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<strong>together</strong><br />
<strong>January</strong> <strong>2015</strong> Issue 144<br />
Looking forward
“We worship Christ in heart, word and action"<br />
About this issue ...<br />
Looking Forward<br />
SIM leaders met in early 2014 to<br />
consider the Mission’s future. Our<br />
reason for being was radically<br />
examined. Like our first pioneers,<br />
today’s multi-ethnic SIM partners<br />
strive to be Christ’s witnesses to the<br />
uttermost parts of the earth, irrespective<br />
of barriers and compelled<br />
by his great love.<br />
In this issue, International Director<br />
Joshua Bogunjoko expands on this<br />
foundational focus. Then we look at<br />
radio evangelism in the Horn of Africa,<br />
even reaching those who have never<br />
met someone who has a personal<br />
relationship with Jesus Christ. We also<br />
feature Kiwi partners whose hearts are<br />
centred on Southern Africa and South<br />
America, and introduce a fresh way of<br />
reaching an urban Asian community,<br />
through art.<br />
Official publication of SIM (Serving In Mission), an interdenominational<br />
evangelical Protestant mission. SIM includes Africa Evangelical Fellowship,<br />
Andes Evangelical Mission, International Christian Fellowship, and Sudan<br />
Interior Mission.<br />
SIM is a dispersed<br />
community of God’s people<br />
who delight to worship him<br />
and are passionate about<br />
the Gospel, seeking to fulfil<br />
the mission of Jesus Christ<br />
in the world.<br />
COVER: Unreached fishing<br />
villagers on an Indian Ocean island<br />
For security reasons, some contributors may use pseudonyms. Stock<br />
photographs are sometimes used to help represent stories. Except for<br />
stock photographs, all images copyright ©2013 SIM and its licensors.<br />
All rights reserved.<br />
SIM New Zealand (#CC28002) is a registered charitable entity in terms of<br />
the Charities Act 2005. For more information, visit the Charities Register<br />
at www.charities.govt.nz<br />
SIM New Zealand, PO Box 38-588, Howick, Auckland, 2145<br />
Phone: 09 538 0004; Freephone: 0508 47 46 69<br />
Email: nz.info@sim.org<br />
Office: 12B Picton Street, Howick, Auckland, 2014<br />
<strong>January</strong> <strong>2015</strong><br />
2
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Hannah Pincott, to Zambia<br />
“I'm going to Mukinge Hospital in Zambia to serve as a medical<br />
student for 6 weeks as part of the last year of my degree.<br />
I have been on some short term missions trips to Asia<br />
recently ... I'm quite keen to do some long term missions<br />
work in future and I see this trip as a great starting point.<br />
Currently I attend The Street City Church, Wellington.”<br />
Natalie Berryman, to Malawi<br />
Kevin & Elizabeth Manson,<br />
Benjamin, Thomas &<br />
Samuel, to Zambia<br />
We’re excited to be heading<br />
back to Mukinge Hospital,<br />
Zambia, where Kevin will work<br />
in maintenance and projects<br />
while Elizabeth homeschools<br />
the children, re-establishes relationships with graduate nurses and staff, and helps<br />
out where needed. From 2002 Elizabeth worked as a tutor at the Nurses Training<br />
School there. After marrying in 2004, they both worked at Mukinge till 2007 when<br />
they returned to NZ for the birth of Sam. Mansons are supported by South West<br />
Baptist Church, Christchurch (formally known as Spreydon Baptist).<br />
“I’m a registered nurse heading to Lilongwe, Malawi to<br />
volunteer for an inpatient hospital project run by Partners<br />
in Hope who care for those suffering from HIV and AIDS and<br />
other ailments. I am looking forward to the experience of<br />
being immersed in the culture of Africa and nursing in a<br />
developing country. I attend Life Church in Auckland.”<br />
Jessica Cullen, to Nepal<br />
“As a final year medical student my 3-month placement will<br />
be spent in Tansen and Okhaldhunga mission hospitals in<br />
Nepal. I am looking forward to this elective as it will be my<br />
first experience of medical mission, the reason I went to<br />
medical school in the first place. My supporting church is<br />
Hokowhitu Baptist, Palmerson North.”
