History of Shan Churches in Burma 1861-2001 - Khamkoo
History of Shan Churches in Burma 1861-2001 - Khamkoo
History of Shan Churches in Burma 1861-2001 - Khamkoo
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Appendix 278<br />
April 30th. The thoughtful k<strong>in</strong>dness <strong>of</strong> this missionary <strong>in</strong> tak<strong>in</strong>g over from me the management <strong>of</strong> the<br />
commissariat and camp arrangements dur<strong>in</strong>g our journeys together with his skill <strong>in</strong> keep<strong>in</strong>g the loads <strong>of</strong><br />
each elephant separate and hav<strong>in</strong>g only such th<strong>in</strong>gs unpacked as were immediately required enabled me<br />
to start by daybreak every morn<strong>in</strong>g (except when we were delayed by the carelessness <strong>of</strong> the elephantdrivers,<br />
who occasionally allowed their animals to stray) and I was thus able to make longer journeys<br />
and do more work than I could otherwise have done. I trust that the knowledge he was able to collect <strong>of</strong><br />
the various dialects <strong>of</strong> the <strong>Shan</strong> language and the <strong>in</strong>formation he ga<strong>in</strong>ed about the customs and habits <strong>of</strong><br />
the P<strong>in</strong>g <strong>Shan</strong> will be a full recompense to him for the constant and enthusiastic manner <strong>in</strong> which he<br />
took up those matters. It is only by acquir<strong>in</strong>g a thorough knowledge <strong>of</strong> the languages, habits, customs,<br />
and superstitions <strong>of</strong> the people that missionaries can hope to <strong>in</strong>fluence and convert them. The noble<br />
work that Cush<strong>in</strong>g has done <strong>in</strong> translat<strong>in</strong>g the Bible <strong>in</strong>to <strong>Shan</strong> will greatly aid his fellow-missionaries <strong>in</strong><br />
Christianiz<strong>in</strong>g and civiliz<strong>in</strong>g not only the <strong>Shan</strong> but also the neighbor<strong>in</strong>g tribes who understand their<br />
language. The greatest field for missionaries <strong>in</strong> Indo-Ch<strong>in</strong>a lies, undoubtedly, among the non-Buddhist<br />
hill-tribes where so much good work has already been done by the American Baptist, the American<br />
Presbyterian and Ch<strong>in</strong>a Inland Missions.” 5<br />
Ellen W<strong>in</strong>sor (Mrs. Cush<strong>in</strong>g)<br />
Ellen W<strong>in</strong>sor grew up <strong>in</strong> Boston and became a schoolteacher there. When she was 21, she went to<br />
Beaufort, SC, to start a school for former slaves. In addition, she started an orphanage and<br />
super<strong>in</strong>tended Pope’s Plantation on St. Helena’s Island. She married one <strong>of</strong> the other volunteers, but<br />
less than two years later, the ship on which he was return<strong>in</strong>g to Beaufort from New York was wrecked<br />
and he was lost.<br />
Ellen went home to Boston and became the Director <strong>of</strong> The Home for Little Wanderers, an orphanage.<br />
At nearby Newton Theological School was Josiah Nelson Cush<strong>in</strong>g, actively seek<strong>in</strong>g a wife <strong>in</strong> order to<br />
qualify as a missionary to <strong>Burma</strong> under the American Baptist Foreign Mission Society. He and Ellen<br />
found each other and were married on her 26 th birthday. The Cush<strong>in</strong>gs went to <strong>Burma</strong> as missionaries to<br />
the <strong>Shan</strong>, a displaced people. Josiah was a preacher, scholar, explorer, translator, and educator. While<br />
her husband worked <strong>in</strong> one part <strong>of</strong> the country, Ellen <strong>of</strong>ten worked <strong>in</strong> another. Although Josiah was<br />
recognized as the lead<strong>in</strong>g <strong>Shan</strong> language scholar <strong>in</strong> the world, one <strong>of</strong> the first pieces they published was<br />
a tract, which Ellen translated <strong>in</strong>to the <strong>Shan</strong> language. Today, there is a Cush<strong>in</strong>g Hall named for them at<br />
the headquarters <strong>of</strong> the <strong>Burma</strong> Baptist Convention <strong>in</strong> Rangoon.<br />
When the Cush<strong>in</strong>gs’ son was ready to enter Penn Charter School <strong>in</strong> Philadelphia, Ellen Cush<strong>in</strong>g left<br />
<strong>Burma</strong> and became a field secretary <strong>of</strong> the Women’s Baptist Foreign Mission Society <strong>of</strong> Pennsylvania.<br />
A project <strong>of</strong> the Society was to start a tra<strong>in</strong><strong>in</strong>g school for women who felt called to enter church<br />
vocations. For seven years, she stumped the state, try<strong>in</strong>g to transform the dream <strong>in</strong>to reality. In the<br />
summer <strong>of</strong> 1892, she met three young women who said they wanted to attend such a school. She told<br />
them to plan on com<strong>in</strong>g, for there would be a school ready for them. Then she went back to the Society<br />
and told them they would have to get a school ready, they did, and Ellen Cush<strong>in</strong>g became its first<br />
preceptress. 6<br />
5 A Thousand Miles on an Elephant <strong>in</strong> <strong>Shan</strong> States by Holt Samuel Hallett, published by W. Blackwood and sons , 1890<br />
p312<br />
6 http://www.eastern.edu/centers/ccas/<strong>History</strong>.shtml Sept. 9, 2006