Special Providence_ American Foreign Policy and How It Changed World - Walter Russell Mead

142 SPECIALPROVIDENCE

denominationkeptitsownrecordsinitsownway,andsomeofthemost
missionary-mindeddenominations(liketheBaptists)eschewedthekinds
ofhierarchicalorganizationbeyondthecongregationallevelthatpro-
motesrecord-keeping,goodestimatesofthenumberofmissionariesand
mission-relatedpersonnelarehardtomake.Onelistingcountsaboutfive
thousandAmericanProtestantmissionariesabroadin 1900,withthe
numberincreasingtomorethanninethousandby1915.3
Thesenumbersaresurelyincomplete.Theyarerestrictedtofull-time
religiousworkersanddonotcounttheinstructorsservinginmissionary
schoolsandcollegesabroad,medicalpersonnel,oragriculturalandother
technicalspecialistssupplementingmissionefforts.Thewivesofmale
missionariesalsogenerallyworkedinmedical,educational,andreligious
endeavorsbutwerenotalwayscountedasmissionworkers.Inaddition,a
significant numberofAmericanmissionaries came from outside the
ranksofProtestantchurches.Suchindigenous Americanreligiousmove-
mentsastheSeventh-DayAdventistsandtheLatter-daySaintshavelong
hadanactivepresenceininternationalmissions.
ThenumberofProtestantmissionworkerswouldincreasethrough-
outthetwentiethcentury,reachingapproximatelyfifty-two thousand
missionariesbytheendofthe1970s.Catholic,Pentecostal,Adventist,
andLatter-daySaintsmissionarieswouldincreaseevenmorerapidlydur-
ingthetwentiethcentury;by thestartofthetwenty-first itappears
thatsomethingontheorderofonehundredthousandAmericanswere
serving religiousmissionsabroad.4FourteenthousandUtahresidents
wereestimatedtohavebeenomittedbythe 2000 Censusbecausethey
were serving tours ofdutyas missionaries abroad-anumber large
enoughtocostUtahanadditionalseatintheHouseofRepresentatives.
IfweaddtothesenumbersotherAmericansinvolvedinsecularser-
vice overseas-workingwith nongovernmental organizationsdealing
withrefugees,development,medicalservices,andsuchagenciesasthe
PeaceCorps-.-weseethatthefirekindledattheHaystackMeetinghas
spreadtoall thecornersoftheworld,and thattheeffort tospread
whatAmericansineachgenerationhaveidentifiedasthekeyfeaturesof
theAm,ericanwayoflifetotherestoftheworldisa powerful,long-
established,andgrowingforceinoursociety.
Thelargermissionboardsfunctionedinsomewaysasthefirstmulti-
nationalcorporationsinAmericanhistory. Receivingcontributionsin
dollars,theydispensedfundsallovertheworld.Theyemployedlocal
inhabitants,establishednetworksofschoolsandcolleges,randemon-