Steinar Opheim
If you haven’t done so already, you should absolutely plan to celebrate this month’s great mission anniversary.
Innovative, generous and fearless. These are three keywords that international mission leaders use when they are asked to describe the American mission movement.
A cold winter morning in February 1812 the brig named “Caravan” set sail from Salem just outside Boston. Onboard were Ann Hasseltine and Adoniram Judson. They had married just a few days before. Now they were on their way to India to share the gospel. Little did they know that they were to become pioneers in a fast growing, American mission movement that would bring the good news about Jesus Christ to millions of people around the world.
One hundred years after the Judsons embarked on the Caravan, the US had become the greatest sending nation in the world, a position it has kept ever since. According to Operation World the US today has approximately 95,000 missionaries. India follows a few steps behind whereas South Korea is number three.
Pioneering spirit
– The immigrants who founded the US were pioneers. They were willing to take chances and to move into the unknown. This pioneering spirit is still alive in the US today, says one mission leader TMB. Asked him to explain why the US has become the number one nation in evangelical mission.
Missiology professor Tormod Engelsviken underlines that the US is a superpower in many arenas. Thus it is common for people to have global visions.
– In addition, a big share of the people living in the US have a Christian faith. This has meant a lot for the Christians all over the world. We can only imagine what the situation could have been if the world’s strongest superpower had had other ideological or religious roots, he comments.
The US´ leading role in the world mission has also brought some tensions and challenges. Leaders TMB have spoken to say that American missionaries some places have shown little cultural sensitivity. Money coming from the US has also caused unhealthy dependency in the mission work in some places.
High price
A great number of American missionaries have paid a high price for their calling to bring the gospel to new places. That was also the case for Ann Hasseltine and Adoniram Judson. They were not allowed to settle in India as they had planned. Instead they moved on to Burma. One of their three children died before birth. The other two passed away before they were one year old. After 13 years in Burma Ann Hasseltine Judson died of smallpox. Her husband was imprisoned for 17 months under harsh conditions during the Anglo-Burmese war from 1824-1826 because he was accused of being a spy. In spite of challenges and suffering he stayed on in his ministry until he died in 1850.
Because of their faith and willingness to sacrifice, the lives of Ann Hasseltine and Adoniram Judson have become models for other American missionaries.
– The future is as bright as the promises of God, stated Adoniram Judson when the couple arrived in Burma the first time and got a glimpse of all the Buddhist temples in the nation. Today Burma has 4,5 million Christians, and several Burmese churches have sent out tentmakers and missionaries to bring the gospel to new places.