The famous American Baptist missionaries, Adoniram and Ann Judson, moved to Rangoon in 1813 when British authorities refused to allow them to stay in India. The Judsons were in Burma six years before their first convert was baptized. Adoniram Judson gathered a group of believers and labored under many trials, but his missionary tenure of almost 40 years helped firmly establish the Baptist work in Burma/Myanmar. His monumental work included translating the Bible into Burmese, which was completed in 1834. George Dana Boardman began a work among the Karen peoples in 1828. Today the Karen Baptist Convention is the largest member body of the Myanmar Baptist Convention, which was formed in 1865.
HIV/AIDS is a significant problem in Myanmar. In 1992, the Baptist Convention created a 32-member AIDS commission, because they see the problem as spiritual, as well as social and medical.
In Myanmar about 6% of the population is Christian, with two-thirds of them being considered Protestant. Almost half of these Protestants are Baptists. In 1995, the Convention had 496,961 members in 3513 churches. Myanmar Baptist Convention has 17 affiliated conventions under its umbrella, and is a member of the World Council of Churches and the Baptist World Alliance.