Adoniram Judson Reaches the Golden Shore

On April 12, 1850 American missionary Adoniram Judson died on a ship in the Bay of Bengal at age 61. He had ministered in southern Asia (mostly Burma – present day Myanmar) for 37 years with only one furlough. Suffering a lengthy illness he followed doctor’s orders and took a cruise in an attempt to improve his health. He was ready to die if it was the Lord’s will, but he believed until near the end that he would recover and finish his English-Burmese dictionary. That work would have to be completed by another missionary.

Adoniram Judson saw much success during his ministry. “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. In large part due to his influence, Myanmar has the third largest number of Baptists worldwide, behind the United States and India” (Wikipedia article on Judson). In addition to his translation of the Bible, Judson also left a Burmese-English dictionary (the English-Burmese half finished by E.A. Steven) and a Burmese Grammar. The Burmese Bible Judson translated is still the preferred version in Myanmar today.

Along with success, Judson also experienced many trials. His first two wives, Ann, then Sarah, died in Burma. The death of Ann (known as “Nancy”) sent him into a crushing year-long depression. When England went to war with Burma, the Burmese government took Judson to be a spy (though he was an American) and put him in prison for many months. After the war Judson was pressed into service as a translator between the British and the Burmese. His final illness lasted for months and caused him severe pain. When he set sail, he had to leave his third wife, Emily, on shore. She was expecting and would deliver a son a few days after her husband’s death. When Judson died, he was given a quick burial at sea.

Faithful missionaries frequently face hardships. In many cases they have left the comforts of society to live in primitive or semi-primitive conditions. Medical help is limited and villages sometimes nearly inaccessible. In Judson’s time travel and communication were slow. Emily didn’t receive word of her husband’s death until four months later.

So what keeps missionaries, or any servants of God, going? The bedridden Judson gives us a clue in his conversation with Emily shortly before his cruise. Commenting on news that Judson’s influence had spread to Germany through a written tract about his work, he said,

I was never deeply interested in any subject, I never prayed sincerely and earnestly for anything, but it came. At some time—no matter at how distant a day—somehow, in some shape—probably the last I should have devised—it came. And yet I have always had so little faith! May God forgive me, and, while He condescends to use me as His instrument, wipe the sin of unbelief from my heart” (Courtney Anderson, To the Golden Shore: The Life of Adoniram Judson. Valley Forge: Judson Press, 1987, p. 501).

The recognition of our smallness and sinfulness and of God’s omnipotence and condescension toward us through Jesus Christ gives us reason to hope in the One who is holy, yet merciful. This great news gladdens the receiving heart and motivates it to “go into all the world and preach the gospel to every creature” so they can have this hope, too (Mark 16:15).

Adoniram Judson thought he would recover and continue to serve, but he realized near the end that recovery was not God’s will. Still, he was not shaken in his faith. “Death will never take me by surprise…I feel so strong in Christ. He has not led me so tenderly thus far, to forsake me at the very gate of heaven” (Anderson, p. 499). His faith was not in his work, but in his Savior.

One of Judson’s sayings, especially suited to Burmese thought, was, “I long to reach the Golden Shore.” On this day in 1850 he reached it. Buried unceremoniously at sea; received with joy onto the Shore.

Adoniram Judson Reaches the Golden Shore