Burmah.—The Burman Mission, being the first established by the Baptists in America, will always occupy a peculiar place in their regards. Burmah is that part of India beyond the Ganges which lies between Hindostan on the west and China on the east.

Baptist Church History (1) Facebook

9h  · Daily Baptist Encyclopedia Post by Jim Curran

Burmah.—The Burman Mission, being the first established by the Baptists in America, will always occupy a peculiar place in their regards. Burmah is that part of India beyond the Ganges which lies between Hindostan on the west and China on the east. The population is probably not far from 10,060,000, a third of this number speaking the Burmese language. The government is a despotic monarchy, and the religion Buddhism, ‘one of the most ancient and wide-spread superstitions ex-isting on the earth, and one which, in its various branches, holds beneath its gloomy sway the minds of a third of the human race.” The mission to Burmah was commenced by Mr. and Mrs. Judson in. 1818, at Rangoon, the principal seaport of the empire. The formal appointment of Mr. Judson as a missionary of the Baptist Triennial Conven- tion was made in May, 1814. The first work of the new missionary was the preparation of a tract on the nature of the Christian religion, with a brief abstract of its leading doctrines. On the 15th of October, 1816, Rev. Mr. Hough and wife joined Mr. and Mrs. Judson at Rangoon. Mr. Hough was a practical printer, and he addressed himself at once to the printing of portions of the Scriptures and short religious treatises to be placed in the hands of the natives, whose curiosity was awakened to see the sacred books of the new re- ligion. Four years passed before the first sincere inquirer came to Mr. Judson to ask after the way of salvation. He found the Saviour, and was bap- tized at Rangoon, June 27, 1819. From that time the missionaries had persecution, discouragement, and progress marking their experiences ; but view- ing all the facts in their history, the mission in Burmah has enjoyed much prosperity. The Karen Mission is bound up with the mission to the Burmese by geographical ties. _ The word Karen means wild man, and applies to a rude people who are scattered over the moun- tains and forests of Burmah, Siam, and the adja- cent countries. They are divided into several tribes, the chief of which are the S’gau and Pwo. They have been the subjects of cruel oppression, espe- cially by the Burmese, who have compelled thei, for a long time, to act about as if they were their slaves, exacting from them the hardest tasks, and forcing from them large tributes of money. ‘heir life, in consequence of the cruelties inflicted upon them, has been a nomadic one, and they hide them- selves away in jungles and mountainous retreats to escape from the persecutions of their enemies. In many respects, even before they were reached by the civilizing influences of Christianity, they were said to be superior to the Burmese, who, in a special manner, were their foes. Whence these people originated is not definitely known. By some they are supposed to have been the aborigines of the country, while others regard them as immigrants from India. At the time the Karens came into special notice by the contact of American missionaries they did not seem to have any well-defined form of religious belief, nor any distinct priesthood. There were among them some remarkable traditions, which strikingly corresponded with the teachings of the Bible, as the account of the creation of ian, the temptation in the garden of Eden, the deluge, ete. They had also some eh en ate pointed on to happier times when they should no longer be degraded, but should be lifted up out of the condi- tion in which for so long a time they had groaned. Aniong such a people, apparently so well prepared to receive the gospel, the missionaries were wel- comed most heartily. The first Karen converted and baptized was Ko- Tha-byu; this occurred in 1828, He was a man of middle age, once a slave, whose freedom had been purchased by the missionaries ; his conversion commenced the Karen Mission, so greatly honored of God. In 1831, Mr. Boardman visited the jungle homes of the Karens, after conversing with many of them at his own residence, and preached Jesus to them. Without any further reference to the race dis- tinction between Karens and Burmese, we will state that The Rangoon Mission was sein ted in 1813, and in 1880 it had 25 missionaries, 71 preachers, 98 churches, and 4031 members. The Maulmain Mission was established in 1827, and at that station there are 19 missionaries, 23 native preachers, 18 churches, and 1240 members. The Tavoy Mission, founded in 1828, has 3 mis- sionaries, 20 native preachers, 21 churches, and 1038 members. The Bassein Mission, commenced in 1840, has 12 missionaries, 142 native preachers, 90 churches, and 7808 members. The Henthada Mission, instituted in 1853, has 1 missionary, 45 native preachers, 58 churches, and 1998 members, The Swaygyeen Mission, begun in 1853, has 4 missionaries, 24 native porter 23 churches, and 867 members. The Toungoo Mission, started in 1853, has 14 missionaries, 98 native preachers, 117 ouurehied, and 3910 members. The Thongzai Mission, the foundations of which were laid in 1855, has 2 missionaries, 10 native preachers, 3 churches, and 297 members. The Prome Mission was commenced in 1854, and has 3 missionaries, 7 native preachers, 3 churches, and 225 members. The Zeegong Mission, established in 1876, has 1 missionary, 2 native preachers, 2 churches, and 110 members. The Bhamo Mission, founded in 1877, has 4 missionaries, 6 native preachers, and 10 members. The missions among the Burmese and Karens have 88 missionaries, 448 native preachers, 433 churches, and 21,594 members. This is just about half our missionary strength in the East, in labor- ers and baptized converts, and we have our gar- nered harvests in Sweden, Germany, and France besides. The translation of the whole Bible into the Bur- mese language was completed Jan. 31, 1834. A Karen newspaper, The Morning Star, was estab- lished at Tavoy in September, 1841. ‘The whole New Testament was issued in Karen, Noy. 1, 1843, and the entire Bible in January, 1851. In 1857 all the Karen churches concluded to support them- selves, and the mission churches in Burmah are among the most liberal contributors to send the gospel to the heathen. Books for schools and a Christian literature have been created by the mis- sionaries in Burmah, and the unprejudiced observer of their labors cannot fail to regard them as the benefactors of the races for whose welfare they have toiled and sacrificed so much. Schools of various grades have been established for the educa- tion of the people, in which large numbers receive instruction from accomplished and godly teachers ; and a theological seminary was established in Maul- main in 1844, which was subsequently removed to Rangoon, which has trained a large number of – native ministers and teachers for the Karens. A sketch of this institution will be found in the article * Rangoon College.” Nowhere in the whole range of modern missionary toil have Christian labors among the heathen been more signally blessed than in Burmah. From the Baptist Encyclopedia by William Cathcart