Aung San Suu Kyi Praises Missionary Work in Burma
It is often said that missionaries destroy native cultures. In light of that claim, I find it very significant that Burmese democracy leader Aung San Suu Kyi takes a positive view of missionaries in her country. In fact, she spends quite a bit of time in the following video singing the praises of Adoniram Judson
In sum, she says that American missionaries (especially Judson) did a lot of good for Burma in terms of education, medicine and preserving Burmese culture. Judson wrote the first Burmese-English dictionary, and the first college in Burma was named Judson College. The difference between Baptist and Catholic schools in Burma is that American Baptists sought to preserve Burmese culture in their schools. Students wore Burmese dress, retained their Burmese names, and the schools preserved Burmese manners so that their graduates were considered proper, well educated, and aware of Burmese manners of courtesy. In addition to education, missionaries helped Burma in the area of medicine, in particular she mentions a Seventh Day Adventist Hospital as the best and most well-known after Burma gained independence.
Click here to watch the video on YouTube
