For SIM workers, by SIM workers
MAY 2020 • VOL 2 ISSUE 2
Relief for SIM health ministries Venezuelan refugees receive food aid COVID-19 helps expand Uruguayan seminary
CONTENTS Introduction ............................................... 2-3 New Harvest Workers .............................. 4-5 New schooling option for the MKs in Liberia ..........................................................6 Q&A with an SIM leader: Phil Bauman .....7 News ................................................................8 Leader appointments ....................................9 CALLED: Israel Rodríguez ......................... 10 Are you signed up?...................................... 11 Just one life: Chile youth conference ....... 12 Venezuelan refugees receive weekly food aid ............................................. 13 COVID-19 helps grow Uruguayan seminary................................... 14 TABLE OF CONTENTS
Faithful Witness updates ........................... 16
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© SIM International 2020. Connect is an internal publication of SIM International for the encouragement and information of SIM workers. SIM International Director: Joshua Bogunjoko International Communications Director: Tim Allan Editor: Tabitha Plueddemann Crowley Design: Pilgrim Communications Email: connect@sim.org Web: www.sim.org Cover Photo by Filippo Bacci.
Our inability to know (much less control) the future has never been more evident than it is today. Governments, multinational corporations and regional blocs are franticly trying to stop the spread of COVID-19 as well as its catastrophic effect on the economy. As individuals, our health and livelihood have a level of uncertainty that always existed but was often forgotten. A crisis is ‘an unexpected and severe threat to SIM’s people or work that is too complex and unstable to be guided by a pre-prepared contingency plan’ (SIM Security & Crisis Management Principles & Practices). By that definition, we are all in crisis response mode. For the first time, every SIM entity is responding to a crisis at the same time. One of the first steps in crisis management is to clarify what we know. The team collects and verifies the information at hand in order to make critical decisions. I can think of no more important an exercise right now than reminding ourselves of what we know to be true. In a time where we need to make critical decisions, we must begin by clarifying the facts that should guide our response: Death was defeated. Christians around the world just celebrated the resurrection of Christ. That event is the very foundation of our faith. In his first letter to the church in Corinth, Paul reminded them, ‘If Christ has not been raised, our preaching is useless and so is your faith’ (1 Cor. 15:14 NIV).Because of Christ’s resurrection, death
WHAT DO I KNOW? is no longer final and should not be feared as such. Suffering should be understood in light of eternity. Paul exhorts them to “not despair … for our momentary, light suffering is producing for us an eternal weight of glory far beyond all comparison” (2 Cor. 4:16-17 NET). Our sufferings rarely feel momentary … or light, but compared to eternity and its glory, they are.
We are children of God. “You did not receive the spirit of slavery to fall back into fear, but you have received the Spirit of adoption as sons” (Rom. 8:15 ESV). As the various implications of this virus continue to hit us and the situation drags on, we will succumb to fear if we do not remember who we are. Our identity as children of God allows us to cry out to our Abba, rather than falling back into fear.
Nate Killoren SIM International Crisis Response Coordinator intl.CrisisResponse@sim.org
EDITORIAL
God is God … and we are not. Ecclesiastes 5:2 says: “God is in heaven and you are on earth, so let your words be few.” This does not mean we should not call out to him without ceasing. We must do that! However, “our highest activity must be response, not initiative. To experience the love of God in a true … form is to experience it as our surrender to his demand, our conformity to his desire” (C.S. Lewis, The Problem of Pain). We know that any pain allowed by a God who is altogether good, powerful and sovereign has purpose. Though we may struggle to know what that purpose might be, we draw comfort from the knowledge that God has a history of accomplishing his purposes through both joy and pain.
This is not our home. In the midst of pain, we long primarily for our home, not just for an end to this present situation. While we pray for a cure or vaccine for this virus, “a particular medicine is not to be mistaken for the elixir of life…Our Father refreshes us on the journey with some pleasant inns, but will not encourage us to mistake them for home” (C.S. Lewis, The Problem of Pain). God knows how much we can bear, but even when he, by his grace, causes suffering to cease, we still long for the day when all will be made new. We must keep reminding ourselves of what we know. We need to encourage each other with these truths. Instead of reading endless theories on the news, read scripture passages written to those who were suffering (most of the New Testament) and listen to songs about heaven and our good Father. As one of my favourite songwriters reminds us in the song, ‘Is He Worthy?’: “Is all creation groaning? It is. Is a new creation coming? It is. Is the glory of the Lord to be the light within our midst? It is. Is it good that we remind ourselves of this? It is.”
