Just finished the biography of Adoniram Judson (Courtney Anderson's To the Golden Shore) which is a riveting account of this missionary's life. Judson gave up just about every worldly comfort to bring the Gospel to Burma in the early 1800's and his story should have particular interest for our church since he was the first American Baptist Missionary, who also happened to be from Massachusetts. He was born and raised in the North Shore (Wenham, Hamilton, Haverhill, Bradford, ...) and graduated from Brown University in Rhode Island before sailing from Salem, MA to Rangoon, Burma in 1812.
Just before leaving, Adoniram met and fell in love with Nancy Hasseltine. To give you a feel for the man, here is what Judson wrote to her father when he asked him for her hand in marriage and mission:
I have now to ask, whether you can consent to part with your daughter early next spring, to see her no more in this world; whether you can consent to her departure, and her subjection to the hardships and sufferings of a missionary life; whether you can consent to her exposure to the dangers of the ocean; to the fatal influence of the southern climate of India; to every kind of want and distress, to degradation, insult, persecution, and perhaps to a violent death. Can you consent to all this, for the sake of him who left his heavenly home, and died for her and for you; for the sake of perishing, immortal souls, for the sake of Zion, and the glory of God? Can you consent to all this, in hope of soon meeting your daughter in the world of glory, with the crown of righteousness, brightened with the acclamations of praise which shall redound to her Savior from heathens saved, through her means, from eternal woe and despair? (p. 83)
Believe it or not, her father did not object and left it up to Nancy to decide...and she said "yes" and just about everything that Judson said came to pass.
If you get the chance, get the book. Or at least listen to John Piper's talk on his life.