"Giving up is not an option."
If Adoniram Judson had a motto, that might have been it. Judson was born on August 9th, 1788 in Massachusets. His father was a Congregational minister, but as a young man Adoniram switched to becoming a deist. He made the switch due to the influence of a friend. But, when he heard his friend's death throes, he was brought back to the Christian faith. In 1808 he dedicated himself to God and shortly after decided to become a missionary.
In 1811, he travelled to England to visit the famous London Missionary Society. On the overseas journey the ship he was aboard, was captured by a French privateer and everyone was imprisoned in France. He might have asked if God had really called him to be a missionary at that point. He might have given up.
After he was shortly released, he finally made it to London. There he met and married Ann Hasseltine and in 1812 they departed on a ship to India.
"The Judsons arrived in Calcutta on June 17, 1812. While aboard ship on route to India, he did a focused study on the theology of baptism. He came to the position that believer's baptism was theologically valid and should be done as a matter of obedience to the command of Jesus."
"On September 6, 1812, he switched to the Baptist denomination along with his wife and they were baptized by immersion in Calcutta by an English missionary associate of William Carey named William Ward."
Imagine how the Judson's must have felt when the British ordered them out of India. In 1813, while enroute to Burma, Mrs. Judson miscarried their first child. It took about a year to reach Burma and when they finally did, they were told by other missionaries that no one could convert the Burmese people. Judson could have given up. He didn't.
It took him three grueling years to learn to speak the language. "He found a tutor and spent twelve hours per day studying the language. He and his wife firmly dedicated themselves to understanding it."
"During this time they were almost entirely isolated from contact with any European or American. This was the case for their first three years in Burma. Four years passed before Judson dared even to hold a semi-public service."
"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 world view at that time led many to disregard the pleadings of Adorniram and his wife to believe in one living and all-powerful God. To add to their discouragement, their second child, Roger William Judson, died at almost eight months of age." He could have quit then. Most certainly would have. Judson didn't.
"1820, Judson and a fellow missionary attempted to petition the Emperor of Burma, King Bagyidaw, in the hope that he would grant freedom for the missionaries to preach and teach throughout the country, as well as remove the sentence of death that was given for those Burmese who changed religion. Bagyidaw disregarded their appeal and threw one of their Gospel tracts to the ground after reading a few lines."
It took Judson twelve hard years to make 18 converts to Christianity.
I could go on and tell of the Judson's other troubles. Such as their third child dying. Such a Adoniram Judson being imprisoned and beaten. Such as his wife's long illness and eventual death. I could go into a lot more detail and show how he could have given up. But, you already know Judson didn't give up.
"On April 12, 1850, he died at age 61 onboard ship in the Bay of Bengal and was buried at sea, having spent 37 years in missionary service abroad."
"When Judson began his mission in Burma, he set a goal of translating the Bible and founding a church of 100 members before his death. When he died, he left the Bible, 100 churches, and over 8,000 believers."
He didn't give up.
(source: wikipedia)
YBIC
Bruce Baber