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NEW HARVEST WORKERS
New harvest workers
Church: Kohima Ao Baptist Church, Nagaland, India Where will you serve? Ulaanbaatar, Mongolia What will you be doing? Assistant professor at Mongolian International University. Pray: For God to open doors for me to be a witness among my students.
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Church: Calvary Memorial Church, Illinois, USA Where will you serve? Paraguay What will you be doing? Serving Christ with hearing impaired. Pray:
Imtichila Jamir
Church: Zeme Baptist Church, Dimapur, Nagaland, India Where will you serve? Govindpur, Siraha, Nepal What will you be doing? Working with children Pray: For the children’s studies and that they will have zeal to know the true God. For creativity and love to teach the children and serve God.
For my eyes to fix on Jesus, trusting him to enable me and direct each step.
Shirley Anne Jacobs
Kesiroheile Hairang
Church: Kohima Ao Baptist Church, Nagaland, India Where will you serve? Mali What will you be doing? Faithful Witness team leader, children’s ministry, sports ministry and outreach Pray: For language learning and adjustment, for God’s wisdom in my responsibilities
Putinungsang Ozukum WWW.SIM.ORG
Russell and Anita Wolf Church: King of Kings Lutheran Church, Spruce View District, Canada Where will you serve? Alberta, Canada What will you be doing? Western Canada, then South Sudan Pray: For God’s leading as we work with SIM Canada mobilisation right away. Church: Central Baptist, Edmonton, Alberta, Canada Where will you serve? South Sudan, then where God leads What will you be doing? Member care. Pray: For God’s strength as I support workers to flourish in their ministries and avoid burnout.
Church: Hsin-Yi Friendship Presbyterian Church, Taipei, Taiwan Where will you serve? Asia What will you be doing? Working with education centres. Pray: For strength and to provide the education centres with enough support.
Penny MAY 2020 • VOL 2 ISSUE 2
New harvest workers
Hannah
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LIBERIA MKs GET A NEW SCHOOLING OPTION BY DEBBIE SACRA Planning for the education of kids has always been one of the biggest challenges for families coming to the mission field. Few of us realise how culture-specific our ideas about education (and child-raising) really are until we put our kids in school outside our home countries! For the last 15 years in Liberia, choices have been very limited: an expensive international school, home-schooling, online learning or boarding school. While many missionaries in Liberia have chosen online learning, it is not possible for others whose
home countries do not accept this as legitimate. Some children may need a trained teacher to overcome a learning disability. And, as many parents are finding during the COVID-19 pandemic, homeschooling may simply not suit their personalities or gifts! Nearly 70 years ago, the first SIM missionaries in Liberia faced this same problem as they built the ELWA Radio Village. So, they created a small, one-room school for MKs. SIM Liberia’s ‘new’ idea for educating MKs is a return to the one-room school model, updated for 2020.
Missionary kids
Photos by Lauren Walker
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Our kids’ social, emotional and spiritual growth is very much on parents’ minds during the COVID-19 pandemic. Disruptions caused by evacuations and sudden changes can leave MKs coping with disappointment and loss and SIM’s Global Trauma Healing Coordinator Nancy Writebol is piloting a kids’ lesson about COVID-19 from the Trauma Healing Institute. It is educational and fun, and gives kids a chance to talk about
their questions and worries. The story of Jesus asleep in the boat during a storm and his power to still the waves reminds them Jesus is present in their situation. It is also practical, helping them think creatively about how they can keep doing the things they love. Some of the older MKs at ELWA are going to create videos of the skits in the lessons for other kids. See page 8 to learn more about this lesson, which is available on Port.
Dakar Academy, an international mission school in Senegal, is developing satellite locations to support teams like ours and help families minister with us, Nicholas and Melvina Piaget from Switzerland, with their three young boys, are such a family. Nicholas manages the IT systems for ELWA Hospital and Administration, and Melvina is a dentist, one of only three in Liberia. Without this new option, they could not remain with us. Dakar Academy will provide a teacher and the curriculum. They will support and supervise the teacher, while the missionaries in Liberia will provide logistical support and community. Other missions in Liberia will join in the co-op. If demand grows, DA will create a school for children up to age 13. Missionary families are excited for this plan to launch in August 2020. As more families join the SIM Liberia team, including our newest missionaries from the Democratic Republic of Congo, Drs Dieudonné and Christelle Lemfuka, we’re thinking intentionally about how to support the growth of our MKs as part of our field vision. Caring for their educational, emotional and social needs is a part of being a team and a ministry community. Do you know a teacher willing to serve in Liberia and teach multiple age groups? To learn more, contact Liberia Personnel Coordinator Lauren Walker: Liberia.Personnel@sim.org.