SIM’S reason for being:<br />
The Big ‘Why?’<br />
Last February a group of SIM leaders gathered<br />
in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, to pray about,<br />
reflect on and discuss what might be God’s direction<br />
for SIM’s future. We considered papers by<br />
missiologists and other experts. Our members<br />
around the world were asked for their thoughts<br />
and opinions, and joined in a week of prayer that<br />
included fasting on one day. We were seeking<br />
the face of the Lord, wanting to understand in a<br />
new way his heart for the nations.<br />
For more than 120 years God has guided<br />
SIM, in different ways at different times. As the<br />
they didn’t<br />
think of the<br />
steps they<br />
were taking<br />
as sacrifice,<br />
but rather<br />
as worship<br />
world changes, and mission contexts (both sending<br />
and receiving) change, it has become imperative<br />
that we discover God’s purpose for the<br />
mission in our generation. The questions of why<br />
SIM exists, why we mobilise, recruit and fundraise<br />
– and why we ask you to join us – have become<br />
urgent ones.<br />
In Malaysia we looked for clarity, and we were<br />
not disappointed. The Lord worked in our hearts<br />
and minds, challenging us in so many ways. When<br />
God called our pioneers to Latin America, Asia<br />
and Africa, they joyfully responded because of<br />
their love for Christ and the lost. This great love<br />
remains our heartbeat today. SIM exists so that<br />
we might worship Christ in heart, word and deed. We live to:<br />
• Make him known and make disciples where he is not known irrespective<br />
of barriers and compelled by his great love;<br />
• Serve his churches in fulfilling his mission across cultures;<br />
• Enable those he calls to participate in his harvest irrespective of where<br />
they come from or where they go.<br />
Our pioneers did not go out thinking of the steps they were taking as<br />
sacrifice, but rather as worship. Though they sacrificed much, to them it<br />
<strong>January</strong> <strong>2015</strong><br />
4
was a sweet-smelling offering to the Lord. As David<br />
Livingston said, “If a commission by an earthly king<br />
is considered an honour, how can a commission by<br />
a Heavenly King be considered a sacrifice?”<br />
We step out today with the same heart of<br />
worship, willing to give up family and home for<br />
Christ. We go to distant places because the King of<br />
Kings has commissioned us. We offer our skills, gifts<br />
and lives, as we proclaim the gospel and reach out<br />
to those in need. We exist to worship Christ in the<br />
“everydayness” of life.<br />
How is our worship demonstrated? We strive to make him known<br />
and make disciples where he is not known, irrespective of barriers and<br />
compelled by his great love. We respond to this love by proclaiming the<br />
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wanting to<br />
understand<br />
in a new<br />
way his<br />
heart for<br />
the nations<br />
Good News. As a part of Christ’s<br />
Church, we have gifts and<br />
expertise in cross-cultural ministry.<br />
Our work enables churches<br />
to respond in joyful obedience<br />
to his commission and command<br />
to be witnesses to the uttermost<br />
parts of the earth.<br />
Churches can trust us,<br />
knowing we will provide ministry<br />
opportunities, personal care and<br />
supervision for those they are<br />
sending. SIM has the privilege of<br />
having a footprint on every continent<br />
except Antarctica. So we’re<br />
well placed to enable people, irrespective<br />
of where they come from<br />
or where they go, to join others who are making Christ known around the<br />
world. We focus on people who live and die without the gospel. We disciple<br />
new believers into churches, that they might effectively reach their society<br />
and others beyond.<br />
This clarity of purpose and reason for being will guide us as we trust<br />
the Lord to help us continue to serve his churches. Join us in the worship of<br />
Christ in heart, word and action.<br />
Joshua Bogunjoko<br />
International Director
“<br />
I listen to the radio<br />
with six fellow mechanics<br />
... my wife is also<br />
