I wrote this paper for the Bible class I am taking…
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The Life of Ann Judson 1789-1826
By Holly A. Pierpont
Ann Hasseltine was born in the New England town of Bradford in 1789. She was the youngest of five children in her family.

Ann became a Christian in her teenage years. Her life changed after that. Her heart changed in what she loved and how she used her time. Ann was a woman of great maturity especially in the early years of her life.

Ann desired to be a missionary before she ever met Adoniram. Then she married Adoniram Judson on February 5, 1812. The very next day they sailed to Salem, Massachusetts for Calcutta, India.

Ann Hasseltine Judson was the very first woman missionary to go overseas. Everyone thought of her journey as romantic and exciting though it turned out to be very hard and extremely scary at times.

Ann helped translate the Gospel of Mathew into the Burmese language. She also held a Bible study with the woman there who had never once heard the gospel.

Ann Judson died on October 24th, 1826. She was 37 years old when she died. She died of a fever. Her little daughter, Maria also died six months after her own death. Baby Maria was two years old.

Ann and Adoniram are remembered as the founders of the Burmese church.

If it had not been for Ann’s courage and determination through the war their mission in Burma would have ended. Because of Ann’s faithfulness Adonirom survived imprisonment and went on to live another twenty-three years. He translated the whole Bible into Burmese language during this time. Adoniram went on to do great things for the Lord in Burma because his wife was faithful in helping and loving him.

Patrick Johnstone the author of Operation World said “The missionary zeal of the Baptist Church in Burma still reflects something of the spirit of the Judson’s”

What can we learn from Ann Judson’s life today?

Today I see so many things we can learn from the life of Ann Judson.

She was a woman of faithfulness. She was faithful to God till the end of her life. She was faithful to her husband. She literally kept him alive bringing him food while he was in prison.

She was a determined woman. She determined to do right. She was the first missionary woman to ever go overseas. So she had to be determined to go to a completely foreign land. She had to leave her family knowing she might never ever see them again in her lifetime.

She was a role model to other young woman especially after her death when they read her writings. Women all over began to write about her after her death. She was a woman of godliness and other woman wanted to be like her.

She obeyed God even when life was hard and she never gave up on her commitment to Christ. She never gave up when she could have and had the comforts of home and family.

Ann was very loving to her husband and family. Ann loved the ones she was called to minister to. Ann was buried under a tree while her Burmese converts wept over her grave. She was a very loving woman so she was naturally loved as well by those who knew her most.

Most of all Ann loved God. Her heart was completely given over to God and the people that she ministered to with her whole heart, her whole life. She only wanted the Lords will not her own. This is one of Ann’s prayers she prayed -

“Direct me in Thy service, and I ask no more. I would not choose my position of work, or place of labor. Only let me know Thy will, and I will readily comply”

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