WWW.SIM.ORG
MEET PHIL BAUMAN SIM’S NEW GLOBAL DIRECTOR OF STRATEGIC INITIATIVE ANSWERS KEY QUESTIONS
How did God lead you and Andrea to SIM? After getting married, we allowed ourselves a year to adjust to married life and for Andrea to adjust to Canada. Then we began to explore whether God was calling us to use our professions in global missions. Four years later, we headed to Ghana with two little ones to live among the Sisaala of northern Ghana. What key things do you hope to achieve in your role with SIM? My prayer is that SIM will continue to be committed
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What is your favourite Bible verse? One of my favourites is 2 Cor. 5:17: ‘Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, the new creation has come: The old has gone, the new is here!’ What piece of technology could you do without/ never to without? My phone and my computer have a role in almost everything I do. I can survive without one or the other, but not both!
Q&A with an SIM leader New harvest workers
Tell us a little about your background. to accomplishing our purpose as we engage I was born in Ontario, Canada, to Christian parents communities with love and pursue kingdom and grew up in Waterloo Region, an area well known outcomes. May we focus on our purpose, our ‘why’, as Mennonite. Our family attended a gospel-centred and think creatively about accomplishing it, rather church with a strong mission emphasis. I came to than being defined by ’what we do’ or ‘how we do it’. faith at an early age, but it was This way of thinking is the core of easy in my environment to ‘do’ ministry focus and the reason for Christian things. Synergie. May we focus on our In secondary school, my COVID-19 is impacting SIM purpose, our ‘why’, and relationship with God became more in ways we can’t determine yet, real and personal, and I grew in and accelerating changes in our think creatively about my faith. I went to university to environment. I pray that as part accomplishing it ... study engineering. My programme of the Ministry Advancement interspersed academic semesters Task Force, I can serve SIM by with employment. This was a recommending adjustments to challenging but growing time. Friends and others current practices, explore new ways of doing things challenged me about my life’s direction, and I chose and pursue purpose-driven ministry strategies. to take one of my ‘work’ terms to explore missions. What inspires you when life gets difficult? I ended up at Mukinge Hospital in Zambia to assist Two key things inspire me in times like these. The with a hospital expansion. My time in Zambia gave first is that he is faithful. Andrea and I can look back me a whole new perspective on life, faith and love … on many times when we have seen God carry us Tell us a little about your family. through. The second is that God has called us into While in Zambia, as a good engineer, I consulted the what he is doing, to follow him. From an engineering nurses of the paediatric ward I was helping to design. A perspective, God choosing to use sinful humanity to lovely British nurse headed up the paediatric ward, so I accomplish his purposes seems very inefficient. But sought her advice for what the new ward should be like. not to God. That is humbling and inspiring. I consulted her a bit more than was necessary, and she figured that out. Thankfully, Andrea became my wife, the What do you do when you’re not working? mother of our kids and a wise counsellor to me. We were Andrea and I love to go on walks. We are most married in the UK, then Andrea emigrated to Canada. We refreshed when we can enjoy the beauty of are blessed with three kids: Kieran, Liam and Cara. God’s creation.
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NEWS
events
NEW TASK FORCE FOR MINISTRY ADVANCEMENT AMID COVID-19
International Director Joshua Bogunjoko has appointed a new Ministry Advancement Task Force to help us weather the impact of the COVID-19 crisis. Chaired by Global Director of Strategic Development Phil Bauman, the nine-member task force will look at our finances, our people, our ministries, our partner relations and the contexts in which we serve. It will propose ways to lessen the negative impacts of the pandemic and also identify new opportunities. The task force began work last month (April 2020) and is expected to continue until the end of this year. Please direct any questions to Phil at gdsd@sim.org.