a Christian, and we<br />
have three children. I<br />
taught them the Bible.<br />
They also listen to the<br />
“Voice of New Life”<br />
(VNL) every night with<br />
us and they understand<br />
that we listen to<br />
the radio secretly, so<br />
they can’t tell anyone<br />
about it. For about<br />
ten years my family<br />
members and my six<br />
colleagues have been<br />
listening to the<br />
broadcast.<br />
”<br />
Another long-time listener to VNL, the Somali language Christian radio<br />
programme, writes: “I’m 38, and for 20 years I did not miss your broadcast<br />
for even a single night. The first time was like this: As I entered our neighbour’s<br />
house, I heard the voices of the broadcast … I stood for a while outside<br />
the door and listened ... then I entered his room and asked him, ‘What<br />
are you listening to?’ He was so frightened and asked me not to tell anyone.<br />
He told me that he had been listening to your broadcast for a long time and<br />
that he was a Christian … we continued listening <strong>together</strong> for two years, until<br />
my neighbour got sick and finally went to be with the Lord.”<br />
Good news on the airwaves<br />
Living Water, pastel drawing, ZC<br />
“There are many camel herders living in the south,” says a Christian<br />
listener. “About 50 come <strong>together</strong> every night to socialise. For a long time I<br />
used to visit that area in order to buy camels. One night those camel herders<br />
<strong>January</strong> <strong>2015</strong> 6
A Voice<br />
of<br />
Life<br />
7 sim.org.nz<br />
Stories from<br />
underground<br />
believers ...<br />
“VNL is like a<br />
heavenly<br />
pipeline of<br />
water for<br />
Somalis”<br />
saw me listening to VNL, BBC and VOA,<br />
and they began to listen along with me.<br />
When I was leaving, they asked me<br />
to leave the radio for them. I set the<br />
frequency to VNL… Yesterday the man<br />
responsible for our camels arrived to<br />
give me a report. He told me that those<br />
camel herders like the radio so much<br />
that they listen every night. They are<br />
illiterate and have no idea about city<br />
life, only about their camels.<br />
“Nevertheless they are drinking<br />
from the spring of VNL. Pray for them,<br />
and ask the Lord to protect me from<br />
evil doers who threaten me because I<br />
witness and invite people to listen to<br />
VNL. I am not afraid of death because<br />
Christ is my life and death would be a<br />
benefit for me. Still I believe that I can<br />
share the Gospel with many people;<br />
therefore, I need your prayers”.<br />
A regular radio listener says,“VNL<br />
is like a heavenly pipeline of water designed by God for Somalis, so that they<br />
may drink, through it, the grace of his Holy Spirit…I pray for you always, and<br />
I thank God for he has raised those heroes of VNL to establish the Somali<br />
church.“<br />
Somali listeners with the internet can download VNL radio programmes<br />
from the New Life website (www.noloshacusub.net) along with other valuable<br />
resources such as the Bible, correspondence courses, and music. Since<br />
being launched in 2007 there<br />
have been over 268,795 visits<br />
to this website from over<br />
201,805 individuals<br />
in 6,429 cities in 182<br />
countries. Social<br />
media such as YouTube and<br />
Facebook are also bringing<br />
the Gospel to Somalis .<br />
Give<br />
Contact nz.donor@sim.org and refer to<br />
“Voice of New Life” Project #088900<br />
Pray<br />
For those using the VNL to witness to<br />
others, and for the programmes to reach<br />
more and more Somalis
“We first went<br />
out to fly<br />
famine relief<br />
work in Sudan<br />
in 1985 — that<br />
was a tough<br />
place to<br />
start !”<br />
Flying the Gospel<br />
Dean and Kaylene Yeoman live in South Africa near the Kruger<br />
National Park but work across the border in Mozambique, ferrying<br />
pastors, education and development teams, medical teams<br />
and supplies, doing emergency evacuations and keeping isolated<br />
villages in touch with the outside world. They say, “We are privileged<br />
to be part of it.”<br />
Most places where they operate,<br />
flying mission Mercy Air has been<br />
working for years and “the locals associate<br />
