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Flying
in Africa in small missionary planes like the Cessna described
here
isn’t always as comfortable as jet travel is here in America.
Those small planes can really be tossed around by updrafts
of warm air as they fly over canyons and ridges.
I remember some flights I took while in Ethiopia that made me feel like I was on a monster roller-coaster. Although I don’t get motion sick easily, it took me a full day to recover from one of those particularly turbulent flights.
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Give a Gift of Love This Christmas
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SIM’s 2007–2008 Gift Catalog is now available!
Just recently you should have received a very special
publication from SIM. It’s our annual Gift
Catalog, and it’s filled with opportunities for
you to help support life-changing SIM projects around
the world. Take a moment today to read through
your copy and see how God might have you share your
love with the world. If you would like an additional
copy or copies, or if you missed seeing your gift catalog
in the mail, call SIM toll free at 1-800-521-6449.
You may also view the catalog and give a gift online
at www.simusa.org/giftcatalog. |
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If you find yourself complaining about the condition of roads in America, you probably haven’t spent much time traveling in southern Sudan.
After years of civil unrest, most of
southern Sudan’s infrastructure—including
its roads—has been destroyed.
Although reconstruction has begun, even
the main thoroughfare that leads into
the capital city of Juba is little more
than a rugged dirt road riddled with
huge potholes. In the rainy season,
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make the road completely impassable. And that’s Sudan’s best road!
Because getting almost anywhere in Sudan by
land can require hours—if not days—of
bone-jarring travel over treacherous, unmarked
roads—airplanes are essential. All SIM
missionaries rely heavily on air transportation
provided by our partner, AIMAIR.
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| Less than 60 percent of evangelical, nondenominational, independent churches in America have a budget for missions. |
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Neither words nor statistics can capture the human tragedy of the AIDS epidemic that is threatening to wipe out an entire generation in South Africa. The needs are staggering, but through support from friends like you, SIM’s home-based care program has been able to send a Positive Ray of hope to thousands whose lives have been devastated by AIDS.
Yet Project Positive Ray’s home-based care ultimately only treats the symptoms and not the cause. To help stem the spread of the disease, especially among South Africa’s youth, Project Positive Ray has now placed full-time teachers into two community schools to teach the truth about HIV and AIDS and how to avoid infection. |
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in South Africa are eager to learn
the truth about the HIV/AIDS epidemic
that has devastated their communities. |
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With more
than 50 percent of the population of
Ethiopia under age 25, churches are
filled with young people who need to
make their parents’ faith their own.
Unfortunately, few believers—even
pastors—know how to disciple young
Christians into spiritual maturity.
But thanks to the prayers and financial
gifts of committed friends like you,
more than 225 Christian leaders are
now participating in SIM’s Disciple-Making
Pastors Training Program.
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| Thanks to your support, more than 225 key church
leaders are being discipled
in Christ while being equipped
to teach others how to be disciple-making
believers. |
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Throughout this two-year program, key church
leaders learn how to disciple believers in
important aspects of the Christian life such
as understanding God’s Word, living in relationship
to Christ, learning how to be godly leaders,
and discovering how to reach others with the
gospel.
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| Since
opening a Girls Club that catered to
the unique needs of Ethiopian girls,
the number of girls going to the Mekelle
Center went from five to more than 100
in just four years! |
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When SIM opened the Mekelle Youth Center
in Ethiopia, we wanted to provide a place
to reach youth through relationships and
with fun and educational activities. Although
hundreds of boys took advantage of the center
from the very start, only a handful of girls
attended.
In Ethiopia, girls are expected to work
at home—cooking, cleaning, and caring
for younger siblings—and must receive
permission to go somewhere. Unlike boys
who can just “hang out” at the
center, girls must have a reason to go.
To address this difference, Mekelle started
a structured Girls Club in 2003. At the
time, only five girls wereattending the
center, but that number rapidly increased.
Structured programs designed specifically
for girls gave them a reason to attend the |
center, and by the end of the second summer, more
than 100 girls were participating in Mekelle’s
programs!
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