The Journey of Myanmar's Baptist Missionary

The Judson Chapel at Yangon University has been so famous that it has been featured in many songs. For example, in the song "They Know" by stereo singer Kaiser: "If only Judson could speak, he would tell... how much I loved, he knows best, my dearest." Or in the song "Blue Moonlight on Judson" by singer Htoo Eain Thin. You'll find the word "Judson" in these songs.

This raises the question: who or what is Judson? In fact, Judson was an extraordinarily talented American Baptist missionary. His full name was Adoniram Judson. Myanmar people called him "Judson" in their own pronunciation.

You might wonder how "Judson" came to be pronounced this way. Here's an example: The English pronounce "Jesus" as "Jesus," but since it's a Hebrew word, in Hebrew it's pronounced as "Yeh-Shoo-Ah," "Yeh-Sah," or "Yeh-Ho-Oah." Myanmar people took the original Hebrew pronunciation and pronounced it as "Yay-su." Similarly with Jesus, whether in Hebrew or Myanmar pronunciation, the "J" sound in "Jesus" is pronounced as "Y." The same principle applies to how "Judson" became "Judson" in Myanmar pronunciation.

Judson was instrumental in establishing and spreading Baptist Christianity in Myanmar. Thanks to him, there are now millions of Baptist Christians in Myanmar today. Additionally, Judson made significant contributions to Myanmar literature.

Judson was born on August 9, 1788, in Malden, Massachusetts, United States. As he grew up and pursued his education, he earned both a Bachelor of Arts (BA) and Master of Arts (MA) from Brown University. On February 5, 1812, at the age of 24, he married Ann Hasseltine.

Just days after their wedding, the couple departed by ship from Boston, America, to India as missionaries. However, the British, who had colonized India, did not allow Judson to conduct missionary work there. Consequently, the couple traveled from India to Yangon, Myanmar. This was during the reign of King Bagyidaw.

When the Judsons arrived in Yangon in 1813, they stayed near what is now the Indian Embassy area. This was the American Baptist Mission House. At that time, Yangon was still largely rural, with settlements primarily centered around Sule Pagoda.

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Although Judson came as a missionary, he faced difficulties because he didn't know Myanmar language and literature. He clearly understood that to spread Christianity in Myanmar, he needed to master the Myanmar language. Therefore, he spent three years learning Myanmar language and literature from Myanmar scholars. Within two years, he had changed teachers four times. Since his Myanmar language teachers didn't know English and he didn't know Myanmar, they had to use primitive teaching methods. Every morning around 10 AM, his Myanmar language teacher would come to Judson's house. There, Judson would point to an object and ask what it was called, and the teacher would give its Myanmar name. This was how he learned. Since Myanmar language contains many Pali words, Judson also studied Pali. Later, he even compiled a Pali-Myanmar dictionary.

After about three years of study, by 1816, Judson was quite satisfied with his Myanmar language proficiency. However, he believed he needed another two or three years of study to achieve complete mastery. Even at this stage, he was already working on Myanmar grammar. Simultaneously, Judson was translating the Christian New Testament into Myanmar. At that time, there were no Christian scriptures written in Myanmar for Myanmar people to read. Judson understood this fundamental need for Myanmar-language Christian scriptures for evangelizing to Myanmar people, which is why he undertook this translation work.

In fact, Judson's missionary work contains many aspects worth emulating in modern times. The first point is how he dedicated time to thoroughly master the language of the people he wanted to evangelize. His Myanmar language proficiency can be seen in how he handled Myanmar vocabulary equivalents for English words in his compilation of Myanmar's first Myanmar-English dictionary.

The creation of the Myanmar-English dictionary and Myanmar grammar greatly helped later missionaries in studying the Myanmar language. This made missionary work much easier for future Christian missionaries.

