Published on November 1st, 2012 | by ABCUSA0
Drawing on its large collections of Burma missionary correspondence and artifacts, the American Baptist Historical Society launched a new website in the fall of 2011, Judson200.org, a project which commemorates the role of Ann & Adoniram Judson, as well as Burmese Baptists and missionaries, in the launching of a modern, cross-cultural mission movement. The celebration began in February 2012, with commemoration of the missionaries commissioning and sailing. It continues in 2013 with commemorations of their arrival in Burma, and concludes in 2014, the bicentennial of the Triennial Convention—the first national organization of Baptists in the Americas, organized for the purpose of supporting the Judsons in their Burma mission.
Adoniram Judson (1788-1850) was the premier figure of his generation among Baptists in America. He was the first foreign missionary commissioned in the United States (by a Congregationalist/Presbyterian board) and he was the role model for scores of successors from many denominations. Upon his arrival in India in 1812, he and his spouse, Ann Hasseltine, became convinced of Baptist principles and so became the catalyst for Baptist missionary organization in America. In 1813 the Judsons moved to Burma, where they introduced the Christian faith. Though often ill and unjustly imprisoned, Adoniram produced a translation of the Bible and several major Burmese-English language books, as well as winning many to Christ. While he only returned to the States once before his death at sea in 1850, his letters and journal shaped early ideas of overseas missionary endeavour.
From Pilgrimage of Faith: An American Baptist Timeline of People, Places and Events (ABHS, 2001)