When Elisha Abbott, returned to this country from his ministry among the Karen tribe in Burma, his wife had just died and he was in very poor health. He knew that if he was going to be able to continue his mission work, he would need someone to help him, so he visited the Hamilton Theological Seminary where he found John Beecher. Brother Beecher had been looking toward the Western United States as an area of service, but he told Abbott that he’d pray about Burma and that he would talk with his fiancé, Miss Martha Foote, but he wasn’t too excited about the idea at that point. Some time later he returned with joy and a note from Martha. She had written, “I think we ought always to go where duty calls; and if any time you should come to think it your duty to go to an Eastern field, I should lay no obstacle in your way.” That evening Beecher agreed to join Abbott in his work in Burma. So in 1846, he was married, and ordained. Then for eight years the Lord blessed their ministry among the Karens. But as they were returning to the United States, on this day in 1854, Sister Beecher died and was buried at sea. Although terribly grieved, John Beecher continued to serve the Lord in Burma for another twenty-four years, before he too, was called to his heavenly home.