| resources | updates
WHATSAPP GROUP: COVID-19 STORIES
Many SIM workers are finding creative ways to carry on ministry among least-reached communities during the pandemic. Global Director of Ministry Outreach Emma Brewster facilitates a WhatsApp group called ‘COVID-19 stories’ where you can share brief details of what you and your teams are continuing to do. Please join and help us see how the Lord is at work, even through this global lockdown. https://chat.whatsapp.com/Ju6cF012P5h8hIJcUx6MHV
WHATSAPP GROUP: COVID-19 PRAYERS
SIM’s COVID-19 WhatsApp prayer group is open for anyone to post prayers of praise and intercession. Please post your own prayers in any language. It has been a source of encouragement to many. https://chat.whatsapp.com/KhAjSZUvO478J0V6m9dHtF
WEEKLY DEVOTIONALS FROM JOSHUA BOGUNJOKO
Joshua’s weekly devotions to the SIM family began on March 25 and are titled, God in the centre. Watch the recordings on Vimeo or access the written versions, available in English, French and Spanish, from the COVID-19 section of Port. international.communication@sim.org www.vimeo.com/siminternational/videos
10 DAYS OF PRAYER
SIM’s annual prayer focus between Ascension and Pentecost runs from May 21-31 this year. Regional Director for Southern Africa Siegfried Ngubane has taken10 biblical ‘one anothers’ for the SIM community to meditate on as a theme for prayer. Prayer requests for SIM’s 10 global regions will accompany each day. Please plan to set aside time individually and corporately to spend time praying during this time. The 10 Days of Prayer document will be available for download on Port. International.communication@sim.org
NEWS
TRAUMA HEALING OFFERS NEW LESSON
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The Trauma Healing Institute has released new resources to help those suffering during the COVID-19 crisis. Lessons for both adults and children are available in English, French and Spanish. Small groups of 12 people or less are ideal to allow participants to share and begin to heal spiritually and emotionally. Groups can complete a whole lesson in under two hours or spread the lesson over shorter meetings. People do not need to be trained facilitators to use the
material. The lessons can be used as an introduction to the series ‘Beyond Disaster: A survivor’s guide for spiritual first aid’, which takes people further into the healing process. These free resources can be downloaded from the Port or by contacting SIM Trauma Healing Coordinator Nancy Writebol. Nancy offers Zoom orientation for both the COVID-19 lessons and Beyond Disaster. Intl.traumahealing@sim.org
PASTORAL CARE DURING COVID-19 SIM Chaplain Lead Mark Conard has assembled a team of more than 20 people who can offer pastoral care and support to SIM workers struggling with the impact of COVID-19. Team members speak multiple languages and can connect through any communication platform. mark.conard@sim.org +1 803 818 0629 WWW.SIM.ORG
LEADER APPOINTMENTS Peter Okaalet
Hiake Hegui
North East India Director, second term Start date: July 2020 Hiake and wife Rangteigong joined SIM in 2011. Hiake directed and managed the Unity Education Centre in Doro, South Sudan. After three years, he returned to NEI as the Acting Director. By January 2020, 29 NEI missionaries were fully supported by churches and individuals. Praise God for his seven years of leadership. Jonathan Cross
South Sudan Director Start Date: 9 April 2020 Jonathan joined SIM South Sudan in 2012. As Water Project Manager and Country Security Coordinator, he trained the staff to reach communities with clean water and the gospel, and colleagues to manage the security environment in South Sudan. He helped design and construct solar systems, carried out network programming and installation, and provided logistics.
Kenya Director Start Date: 9 April 2020 Peter Okaalet, a physician from Uganda, is an SIM Kenya member. He served for 15 years with Medical Assistance Program (MAP) International, including five years as senior director for Health and HIV/AIDS Policy and Advocacy. Peter has masters’ degrees in divinity and theology, and he is a trainer for the Haggai Institutes. TIME Magazine honoured him in 2005 as a hero battling preventable diseases through church engagement
John Denbok
Regional Director for North America Start Date: 30 March 2020 John has served as SIM Canada Director for eight years and has led mission organisations for the past 20 years. Prior to this, he was an executive and entrepreneur in the agri-food processing sector. Lee Sonius
Ministry Point Person for Media Start Date: May 2020 Lee has served in radio and media ministries with SIM and Reach Beyond for 32 years in Africa. Most recently, he was regional director for Sub-Saharan Africa at Reach Beyond. Lee is a founding member of Africa by Radio (now AbR Media).
SIM INTERNATIONAL DIRECTORS PAST AND PRESENT
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Malcolm and Liz McGregor, Jim and Carol Plueddemann and Joshua and Joanna Bogunjoko together at the leader development event before COVID-19.
