Six Years Without a Convert
Adoniram Judson arrived in Burma in 1813, the first American foreign missionary. He buried his first wife, his children, and spent 21 months in a death prison during the Anglo-Burmese War - yet he persisted.
For six years, not a single Burmese converted. Fellow missionaries died. His health failed. Critics in America questioned whether the mission was worth the cost.
The Breakthrough
Then, in 1819, Maung Nau became the first Burmese believer. The breakthrough came not through preaching but through patient friendship and Scripture translation.
40 Years of Faithfulness
Judson spent 40 years in Burma. He completed the entire Bible translation into Burmese - a work still used today. He compiled the first Burmese-English dictionary.
When he died in 1850, there were 63 churches and 7,000 believers in Burma. Today, there are over 6 million Christians in Myanmar, many tracing their faith to Judson's stubborn faithfulness.
"If I had not felt certain that every additional trial was ordered by infinite love and mercy, I could not have survived my accumulated sufferings."
