The Old Rao Pillow

 •  2 min. read  •  grade level: 6
Listen from:
When Adoniram Judson went to Burma with the gospel, he began a translation of the Scriptures into the Burmese language.
But the time came when Judson was put in prison. It was an evil-smelling place; still he wanted to have the pages of his Burmese Bible with him hoping he might finish his translation someday.
His wife, Anne, had a hard time getting things to him in the prison. On one occasion she put a message in a cake she had baked for him. Another time she wrote a note on a scrap of paper put in the spout of an old coffee pot which she sent to him by her faithful servant, Moung-Ing.
But how to get the loose sheets to him was a problem. However, Anne made an old pillow of rags, and stuffing the leaves of the translation inside, she sent it to the prison by Moung-Ing. The jailor let Judson keep his old rag pillow. He did not know the pages of God’s precious Word were hidden inside.
After two years in that vile place, Judson was set free. The jailor took all his possessions for himself, except the rag pillow which he threw out on the scrap heap. Moung-Ing rescued the old rag pillow and Judson got back his most prized possession.
The time came when Judson fished his translation and it was printed. Burma had its first Bible in Burmese. In the years that followed many Burmese were brought to Christ through hearing and reading the Scriptures in their own tongue.
“Look unto Me, and be ye saved, all the ends of the earth: for I am God, and there is none else.” Isa. 45:2222Look unto me, and be ye saved, all the ends of the earth: for I am God, and there is none else. (Isaiah 45:22).
ML-08/22/1976