The first thing any scriptural missionary must do on the field is preach the Word. Once a soul is saved, that missionary should baptize him and then begin to teach him what it is to live for Christ. That third part of the Great Commission eventually necessitates copies of the written word.
To assist the first missionaries in Burma, George Hough, a printer, left America for the mission field, arriving in 1815. When war broke out between the British and the Burmese, Hough returned home. At that point God then raised up Cephas Bennett to take his place.
Bennett was born in 1804 in Homer, New York – the son of a missionary-minded Baptist pastor. On this day in 1829, Cephas and his bride arrived in Calcutta, India, where they spent several months observing the work of William Carey, then in January of the following year they sailed for Maulmain, Burma. There Bennett labored hard to print the Bibles, tracts and lesson materials that Adoniram Judson and the other missionaries needed. But his heart yearned to do more.
When his health broke and he had to return to the States, he prepared himself for ordination. In 1842 he returned to Burma as a gospel preacher who could also run a printing press. He stayed so busy in both responsibilities that it is said that every literate Burman in Rangoon was given a gospel tract or a Bible, and many of those who could not read heard of Jesus through the preaching of the Word. The result was that hundreds sought the missionaries every week to learn more about salvation through Christ.
By 1881, when Bro. Bennett retired at the age of 77, he had preached the gospel thousands of times and, with the help of others, had printed millions of pieces of gospel literature in several languages.
