I strongly believe that biblically, missions rise out of the local church. In the first century, the church in Jerusalem sent Peter, Paul, Barnabas, Silas, and many others to preach the gospel, make disciples, and plant churches.

At SIM, we believe the Church is still called to be the source of missions. As a mission organization, our job is to partner with churches and equip them to fulfill Christ's Commission. In addition, we partner the church "here" with the church "there" to form mutually beneficial relationships that strengthen both churches and empower them for more effective ministries.
An Encouraging
Report from Sudan
"God is clearly using SIM missionaries to accomplish great things in Sudan, but every one of our missionaries
still needs your continued prayers."

As SIM missionaries settle into Sudan, they must overcome incredibly difficult circumstances. After years of civil war, Sudan has almost nothing left--no buildings, no electricity, no running water, and no roads.

Despite these challenges, our missionaries are training teachers, instructing pastors, and helping communities obtain safe water, medical care, and other necessities of life.
When Jimmie and Gloria Johnson first arrived in Rundu, Namibia, they were
welcomed with enthusiastic singing. This choir had no keyboard, no guitars, no instruments of any kind to accompany them, but their voices blended together beautifully in songs of praise to Jesus.

Yet when Jimmie and Gloria thanked the people for their beautiful musical welcome, their response was unexpected. In essence they said, "We love to sing, but we don't really know this Jesus we sing about. Who is He?"

From that moment, Jimmie and Gloria knew their task was clear--to introduce these people to Jesus--to answer their question, "Who is this Jesus we sing
In an effort to answer the question, "Who is this Jesus we sing about?" Jimmie and Gloria Johnson (far right) led a group of Namibian believers in an intensive two-year Bible study.
about?" Clearly, a Bible study would be the best way to accomplish this task. Unfortunately, only a few of the people had even portions of Scripture. Even though Bibles were readily available in Namibia, in rural communities like Rundu, they were simply unaffordable.

The Bibles for the Bush program has made Bibles available to more than 1,200 people who otherwise could not have afforded a copy of God's Word.
It has often been said that there are no real orphans in Africa because aunts and uncles step in to care for children who have lost their parents. But AIDS is rapidly changing that.

In Zimbabwe, an estimated 2,000 adults die from HIV and AIDS related illnesses every week. The AIDS pandemic is literally wiping out an entire generation so that, in many families, there are simply no parents, aunts, or uncles left to care for the children.

Natasha, age 10, is one of those children. She lost both parents to AIDS in 2005 and is now living with her eight cousins in her grandmother's home. Her grandmother lost all four of her sons
and their wives to AIDS and is now caring for all nine children.
Natasha experiences the tangible love of God as she joyfully tries on her "new" clothes that were donated to SIM's program by members of a local church.
The majority of American churches today are not mobilized and effectively engaged in missions. To address this reality, SIM USA is launching a renewed effort to partner directly with churches to help them get mobilized into missions--to "connect the church here with the church there."

With guidance and vision from Joe Warring, SIM's new Director of Church Partnership, SIM has developed a powerful partnering program that seeks to relationally connect with churches, equip them to have value-added impact, mobilize them in short-term team projects, and empower them for long-term effective partnership with national churches in a mission field.


Joe Warring, Director of Church Partnership, is passionate about waking up the Church in America
to the importance of missions.

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