On February 19, 1812, Ann and Adoniram Judson sailed for India as missionaries commissioned by the Congregational church (see post on February 6). On the long journey they studied the Bible in order to be prepared to defend the Congregationalist position on baptism; like most other churches, the Congregational church practiced infant baptism. Unexpectedly, the Judsons’ study effected a change of heart and the conviction that Believers’ baptism was the biblical practice, and upon arriving in India, they asked the British Baptist William Ward to baptize them by immersion.
Because of the political situation between England and the United States, Americans were unwelcome in India, so the Judsons traveled to Burma where they witnessed to the Burmese. They began translating the Bible into the local language, wrote tracts, and made friends. The picture here shows the house Judsons lived in, drawn by Howard Malcom. ABHS has many books about the Judsons, their original letters to the mission society in the United States, and several artifacts used by Judson in his ministry.
