Luther Rice (1783-1836) was born in Northborough, Massachusetts. He studied at Williams College and Andover Theological Seminary. He became interested in missions and, along with Adoniram Judson, founded the American Board of Commissioners for Foreign Missions in 1810. In 1812 he went to India, leaving port a Congregational minister but arriving as a Baptist – a conversion that took place during the long journey through the influence of Baptist missionaries who were also on board. He returned to America after a year to help raise funds for other missionaries. He organized the General Convention of the Baptist Denomination in the United States for Foreign Missions in 1814, which sent many missionaries around the world. In 1822 he helped found Columbian University (later renamed George Washington University) in Washington, D.C., from where he published the Baptist weekly, The Columbian Star. Despite suffering a stroke in 1832 he continued pressing for the support of missions until his death. His fruitful life supported thousands of missionaries and produced numerous schools and mission organizations.
Judson
Judson, Adoniram
Adoniram Judson (1788-1850) was born near Malden, Massachusetts. He was the son of a Congregational minister. He graduated from Brown University and studied for a time at Andover Theological Seminary. In 1810 he was licensed to preach in the Congregational church and joined with several others to petition the General Association of Ministers for a missionary commission to China. He was sent to England to secure the cooperation of the London Missionary Society but failed to gain their approval. He returned to America where the American Board of Commissioners for Foreign Missions, a Congregational association, sent him to India in 1812. Accompanied by his wife, Anne, Judson arrived in Calcutta but soon got into trouble with the Board after his views on baptism changed to the conviction that full immersion was necessary. He joined the Baptist church and the couple moved to Burma where they lived in the English Baptist mission home. He began an earnest study of the Burmese language, although it took him nearly six years to gain the necessary linguistic skills to preach in the native tongue. It was another six years before he led the first person to Christ. In 1824 the Anglo-Burmese war broke out and Judson was imprisoned for two years. Shortly after his release Anne died. Judson continued his work and in 1833 he completed a translation of the Bible into Burmese. During this time he married Sarah Hall Boardman, returning to America in 1845 due to her failing health. Sadly she died on the voyage. He went back to Burma in 1846 and spent the rest of his life working on a Burmese dictionary. Like his second wife, he also died at sea while sailing to Martinique where he hoped to recuperate from an illness. He is considered by historians as the greatest American missionary.