the orange and white helicopter<br />
with a medical clinic when we fly<br />
over their village,” Dean says.<br />
Zambezi Delta is a place with no<br />
roads, life expectancy is about 35,<br />
and death by hippo, disease or in<br />
childbirth is not uncommon. Crocs,<br />
mosquitoes and tidal mud are also<br />
dangers that limit access. In the<br />
rest of rural Mozambique roads are<br />
basic and rough and transport is<br />
unreliable and expensive. Getting<br />
fuel for the helicopter is a major<br />
hassle — takes a lot of time to<br />
organise. It’s trucked in drums to<br />
<strong>January</strong> <strong>2015</strong> 8
the two main bases that Dean works<br />
from and stored there in shipping<br />
containers.<br />
Alongside the humanitarian<br />
work, Mercy Air partners with those<br />
involved in church planting and<br />
evangelism. Dean says, “After more<br />
than a year transporting teams to<br />
the Zambezi Delta village of Rampa<br />
to teach the Firm foundations Bible<br />
programme, these people have<br />
finally heard the Gospel message<br />
and 33 people made a decision to<br />
be followers of Christ. Pray that they<br />
will remain strong in their faith as<br />
they have little support.”<br />
The Yeomans previously worked<br />
in Sudan, Cameroon, Kenya and<br />
Ethiopia with Helimission (seconded<br />
from SIM). Going out to fly famine<br />
relief in Sudan in 1985 was a tough<br />
start. When a colleague started<br />
Mercy Air’s helicopter division<br />
seven years ago to<br />
do flood relief work<br />
in Mozambique, he<br />
invited them to<br />
work there. Dean<br />
did some short<br />
term stints and<br />
the couple have<br />
been full time with<br />
Mercy Air for one<br />
and a half years. The<br />
mission has been operating<br />
small aeroplanes in Southern<br />
Africa for nearly 25 years.<br />
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Kaylene, a teacher by profession<br />
specialising in English as a Second<br />
Language, teaches staff and pupils<br />
at ‘the wee farm school down the<br />
road’ when not on flying missions.<br />
Otherwise she often works with<br />
the education team; they’ve had<br />
some encouraging results with a few<br />
young mothers in one village who<br />
are mastering basic reading skills.<br />
New technology – chalk boards —<br />
were introduced to progress from<br />
reading to writing.<br />
The Joy of a New Book<br />
“Another time flying out to the Delta<br />
we took a new book,” Kaylene says.<br />
“These villages have access to only<br />
three other books in their own language,<br />
so a new book creates great<br />
excitement. After seeing a big coloured<br />
version, each village was left<br />
with small copies at 10 cents each.<br />
“My heart melted as I<br />
watched one young<br />
boy seize his new<br />
book, drop onto<br />
the grass mat in<br />
a dilapidated<br />
hut, oblivious to<br />
all around, and<br />
falteringly read<br />
aloud to himself.<br />
Others bought<br />
books, not because<br />
they can read but because<br />
they are hopeful one day they will.”<br />
continued over the page
“The locals associate<br />
the helicopter with<br />
a medical clinic<br />
when we fly over<br />
their village”<br />
Not only does Mercy Air have to<br />
maintain documentation in two<br />
different countries, but also multiple<br />
languages are spoken. In South<br />
Africa, as well as English and Afrikaans,<br />
the local language is SiSwati.<br />
In Mozambique it’s Portuguese and<br />
Sena, with Zulu and Shangaan in the<br />
south. “We are struggling to learn<br />
Portuguese as we go,” Dean says. “I<br />
have to use a translator in the south<br />
of Moz.<br />
“The rules about visa issue into<br />
Mozambique change every three<br />
months when we apply. Last time<br />
we were warned that they might<br />
not continue to issue us visas because<br />
we apply so often. However,<br />
we don’t meet the criteria for residency<br />
in Mozambique either. We<br />
just continue to pray that this door<br />
remains open for us.<br />
“Generally we enjoy good cooperation<br />
and favour with government<br />
departments. We work with several<br />
of them — particularly provincial<br />
