How to Be a Word-Centered Missionary: E.D. Burns on Adoniram Judson

Adoniram and Ann Judson were saturated with Scripture, and it brings them into conflict with today’s pragmatism in missions.

What is a “word-driven” missionary, and how can you become one? Adoniram and Ann Judson are stirring examples of Scripture-saturated missionaries whose methods subverted human wisdom. To explain this week, author and missionary E.D. Burns joins the show.

E.D. Burns, Ph.D., is the author of The Missionary-Theologian and A Supreme Desire to Please Him: The Spirituality of Adoniram Judson. He has been a long-term missionary in the Middle East, East Asia, Alaska, and currently SE Asia. From his international location he directs the M.A. in Global Leadership at Western Seminary. A linguist and ordained minister, Burns develops theological resources and trains indigenous pastors and missionaries to the least-reached.

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Alex Kocman & Scott Dunford

Alex Kocman is the Director of Communications and Engagement for ABWE. He serves as general editor for Message Magazine and co-hosts The Missions Podcast. After earning his M.A. in Communication and B.S. in Biblical Studies, he served as an online apologetics instructor with Liberty University and a youth pastor in Pennsylvania, where he now resides with his wife and three children. Read his blog or follow him on X/Twitter.

Scott Dunford is the pastor of Western Hills Church in San Mateo, Calif. Previously, Scott served as Vice President of Mobilization and Communications for ABWE and as a missionary in East Asia. Scott graduated from Northland International University (B.A. in Pastoral Studies), earned his M.A. in biblical studies from Central Baptist Theological Seminary, his M.B.A. from Cornerstone University, and is currently enrolled in Midwestern Baptist Theological Seminary’s D.Min. program with an emphasis on missions.