Ann Judson: A Missionary Life for Burma (Sharon James)

Ann Judson

A Missionary Life for Burma

Previously published as My Heart in His Hands, this book is fully revised and updated and is the best modern biography of Ann Judson available. If you only read one biography this year, read Ann Judson: A Missionary Life for Burma.

If you’re going through trials or suffering you will be encouraged in these pages to see better than ever how trials always contain God’s purpose — rightly understood, they glorify God and build us up in the faith. Sharon James uses the sources carefully to bring Ann (and Adoniram) Judson’s piety and hard work for the Lord to our attention, not to venerate them but to challenge us to deeper commitment and service to the Lord.

Endorsements 

“For those who love rich and instructive historical narrative, deep and sacrificial Christian commitment, genuine and heart-felt devotion to Christ, and bold and daring service for the sake of the spread of the gospel — one can hardly find a story more amazing than one will read in Sharon James’s excellent depiction of the life and times of Ann Judson, devoted wife to Adoniram Judson. May God be pleased to use this wonderful book to stir up the devotion and commitment of his people, to the praise of Christ and the ongoing spread of the message of his cross.”
— Bruce A. Ware, Professor of Christian Theology, Southern Baptist Theological Seminary, Louisville, Kentucky

“The story of the life of Ann Judson as told by Sharon James was one of the most inspiring, convicting and challenging stories I have ever read. It was given to me as I was struggling with the ‘cost’ of leaving all, family, friends, home, and coming to an unknown, strange, and difficult place. It inspired and convinced me that no cost is too great, and no price too high for the privilege of taking the ‘honours of His Name’ to those who have never known or heard.”
— Anonymous missionary, serving long-term in the Far East

“In a venerable line of biographies of Ann Judson, this fresh re-telling of Ann’s story provides a marvellous biographical resource. Courage has been likened to the discovery of new lands — one must be willing to lose sight of the shore if they are ever going to be found. By this standard, Ann Judson was indeed a woman of courage.”
— Michael A. G. Haykin, Professor of Church History and Biblical Spirituality; and Director of The Andrew Fuller Center for Baptist Studies at Southern Baptist Theological Seminary, Louisville, Kentucky.

Table of Contents

•       Foreword by John Tindall
•       Introduction

1. “One of the happiest creatures on earth” (1789-1806)
2. “To improve the talents bestowed by God (1806-1809)
3. “How could we most promote the glory of God?” (1810-1812)
4. “The trying scene of parting” (1812)
5. “Perplexed, but not in despair” (1812-1813)
6. “Harriet is dead” (1813)
7. To the Golden Kingdom (1813)
8. Years of toil (1813-1815)
9. “This heavy affliction” (1816)
10. “Strange vicissitudes”: seven months of suspense (1817-1818)
11. “A sovereign act of Divine power”: the first Burmese convert (1819)
12. “A little feeble, solitary band”: the first Burmese church (1820)
13. The prospect of separation (1821)
14. “This garden of the Lord” (1822)
15. Return to America (1822-1823)
16. A joyful reunion (1823)
17. War clouds gather (1824)
18. “Hand, shrink not”: the heart of darkness (1824-1825)
19. Maria (1825)
20. Six months at Oung-pen-la (1825)
21. Free at last (1826)
22. “On earth we serve God – in heaven we praise Him” (1826)
23. Epilogue

Appendices:

• I) Ann’s legacy
• II) Address to females in America, relative to the situation of female heathens in the East
• III) Biographical sketch of Adoniram Judson (1788-1850)

About the Author 

Sharon James is the author of a number of books, and has spoken in conferences in many parts of the world. She studied history at Cambridge University, theology at Toronto Baptist Seminary, and has a doctorate from the University of Wales. Sharon and her husband Bill have two grown-up children.