost a missionary and an evangelist. He was consumed with the desire and the necessity to carry the Gospel to those who had not yet had the opportunity to hear and receive it. His passion and example in that regard serve as a needed reminder of the importance and effort that contemporary Christians should continue to give to missions and evangelism.
- Judson was adept at leading indigenous people to Christ and in training and releasing them to carry out fruitful ministry themselves. He has much to teach modern missionaries about how to work skillfully with the native peoples they’re trying to reach, disciple and train.
- Judson was serious about and disciplined in his personal spiritual life. He worked hard at exercising spiritual disciplines, growing in personal holiness, developing a Christlike character, and interacting with others in a loving, godly fashion. He shows us that it’s important to give serious attention and effort to our personal spiritual development, character and habits. That is the necessary personal spiritual focus and conditioning out of which faithful, fruitful service of the Lord flows.
- My book, Adoniram Judson: Devoted for Life, is the first new extensive biography published on Judson in fifty-seven years. I’m glad and grateful that Christian Focus Publications has agreed that the time had come for a fresh retelling of Judson’s worthy life story for the encouragement and benefit of the current generation of Christians.
I would enjoy hearing of your level of acquaintance with Adoniram Judson and what you’ve appreciated learning from his example.
Copyright 2013 by Vance E. Christie
