Youth Ministry International Connects The Past, Present & Future in Myanmar!

Burma, the Land of Famous Baptist Missionary, Adoniram Judson

Adoniram Judson, born in 1788, was the first American evangelical missionary to take the Gospel to the enchanting land of Myanmar, formerly Burma. This iconic missionary lived an extraordinary life, filled with both suffering and joy.

As a college student he was part of the great “Haystack” revival when he and four other seminary students took refuge in a haystack during a thunderstorm where all five dedicated themselves to global missions. The revival spread across many states on the eastern seaboard of the U.S.

Newly married, Judson arrived in Burma in 1813 at age 25. Life was extremely hard. Death claimed two wives and six children during his days as a missionary. He went through unimaginable persecution, including imprisonment and torture. He labored with the Gospel for six years before his FIRST convert in 1819.

However, while only reaching about 7,000 for Christ during his 37 years as a missionary, several years after his death a Burmese government survey reported 210,000 Christians – which at the time was one out of every eight Burmese!

Even with Buddhism still being the predominant religion today, Myanmar’s Christian population is currently at 7.8%, due in large part to Judson’s work! Judson also translated the first Burmese Bible, which was so accurate that it is still being used today. He also created the first Burmese-English dictionary.

It is an honor and privilege for Youth Ministry International to be one of several American missions agencies to follow in Adoniram Judson’s footsteps.

Myanmar churches need youth ministry training! The total population is 54 million with 53% under the age of 29! Approximately 38%, or 21 million, are between the ages of 10-29. Pop culture is sweeping this once isolated country and evangelical leaders are asking YMI to help train youth leaders for their churches so that they can meet this challenge and reach their vast youth population.

The leadership of the Myanmar Evangelical Graduate School of Theology recently (8-24-18) signed a partnership agreement with YMI to begin teaching classes leading to a Master’s Degree in Youth Ministry – the first of its kind in the history of Myanmar!

Plans will be finalized in January of 2019 for beginning this new degree program. The goal is to produce at least 10 indigenous professors of youth ministry who will then begin teaching our Biblical youth ministry principles at other Christian training schools across Myanmar at the Bachelors, Diploma and Certificate levels – “Training the Trainers!”

Please pray for our YMI team, the national leaders and new students as we begin this exciting new program as part of the continuing legacy of Adoniram Judson and several other American missionaries who made such a great sacrifice for the people of Myanmar!

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