A Pillow in Prison

“Remember them that are in bonds, as bound with them.” — Hebrews 13:3 (KJV)

The edition of Foxe’s book in our library includes some later stories, added long after Foxe died. One of them is about the first American missionaries sent overseas, and it begins in a haystack.

In 1806 a group of students at Williams College in Massachusetts were caught in a thunderstorm and sheltered by a haystack. They used the time to pray for the world, and decided that if they could, they would go as missionaries themselves. This “haystack prayer meeting,” as it came to be called, led to the founding of the first American missionary society. One of the young men who soon joined them was Adoniram Judson.

Judson and his wife Ann sailed for Asia and, in 1813, settled in Rangoon, in Burma (now Myanmar). They learned the language and began translating the Bible into Burmese. It was slow, hard work, and for years very few people became Christians.

In 1824 war broke out between Britain and the Burmese emperor. Because Judson was a foreigner, he was arrested in Ava, the capital, as a suspected spy, and thrown into a terrible prison with other foreigners. For many months he was kept in chains, in heat and filth, often close to death.

Ann Judson became his lifeline. Foxe’s edition includes her own letter describing those days. She walked to the prison again and again, bringing food, pleading with officials, bribing guards, and caring for him, all while expecting, and then caring for, their baby daughter Maria. She became seriously ill herself, and at one point nearly died.

And through it all, one precious thing was protected: Judson’s translation of the New Testament into Burmese, years of work. The book says it “was put into a bag and made into a hard pillow for Dr. Judson’s prison.” He had to act as if it didn’t matter, so the guards wouldn’t take it. With the help of a faithful Burmese Christian, the manuscript survived.

Judson was eventually released when the war ended, after about two years of suffering. The Burmese Bible he finished is still used today, and the church in Myanmar now numbers in the millions.

The Bible says to remember those in prison as if you were in prison with them. Christians are still imprisoned for their faith in many countries today. Like Ann Judson, we can’t always set them free. But we can remember them, pray for them, and support those who help them.

One thing to do this week: find out about one country where Christians are persecuted today. Pray for the Christians there by name every day this week, and ask your church or youth group how you might support them.