> Despite the fact that, in terms of contemplating the
> universe and man's role
> in it, Hinduism is twice as old as Christianity,
> 15.8 million Southern
> Baptists are determined to "free" 900 million Hindus
> from their "spiritual
> bondage." Sheesh! Oh, but I forgot, the Southern
> Baptists have a monopoly
> on spiritual truth. Silly me!
>
>
http://news.excite.com/news/r/991022/14/news-religion-hindus

This determination is the logical outgrowth of a
belief in three divine statements. The God of Israel
said, "You shall have no other gods before Me." Jesus
said, "No one comes to the Father but through me," and
"Go and make disciples of all nations."

William Carey served as the first Baptist missionary
in India (impoverished, sick with malaria, caring for
an invalid wife) in the early 1800's. He wrote the
first dictionaries and serious grammatical studies for
four Indian languages (including Sanskrit) and led the
successful fight against the Indian practice of sati,
widows throwing themselves on the funeral pyres of
their dead husbands. He founded 100 rural schools that
focused on the education of girls, and the first
newspaper in India. I think that rather than
demonstrating spiritual hubris, he created a model for
Christians to improve the lives of the people who
disagree with their theology, while not compromising
the clear tenets of his faith.

"I was privileged to retrace the steps of Carey in
India recently to do location scouting for a film on
his life. I was amazed to find Carey's name still held
in the highest esteem in India. At the Serampore train
station there were statues of Ghandi and Carey.
Children told me that they learned about Carey in
school. Government officials spoke of his contribution
to India with the highest respect. While the U.S
Postal service was making a big fuss over issuance of
their stamp honoring Elvis Presley, the Indian
Department of Posts celebrated the life and ministry
of William Carey with the 6 rupee stamps."
(http://www.gospelcom.net/chi/glimpses/fortyfive.html)

The fundamentalist missionaries I know that devote
their lives to the spreading of Christianity, while
probably falling short of Carey's example of fanatical
servanthood, do seek to follow it. They're not
interested in becoming the number-one-rated
televangelist in Albania or whatever.