medical electives in Angola and a couple will serve with SIM Ecuador. We continue to mentor SIM leaders and run the unofficial SIM Guest House in Edinburgh! malcolm.mcgregor@sim.org, liz.mcgregor@sim.org Jim & Carol Plueddemann: We are in our second year at SIM’s retirement village in Sebring, Florida. Carol is involved in a community chorus, helping at a food pantry with Spanish-speaking guests, YMCA classes, a book club,
gardening and many prayerful friendships. Jim teaches at Trinity Divinity’s Florida campus and has led seminars in Seoul, Budapest, and in the US. He has enjoyed leading a Village Book Conversation group. We participate in a Spanish Bible study and church plant. This is our sixth year in SIM’s Leadership Development programme and the mutual learning has been a deep joy! jim.plueddemann@sim.org; pilgrims2gether@gmail.com
LEADER APPOINTMENTS
Three SIM International Directors met in Israel on an SIM leader development event in February 2020 - Joshua and Joanna Bogunjoko (2013-present), Malcolm and Liz McGregor (2003-2013) and Jim and Carol Plueddemann (1993-2003). Malcolm & Liz McGregor: Our lives are full. Malcolm spent four years on the pastoral team at our Edinburgh church, Carrubbers Christian Centre, working on community engagement. Liz joined the Langham Partnership’s Post Graduate Scholars programme. In 2017 Malcolm joined her to care for international PhD scholars studying in the UK and Western Europe. We also coordinate the Langham Global Scholar Care Team. SIM was new to our church, but two people have completed SIM
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CALLED
CALLED: ISRAEL RODRIGUEZ
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SIM Ecuador member Israel Rodríguez serves as team leader of the El Sendero Youth Ministry, which reaches young people with the gospel and disciples believers aged 15 to 25. Working with schools and universities, El Sendero offers many activities including sports, art, English classes and Bible studies. Born in Guayaquil, Israel gave his life to Christ at the age of 18. One night as his pastor was preaching, the Lord opened his eyes to his sinfulness. He began to grow in faith and see in scripture how love for God leads to preaching the gospel to those who have not heard it. In 2010, he heard about leastreached peoples for the first time at a mission conference. God showed Israel that he is worthy to receive praise from all people and that every follower of Christ is called to The Lord did not speak audibly to him. He started more missionary the Great Commission. This began Israel, but to his heart: “Israel, this is and Bible training. In 2012, Israel his missionary calling. a fallen and lost world and the gospel joined SIM. In 2013, the Lord As he served the Lord at church, is the only message of salvation. allowed Israel to serve in China, his burden for the lost grew. He read Money won’t give eternal hope to home to almost 100 million missionary biographies, including the hopeless. Go and preach.” So, Muslim and Tibetan Buddhists. that of Hudson he went on the Israel served for two years, Taylor, who was mission trip learning the language, making His desire is to see a missionary to to Haiti. disciples among university young disciples of Jesus China and became In Haiti, students and leading Bible studies a hero of the faith Israel saw God in a house church. There he saw making disciples. for Israel. move in people’s the church’s great need for biblical Later, he hearts. His disciple-making. signed up for a missions trip to Haiti. team led Bible studies, worked Today, Israel serves with SIM Then he thought: “My family is not in orphanages and built homes in Loja, Ecuador, as leader of El doing well financially, and I am going alongside local people. On his last Sendero Youth Ministry. His desire to spend all this money? I will just day in Haiti, he prayed: “Here am I. is to see young disciples of Jesus send money to the people in Haiti.” Send me!” making disciples. He wants to see However, he didn’t have peace. Back home, his pastor, church young people catch God’s vision for One morning on the way to work, elders and family confirmed his Ecuador and the nations. his motorcycle broke down. As he calling, prayed for him and blessed Cesar.rodriguez@sim.org waited for it to be fixed, he saw a man standing nearby on the sidewalk. PLEASE PRAY: Suddenly, the man threw himself under a truck, dying instantly. Israel For young people to hold the faith, walk with God daily, and share the was shocked. Later, he drove his gospel and make disciples of other young people. motorcycle away and started crying. For finances to develop the ministry in 2020. The image of the man taking his life For receptive hearts among relatives so they would return to God. played over and over in his head. He For a worker to help us communicate the gospel through social asked God: “Why did you allow me to media and technology. This is a great need during COVID-19. see such a horrible thing?” WWW.SIM.ORG
ARE YOU SIGNED UP? SIM’s ArtsBeat newsletter equips and encourages SIM’s creative community around the world. Contact intl.arts@sim.org to subscribe. The monthly newsletter from Engaging the University will keep you informed about university ministry across SIM. Contact intl.university@sim.org to subscribe.
Caring Connections is a new quarterly newsletter for SIM’s many healthcare workers. It is currently produced bi-weekly. Contact Jana.Faus@sim.org to subscribe. The new Faithful Witness newsletter provides stories and prayer about this growing initiative of SIM. To subscribe: http://eepurl.com/gr_pbb.
For Freedom’s newsletter gives all the latest information on SIM ministries related to anti-trafficking. Contact intl.forfreedom@sim.org to subscribe. SIM’s Sports Friends newsletter keeps you up to date on their ministries in 15 countries. Go to www.sports-friends.org/en/ourmedia/newsletters to subscribe. Do you have a ministry-focused newsletter that you would like to share here?
