Family Ties First Baptist Church of Saint Paul 499 Wacouta Street St. Paul, MN 55101 (651) 222-0718 www.firstbaptiststpaul.org

First Baptist Church along with Ebenezer Karen Baptist Church, First Burma Christ Church, Trinity Karen Baptist Church, First Karen Baptist Church and Emanuel Baptist Church celebrated the 200th Anniversary of the Arrival to Burma of Adoniram and Ann Judson on Sunday, July 14th. The following was Pastor Bill’s sermon on this day. Tell me your heroes and I will tell you who you are! This is the story of the greatest American missionary heroes of the 19th century. In 1849, Adoniram Judson, the second most recognized name of that time, was introduced to the President of the United States as the “greatest church man now living.” Judson was a man of great learning and sensitivity whose Bible translation and Burmese grammars are still used today. Ann and Adoniram Judson sailed to the land of Burma two hundred years ago. They arrived July 13, 1813. Burma was changed forever. Their story is one of love and adventure, tragedy and perseverance, fame and acclaim—a story better than fiction, for it actually happened. The Judsons, struggles triumphs, joys, and suffering were all too real. In New York’s famous Riverside Church are stone carvings commemorating historical figures whose lives have exemplified some aspects of Christ’s life. Among them, there is only one couple so honored: Ann and Adoniram Judson. One crisis followed another. Ann was pregnant as they travelled from India to Burma. She miscarried and her first child died while they were aboard ship. Ann was so sick at sea that when they did finally arrive in Rangoon she had to be carried. Four men with two bamboo poles supported her in a chair. Yet Ann declared, “We thank God and take courage.” This spirit of determination to bless God and take courage became the hallmark of their lives. Ann saved Adoniram from execution three times, bribing the guards and smuggling her husband food. Shortly after his release from prison she died herself from the effects of disease and malnutrition. Adoniram was devastated by the loss of his wife but he lived on to give the Burmese people their first and best translation of the Bible. Judson’s great personal appeal and his remarkable ability to relate to the people and preach in the Burmese language led to the establishment of the church in that land. Today the Myanmar Baptist Convention is made up of more than 1.6 million members in over 4,700 churches.++ There are more Baptist churches and members in Burma than there are American Baptists in the United States. Baptists in Burma have been faithful during this terribly difficult time and continued to spread the Gospel and grow. Their legacy has continuing impact. Baptists in the United States owe their formation into a denomination in 1814 to the Judsons. We organized ourselves to support their ministry in Burma. The larger community of faith is able to trace in the Judsons’ story the awakening of the missions consciousness of a new nation. Continues on page 4.

calendar Monday, August 5, 6 & 7 Karen Language Youth Camp Afton State Park Campgrounds 1 - Loren McLean Sharon Scanlon Yoshu Win Tee Doh 2 - Nancy Johnson Steve Price Thu Zox Aung Crean Hler 3 - Harriet Balian Paw Eh Dar Paw Lah Shee 4 - Samson Moo Tun 7 - Kawar Paw 8 - Grace Scanlon Tha Phyu Win Ta Kee Kee Say Thaw Htee Law Saw Ta Da 9 - Eh Ko Lo Eh Kler Htoo Baw Eh Kler Say Baw Say Do Moo 10 - Bwet Tong Aye Aye Aung Paw Dee Lay Oo Kyi 11 - Dianna Johnson Taw T Soe 12 - Audrey Whitney Mary Ann Brunner Hsar Hin Htoo Htoo Baw Pasaw Htoo Paw S Htoo

14 - Leora Clevenger Ser Hay Htoo Hsa Gay Htoo 15 - Eh Li Lay Eh Kla 17 - Tim Milligan Moo Ra San 19 - Susan Haram Yin Mwe Ma Sher Sher Wah 20 - Pah Hah Saw Thee Nay Thaw 21 - Moo K’Paw Lah Soe Si N Aye 22 - Lar Hgaw Gyi Eh Taw Dee 23 - Eddie Kyaw Donald Say Eh Natural Ta Soe 24 - Saw Hla Tun Oo Day Day Victor Lu Pi Pi Win 25 - Jenny Sanchez Po Pway 27 - John Heil 28 - Pat Edmonds Rick Johnson Barnes Sharitt Poe Mit Jim Ser Gay 30 - Eh Yah 31 - Hser Moo Moo

Our Homebound Members Esther Borden Lee Clevenger

June Haram Shirley Sweum

IN MEMORIAM We wish to remember especially these members and friends who have died during the month of July over the last five years. May God’s Grace and Peace be with their loved ones at this time.

