An important missionary to Myanmar was Adoniram Judson and his family. The founder of Gordon Divinity School was named after him at his birth, as Adoniram Judson Gordon. Adoniram Judson was born in 1788 (died in 1850) in Malden, Middlesex County, Massachusetts. He was born to Abigail Brown and Adoniram Judson Sr., a Congregational minister. Judson Jr. attended the Andover Theological Seminary. In 1808, Judson "made a solemn dedication of himself to God." During his final year at the school, Judson decided upon a missionary career.[2]
In 1810, Judson joined a group of mission-minded students who called themselves "The Brethren." These students inspired the establishment of America's first organized missionary society. Eager to serve abroad, Judson became convinced that "Asia with its idolatrous myriads, was the most important field in the world for missionary effort." He, and three other students from the seminary, appeared before the Congregationalists' General Association to appeal for support. In 1810, the elders voted to form the American Board of Commissioners for Foreign Missions. He was appointed by them as a missionary to the East. Judson was also commissioned by the Congregational Church, and married Ann Hasseltine on February 5, 1812. He was ordained the next day at the Tabernacle Church in Salem, MA. In 1813, Judson and his wife, Ann, moved to Burma. He was 25 years old. Judson served as an American Particular Baptist missionary in Burma for almost 40 years. His mission work with Luther Rice led to the establishment of the American Baptist Churches USA.
First attempts by the Judsons to interest the natives of Rangoon with the Gospel of Jesus met with almost total indifference. Buddhist traditions and the Burmese worldview at that time led many to disregard the pleadings of Adoniram and his wife to believe in one living and all-powerful God. Nevertheless, the first believer was baptized in 1819, and there were 18 believers by 1822. The progress of Christianity would continue to be slow with much risk of endangerment and death in the Burmese Empire. George H. Hough in 1817 produced the first published materials in Burmese that were printed in Burma, which included 800 copies of Judson's translation of the Gospel of Matthew. By 1823, ten years after his arrival, Judson finished the first draft of his translation of the New Testament in Burmese. When Judson finished translating the entire Bible into Burmese, it was printed and published in 1835.
Judson compiled the first ever Burmese-English dictionary (missionary E. A. Steven completed the English-Burmese half). Every dictionary and grammar written in Burma in the last two centuries has been based on those originally created by Judson. Though the Bible has been translated numerous times into Burmese, Judson's translation remains the most popular version in Myanmar.
Each July, Baptist churches in Myanmar celebrate "Judson Day," commemorating his arrival as a missionary. Inside the campus of Yangon University is Judson Church, named in his honor, and in 1920 Judson College, also named in his honor, merged into Rangoon College, which has since been renamed Yangon University.[3]
Judson was the first missionary to make contact with the Karen people in 1827, when he ransomed and freed a debt-slave. This act of social justice then led to spiritual renewal of an individual and then a nation. The freed slave, Saw Ko Tha Byu, was an illiterate, surly man who spoke almost no Burmese and was reputed to be not only a thief, but also a murderer who admitted killing at least 30 men.
In 1828, the former Karen bandit was sent south with a new missionary couple, George and Sarah Boardman, into the territory of the strongly animistic, non-Buddhist Karen. Ko Tha Byu was no sooner baptized, when he set off into the jungle alone to preach to his fellow tribe members. Astonishingly, he found them prepared for his preaching. Their ancient oracle traditions, handed down for centuries, contained some startling echoes of the Old Testament so that some scholars conjecture a linkage with Jewish communities (or possibly even Nestorians), before their migrations from western China into Burma.
The core of what they called their "Tradition of the Elders" was a belief in one true God, unchangeable, eternal, all-powerful, creator of heaven and earth, of man, and of woman formed from a rib taken from the man. They believed in humanity's temptation by a devil in a garden, and its fall, and that some day a Great Messiah would come to its rescue. They lived in expectation of a prophecy that white foreigners would bring them a sacred parchment roll.[4]
By 2006, Myanmar had the third largest number of Baptists[5] worldwide, behind the United States and India. The majority of adherents are Karen, Kachin and Chin. The Karen population has spread around the world, to Thailand, United States, Australia, Canada, and India. Among the total 3,371,100 in Myanmar, an estimated 50% of Karen are Christian.[6]
The tribe to which Lum Gyung belongs is the Lhaovo ethnic group from the northern part of Myanmar (the Kachin State). He and his parents are Christians. His grandparents were converted from worship of their great-great grandfather’s spirit (Nat), who had died from the attack of a wild animal. Lum attends the Lynn Myanmar Christian fellowship, one of three Myanmar community churches in Massachusetts (two others are in Lowell and Boston).
Lum came to study at Gordon-Conwell Theological Seminary in South Hamilton, MA in 2023 and completed his Masters in Christian Ministries in 2026. He explains that: “Gordon-Conwell Theological Seminary (GCTS) is one of the best seminaries in the US which provides the best education for diverse ministry fields not only domestically but also internationally. In our country’s context, the GCTS alumni from Myanmar are most effective and successful missionaries and pastors nationwide, which means the seminary offers outstanding training.”
In 2024-25, these community churches dedicated themselves to purchase the home of Judson’s birthplace in order to preserve the heritage of the first missionary and Bible translator to the Myanmar (Burmese) people.[7] Judson’s motto was “devoted for life” and his biblical foundation came from Matthew 28:18-20: “All power is given unto me in heaven and in earth. Go ye therefore, and teach all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost: Teaching them to observe all things whatsoever I have commanded you: and, lo, I am with you alway, even unto the end of the world. Amen” (KJV).
Judson dedicated his whole life for the people of Burma to see the Light, despite much hardship, heartbreak, suffering, losses, and great challenges. Judson was prepared by God and by his Christian family and friends in Malden, thus the house is a symbol of faith, dedication, sacrifice, love, and obeying God’s command to go to all nations to baptize and teach. As Jesus was with his early disciples in Jerusalem and throughout the ancient world and with Judson in Burma, so too he is present today with the Burmese descendants of those early converts to Christianity.
Aida with Lum Gyung
[1] “Myanmar,” Wikipedia, https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Myanmar.
[2] “Adoniram Judson,” https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Adoniram_Judson.
[3] Wikipedia, https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Adoniram_Judson. See also Rosalie Hall Hunt, Bless God and Take Courage: The Judson History and Legacy (Valley Forge, PA: Judson, 2005).
[4] See Don Richardson, Eternity in Their Hearts, 3rd ed. (Minneapolis, MN: Bethany House, 2006), ch. 2.
[5] The Karen Baptist Convention in 2025 notes that it has 337,682 baptized members, https://kbcm1913.org/.; About Us.
[6] There are many different Karen peoples in Myanmar. The two largest are the Sgaw Karen (2.1 million total pop.) and the Eastern Pwo Karen (1.2 million). Together, the World Christian Database reports they are 51% Christian. If you add in the other Karen peoples, the percentage drops closer to 30%. Gina A. Zurlo, ed. World Christian Database (Brill, accessed December 2025). “Karen people,” https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Karen_people.
[7] “Ribbon-Cutting Celebrates Opening of Adoniram Judson Heritage Center,” City of Malden News, Posted on August 13, 2025, https://www.cityofmalden.org/m/newsflash/home/detail/1090; Leon H Abdalian, “Preserving History and Protecting Heritage,” https://www.judsonheritage.org/restoration.
