Christianity in Burma

A Brief History of Christianity in Burma (Myanmar)
- Khup Za Go -

A. Beginning and growth of Christianity (1812 -1862)

The first "Christians" as recorded in Burma were Portuguese soldiers
and a few
traders and adventurers. In 1554 the first Catholic priests came to
serve as chaplains. But after three years they left the country for
they were not welcomed by the Burmese Buddhists. Therefore there was
no record of Christian conversion before the arrival of American
Baptist missionaries in 1813. (6)

Rev Adoniram Judson and Ann Judson started their journey by ship
from United Sates of America on February 19, 1812 and arrived on
July 13, 1813. Within a few days of their arrival Judson began to
study the Burmese language. When he realised that much of the
Buddhist religious thought was expressed in Pali terms he started to
compile a Pali-Burmese Dictionary of 4000 words as well as a Burmese-
English Dictionary. Judson was a rare combination of meticulous
scholar and utterly keen evangelist. In his study of Burmese Felix
Carey and his wife of Serampore Mission who were already in Burma
were very helpful. In January 1816 Judson began the translation of
the New Testament in Burmese and also began to translate the gospel
tracts. After six years of hard work the first Burmese, U Naw was
baptised by Judson in 1819. The Lanmadaw Baptist Church in Rangoon
called later U Naw Baptist Church was built in honour of the first
Christian convert in Burma. In 1823 Judson completed the New
Testament in Burmese and by 1834 the complete Bible. The first
school was opened by Ann Judson in 1821 and in the same year the
first medical missionary Dr. Jonathan Price and his wife also
arrived from USA. (7)

Regarding to the methods of evangelism Judson right from the
beginning decided to preach the gospel rather than anti-Buddhism. He
opened a small roadside zayat (rest houses) where he talked about
Jesus with anyone who would like to listen. Later they moved to
Moulmein the capital of Karen people, where a strong educational and
evangelistic programme was started. They soon realised that Moulmein
was differed from Rangoon in its large Mon population. In 1828
thirty-one persons were converted in Moulmein and another 28 more
were baptized the next year. Among this group were Burmese, Mon,
Arakanese, Indian and Karen. The first Karen convert Ko Tha Byu was
included here. Within two years the Moulmein Mon Burmese Church, the
45th Regiment English Church and the Moulmein Indian church were
started. In this way the gospel spread to those with languages other
than Burmese to the Karens, the Indians, and the British soldiers
and the Mons. "Down through the years Burmese-speaking Mon
Christians have enriched the growth of Burmese churches. It is even
said that U Naw, the first Burman to be baptized, was actually a
Mon". (8)

B. Consolidation of the Church in Lower Burma and Outreach to
Minority Groups (1852-1886)

By 1852 the Baptist Mission work in Burma was forty years old.
During this perod Burma has passed through the three Anglo-Burmese
wars. First Anglo-Burmese war from 1824 to 1826 brought Arakan and
Tenessarim under the British control. With the second 1852 to 1853
Lower Burma was added to the British section and the remainder of
Burma came under the British rule in the third Anglo-Burmese war of
1885. These wars and political changes caused hardships as well as
opportunities for the missionary work in Burma. During this period
the church was consolidated in many areas. Missionary convention was
held and ideas on methods of evangelism were discussed. Medical
practice or the establishment of dispensaries was included as a
means of evangelism. The use of tracts in evangelistic work was
considered to be of great use. They also agreed that preaching
should be held at stated times in the chapel, or in the rooms used
for the chapel, but that this formal preaching should be
supplemented by preaching in the zayat and from house to house in
the villages. Another important discussion was that there were then
117 churches connected with the Burmese and Karen Missions, with a
membership of some 10,000 converts. Yet there were only 11 ordained
pastors. Besides 11 pastors there were more than 120 national
workers. So the ordination of more pastors was recommended to serve
every church. Also the need of more mission schools was also felt.
During this period the new Baptist compound was also secured in
Rangoon and the centre office was shifted from Moulmein to Rangoon
again. The Burma Baptist Convention comprising all the American
Baptist related Christians was organised in 1865 and was resolved to
meet annually to transact business and to have fellowship with one
another.

