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It would be incorrect to imply that these sums were collected solely—even primarily—to meet quotas. When one district or state met its pledge, the whole group appeared to share in the success of their common cause and would rise to sing, "Praise God from whom all blessings flow." The quotas were raised and met by holding before the women the goals of their organization—missions, education, and benevolence—and devising projects that fulfilled those aims. Missions were the first cause of WMU and their definition gradually broadened to include every form of evangelism, including the local and personal. Missionaries present at annual meetings were always honored, and they often gave addresses and led devotionals. The practice became common for Texas's foreign missionaries to plan their visits home around the SBC meeting in May or the BGCT in November. During Mary Davis's tenure as president of the BWMW, one of the most visible of these was Annie Jenkins Sallee, a Waco native and Baylor University graduate who served briefly as a state organizer before going to China in 1906. She had many family ties with prominent Texas denominational figures. In 1908, her sister, Georgia Jenkins, presented to the BWMW the need for a school for girls in Kaifeng, China, and asked that $3,000 in gold be pledged to build it. The amount was exceeded by $23. Report of the Proceedings of BWMW of Texas, 1908, p. 202.

The school for Chinese girls satisfied not only a mission goal, but centered on another growing issue among Texas Baptist women: education. Texas promoted and supported the opening of the religious training school for women in Louisville, Kentucky; but R. C. Buckner, Lou Williams, and others sustained the dream of such a school in Texas. When Southwestern Seminary opened in Fort Worth in 1910 and the BWMW was approached to build a dormitory there to house young women while they studied religious subjects and trained to be missionaries, the women pledged $50,000 to do so. This "Woman's Temple to Missions" was not finished until 1915 and the price had inflated to $105,000, but the funds were furnished. It stood as satisfying testimony to the belief that "Texas Baptist womanhood counts nothing too good for the preparation of our young women for the noblest of tasks, that of Christian service." Proceedings of the BWMW of Texas, 1915, p. 236. The BWMW awarded scholarships to Training School girls and appointed three women to serve in an advisory capacity to the Board of Directors of the Seminary.

The education of children and young adults continued to be a successful feature of women's work. A Juvenile (Sunbeam) Superintendent had been added to the BWMW in 1899; in 1910, Young Woman's Superintendent was made an official position. The number of age-graded bands increased rapidly, likely because it was a work with which women felt comfortable. Training institutes and detailed instructions provided by the state leaders boosted the morale and confidence of those who undertook mission training of children.

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Source:  OpenStax, Patricia martin's phd thesis. OpenStax CNX. Dec 12, 2012 Download for free at http://cnx.org/content/col11462/1.1
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