Adoniram Judson: Bound for Burma

Christian Heroes: Then & Now #13

by Janet Benge, Geoff Benge, Tim Gregory (Narrator)

As America's first foreign missionary, Adoniram Judson (1788-1850) spent thirty-eight years working in Burma, then one of the most hostile countries on earth. Judson was ignored, mocked, beaten, and tortured, yet he never lost sight of his goal to translate the Bible into the Burmese language. Today, over 150 years after his death, his translation remains the only translation of the Bible in Burmese.

Genres: Biography, Christian, History, Nonfiction, Christianity, School, Faith

Audiobook

First published January 1, 2000

About the author

Janet and Geoff Benge are a husband and wife writing team with twenty years of writing experience. They are best known for the books in the two series Christian Heroes: Then & Now series and Heroes of History. Janet is a former elementary school teacher. Geoff holds a degree in history. Together they have a passion to make history come alive for a new generation. Originally from New Zealand, the Benges make their home in the Orlando, Florida, area.

Reviews

[Kimberly · Rating 5 out of 5]

A very good, quick but thorough, step-by-step of Adoniram Judson's life!
If you're looking for something about him, heartily recommended!

~`~

The man and his family have an inspiring, but also heartbreaking, story.

I read this book in a day and cried afterward, thinking about everything he and so many others went through.

Adoniram's life begs important questions.
Are you willing to die for Christ? That's good and beautiful if you are!

But are you willing to live on for Christ? That can be even harder than dying for Him. Are you willing to be a living sacrifice?

What if everyone you love is taken from you, time and again? (By death, or other ways?)
What if your body is wracked by illness?
What if you've been striving to tell others about Christ, with no results, for years and years and years?
What if you're tortured by those you're serving?
What if every possible pain and sorrow were thrown at you?
What if the only thing keeping you on Earth, is the fact God hasn't taken you with everyone else... for some reason? And Heaven is the sweetest thought you have?

Are you willing to keep living? Are you willing to keep taking the next step, even if your legs are swollen? And your feet are blistered and burned and bloody?
That's the question his life begs.

For him? The answer was yes. He wept and fell on God, heart almost ever broken. But He loved Jesus, remembering how deeply God loved him and those he served. God's love is why he went through all of this! He knew God wouldn't have asked Him to do something if He didn't know it was best. God would never abandon him, in this. God would weep and rejoice with Him. He was never alone.

What is your answer?

Philippians 1:21-25 https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/...

Something that encouraged me! When at the point of giving up, in the darkest night, and after choosing to press on- breakthrough did occur. In beautiful ways!
Some people never lived to see the fruit of their work, they just kept planting and tending seeds, but the harvest did come.

[Emily · Rating 5 out of 5]

Wonderful life story with an eternal impact. Of course, one must remember this takes place in the early 1800s, therefore death is fairly common. Add in traveling to and living in a foreign country and death is even more commonplace. (It is a reality for all of us! though we are fortunate to live in the times we do.) This story is sad at times, but the difficulty level may depend on one’s attitude toward death.

[Rachel · Rating 3 out of 5]

This has been our least favorite of the missionary books we have read. The life of Adoniram Judson was truly amazing, and wrought with sadness. Chapter after chapter of his loved ones dying was just too much for my kids. We don't hide the fact that bad things happen from our children, but this was really a bit much. They were excited about all Adoniram was able to do, but upset each time someone else died.

[Sarah · Rating 4 out of 5]

while a good biography, I feel like others do a better job. 2

[Heather · Rating 1 out of 5]

