Theology 1.0: How did Christianity come to Myanmar?

 

Adoniram Judson was a missionary in Myanmar for almost 40 years

Myanmar (Burma) is a historically resistant to Christianity. It has banned most Christian mission work and religious material since independence in 1948, and burning of churches is reported in the southern regions.

Yet the number of Christians has grown (especially among the minority races) from 6% in 2016 to 8% to in 2023. Of this 8%, two-thirds are from the Baptist denominations. This is due to the efforts of Adoniram Judson.

Adoniram Judson
Although the Portuguese had made occupied parts of Myanmar during the early 1600s, their mission work stopped in 1613 after they were repelled by the Burmese.

In 1813, Americans Adoniram Judson and his wife Ann arrived in Burma after the British did not want them preaching to Hindus in British-controlled India. Despite suffering a miscarriage and the death of their two-week old child along the way, both Adoniram and Ann dedicated their time to studying Burmese and their culture. In 1817 he translated the Gospel of Matthew to Burmese.

Isolated from European or American help, Adoniram finally held his first public service in 1818, and had his first convert less than a year later. Although he unsuccessfully petitioned the Burmese king Bagyidaw to remove death sentences for Burmese who converted from Buddhism to Christianity, the Judsons managed to gain 18 converts by 1823. Adonriam also made his first Burmese translation of the New Testament.

Anglo-Burmese war
In 1824, the British Empire warred with the Burma. Despite not being British, Adoniram was jailed for being a Westerner.

Ann visits an imprisoned Adoniram

As the war went poorly for the Burmese, Adoniram was recruited by Burma to act as a negotiator and translator. He was freed when the war ended in 1826. That same year, Ann passed away and their third child passed away in 1827.

With the minorities
In 1827, Adoniram made contact with the Karen people. Unlike the majority Burmese population, they were not Buddhist but animistic, and were oppressed. He surprisingly found them receptive to Christianity, and focused his efforts to the Northern Karen tribes.

He finally translated the entire Bible to Burmese in 1834. He married Sarah Hall Boardman in the same year. They continued the minister in Burma until 1845. Sarah had fallen ill and was recommended to return to America. She died en route the same year.

Adoniram married a third time to Emily Chubbuck in 1846. Adoniram and Emily both travelled to Burma to continue the mission work there. 

In 1850, Adoniram fell ill and was recommended a sea voyage. He died the same year at the Bay of Bengal. By this time, Burma had about 100 churches and 8000 converts.

Today, Myanmar has the third largest number of Baptists worldwide, behind the United States and India.