John Collis - July 15, 2008 Trottie Zeece - July 11, 2009 Tuh Hla Aung - July 28, 2010 Esther Stanton - July 28, 2010 2

Sunday, August 11

10;00 am — Sheila Ahlbrand will preach

Sunday, August 18

10:00 am — Mary Miller, Associate Executive Minister to the MidAmerican Baptist Churches, will be our guest speaker

Monday, August 19

5:30 pm — Board of Trustees Meeting Library 7:15 pm — Church Council Meeting Fireside Room

Right Of Way Appeal Update

eration of our suit.

The Court of Appeals has sent our case back to the original district judge. She will be reviewing it along with some additional information. I am submitting an affidavit that will be a part of the reconsid-

William Englund, being duly sworn, states: 1. I am the Pastor of First Baptist Church of St. Paul. I have held this position for 23 years. 2. I oversee the financial affairs of the church and its properties and programs. I am well acquainted with the economies of operating a church and tis programs and have had over 23 years of experience in this regard. 3. I have served on the board of St. Paul’s Lowertown Redevelopment Corporation. 4. I have been the chairman of the Capitol River Council (downtown district council) and have serve on it’s Development Review and Long Range Planning Committees as well as numerous task forces and sub committees. 5. The services provided by the City of St. Paul for street maintenance, cleaning, snow removal, tree trimming, ordinance enforcement and other services covered by the St. Paul street maintenance assessment program are similar to those provided by all cities to all of the churches with which I am acquainted except that in all other cities, these services are paid for by ad valorem taxes and not specially assessed. 6. All churches in St. Paul pay the residential rate with the expectation of the downtown churches which pay the commercial rate. This rate is 5 times the residential rate. This is a gross inequality. 7. In no case in my experience has the value of a church increased (or otherwise changed) because of the provision of such services. The value of a church is determined by many other factors such as: • Location • Denomination • Size of congregation

• Economic strength of congregation members and history of giving • Attractiveness of leadership • Age and condition of buildings • Demographics of neighborhood • Other possible uses for the property 8. The frequency of street sweeping and snow plowing along with the quality of other street services is of general interest to a property owner in a jurisdiction but never, in my experience, has that sort of issue arisen in importance to the extent that it would affect the value of church property. At most, it might be a topic of discussion by congregation members. 9. First Baptist Church if St. Paul has served the spiritual and social needs of people downtown since 1847. Beyond the traditional religious and worship functions FBC houses a day center for homeless families provided spiritual and practical aid to hundreds of refugee families from Burma who attend services in our building. We provide space for a therapeutic youth theater organization. We have sponsored civic and cultural events, We have been able to provide these services to the community because of the sacrificial giving of members of our congregation. There are few “rich or powerful” folks at FBC. 10. If we were to consider listing our church property for sale, I would not dream of adding value to the property for the amount that we have paid or will need to pay for street maintenance assessments. 11. On the contrary, the money we pay for street maintenance assessments (over $16,000/year) is a significant item on our operating budget, It is approximately 15% of our total pledged income and, as such, has an important negative impact on our bottom line economic health and, if anything, it depresses the value of our property and limits our ability to offer the much needed services we provide. If the present rate and trends continue we will pay $100,000.00 in “special assessments” in the next 5 years. 12. All taxpayers benefit from the volunteer and charitable work of FBC and other non-profits. 13. First Baptist Church of St. Paul does not realize any special benefit from the services funded by the St. Paul street maintenance assessments we are forced to pay.