hospitals — and have established<br />
good relationships with them.”<br />
The work is expanding, as a second<br />
helicopter has been bought from<br />
the US and two young Swiss pilots<br />
have been accepted as trainees.<br />
Mentoring them adds a new dimension<br />
to Dean and Kaylene’s ministry.<br />
Pray<br />
• That the way stays open for flying<br />
in Mozambique, and the Yeomans<br />
continue getting visas and<br />
new important documents.<br />
• That the second helicopter and<br />
new trainee pilots are successfully<br />
integrated into the work.<br />
• For safety while flying.<br />
• That remote villagers who have<br />
decided to follow Christ get the<br />
support they need to grow in the<br />
faith.<br />
<strong>January</strong> <strong>2015</strong> 10
A 16-year-old boy was lying on his bed just waiting to die from HIV related<br />
illnesses. No hope; no self-value. After 15 months of the team working with<br />
him and his family, he now has a full-time job, full health and his family are<br />
restoring their very broken relationships. This is God’s radical grace at work in<br />
Chiang Mai, where half of those affected with the illness are under 22.<br />
Radical Grace: looking forward<br />
Now that Kenneth Fleck and his family are returning to New Zealand, local<br />
leadership is taking the Radical Grace Project he began in Northern Thailand<br />
into the future, continuing to work creatively and holistically with people with<br />
HIV, their families and local communities .<br />
The new director, Prasert (Daeng) Dechaboon and his wife Ann have been<br />
working in this field since 2009; also in the team are Sutin, Annie and Daa,<br />
with help from Mary Raikes from Tauranga and Jacqui Croxon from Australia.<br />
Cliff and Lynell Thomas are supporting this project as part of their new role in<br />
Thailand. “Daeng has the vision to lead SIM’s HIV response in this country,”<br />
Kenneth says. “In fact, because he’s local, new doors have opened. The biggest<br />
challenge is working with people’s attitudes, personally, spiritually and practically,<br />
as we bring Jesus into some of the messiest environments, both in the<br />
church and the community at large.” There seems to be a spiritual issue around<br />
communication in this part of the world, where it’s normal to sweep difficult<br />
situations ‘under the mat’. Daeng explains, “Radical Grace is the mission of<br />
bringing hope to all of life through the grace of God, which is only possible as<br />
we live true to our name.” He aims to model this central theme<br />
of God’s radical grace to others in ministry.<br />
Give<br />
Daeng and some of the team<br />
• $15 will pay for a care<br />
package for 1 person;<br />
• $30 will send 1 person to<br />
a holistic healing camp;<br />
• $100 buys a training<br />
module;<br />
• $150 buys a life skills<br />
course for girls in prison.<br />
Contact nz.donor@sim.org<br />
and quote project # 98382.<br />
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“Yes, it does take courage<br />
and sacrifice. So many times<br />
I have wanted to give up.”<br />
Willing,<br />
Called,<br />
Preparing to go<br />
God’s call to serve him comes in different ways — but<br />
one thing seems to be constant: we’ve already told<br />
him that we are willing. For Darnelle Richardson<br />
this was by quitting her job and making a career<br />
change. She had no idea where God might take her,<br />
but she was available.<br />
Then one day at her church some people from<br />
HCJB spoke about their mission in South America;<br />
afterwards Darnelle was telling one of the visitors<br />
that she worked with special needs kids. That’s when she was<br />
introduced to Casa de Fe, an orphanage in Ecuador. “Where was Ecuador?!<br />
I had no idea,” she says, “so I found it on the internet. As soon as I saw on<br />
the orphanage website that it was Christ-centred, and listened to the needs<br />
they had — I thought to myself, ‘I can do this!’.” For about a year while she<br />
tried to put the idea to the back of her mind, it wouldn’t go away. Then circumstances<br />
changed and suddenly the opportunity arose for her to go and<br />
serve there for six months. “God provided everything!”<br />
