Portal:Christianity/Selected biography/May 2008

  Adoniram Judson was an American Baptist missionary who labored for almost forty years in Burma (now known as Myanmar). At the age of 25, Adoniram Judson was the first Protestant missionary sent from North America to preach in Burma. His mission and work led to the formation of the first Baptist association in America, inspired many Americans to become or support missionaries, translated the Bible into Burmese, and established a number of Baptist churches in Burma. He is sometimes mistakenly referred to as the "first missionary to Burma," but he was actually preceded by James Chater and Richard Mardon who arrived in 1807. They were followed by Felix Carey. However, since those who came earlier did not remain very long, Judson is remembered as the first significant missionary there, as well as one of the group of the very first missionaries from America to travel overseas.

On January 11, 1811 Judson embarked at Boston on the ship "Packet," bound to Liverpool, to visit the London Missionary Society, since at that time there was no American missionary sending agency. However, the trip was complicated by a French privateer, "L'Invincible Napoleon" which captured the ship and took everyone prisoner. They put in at Le Passage, in Spain, and were conveyed to Bayonne, in France, where, after a short imprisonment, Judson was permitted to "remain at large." On April 16 Judson arrived in Paris, crossed the English Channel from Morlaix to Dartmouth and arrived in London on May 3rd. He soon visited the Missionary Seminary at Gosport. Judson returned to New York aboard the "Augustus," arriving in August of 1811.

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