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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


3 sim.org.nz<br />

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 />

5<br />

sim.org.nz<br />

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 />

9<br />

sim.org.nz<br />

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 />

11<br />

sim.org.nz


“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 />

13<br />

sim.org.nz<br />

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>

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