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The prevalence of Catholicism in Brazil, particularly the veneration of Mary, was viewed as unfortunate by the Bagbys, but they did not perceive the natives as members of an unknowable culture as did many missionaries in the Far East and some in Latin American countries. Their acceptance of Brazilian standards extended to a wide mixture of class and race. A woman from Texas who came to Brazil in 1900 wrote to her parents that among Brazilian Baptists,

. . .color makes no difference. A woman black as can be embraces me the same as a white one.

BS , June 7, 1900, p. 10.

The "otherness" of foreigners was a constant source of interest and information passed between missionaries and their supporters at home. Details of social customs and of natural surroundings were frequently reported upon by missionary women, supplementing the meager educational and experiential opportunities of women in the States. In exchange for their prayers and contributions, the women at home vicariously participated in a wider life, and they welcomed descriptions of scenery, ritual, and daily habits different from their own. Judgment and denigration were reserved for "idolatrous" religion (everything but Protestantism) and illiteracy, particularly that which kept women repressed. "Heathen" was a frequently used term, but it connoted ignorance, especially ignorance of biblical religion, rather than little or no worth. A missionary to Mexico, Mrs. H. R. Mosely, explained her position:

Do you consider the people heathen? I am frequently asked. Facts illustrate this. People who have been to Mexico noticed the peculiar sad look of the women. . . .This must be due to the fact that they have no consolation. The women care for no change. They have no hope for a better life.

After describing the Mexicans' acute poverty, she praised their generosity, artistry, and devotion.

I am getting somewhat homesick to get back to my home among these people,
she concluded.

BS , May 30, 1895, p. 7.

Rather than being disdained by missionaries, the poor and ignorant were the most receptive audience among any foreign group. A Bible woman who worked with German immigrants in Baltimore despaired of Germans' stubborn self-righteousness. "I wish they were heathen," she said, "because [then] I could have a hold on them." Ibid.

Women specifically identified with the disinherited classes because they saw themselves as part of another group assigned inferior status. Because they believed that the gospel alone was responsible for

elevating them above the level of the heathen,

BS , February 14, 1895, p. 7.

they felt a special responsibility to serve as the agents of reform among the oppressed.
Why should not woman use all her influence to send that gospel which has done so much for her to the poor benighted heathen?
asked a woman from Texarkana. Ibid. She, other Texas women, and the missionaries they supported believed, however, that all reform necessary stemmed from a single source and action—a personal faith in Jesus Christ as revealed in the Bible. From this source flowed self-respect, desire for knowledge and betterment, or, at least, the consolation of a perfect afterlife, not a revolution of true equality within the sphere of either the family or the state. Their "revolutionary" goals were limited to their own limited attainments—improvement and hope—and reflected their ultimate acceptance of inequality as the order of sexual and civil arrangements.

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Source:  OpenStax, Patricia martin thesis. OpenStax CNX. Sep 23, 2013 Download for free at http://cnx.org/content/col11572/1.2
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