Another point is that it would be wrong to think Judson spread Christianity like today (preaching at bus stations and crowded places to everyone he met). First, he went to the rest houses near Shwedagon Pagoda to become familiar with Myanmar people. He studied Myanmar customs and culture to gain a deep understanding of Myanmar characteristics. This respect for local time, place, and culture is admirable. Even more exemplary was that during his 32-year journey in Myanmar, he never preached Christianity in English. Even when speaking in public gatherings, he never used English. He lived in harmony with Myanmar customs while working to spread Christianity.

While striving to understand Myanmar culture, customs, and characteristics, he also spent months studying how famous Myanmar preachers delivered their sermons to their audiences.

Only after such preparation did he build a rest house near Shwedagon Pagoda and begin preaching the Gospel of Christ. Thus, after six years of missionary work in Myanmar, the first Myanmar Baptist Christian convert emerged. This was U Naw from Hlaing Bo Le village near Shwedagon Pagoda. U Naw was a boatman. He became a believer after listening to and becoming interested in Judson's Gospel teachings. However, while preparing for U Naw's baptism, an issue arose where he needed to work as a boatman due to unemployment. Neither U Naw wanted to go, nor did Judson want to let U Naw, who was to become the first Baptist Christian convert, leave. So they had U Naw work copying Christian tract pamphlets by hand. Thus, U Naw started working for Judson for 10 rupees per month. This action of Judson's is something Myanmar missionaries should seriously consider and emulate. Subsequently, on June 27, 1819, U Naw was baptized and became the first Myanmar Baptist Christian convert.

In the same year as U Naw's baptism in 1819, Judson needed to travel to Inwa to request permission for missionary work from King Bagyidaw. Although he made the journey, King Bagyidaw did not grant permission. In 1921, he briefly returned to America because his wife was ill.

In December 1821, Dr. Price, an eye and ear specialist, arrived in Myanmar. In 1824, Dr. Price was to visit King Bagyidaw of Inwa. Judson took this opportunity and accompanied Dr. Price to Inwa. King Bagyidaw liked Dr. Price and had him stay in Inwa. Judson was also required to stay in Inwa.

In 1824, the First Anglo-Burmese War broke out over the Shapuri Island issue. King Bagyidaw, suspecting Dr. Price and Judson along with two others as British spies, had them arrested and imprisoned in Inwa's Supporting Prison. This prison was for major cases, and prisoners were reportedly subjected to harsh torture during interrogation.

In May 1825, Judson was transferred to Mandalay's Aungpinlae Prison. On February 24, 1826, the Anglo-Burmese Peace Treaty was signed. During this treaty signing, Judson served as an interpreter.

After the treaty signing, the Judsons no longer stayed in Inwa but moved back to Yangon.

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In 1826, a commercial treaty between Myanmar and Britain was to be signed. Judson was asked to return to Inwa, where King Bagyidaw (Sagaing King) was, as an interpreter. Initially, Judson was reluctant to go, wanting to forget his days of imprisonment in Inwa. However, he agreed to go because he wanted to include a clause in the commercial treaty allowing Myanmar people the freedom to convert to any religion.

Although the Myanmar king had lost the war, he rejected Judson's desired clause in the commercial treaty. During King Pagan's reign, Judson tried again to go to the royal capital of Amarapura for missionary work. However, King Pagan, a devout Buddhist, also refused.

Judson's translation of the New Testament was first printed at the Mission Press in Mawlamyine on December 15, 1832. The Old Testament was completed printing on December 29, 1835. Finding his 1820 dictionary incomplete, he attempted to supplement it in 1842.

While working on these efforts, he became ill and departed from Mawlamyine for America by ship on April 8, 1850. He passed away on the ship on April 12.

It is undeniable that the spread of Christ's teachings and the growth of Baptist Christians in modern-day Myanmar is due to Judson's perseverance, effort, and missionary work. Judson was not just a missionary but also compiled essential early dictionaries for Myanmar people. He also wrote and translated Christian scriptures into Myanmar.

This is why the name Judson or Gyapsin continues to maintain a good reputation in Myanmar to this day.

By Han Thit Ein (Y3A)

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