The next Protestant group to arrive in Burma were Lutherans and
Methodist churches. Salvation Army, Seventh Day Adventist,
Assemblies of God, Church of Christ and Presbyterians came in the
early part of twentieth century. Regarding the Anglican Church
though there were Anglican chaplains in Burma as early as 1825 the
founding of the church was dated in 1877 when the first bishop of
Rangoon was appointed. The United Society for Propagation of the
Gospel began its work first among the Burmese and then extended it
to Karens and Chins.

The first Catholic contacts with Burmese were made by the Portuguese
in the 16th century. But today 90% of the Catholism are Karen,
Kachin, Chin and Kaw(9). Catholics, like in other countries, were
well-known for their charities, social services and education in
Burma also. They maintain leprosia, orphanages, homes for the aged
and infirm. During this period the non-Burmese ethnic groups like
Chin, Kachin, Shan, etc. were reached by the Protestant
missionaries.

1. Contact with Asho Chins: In 1863 Maung Coopany an evangelist of
the Bassein Pwo Karen association has reduced the Asho Chin language
to writing. He compiled and produced a spelling book and a small
hymn book which were printed in Rangoon. In 1866 Maung Coopany
reported that twenty Chins had been baptized. (10)

2. The Carsons and the Zomi Chins: Ann and Arthur Carsons were the
first missionaries appointed by the American Baptist Mission to work
among the Chins of Upper Burma who call themselves Zomi. They
arrived to Chin Hills (the present Chin State) and started the work
in 1899. The missionaries reduced the Chin languages to writing and
prepared small hymn books in different languages. Although Arthur
met his untimely death of appendicitis on April 1, 1908 Ann Carson
continued the work till 1920. Elizabeth and Herbert J. Copes came to
Chin Hills in December 1908. Herbert Cope gave 30 years to the Chin
Mission and rendered a tremendous service to the Chins. In addition
to his evangelization work and tour he translated the New Testament
in Tedim Chin and published in 1931(11) and prepared more than 35
small text books in several languages for schools. In recognition of
his outstanding service for the Chin people he was awarded the
Kaisar-I-Hind medal by the British government in 1927. Today the
Zomi (Chin) Baptist Convention, with its baptized membership of
91,170 in 1988 is one of the largest groups in Burma.

3. First contact with the Shans: Mr Moses H. Bixby and his wife who
had worked in Moulmein with the Burmese and Mon churches from 1853
to 1856 were re-appointed in 1860 to work among Shans. The first
Shan convert was Maung Aung Myat, the son of Swabwa. He was baptized
in September 1862 and four months later two Shan women were
baptized. Mrs Bixly began a school for children and Mr Bixly a
theological class with ten students. They translated tracts into
Shan and prepared spelling book and vocabulary.(12) In 1866 Mr and
Mrs Josiah Cushing, another missionary couple from USA, Mr and Mrs
Bixly in Shan Mission. They made a tour of Shan country and selected
Mongnai town as the best location for the Shan Mission centre.
Unlike Chins and Karens there was already Buddhist influence among
the Shans. Therefore Christian work among them was making slow
progress.

4. Beginning of the Mission to the Kachins: We have already
mentioned Mr Cushing's involvement among the Shan mission work.
Besides that, he was also partly responsible for the pioneering work
among the Kachins. He reduced the Kachin language to written form.
In February 13, 1878 Mr and Mrs Lyon from USA reached Bhamo to work
among the Kachins. Unfortunately within a week of their arrival Mr
Lyon died of fever. Hearing the sad news William Henry Roberts, a
young pastor in Illinois, volunteered with his wife to take up the
missionary work. They arrived on January 12, 1879. The first baptism
of Kachin took place in March 19, 1882.The gospel work among the
animistic Kachins was successful. They form a strong church group in
Burma today.