So she went, intending to find out if Ecuador was where the Lord wants<br />
her to serve long term. “I asked him to not only show me, but to make it real.<br />
And he did, in two ways, just so I could be sure. One wasn’t enough for me.<br />
First, I was given my own personal tribal name, Ongimei, by Christians of the<br />
Waorani tribe (incorrectly known as Auca Indians in the 1950s). Secondly, a<br />
local family invited me to be the Godmother of their child.”<br />
<strong>January</strong> <strong>2015</strong> 12
Darnelle’s preparations include<br />
ESOL training, taking Bible in<br />
Schools classes, and doing various<br />
workshops. And in <strong>2015</strong> she is<br />
spending a year of further preparation,<br />
learning Spanish language and<br />
Latin culture in Costa Rica, before<br />
going back to Ecuador. The call to<br />
serve God asks for perseverence<br />
and faith. She adds, “The last words<br />
of advice I got before leaving Ecuador<br />
last time were, be ready for<br />
spiritual warfare. Yes, it does take<br />
courage and sacrifice. So many<br />
times I have wanted to give up.”<br />
But Darnelle is in this for the long<br />
haul.<br />
Pray<br />
• For good relationships with<br />
other students and her host<br />
family in Costa Rica<br />
• For a good memory, energy<br />
and endurance<br />
• That Darnelle will remain firm<br />
in God’s power<br />
Give<br />
Darnelle still needs some of her<br />
on-going financial support, as well<br />
as meeting one-off costs for language<br />
school, etc. Please consider<br />
partnering her in this big step of<br />
faith. Contact nz.donor@sim.org<br />
to chat to us about how you can<br />
help.<br />
Note: Darnelle says Ongimei means<br />
‘A group of small ants’ in Waorani<br />
(referring to facial marks)<br />
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Bolivian dancers take steps<br />
towards<br />
Jesus<br />
The main sporting event in Potosí,<br />
Bolivia, is street dancing. Hundreds<br />
of groups train for months for the<br />
competition, which is the highlight<br />
of their year.<br />
The colourfully-clad dancers include<br />
Ana Luisa, a lawyer, and her fiancé, Luis,<br />
an architect. Both go to SIMer Mary<br />
Hawthorne’s English class; the Hawthornes<br />
have been developing a friendship<br />
with them and sharing the gospel,<br />
and Ana Luisa has made her home available<br />
for a regular Wednesday night Bible<br />
study.<br />
Ana Luisa and Luis dance in a group<br />
sponsored by a large brewery in the area.<br />
Though she has danced for years as part<br />
of this prestigious group, Ana Luisa recently<br />
shared that, as she grows closer to<br />
God, she is losing her passion for dancing<br />
and may not take part after this year.<br />
“I suggested that maybe God doesn’t<br />
want them to give it up,” says Steve Hawthorne.<br />
“Maybe they could form a Christian<br />
group, and instead of working for the<br />
honour and glory of the brewery, they<br />
could dance for the honour and glory of<br />
Jesus Christ.”<br />
Steve Hawthorne
Missions are starting to<br />
recruit creative people<br />
— film-makers, graphic<br />
designers, storytellers,<br />
theatre teachers, etc. —<br />
and to support them as<br />
mission partners for<br />
God’s glory. SIM<br />
International recently<br />
appointed Maria<br />
Custodio as their Point<br />
Person in the Arts to be<br />
an advocate for this. It<br />
also publishes Artsbeat,<br />
an internet newsletter<br />
to inform and<br />
encourage people in the<br />
mission interested in<br />
the arts. Anyone who<br />
would like to receive it<br />
should email Maria at<br />
intl.arts@sim.org<br />
Art for an urban heart<br />
How ironic, joining an art project in India called<br />
“I Y Delhi” – when I didn't 'heart' it at all. After<br />
24 hours travel, I didn't love the blaring horns, the<br />
thick smog, the spitting or the incessant press of 25<br />
million people.<br />
It turns out the locals don't love Delhi either, but<br />
God, in his rescuing grace, quickly showed me both<br />
the brokenness and the dignity of life at the margins<br />
of society through special individuals. Like the<br />
widow with a terminal illness, living in the shadow<br />
of a rubbish dump mountain by a stinking canal,<br />