This book had the same problems as the book I read by the Benges about David Livingstone: focusing on the role of Adoniram's character and efforts in helping him do what he did instead of on the role of God's work and grace in Adoniram's life that made him who he was and helped him to do what he did. At one point Adoniram meets the missionary William Carey and the authors write of him "Despite his lowly start, through sheer determination Carey had opened the eyes of English Christians to the need to send out missionaries. He had founded the Baptist missionary Society and gone out as the organization's first missionary. His extraordinary ability translating foreign languages had earned him the position of Prof. of Oriental languages...." It was that phrase "through sheer determination Carey had opened the eyes of English Christians." Since when can sheer determination open anyone's eyes? If there is anything that Christians should be able to agree on it is that only God can open eyes. I fear what will happen if our children grow up thinking that missionaries do what they do through sheer determination, if they seek to overcome the difficulties in their lives and win souls through sheer determination. Determination has its place, but when we give it first place, we have in our efforts the seeds of our own undoing. Missionaries, the truly good missionaries, have understood this better than anyone and those that write about them, especially those that write to children, need to understand it too. This book is a biography of a Christian, but I cannot call it a Christian biography because it is not written from a Christian perspective. Yes, it does talk occasionally about God and prayer, but I think it takes more than that to give a book a truly Christian perspective.

[Christina · Rating 4 out of 5]

Man... What a life. This might have been a particularly depressing biography to start with, or perhaps it was perfect in order to give us a big reality check. God chose so many of His prophets to wander homeless and die tragically, yet He set up David in a palace with honor and comfort until the day of his death. Adoniram lived like one of God's prophets; I'm humbled and sobered to contemplate how much of a king's life I really do lead by comparison. In both stories, God is good and does good (Psalm 119:68) but His ways and thoughts are indeed higher than ours!

[Dale · Rating 3 out of 5]

I love the Judsons and their ministry. However, I don't think this presentation of their story was as good as it could have been.

It is still a good book and worth a read but I don't think the format and writing was as invigorating as I had hoped.

[Mikayla · Rating 4 out of 5]

I really enjoyed reading about Adoniram Judson. While his life had a lot of super hard things in it, the authors focused on the good that came out of it, and made the book hopeful.

[Summer · Rating 4 out of 5]

Adoniram Judson was the first American overseas missionary. He felt called to go to Burma (Mynamar) to preach the gospel in the early 1800s. His wife Anne went with him. He was met with many challenges but was repeatedly asked what do you have for us to read of what you are doing. So, he set to learning the Burmese language immediately and after becoming fluent, started translating pamphlets about Jesus and then translating the gospels into Burmese. He also translated them not from English but from Hebrew and Greek, which was more accurate. It is still the only translation done of the Bible for the Burmese language. His life was fraught with sorrow. Many children, friends and two wives died in or because of the conditions and climate before he himself died and his third wife, Emily Chubbuck, aka poet and writer, Fanny Forester, died four years after him. He was put in jail and tortured and hung upside down for his beliefs. It was not an easy life but at the end he said he had not tired of the work he had been doing.

[Timo Cunha · Rating 4 out of 5]

Tenho algumas ressalvas com a romantização da biografia mas a vida dos grandes missionárias sempre me sacodem.

Alguns [inquiridores] vêm de viagens de dois ou três meses, das fronteiras do Sião e da China: "Senhor, ouvimos dizer que existe um inferno eterno. Estamos com medo dele. Nos dê um escrito que nos diga como escapar disso". Outros vêm das fronteiras de Kathay, 160 quilômetros ao norte de Ava: "Senhor, nós vimos um escrito que fala sobre o Deus eterno. Você é o homem que dá tais escritos? Se for assim, por favor nos dê um, pois queremos conhecer a verdade antes da morte". Outros vêm do interior do país, onde o nome de Jesus Cristo é pouco conhecido: "Você é o homem de Jesus Cristo? Nos dê um escrito que fale sobre Jesus Cristo".

[Hannah · Rating 5 out of 5]

I loved this book! I took break from reading for a bit and this was the perfect book to get me out of the slump! It was immediately interesting. It detailed the testimony of faithful missionaries with some clear salvation stories. Adonriam clearly witnessed to others about the salvation from hell that Jesus provides. It was also exciting to hear that Adonriam was a Baptist! Highly recommend this book! Such an encouragement.

[Tanner Howard · Rating 5 out of 5]

10/10

The quintessential missionary life.