AfriGO and Allons-y! promote missions mobilisation in Africa and among its diaspora. Available in English, French and now kiSwahili. Contact afrigo_english@sim.org to subscribe.
Email connect@sim.org
LEARNING CAFÉS Sites’ list. On the PDC page, select the top left tab: Learning Cafés. Look for an invitation to upcoming cafés from international.workerdevelopment@sim.org • May: TCKs – Supporting Young People in Transition • June: Intergenerational Partnerships • July: Depression/Burnout • August: Prayer
FOR FREEDOM ONLINE COURSE
FREE VIDEO SERIES ON ISLAM
SIM’s For Freedom point people, Sarah Scott-Webb and Karine Woldhuis, are excited to offer their introductory course on human trafficking, For Freedom Basics. It takes an hour and can be accessed through the SIM e-Learning Centre (on LearnUpon). To set up a LearnUpon account, email: international.elearning@sim.org When we understand how trafficking works, we can better address the real risks people are facing, even more so with the impact of COVID-19. This course is appropriate for all SIM workers and provides basic knowledge useful for all ministries. Intl.ForFreedom@sim.org
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SIM’s Dr Benjamin Hegeman is offering a video lecture series called Advancing the Impossible. Watch them in any order and at your own pace. Topics include: 1. Qur’an, Hadith and Shari’a 2. Islamic history 3. Islam in the 20th and 21st centuries 4. Ministering to Muslims and missionary history 5. Conversion, discipleship and church planting Ben has served in Benin, West Africa, for 30 years and his speciality is the Qur’an, the origins and history of Islam, contemporary radical Islam and animist or Folk Islam. www.liliastrottercenter.org/copy-of-ltc-global-courses
Are you signed up?
SIM Learning Cafés are 75-minute webinars available on Zoom to everyone in SIM. They foster SIM’s value of lifelong learning and support our desire to flourish. Watch the many previous Learning Cafés on Port. Click the ‘International Leadership and Services’ button on the landing page, then go to ‘People Development & Care’ from the ‘Related
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JUST ONE LIFE
JUST ONE LIFE
BY CHRIS CONTI
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CHILE YOUTH CONFERENCE
Thousands of young people have said ‘yes’ to God’s mission. More than 2,000 young people in Latin America attended the CIMA International Missions Conference in February in Santiago, Chile. During the six-day event, speakers challenged the youth with the theme: ‘We have just this one life. How are you going to live it?’ Matzi Vögelin, director of CIMA International 2020 said: “The radical life of Jesus makes us question the values and foundation of our lives and will lead us to ask ourselves what our role is in his Kingdom.” More than 200 pastors and leaders also attended the event and had separate sessions to learn mission topics. PLEASE PRAY: SIM International Director For young people in Latin America to remain Joshua Bogunjoko, Director of SIM faithful to their call. Latinoamérica Julieta Murillo, and For follow-up with contacts made at the SIM booth. SIM Peru mobiliser Chris Conti, each For good partnerships with local agencies and shared in several plenary sessions, churches in Latin America. workshops and forums. Their topics included: Using your profession in missions, Reaching Muslim women, As people entered the booth, they were How to disciple children and teens, Reaching the challenged to write their name on a sticker unreached, Self-care, Pastoral care for pastors, and place it on a huge map banner, making a Spiritual warfare, and Mission mobilisation. commitment to pray for that specific area in the Six SIM staff were kept busy at the booth world and to seek God’s will for their involvement in answering questions and explaining SIM’s resources. that area. They encouraged participants to realise their specific More than 50 props and frames for selfies role in God’s mission, through a mini-magazine, provided even more interaction with participants. which included pages to fill in as people prayed Uniquely, the CIMA conference offered more through their calling. than 50 mission trips leaving directly from CIMA to 15 different countries. The conference, which takes place every four years, challenged young people to live their lives for God’s glory, with Jesus as their example. The last day, every hand was marked with henna as if pierced, a symbol of dying to themselves and living for God. This mark lasted about a week on participants’ hands, but we pray the impact of CIMA International willlast a lifetime.
Joshua and Joanna pose for a photo using one of the SIM booth selfie props.
ProVisión is a Chilean sending organisation founded in 2006 to send workers through partner missions, such as SIM. ProVisión has sent 32 adults as mid- or long-term (more than a year) and 23 adults as short-term missionaries. Three have served on SIM teams in Mozambique, China and Pakistan. They have 18 candidates now; two will serve on SIM teams.