bringing her little son to a Christian doctor because<br />
she sensed the love in that clinic would care about<br />
him after she was gone. And another widow, whose<br />
abusive husband left her a legacy of HIV, hugging<br />
me tight, because I, a stranger, accepted her. Or<br />
visiting a home for girls broken by incest and sex<br />
slavery, slowly healing because the Lord gave them<br />
a mentor who had been through their pain herself.<br />
This is deep Y stuff.<br />
The international artist residency is an annual<br />
<strong>January</strong> <strong>2015</strong> 14
event run by the Art For Change Foundation,<br />
using art to help people see their society with new<br />
eyes — God’s eyes. Twenty of us came <strong>together</strong><br />
in November to see, to interact and to use art as a<br />
prophetic response.<br />
By being there we boosted the work of Fusion,<br />
a local church with projects for women and children<br />
in a central city slum. Teeming with people,<br />
Zamrudpur has 5 and 6-storey buildings jammed<br />
<strong>together</strong>, blocking the sun. In a rooftop room I met<br />
Babita, a mum of two, her husband away working as<br />
a cook for days on end. We, her four guests, sat on<br />
the one little bed; around us in the tiny space, were<br />
shelves and hooks for a few belongings. Each morning<br />
at 3 she must get up and go down the steep, dark<br />
stairwells to the ground, to collect water for the day<br />
while it’s flowing. When her sons are at school, Babita<br />
goes to a church project, where she learns English and<br />
maths, and how to make printed bags to sell.<br />
Each of us in the project used our interactions in<br />
the slum to portray what loving the place might mean.<br />
Those of us who were believers had many opportunities<br />
to share our faith with the other artists. Murals<br />
were painted in the slum, and we carried smaller art<br />
works back there for a “walk through” exhibition. As<br />
people crowded around, intrigued and appreciative, we<br />
felt their joy at being treated<br />
as special. Finally we held a<br />
regular art show, inviting welloff<br />
residents of Delhi who normally<br />
only connect with the slum<br />
dwellers as servants.<br />
Art creates events that can<br />
be a catalyst for grace. God is<br />
using artists around the world to<br />
cross over cultural boundaries in<br />
the heart language of the arts.<br />
— Polly<br />
15<br />
sim.org.nz<br />
ART THERAPY:<br />
An area crying out for<br />
input from artists is in<br />
cities where mission<br />
partners care for girls<br />
and women rescued<br />
from slavery in the sex<br />
trade. Art therapists<br />
have ideal skills to<br />
contribute to helping<br />
survivors of this<br />
trauma rebuild their<br />
lives. The women say<br />
they’re not really free<br />
until they are free of<br />
all the after-effects.<br />
Refugee camps<br />
and HIV work are<br />
other settings where<br />
art therapy is an<br />
effective tool of<br />
healing and compassion,<br />
showing<br />
God’s love.<br />
Do you know<br />
someone who<br />
could be having a<br />
conversation with<br />
SIM about this?<br />
They can talk to us<br />
at nz.personnel@<br />
sim.org
strategic opportunity<br />
Prayer for a new initiative<br />
Over the past three years SIM in Asia has seen two<br />
friendship/evangelism/discipleship teams form<br />
amongst two different unreached people groups.<br />
First a mission partner would move in and learn the language and<br />
culture and there was much prayer for the people group, then God sent<br />
inquiries from other countries where people somehow became compelled<br />
that God was calling them to go to these areas. More partners arrived and<br />
formed teams committed to the long term goal of seeing these people<br />
reached with the good news about Jesus.<br />
Now in a new remote region a few people have come to know Jesus and<br />
local SIM leaders are convinced that God’s plan is for energy to be invested<br />
into a team there, with the vision of a local church led by local believers.<br />
The types of skills which are desired for this team are quite varied: SIM<br />
is happy to have teachers, retirees, ambulance drivers, recent graduates,<br />