[Jennifer Hemperly · Rating 5 out of 5]

I wrote a long review and then Goodreads glitched and lost it. Wouldn’t recommend Goodreads, but would 10/10 recommend this book or any biography about this amazing man!

My favorite part was the letter he sent to his future father in law, asking for his consent to never see his daughter again and to subject her to the sufferings of living in a heathen land. It’s AMAZING

[Rachel · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is an amazing man who deserves more attention than he receives. How he sacrificed all he had for the souls of the Burmese people is inspiring. I cried reading this book. He was a man who only did what he thought God wanted him to do, even if that included changing his "religious label", uprooting him and his wife from their home, staying faithful through kidnappings and near-death experiences, and the list goes on. Truly a hero of the faith.

The only reason I didn't give this book 5 stars is because of the writing style. It hurried through the last maybe 10 years or more of his life, and kinda skipped around the info. A little hard to follow that part.

All in all, worth reading.

[Erin · Rating 5 out of 5]

Wow, I cannot believe what this man went through to bring the gospel to a nation that hated God. The Lord did amazing things through his life. His diligence in translating the Bible in to Burmese finally paid off and is still the translation used today. If you are facing a life of persecution or teaching your children about possible persecution we and they may face in the near future, this biography is a must read. Again, easy to read, both my 10 and 3 year old loved it!

[Es Ter · Rating 5 out of 5]

La vida de Adoniram es simplemente admirable. A pesar de ser un hombre con debilidades propias de nuestra especie, su perseverancia y confianza en Dios fue tremenda y su valentía digna de ser imitada. Dios me enseñó mucho a través de la vida de este hermano.

[Duane Frasier · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is meant for young adults. That didn't keep me from thoroughly enjoying the narrative. Well-written. Good pace. The author doesn't avoid writing about the unglamorous, tragic and even questionable regarding the missionary heroes in the story.

[Vicki Bender]

Judson's perseverance was inspiring. He went through so much suffering to bring the truth of God's word to the Burmese people in their own language. So much loss, sacrifice, and physical pain. While I don't agree with all of his theology, his life gives us a great picture to recall in enduring whatever this life has to bring.

II Cor. 4:6-18
For which cause we faint not; but though our outward man perish, yet the inward man is renewed day by day.
17 For our light affliction, which is but for a moment, worketh for us a far more exceeding and eternal weight of glory;
18 While we look not at the things which are seen, but at the things which are not seen: for the things which are seen are temporal; but the things which are not seen are eternal.

[Everardo Curiel · Rating 4 out of 5]

Una biografía muy bien narrada, del primer misionero foráneo de los Estados Unidos, Adoniram Judson. Narra su historia desde su nacimiento y conversión al cristianismo. Su partida a Birmania con su esposa, cuando apenas eran una pareja de jóvenes recién casados. Sus progresos en la evangelización y sus terribles sufrimientos en una tierra lejana en la que vivió la mayor parte de su vida. Hizo la que hasta hoy sigue siendo la única traducción de la biblia al idioma birmano.
El sufrimiento es admirado y aplaudido cuando es ajeno. Adoniram tuvo una vida tortuosa que inspira, pero me pregunto, ¿cuántos estamos dispuestos a cumplir un llamado cueste lo que cueste?

[J F · Rating 4 out of 5]

I did not intend to read this book, but I sat down and burned through 50 pages and ended up signing it out.
It's a quick/ easy read, but very interesting. I'd say it was designed to be read in upper elementary/ middle school, so my four star is contextual to its purposed audience.

The Judson family's death count I already knew, but I was unfamiliar with what Ann and Sarah's Judson's role in the mission work, which this book detailed. A stand out was how Adoniram's partial Bible translation survived through his imprisonment and torture.