WWW.SIM.ORG
VENEZUELAN REFUGEES IN PERU RECEIVE WEEKLY FOOD AID BY MATTHIAS KULLEN Some weeks ago, I met a group of Venezuelans on the street in Arequipa, Peru, without any means of survival. Because of their dire situation, I brought them food and paid for a few days’ accommodation in a hostel. Many Venezuelans currently share this situation. The UN estimates at least 12,000 Venezuelan refugees are living in Arequipa alone. Their plight is already hard. In ‘normal times’ many sell plastic bags or sweets on the street, or clean windshields. The COVID-19 curfew
We also insert a copy of the book of John, Christian literature and sometimes a handwritten note of encouragement. Where possible, we look for conversations with the Venezuelans. Many are open to the gospel. Our team is also considering how to continue our contact with them after the crisis. Visit the project’s blog:
https://bit.ly/2YZmHKO
Matthias Kullen serves in student ministry with IFES in different universities in Arequipa and as a Bible teacher at the Bible Institute of the Iglesia Evangélica Peruana (a Peruvian denomination) since 2012. Sent by DMG, he is from Hülben, Germany.
COVID-19 RELIEF
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which began on March 16 means there are no customers. The curfew really hits the poor, especially those without formal employment. Peruvians have been receiving financial support from the state but this ‘rescue umbrella’ does not cover the now one million Venezuelan refugees, nor every Peruvian family in need. SIM’s Peru team launched a relief project (#91155). From donations, we are providing emergency food relief and, where necessary, the cost of accommodation. However, due to the budget and the growing number of people, we have decided to focus on food. It is mainly for Venezuelans, but also for some Peruvians in extreme need. In the first week of the project, we distributed 150 packages; in the second week 250 and in the third 500. This week we have 800 families on our list and rising. A food bag costs about 30 soles (8 Euros, 9 USD) and contains two kg potatoes, two kg rice, one kg spaghetti, one kg lentils, one kg oatmeal, 500 gr beans, 500 gr sugar, three cans of milk, two cans of tuna and a bar of soap.
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COVID-19 STORY
COVID-19 HELPS GROW URUGUAYAN SEMINARY
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BY TIANNA HAAS
Uruguay’s long resistance to the gospel has earned it the With many people laid off from work, the seminary name, Graveyard of Missions. It is the most secularised has waived tuition costs for the semester. Subsequent nation in Latin America with the highest percentage of semesters will be half price until the economy recovers. atheists and agnostics; it also claims the highest rates of Funds raised through SIM project 91173 will help with suicide and depression on the continent. some of the shortfall. Yet today, more Uruguayan church leaders than ever Dueck and SIM Uruguay Director Andres Corrales, have gained access to biblical and theological training. from Costa Rica, both envision church growth as Why? One could say it’s because of COVID-19. a direct outcome of the programme. In one church Previously, education through the Biblical alone, 14 worship leaders are attending the school of Seminary of Uruguay was mostly limited to those who worship. Before the coronavirus, none of them could could attend the campus in the capital of Montevideo. travel to the classes. Some professors travelled and hosted trainings in 35 The classes have also created a sense of cities. Still, this was beyond the reach of many. camaraderie, no small feat during prolonged weeks of This year, in partnership isolation and hardships with SIM, the seminary brought on by the PLEASE PRAY: launched a new two-year coronavirus. For professors as they teach on new platforms, course with 200 pastors In 1995, just 1,000 navigate technological setbacks, and continue and church leaders enrolled churches existed in the rightly discerning the scripture. — an encouraging number. entire country, most For students to persevere in faith and in But barely a week in, the with between 30 and 50 their studies. Pray the Lord provides income president announced a members. Today, there are for them and for the seminary. national lockdown. Even several thousand, but a For the Uruguayan church to strengthen those living nearby could deficit of trained leaders spiritually and in number. not attend. means they are not always For more professors and staff to come from So, the seminary decided equipped to speak into the around the world and help grow the seminary. to try recording the classes challenges in their society. on video and distributing Ernesto said: “Even in them on YouTube and WhatsApp. Students began to this hard time, they are acquiring knowledge and skills to interact in Zoom sessions. Today, virtual learning has serve in significant ways when all this finally over.” overcome the barrier of distance. At a glance, one might think the seminary campus Seminary director Ernesto Dueck said: “We is the ‘graveyard of missions’ with its locked doors and know that this is a strategic moment to continue empty classrooms. Yet the student body has jumped to encourage and prepare leaders for the harvest, 30 per cent within weeks and is set to grow beyond especially during and after this crisis. Uruguayans to Spanish-speakers anywhere. “The students are sharing the video classes with their It has taken an historic pandemic to grow this teams and people who couldn’t travel to Montevideo. We young seminary in the Western hemisphere’s most are anticipating many more people following the courses ‘non-religious’ nation. than before. We can serve more people!” www.facebook.com/seminariobiblicouruguay/ WWW.SIM.ORG
