When Ann Hasseltine said “yes” to God’s call in 1812, she had no idea she would become one of the most influential missionary women in American history. Born on December 22, 1789, in Bradford, Massachusetts, this vibrant young teacher became the first American woman to serve as a foreign missionary, blazing a trail that would inspire generations of believers to follow. Her story isn’t just about historical significance—it’s about radical faith, sacrificial love, and the transformative power of the Gospel in one of the world’s most unreached nations. As you read Ann’s journey, you’ll discover what it truly means to count the cost and give everything for the sake of Christ.
The Journey That Changed Everything
Ann’s path to Burma began with a life-altering spiritual awakening at age sixteen. After surrendering her life to Christ, she traded her comfortable social life for something far greater: a calling to serve God wherever He led. When she met Adoniram Judson at a missionary commissioning meeting in her father’s church, she faced the most important decision of her life. Adoniram wrote to her father with stunning honesty, asking if he could consent to his daughter’s departure for a distant land, exposure to tropical diseases, hardship, persecution, and possibly a violent death. Ann deliberated deeply but ultimately responded with unwavering conviction: if Christ would use her to promote His kingdom, she cared not where she performed His work or how difficult it might be.
Just two weeks after their wedding on February 5, 1812, Ann and Adoniram sailed from American shores toward India. Their missionary journey proved formative even before reaching their final destination. During the voyage, they studied Scripture intensely and became convinced of believer’s baptism, leading them to become Baptists. This theological shift separated them from their original sending organization, but it catalyzed the formation of American Baptist missions. After being expelled from India by British authorities, the Judsons arrived in Burma in 1813—a nation of over fifteen million people where the Gospel had never truly taken root.
Facing Unimaginable Challenges
Burma tested Ann in ways few modern believers can imagine. The language was extraordinarily difficult, the culture resistant, and the spiritual darkness overwhelming. After nine years of faithful ministry in Rangoon, only eighteen people had come to faith in Christ. Ann established the first school for Burmese girls, translated Scripture, and witnessed daily the oppression of women through child marriages and infanticide—realities she courageously documented in her writings. She endured three pregnancies marked by profound grief: a miscarriage during their journey to Burma, the death of their son Roger at just eight months old, and later the birth of daughter Maria during the most harrowing chapter of their ministry.
The darkest trial came during the First Anglo-Burmese War when Adoniram was arrested as a suspected British spy and imprisoned for seventeen brutal months. Ann, two months pregnant, became a virtual prisoner in her own home but refused to abandon her husband. She moved into a shack outside the prison gates, lobbied government officials relentlessly for his release, and smuggled food and sleeping mats to the prisoners. When Adoniram was secretly transferred to another prison and forced to walk eight miles barefoot over scorching sand and gravel, Ann took their three-month-old daughter and followed him. Her fierce devotion kept him alive during those desperate months, demonstrating that missionary work often requires extraordinary courage from both spouses.
The Lasting Impact of a Life Surrendered
Though Ann’s life ended tragically early at age thirty-seven from a tropical fever on October 24, 1826, her impact resonated far beyond her years. She became the first Protestant to translate any Scripture into Thai when she completed the Gospel of Matthew in 1819. She also translated the books of Daniel and Jonah into Burmese and wrote a catechism that became foundational for the growing Burmese church. Her letters home, published in periodicals like The American Baptist Magazine, captivated readers and kept the missionary vision alive for American Baptists during difficult years. After her death, these writings were compiled into devotional books that went through new editions almost annually from 1830 to 1856.
Ann’s influence extended beyond her translation work and writings. She legitimized the role of missionary wife as a genuine calling for nineteenth-century American women, inspiring countless others to follow her example. Remarkably, both of Adoniram’s subsequent wives—Sarah and Emily—were motivated to pursue missions after reading about Ann’s life and ministry. When Adoniram died in 1850, nearly four decades after arriving in Burma, the mission had produced a complete Bible in Burmese, established churches among the Karen people, and created foundational resources for ongoing Gospel proclamation. Ann’s pioneering sacrifice made all of this possible.
How You Can Join This Legacy Today
Ann Judson’s story reminds us that God uses ordinary people who say “yes” to His extraordinary calling. While most of us won’t serve in Burma, we all have a role in advancing the Gospel to unreached peoples. The missionary work Ann began continues today in Myanmar and countless other nations where believers face similar challenges—language barriers, cultural resistance, physical danger, and spiritual opposition. These modern-day missionaries need our prayers, encouragement, and financial support to sustain their life-changing work.
En GlobalOne80.org defendemos las contribuciones de las mujeres en las misiones, asegurando que tengan el apoyo necesario para prosperar en su llamado., you can discover stories of current missionaries serving with the same courage and faith that Ann demonstrated two centuries ago. You can learn about their specific needs, the communities they’re transforming, and the tangible ways your support makes eternal impact. Whether through monthly partnership, project-specific giving, or one-time donations, you become part of a legacy that stretches from Ann Judson’s era to today’s mission fields. Visit GlobalOne80.org defendemos las contribuciones de las mujeres en las misiones, asegurando que tengan el apoyo necesario para prosperar en su llamado. now to meet today’s missionaries, pray for their ministries, and give generously toward projects that are bringing hope, healing, and the Gospel to our broken world. Your