doctors, pastors, engineers, website designers, nurses, musicians, architects,<br />
accountants, entrepreneurs, farmers and fashion designers. In fact, there<br />
are already people from each of these occupations serving on other teams<br />
in this Asian country and making a difference for the kingdom.<br />
The key here is not their occupation but that people are willing to learn<br />
the language and then use whatever their skills are as a member of the body<br />
<strong>January</strong> <strong>2015</strong> 16
of Christ reaching out in all of its<br />
fullness to those who have not<br />
heard. This is about being an<br />
authentic Christian and strategically<br />
using the skills and gifts<br />
God has given in friendships<br />
with unreached peoples.<br />
In August-September the<br />
local SIM council declared<br />
before God a period of 40 days<br />
of prayer and fasting, asking<br />
God to stir the hearts of people<br />
around the world to make them<br />
inquire about this important<br />
work – specifically, at least 10<br />
new workers from 5 continents<br />
to come and join this team.<br />
... teachers, retirees,<br />
ambulance drivers,<br />
recent graduates,<br />
doctors, pastors,<br />
engineers, website<br />
designers, nurses,<br />
musicians,<br />
architects,<br />
accountants,<br />
entrepreneurs,<br />
farmers and<br />
fashion<br />
designers ...<br />
17<br />
sim.org.nz<br />
Pray<br />
• for the Lord to send workers to<br />
this remote area<br />
• for preparation of the hearts of<br />
the local people who will<br />
become friends with these<br />
new workers when they arrive.<br />
Go<br />
Perhaps God is challenging you to<br />
consider a new ministry<br />
opportunity such as this. If<br />
so, please don’t delay. Contact<br />
nz.personnel@sim.org to discuss<br />
the possibilities. Or go to www.<br />
sim.org.nz and click on GO.<br />
More ministry<br />
opportunities in Asia:<br />
Mental Health Professionals<br />
Do you have experience working in<br />
mental health? SIM’s partner hospital in<br />
India needs your help in a new initiative<br />
to develop curriculum and training<br />
resources so that community mental<br />
health workers are equipped to reach<br />
out to others.<br />
Short Term (# 8922)<br />
Doctors—Various Specialties<br />
Would you like to make a difference in<br />
some of the poorest regions in India?<br />
Our partner is serving impoverished<br />
rural communities through medical,<br />
community health, and community development<br />
ministries. Please prayerfully<br />
consider how you could be involved.<br />
Two years plus( # 8408)<br />
—See contact details above—
Our project works in rural provinces<br />
of Bangladesh to test water<br />
arsenic<br />
poisoning<br />
and provide low-tech water filters<br />
prevention,<br />
that solve the problem of arsenic<br />
poisoning. We also help over 300<br />
Bangladesh<br />
villagers with chronic arsenic poisoning<br />
to access remedial medical<br />
care. Can you help?<br />
project # 098335<br />
SONO filter<br />
Can you buy a SONO filter at $30<br />
that will provide uncontaminated<br />
drinking water to 100 people?<br />
To give now, email nz.donor@sim.<br />
org and quote project # 98335, or<br />
go to www.sim.org.nz and click<br />
DONATE.<br />
such a basic way to show love<br />
think outside the box!<br />
There are hundreds of mission opportunities ... Don’t be limited by what you<br />
expect mission partners to do (see stories on pages 14 and 16) ...<br />
food technologist<br />
will you s on be retiired????<br />
artiists wanted<br />
are you an architect or designer?<br />
mechanics and engineers<br />
librarian<br />
teaching English<br />
offifice manager<br />
occupatiional therapist<br />
can you run a café?<br />
ambulance driver<br />
musician<br />
couple needed to run a safe house<br />
are you a psychologist?<br />
entrepreneurs<br />
dance teacher<br />
kids leaving home?<br />
make the most of your GAP year<br />
Start a dialogue with us<br />
by going to www.sim.org.<br />
nz and clicking on GO,<br />
or phoning us on 0508<br />
47 46 69 for a chat,<br />
or emailing us at<br />
nz.personnel@sim.org<br />
<strong>January</strong> <strong>2015</strong>