NEW RELIEF PROJECT FOR SIM MEDICAL MINISTRIES BY DANIEL NOLKER
RECIPIENTS OF COVID-19 IMMEDIATE RESPONSE RELIEF Angola: CEML Hospital Bolivia: Yawisla Family Medicine Centre Chad: Community Health and Guinebor 2 Hospital Ecuador: Medical teaching and discipleship Ethiopia: Discovery Eye Centre India: Duncan Hospital Kenya: Kijabe Hospital and 2 Kabarak ministry sites Liberia: ELWA Hospital Malawi: Partners in Hope and 2 church-based health ministry sites MAY 2020 • VOL 2 ISSUE 2
Mozambique: informal health ministries Nepal: Green Pastures Hospital Niger: Galmi Hospital, Danja Hospital Nigeria: Egbe Hospital Paraguay: New Life Mobile Clinic Peru: Diospi Suyana Hospital Senegal: Community Health South Sudan: Grieve Memorial Clinic Zambia: Mukinge Hospital Zimbabwe: Rusitu Hospital
COVID-19 RELIEF
Today, SIM has about 250 health care professionals* working in at least 36 hospitals and clinics, as well as nearly 50 programmes focused on the health of communities or on specific vulnerable groups. The COVID-19 crisis has impacted all of these, operationally and financially. Equipment and supply shortages make responding more difficult, especially where resources are few and health systems fragile. But SIM health ministry leaders have initiated movement. Fewer non-COVID patients are being the COVID-19 Health Ministry Immediate Response treated and they usually pay for care – a considerable project. It is led by Mark Faus, SIM’s Health Ministries source of revenue for hospitals and clinics. Operations Manager and former chief executive of Dr Mikey Bryant, serving at the ELWA Hospital in CEML Hospital in Angola. Liberia where Ebola patients were treated in 2014, said: This project will provide vital equipment and training “God has asked us to stay and serve.... He has called us to locations in Africa, Asia and South America. Relief here for such a time as this.” As with other hospitals, will be allocated where most needed, either by providing incoming short-term healthcare workers have had to funds, arranging the supply of equipment, or training in cancel their trips, but the hospital’s staff of Liberian triage and treatments. and international workers Personal protective continues to offer services. equipment (PPE) is the PLEASE PRAY: For the project to ease the financial strain. most pressing need Help support the relief For strength and endurance for our for staff working with SIM workers who feel led healthcare professionals. suspected COVID-19 can join in raising prayer For every sick person under SIM care to patients. SIM surgeon and funding for our medical receive the needed treatment and to turn Deborah Eisenhut ministries. Feel free to to Jesus in their suffering. shared with more than include a paragraph about 50 medical personnel this opportunity in your in 10 countries how she newsletters or emails. Be sure to refer to project # 99753. produced home-made PPE during the Ebola crisis. A • 100 USD will furnish one day’s supply of disposable video of that training is available along with notes. protective attire or one week’s supply of reusable (Email international.communication@sim.org.) attire for one doctor or nurse. In many places, basic materials, such as face masks • 50 USD will supply 100 surgical masks, 20 N95 and soap, are unavailable. The international trade that rebreathing masks or 15 face shields, providing filtered supplies local businesses is cut off by border closings. For breathing for medical staff. example, Mukinge Hospital in Zambia is requesting 7,000 • 25 USD will supply 25 bars of soap to help protect USD to buy soap – a vital commodity if handwashing is to our medical workers, patients and their communities. be effective in stopping the spread of the virus. International.health-opsdirector@sim.org The growing economic stress on SIM medical ministries comes also from restrictions on population *Not every health professional is doing health ministry.
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Faithful Witness is a collaborative effort. Watch this video to hear from SIM leaders who have helped launch this initiative to place teams where there is no Christian witness. https://vimeo.com/405074137
Interested in hearing from us more? You can sign up for specific Faithful Witness email updates. These emails will highlight stories of workers and communities. http://eepurl.com/gr_pbb
A short stay in Mali turned into something much more for Puti. Find out how God changed Puti's plans and used the Faithful Witness initiative for his glory. Read more at sim.org/faithfulwitness.
FAITHFUL WITNESS
In the midst of COVID-19, we continue to plan for the future. We've added two locations in North Africa and South Asia. We continue to mobilise for teams in Chad, Mali, Thailand, and Nigeria.
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