Sisterhood is Powerful

In the Third World, evidence of the good works of Christian missionaries is everywhere. Yet these people, these heroes and heroines, are almost completely unheralded in their home countries. I wonder why, when Norman Bethune, for example, one secular missionary, is so well remembered.

For one example, the common English term for a nurse in Arabic speaking countries and in South Asia is "sister." This is certainly an artefact of the work of Catholic nuns; the term is meaningless in Islam or Hinduism.