Judson, Adoniram, 1788-1850; Missionaries -- Burma -- Biography; Missionaries -- United States -- Biography
“The fact is, that we are very weak, and have to complain that
hitherto we have not been well supported from home. It is most
distressing to find, when we are almost worn out, and are sinking, one
after another, into the grave, that many of our brethren in Christ at
home are just as hard and immovable as rocks; just as cold and
repulsive as the mountains of ice in the polar seas. But whatever they
do, we can not sit still and see the dear Burmans, flesh and blood
like ourselves, and like ourselves possessed of immortal souls, that
will shine forever in heaven, or burn forever in hell—we can not see
them go down to perdition without doing our very utmost to save them.
And thanks be to God, our labors are not in vain. We have three lovely
churches, and about two hundred baptized converts, and some are in
glory. A spirit of religious inquiry is extensively spreading
throughout the country, and the signs of the times indicate that the
great renovation of Burmah is drawing near. O, if we had about twenty
more versed in the language, and means to spread schools, and tracts,
and Bibles, to any extent, how happy I should be! But those rocks and
those icy mountains have crushed us down for many years.”
And at the close of an imploring appeal for new men, he says:
“May God forgive all those who desert us in our extremity. May He save
them all. But surely, if any sin will lie with crushing weight on the
trembling, shrinking soul, when grim death draws near; if any sin will
clothe the face of the final Judge with an angry frown, withering up
the last hope of the condemned, in irremediable, everlasting despair,
it is the sin of turning a deaf ear to the plaintive cry of ten
millions of immortal beings, who, by their darkness and misery, cry,
day and night, ‘_Come to our rescue, ye bright sons and daughters of
America_, COME AND SAVE US, FOR WE ARE SINKING INTO HELL.’”
A letter written after his death, by his surviving widow, shows how
intense was his longing for the sympathy and co-operation of his
brethren at home. “I can not regret that Dr. Judson has gone. I believe
it would have broken his heart to see Burmah open, and such a lack of
missionary spirit. God spared him the trial, and though it has left me
so very desolate, I feel a sort of gladness too, when I think of it. I
suppose he sees it there, but he can understand it better.”
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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