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Mission Strategies of Early Nineteenth-Century Missionary Wives in Burma and Hawaii

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Mission Strategies of Early Nineteenth-Century Missionary Wives in Burma and Hawaii Evangelist or Homemaker? Mission Strategies of Early Nineteenth-Century Missionary Wives in Burma and Hawaii Dana Robert ne of the hallmarks of American Protestant mission sionary movement over the role of the missionary wife was the O work abroad has been its inclusion of women from the product of the experiences of missionaries in specific contexts, beginning. When the first five men commissioned by the Ameri­ not merely a reflection of stateside arguments over domesticity can Board departed for Indiain 1812,three wereaccompaniedby and women's spheres. their wives. The inclusion of women in the mission force, albeit In order to demonstrate how context and mission structure as "assistant missionaries," was a startling departure from the impacted the emerging theories and practice of American mis­ usual American idea that a missionary was a loner like David sionary wives, a comparison will be made of antebellum women Brainerd, bereft of family for the efficiency of the mission work. missionaries in Burma (Myanmar) and the Sandwich Islands Despite the public outcry against the horrible dangers that pre­ (Hawaii). Burma and the Sandwich Islands were the most suc­ sumably awaited them, Ann Judson, Roxana Nott, and Harriet cessful mission fields respectively of the American Baptists and Newell took their places in the pioneer group of foreign mission­ the American Board (Congregationalists and Presbyterians) in aries from the United States. the early nineteenth century. Both fields experienced mass con­ Not only was opinion divided over whether women should versions of tribal jungle peoples. The roles played by the Baptist be permitted to go to the mission field, but arguments continued and Congregational women, however, differed in the two con­ for forty years over the proper role of the missionary wife. texts. Granting that the "Go" of the Great Commission applied to womendid notsolve the disputes over their role. The missionary Baptist Women in Burma chargegivenbeforedepartureto HarrietNewellandAnnJudson by PastorJonathanAllencommandedthemto evangelizewomen American Baptists acquired their first foreign missionaries by to whom their husbands could get little access. He encouraged chance. Adoniram and Ann Judson, now revered as Baptist the missionarywives to teach womenthat they"stand upona par saints, began their missionary careers as Congregationalists sent with men." One of the goals of the missionary wives would be to with the first group of American Board missionaries in 1812. "raise" the women's"character to the dignity of rational beings." Bible study on shipboard convinced Adoniram Judson of the Pastor Allen expected the missionary wives to be educators, necessityofbeliever'sbaptism.After arrivingin India,the [udsons evangelists of women, and crusaders for New England-style wereimmersedby WilliamCarey.'Consequently,in 1814Ameri­ women's equality.' can Baptists held a missionary convention and adopted the Allen's ambitions for the missionary wife were soon tem­ [udsons as their first missionaries. Already, in June of 1813, the pered by the hard realities of missionary life in a foreign culture. [udsons had obtained passage to Burma, thus opening the mis­ By 1840, missionary pioneer William Goodell of Turkey was sion field for American Baptists, even before American Baptists arguing that the typical missionary wife found raising a family in agreed to support them in 1814. an alien culture so difficult that only the exceptional wife should Once settled in Burma, the [udsons began to study the be expected to engage in teaching or other active mission work. Burmese language with the goal of communicating the Gospel to Devotion to her family was the best way a missionary wife could the Burmese, both in oral form and through translating the Bible. witness to Christ. Whether the missionary wife "looketh well to In view of his perceived central role as translator of the Bible into the ways of her household" indicated whether the missionary Burmese,Adoniramspentall dayin languagestudy. AnnJudson's family was a successful example of Christian living for the surrounding culture.' Goodell spoke for many when he argued that the test of the missionary wife was the missionary family. Ann Judson was an Americanhistorians have argued thatwith the development of industrialization in the early nineteenth century, married evangelist, schoolteacher, middle-class women increasingly were confined to domestic pioneer Bible translator, roles. An ideology of domesticity emerged from the interaction of evangelical religion and industrial capitalism." Although and savior of her husband, women in the mission field kept in touch with the changing roles Adoniram. of women at home, I contend here that disputes over the proper role of the missionary wife did not emerge solely from changing roles of women in the United States. The character of the mission goal for her own ministry in Burma was to open a