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Adoniram Judson and the Missionary CallADONIRAM JUDSON AND THE MISSIONARY CALL The worst missionary biographies are for armchair evangelists, allowing a little safe excitement and redundant knowledge. The best promote thanksgiving, worship and action. This slim book by Erroll Hulse is of the latter category. Its subject, Judson, was a pioneer evangelist in Burma in the early 19th century. He endured imprisonment, illness, the loss of two wives and two children, to produce the first Burmese New Testament and establish the foundations of today's church. The drama of this passionate and disciplined man is told with care, inspiring less awe at a spiritual giant, and more reverence for our santifiying, empowering God. A useful doctrinal and pastoral assessment of Judson is made, outlining his early move to a Baptist belief and fleshing out the man of action. In addition, interspersed through the narrative are pages which tell of Burma's condition today and call for prayer. The title of the biography is made clear in the final section, describing Judson's appeals for missionaries. His call is not one of mystical feelings, but of responsible compassion: 'We are in distress. We see thousands perishing before us. The fields grow whiter every day, and no labourers to reap the harvest.' The news of the last few months has told us of the horrifying poverty and oppression in Burma, where opposition leader Aung San Suu Kyi's wrongful house arrest continues. Such conditions are not so different from those of Judson's day - but now the church, preserved and extended by God's grace, forms 6% of the population. These Christians and their Buddhist neighbours need our prayers and action. Sarah Allen© Evangelicals Now - July 1996 |