223 – August 11 – This Day in Baptist History Past

 

 

“…And he That Loveth Son or Daughter More Than Me is Not Worthy of Me.”

Helen Maria Griggs was saved, baptized and joined a Baptist church in Brookline, Massachusetts on August 11, 1822. When a small girl Helen had been very sick, and her mother had prayed that if God spared her life that she would give her without reservation unto God’s will. When Helen told her mother that God had called her to go to Burma, her mother was fully willing for the Lord’s direction. However the Board had never sent a single lady out alone. But the Lord of the harvest was working behind the scenes, and Francis Mason, a student at Newton Theological Institution met Miss Griggs.

He too planned to go to Burma, and after a courtship of nearly five months, they were married on May 23, 1830 and their honeymoon was spent on board ship as they sailed the next day for Burma. Their trip took 122 days before they arrived at Calcutta. Mrs. Mason’s health provided problems for the missionary couple, but whenever possible, she labored beside her husband. She became proficient in the Burmese and Karen languages and was able to teach and write in both. But the matter of leaving her children came to pass after a furlough in the States. Many in the homeland criticized Mrs. Mason, and she was charged with having “no more affection than a Sandwich Island mother.” Editors of Christian periodicals had to go to her defense, and in a short time a drastic change for the better took place in public opinion.

Four years later when Mrs. Grover Comstock left for Burma and parted from her children, an announcement was made in the newspaper under the caption, “The Noble Mother.” The Lord took Helen to Himself at forty years of age on Oct. 8, 1846.

Dr. Greg J. Dixon: From: This Day in Baptist History Vol. I: Cummins/Thompson, pp. 330-31.

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244 – Sept. 01 – This Day in Baptist History Past

 

She Proved a “Worthy Successor”

 

Sep. 01, 1845 – Sarah Hall Boardman Judson died on a ship in the port of St. Helena. She had embarked with her second husband Adoniram Judson and three children on the previous April 26th, at the request of physicians, with the hope of saving her life, after she contracted a chronic illness. She was the second wife of the renowned missionary to Burma, having married him after her husband George Dana Boardman died after serving faithfully in Burma for 6 years. Rather than leaving the field she stayed on to serve with Rev. and Mrs. Francis Mason. Judson [served eight lonely years on the field since the death of his beloved Ann before Rev. Mason joined them in Holy Matrimony on April 10, 1834. She proved a “worthy successor” and deservedly won his respect and love after 11 blessed years. Though his heart was broken, the veteran missionary sailed on to America for his first furlough in 33 years. Sarah Boardman Judson will ever stand alone as one of the great stalwarts of the 19th century missionary enterprise as she translated the New Testament into the Peguan language, and the ‘Pilgram’s Progress’ into Burmese. [Arabella W. Stuart, Lives of the Three Mrs. Judsons (New York: Lee and Shephard, 1855), pp. 194-95. This Day in Baptist History II: Cummins and Thompson, BJU Press: Greenville, S.C. 2000 A.D. 478-479.] Prepared by Dr. Greg Dixon

 

 

 

223 – Aug 11 – This Day in Baptist History Past

 

The Lord of the Harvest provides the reapers
Helen Maria Griggs was baptized and joined a Baptist church in Brookline, Mass., Aug. 11, 1822. She felt the call to Burma, and she married Francis Mason and spent their honeymoon aboard ship as they sailed the next day to Burma.   As a small girl Helen was very ill, but her mother prayed that the Lord would spare her, and at the same time, she gave her over to the will of God.  After several years her mother was willing to give her up, as Helen told her, of her call to  Burma. She was willing to go alone but the Lord of the Harvest was working in the heart of a young man, Francis Mason, a student at Newton Theological Institution who also planned to go to Burma. They were married on May 23, 1830. One hundred and twenty-two days later they arrived in Calcutta.  She was severely criticized when she had to leave their children behind in the homeland and Editors of Christian periodicals had to go to her defense and a drastic change in public opinion took place. The Lord took this dear one to Himself in her fortieth year on Oct. 8, 1846. G. Winfred Hervey, The Story of Baptist Missions in Foreign Lands, (St. Louis: C.R. Barns, 1892), p. 413.]  Prepared by Dr. Greg Dixon