Celebrating 200 years with Myanmar Baptists - The Judson Celebration

200 years ago, a man named Adoniram Judson left his home and family in America, boarded a vessel, crossing oceans and seas until he arrived on the Golden Shore of Burma.

His life overseas was not an easy one. He was brutalized and imprisoned. Many days he was hungry and without food. He experienced the death of not one, but two wives and several children as well. Yet he stayed in Burma throughout his life, never wavering from his mission of sharing the message of salvation with those who had never heard of the one true God.

Because of Judson’s devotion to Father, his faith and this mission, Burma was and will be forever changed.

The Light is here and it is growing!

This past weekend the people of Burma, now called Myanmar, along with the Myanmar Baptist Convention commemorated the life and influence of Adoniram Judson with a 200-year anniversary celebration. It was like nothing I have ever experienced in my life, neither here nor in America. People traveled from all over this country, some riding buses for five days over difficult terrain to get here. Some came from other countries to be here for this special event. And it was special.

Even up to about two years ago, this type of event would never have been allowed in this country. Also, there was no facility large enough to hold the magnitude of people who would be present for the event, so one had to be built. That also means special building permits and land permits and fund-raising that has taken years in the process.

Yet, with Him, all things are possible.

I’ve heard estimates of more than 50,000 people were in attendance throughout the weekend. They came. They sang praise. They worshiped. They fellowshipped. Most importantly, they heard the Good News. It was truly amazing.

And somehow in the planning of this event, this nobody from a small town in Mississippi on the other side of the world got invited to be a part of the program…

It had to have been more than two years ago now that one of my dear friends who lives and works in this country (who I had not yet met) was woken up in the middle of the night and felt burdened to write a song about Adoniram Judson. Inspired by his life’s work of translating the Good Book into Burmese and his life’s quest of enabling the people of Burma to come to know Father, a beautiful song called “Carry the Light” was the result.

She had just finished the song when the Johnson family arrived in this country and we soon discovered our mutual interest in music. Whenever we sang together, people always remarked how uniquely our voices blended with each other. (See my original blog post just a few months within arriving in this country about our singing together and how it was an answer to prayer – http://www.seepy1.com/2012/03/he-keeps-me-singing.html)

Over the last two years, we’ve had countless opportunities to sing together and it was at one of those occasions just two weeks ago when the coordinator for the Judson Celebration just happened to be in the audience. It was a few days after that service that he called and asked if we would sing “Carry the Light” at the big event.

I’m not sure if I can adequately express the honor it was to receive this invitation, and on the day we arrived and experienced first-hand just how big this event really was, well…. I was overwhelmed.

I have never seen so many people in one place in my entire life. Oh maybe at the Superdome in New Orleans, but this was that huge number of people all squished into one auditorium. There were people sitting on the floor in the aisles. People were sitting in other’s laps in the chairs. There were people crowding outside the doors and windows and all around the outside of the open-air building. Big screens were set-up for viewing downstairs in the basement of the auditorium and it was also overflowing.

There was a 200 member choir on the stage and they had just concluded singing “And the Glory” from Handel’s Messiah when it was our turn to take the stage.

“Stand up straight. Think about your breathing. Smile.” These were the thoughts running through my mind as we walked to the microphone. My singing partner intended to share the plan of salvation in the local language before we sang so I was mentally praying for her and using those moments to try to calm myself. I looked out into the congregation and saw a multitude of people representing every tribe of this country and different nations from around the world and every single face was smiling. Then the music began playing.

We had not had any pre-performance mike checks. We didn’t know if there were monitors or if the accompaniment track would play. It was simply a step in faith. And when we started singing, I knew there was sound coming out of my mouth, but I couldn’t hear anything. I couldn’t hear myself or my partner and I had no idea if we were blending or even singing in tune. My heart was beating so fast, my head began to swirl and I thought I might pass out.

“Just sing. Just keep singing,” I was thinking to myself. “Don’t think. Just sing.”

I knew it was over when I heard the applause. I tried to keep from shaking and crying as I walked off the steps of the stage. It was all a blur.

Throughout this whole experience, there has been this one thought in my mind. I keep picturing in my head the fig tree. See, a fig tree can be beautiful. It can even provide shade. But a fig tree’s purpose is to produce fruit.

Over and over in the days leading up to the Judson celebration and during the gathering I have been praying that something great would come out of this experience. I didn’t want the occasion of my friend and I singing this song to just be about us or about our musical ability. My honest prayer is that some kind of “fruit” would be the result.

In Mark, chapter 11, there is a story of J.C. condemning a fig tree and causing it to whither away. Since this fig tree had produced leaves, one would assume it had also produced fruit. But the tree was a hypocrite. It was only outwardly beautiful.

I don’t want to be like this fig tree, giving the appearance of something good because my name is in the program or because I’ve been seen on stage. My job here is not just to show my leaves; instead my desire is to produce fruit.

The attendees at the Judson Celebration came from all over. They heard the “Message” from countless speakers and singers and others, and now it is my prayer that they will take it back to their hometowns and tell everyone they meet. It could be the beginning of an explosion of “Light” breaking through the darkness of this country.

The message is so simple. Carry the “Light.” Share the Good News. Believe in Him.

It’s the same message Adoniram Judson first brought to this beautiful country so many years ago. And Adoniram’s sacrifice was not in vain.

I wonder what he would’ve thought if he could’ve seen all those people in his beloved country proclaiming their faith in God.

It surely gives me hope for our days ahead.

We cannot rest in the fact that the Good Work has started. It’s just the beginning and there is so much left to be done.

Judson planted the proverbial fig tree. It has been watered and pruned over the years by the countless sacrifices of those who have given their lives to the cause. And now, with Father’s prompting and provision, we watch and wait for the fruit.

Everywhere the girls went, people were asking to have their picture made with them. They felt like celebrities.

This is the choir performing just before us.

This is us in the wings right before we walked on stage.

This picture is just the front, top, center section. I wish I would've taken more pictures to better show the number of people there...

Some of the people outside and you can sorta get an idea of the two floors of the main building on the left.

P.S. I realized you don't see CJ in any of these pictures and I should explain. He was preaching earlier that morning somewhere else, but he arrived at the Judson celebration just before my friend and I went on stage. I was so thankful to have him there!

“The harvest is plentiful, but the workers are few. Ask the Lord of the harvest, therefore, to send out workers into his harvest field.” – Luke 10:2