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Many individuals were inspired by this extraordinary couple. Harriet Bishop, the founder of FBC was one of them. She told her first Sunday School students that she came to Minnesota in 1847 because of the example of Ann Judson. As a young girl, she had read about the missionaries’ work from letters Ann had sent home that were published throughout the country. The Judsons’ spiritual children from Burma have now come to the United States. Ann and Adoniram blessed the people of Burma with the Good News of Jesus Christ. People from Burma have blessed the churches of the United States. There is a new and revitalized spirit in St. Paul and around the country. We celebrate together the One Spirit that inspires and gives life to us all. PS It was recently announced at the Biennial Meeting of the ABC/USA that American missionaries would again be allowed to work in Burma after being expelled for nearly 50 years. God moves in mysterious ways his wonders to perform.

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Adoniram & Ann Judson Pioneers of the American Missionary Movement

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visiting, praying, and talking with them. She also visited the viceroy’s wife regularly, in hopes that making friends in high places might someday reap benefits to the mission. Ann assisted Adoniram in his literary work The Mother of Modern Missions by translating several tracts, as well as the books of Daniel and Jonah, into Burmese. She also wrote a catechism in Burmese. In 1817, she became interested in the many Siamese (Thai) in Rangoon and began to study their language. She became the first Protestant to translate any of the Scriptures The many roles of Ann Judson into Siamese with her translation of the Gospel Once in Burma, Adoniram spent all day in of Matthews in 1819. She also translated the Burlanguage study in view of his central role as trans- mese catechism and a tract into Siamese and enlator of the Bible into Burmese. Ann was left to deavored to introduce Westerners to Siamese remanage the family and household matters and so ligious writings by translating a Siamese sacred could not begin language study until 10:00 each text into English. morning, She endured constant interruptions, esIn 1822, her health broken, Ann returned pecially after the birth of their first child in 1815. to the United States for a rest. While in America, But by handling all the household affairs, Ann Jud- she wrote A Particular Relation of the American son used Burmese until her spoken language was Baptist Mission to the Burman Empire, one of the better than her husband’s. first published accounts of an American foreign As soon as possible, Ann gathered together mission written by a missionary. Ann planned to a group of female inquirers into a Sabbath Soci- use the proceeds to redeem female children who ety where she read the Bible to them and tried to were sold as slaves, to educate them, and so to tell them about God. While Adoniram discussed convince the Burmese of the usefulness of female religion with the men, Ann met with the women, education. After the Judsons moved to the city of Ava in February 1824, Ann began a school for three small girls, supported in part by money from the “Judson Association of Bradford Academy.” It was not her evangelistic and literary accomplishments, however, that made Ann Judson’s name a household word in the United States. Rather, it was her status as heroine and savior of her husband during the war that broken out between the British government and the Burmese in May of 1824. After her untimely death, the life of Ann Judson became a stock item of female hagiography across denominational lines. Her Ann’s efforts to gain her husband’s release from courageous and activist career provided prison earned her almost mythic status in America. Biographer Francis Wayland described and inspirational model for missionary dressed in Burmese clothes, standing in the doorway of the prison “like an enchantress, women in the 19th century and continwinning the hearts of high and low, making savage jailers and scarcely less savage nobles weep,” and moving “protected by her won dignity and sublimity of purpose, like a queen ues to do so today. hristian History magazine came out with a great issue in Spring 2006 featuring Adoniram and Ann Judson’s biography. In preparation for the bicentennial anniversary of their arrival to Burma in 2013, Ties will feature several articles from the issue. We have received permission to reprint their articles.

along the streets.”

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First Baptist Church 499 Wacouta Street St. Paul. MN 55101

NON-PROFIT ORG US POSTAGE PAID TWIN CITIES MN PERMIT NO. 937

July 2013

ADDRESS SERVICE REQUESTED

first baptist church of st. paul 9th & Wacouta in Lowertown …in the Heart of the City. (651)222-0718 www.firstbaptiststpaul.org

Senior Pastor The Reverend William M. Englund Associate Pastor Reverend Saul Lu Dir. of Children & Youth Ms. Sheila Ahlbrand Secretary Mrs. Raquel P. Gibbs Clerical Support Mrs. Geri Johnson Accountant Ms. Cleveland Donazal Parish Nurse Ms. Roi Saga