school for field itself affected the role of the missionary wife. Life on the children where she could both educate children and guide them mission field and the structure of the missions deeply influenced toward conversion. After the Judsons moved to Ava in February how American wives participated in mission and how they of 1824, Ann began a school for three small girls. interpreted what they did. The internal debate within the mis- In their fourth year in Burma, the [udsons began to receive inquiries about the Christian religion. Ann gathered together a group of female inquirers into a Sabbath Society where she read to them the Bible and tried to tell them about Cod," In 1819 the Dana Robert, acontributing editor, is Associate Professor ofInternational Mission [udsons erected a zayat, a native-style preaching house where at Boston University School of Theology. peoplecould dropin for religiousconversation. WhileAdoniram 4 INTERNATIONAL BULLETIN OF MISSIONARY RESEARCH discussed religion with the men, Ann met with the women, Eliza Grew Jones was first appointed to Burma with her visiting, praying, and talking with them. She held a regular husband in 1830,and she carried on the Siamese translation work Wednesday evening prayer meeting with interested women," pioneered by Ann Judson. Her first large work was a Siamese­ Ann assisted Adoniram in his translation work by translat­ English dictionary that she completed in December of 1833 after ing several tracts into Burmese and by translating the Books of she was transferred to Siam. A few years later, she devised a plan Daniel and Jonah. She also wrote a catechism in Burmese. But in for writing Siamese in a Romanized script. Before she died, she 1817she becameinterestedin the manySiamese(Thai)in Rangoon had translated two large portions of the Pentateuch and had and began to study their language. Her translation of the Gospel written an importantschoolbookfor the Siamese. She also visited of Matthewin 1819was the first translationof the Scriptures into jungle villages, reading the Bible to groups of men, women, and Siamese. She also put the Burmese catechism and a tract into children and answering their questions about doctrine. To her, Siamese. In translating a Siamese sacred book into English in ,itinerant evangelism was "the most delightful employment in 1819, she endeavored to introduce Westerners to Siamese reli­ 'which I have ever been engaged."!' Eliza found herself strug­ gious writings," glingwith the expectationthatshe, as a woman,shouldalso teach Unrestricted by precedent and unhampered by the expecta­ small children, an occupation she felt was "small business/"! tions of other missionaries, AnnJudson's earlyaccomplishments Two of the most outstanding jungle evangelists among the as a missionary wife cannot be stereotyped. In addition to child­ Baptist wives were Deborah Wade and Calista Vinton. The birth and child care and running a household in a foreign Wades were among the first recruits to assist the Judsons. After country, she did evangelistic work, ran a small school, and was the death of Ann Judson, Deborah Wade took over her school a pioneer Bible translator into two languages. It was not her missiological contributions, however, that made Ann judson's name a household word in the United States after war broke out Deborah Wade's between the British government and Burma in May of 1824: it was her status as heroine and savior of her husband. As an Wednesday prayer English speaker, Adoniram Judson was imprisoned and tor­ meetings for women were tured. Ann, with herchildren, followed her husband from prison to prison and preserved his and several others' lives by bribing so well attended that the officials and providing him food. In February of 1826 the British Burmese began to call won the war and released the European prisoners. Ann Judson died soon after at age thirty-eight, worn out from her hardships. Wednesday the "female The life of Ann Judson provided a powerful model for the Sabbath." succeeding Baptist missionary wives. Although Ann's own mis­ sion theory made teaching women and girls a personal priority, the reality was that she and her husband were not with other work and the care of her daughter. But she soon learned that missionaries most of the time and found themselves functioning "there was a more urgent work than that of the school." As a few as a team. Ann's accomplishments in education were overshad­ Burmese began to come to Christ, Deborah threw herself into owed by the evangelistic and Bible translation work she shared public evangelistic work with the women." with her husband. Her role as savior of her husband also vali­ Once members of the Karen tribes grew interested in Chris­ dated a public role for the missionary wife that lifted her above tianity, Mr. and Mrs. Wade became evangelists to their jungle the connotations of mere "assistant missionary." villages. Scaling mountains, walking by foot on narrow moun­ The combination of translation and evangelistic work exem­ tain paths, and riding bamboo rafts, the Wades went deeper and plified by Ann Judson became a hallmark of the outstanding deeper into the jungles.
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