Though it isn't the point of the story, Adoniram's story is a good counter that missionaries were just an arm of empire. (The answer to that charge should be 'It's complicated.') Almost every step of the way, the British empire/ East India Company was a hindrance to the mission work, forcing them sneak through to even evangelize, or causing their arrest when the British invaded Burma. What I'm realizing is it isn't a modern critique of missions, but a very old one. The reason Judson is arrested and imprisoned for a year is because once the British invade, the Burmese assume all foreigners were spies for the empire (particularly if they learned the Burmese language.) And even when the British need a translator for their negotiations, Adoniram only reluctantly agree if freedom of religion is included in the treaty... and after months away from the missions (and his wife dies while he is away) the one thing he wanted wasn't included in the treaty, wasting his time. It's quite clear then that the interests of the Empire and the Mission were exceedingly different.

Great read. I recommend.

[Katie Mallinak · Rating 5 out of 5]

The audiobook version was great!

Each Christian biography I read affirms to me how important biographies are in the reading diet of those who choose to follow Jesus Christ. We need those who have gone before to call to us through the pages, “it was hard, but it was worth it.”

This biography introduced a new value to me and I hold it out to you: Read a biography of a missionary who served a people group represented near you, whether native, immigrant, or refugee. See how they loved. And see if you don’t begin to as well.

[Keren R. Mccullough · Rating 4 out of 5]

“How few there are who die so hard.”

This book was just the tip of the iceberg of the life and mind of this missionary and his wife.
Back in those days when you surrendered to missions you surrendered to the fact that you would most likely not ever came back alive.
The mindset this must have taken for these simple 20 year olds is astounding. Not a chance to die but expecting it….

I can’t wait to read more of these missionaries, this book intrigued me and now I need more information, much much more.

Highly recommend this book.

[Rita Wadley]

Don't know how to rate this, but I enjoyed learning about Adoniram's life!
He and his colleagues were groundbreakers. Strong doge missionaries. Their resiliency in the wake of so much death blows me away. His determination to spend his life there and work to finish his translation is just amazing.
Subconsciously, I was believing so little for the missionaries I know. I feel encouraged to believe for more!

[Jennifer · Rating 5 out of 5]

We greatly enjoy all of these biographies! Dr. Judson was bombarded with sadness, yet he still accomplished great things. These have been a highlight of our homeschool curriculum! Who would've thought that biographies would become the most beloved books for young children! We love the Christian Heroes series!

[Heather · Rating 5 out of 5]

Our family loves to read the Christian Heroes: Then and Now series! We love learning g about the men and women who seek God first and have such remarkable lives! Adoniram Judson withstood many hardships to share God’

[Lea Peters · Rating 5 out of 5]

The series of Christian Heroes is worth reading - each book is filled with awe-inspiring details. This book on Adoniram Judson did not disappoint. We have read this book, and others of the series, as a family devotional and there were many moments when we struggled to hold back tears. I highly recommend this book, it will encourage you to carry on, never give up, and reach for the reward.

[Amber Joyner · Rating 4 out of 5]

What a testimony of sacrificially enduring suffering all for the glory of God. As a read aloud with my kids, I would say that it was a little heavy due to all of the sad events. For older children and adults, however, it's inspiring to read about the Judsons' complete devotion to the Lord, setting aside all personal comfort and safety to share the gospel.

[Mary Prather · Rating 4 out of 5]

We love this books in our home! I have used them as read aloud for many years. Highly recommend!

[Chandra · Rating 4 out of 5]

Two things struck my boys and me as we reflected on Adoniram Judson's life. First, his missionary experience is one of a long, slow-and-steady faithfulness to his calling. His story isn't memorable for amazing, miraculous works, but for his commitment to share the Gospel with the Burmese people - via the 7+year process of translating the full Bible into their language (and 30+ years overseas). Secondly, he was very intellectually gifted, and we loved seeing how the Lord used his strong intellectual gifts to do the hard work that was needed in creating the first Burmese Bible translation.

Also, the amount of death and suffering that he experienced in the lives of those he loved was sobering to us. (Two-time widower, lost babies, lost children, lost family, lost friends, etc.)

[Cory Adams · Rating 3 out of 5]

This is such a great series. 3 stars for me means it’s a good book. I don’t know if I got the whole story…but this is a shorter book.