Serving in mission

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SIM
logo
legal form Non-profit , Christian
founding 1893 by Walter Gowans and Rowland Bingham (Canada) and Thomas Kent (USA)
Seat Global, based in Charlotte / USA (Switzerland: Biel)
motto By Prayer! (Through prayer / prayer.)
main emphasis Diakonia and Mission
Action space Switzerland and worldwide
people Dr. Joshua Bogunjoko
Employees 4,000 employees, including over 2,000 missionaries and many volunteers
Members 2,000 missionaries serve in more than 70 countries on 6 continents (2017)
Website www.sim.org

Serving In Mission (SIM) is an international, interdenominational Christian mission organization . It was founded in 1893 by the Canadians Walter Gowans and Rowland Bingham and the American Thomas Kent and is an amalgamation of missionary organizations, including the Africa Evangelical Fellowship , Andes Evangelical Mission , International Christian Fellowship and Sudan Interior Mission . In South America it is often called Sociedad Internacional Misionera. In 2017 SIM had around 2000 active missionaries from 60 countries serving in over 70 countries on six continents. In Germany, SIM v. a. with the Christian aid and mission organization DMG interpersonal . Around 40 DMG employees work around the world in SIM fields and projects.

history

In 1893 Walter Gowans, Rowland Bingham and Thomas Kent came to Lagos in Nigeria with the aim of bringing the gospel of Jesus Christ to the people of the African "Sudan region" . While Gowans and Kent died of malaria , Bingham, who also fell ill, drove back to Canada. But he managed to send another team, which in 1902 set up a mission station deep inside Nigeria. In 1909 the first church was founded in Egbe in the province of Kogi and thirteen people were baptized. In 1941, the Igba Theological College was opened as the first Bible school. In 1954 the indigenous Evangelical Church of West Africa emerged, which has grown strongly since then and in 2108 had about 3,000,000 members and an additional 7,000,000 visitors in about 6,000 parishes.

After the first base was established in Nigeria, the mission society managed to expand to other countries, initially West African, and after 1920 began to work in East Africa. In 1925 she joined forces with the L'Abyssinian Frontiers Mission , and in 1932 the first Ethiopians were baptized. The Kale Heywat Church , established in Ethiopia in 1937, comprised 7,774 parishes with around 6.7 million members in 2018. Until 1998, the mission area in Africa extended to Benin , Burkina Faso , the Central African Republic , Ivory Coast , Eritrea , Ethiopia, Ghana , Guinea , Kenya , Liberia , Malawi , Niger , Nigeria, Senegal , South Africa , Sudan and Togo .

The activities of the AEM (Andes Evangelical Mission) began in 1907 with a couple from New Zealand who were missionary in Bolivia . The AEM merged with SIM in 1982 and the work expanded within South America to Chile , Ecuador , Paraguay , Peru and Uruguay . In the 1890s, two small missionary organizations in Ceylon (now Sri Lanka), South India , and the Philippines began their work, which later merged to form the International Christian Fellowship (ICF) . In 1989 the ICF was then integrated into the SIM. Today SIM also works in Bangladesh , China , India, Mongolia , Nepal and Pakistan .

Another merger took place in 1998 when the AEF (Africa Evangelical Fellowship) joined the SIM. The history of the AEF began in 1879 with the construction of a soldiers' home in Cape Town , South Africa. From this root a mission was formed that became active in 1889 after the first Boer War and called itself the South African General Mission . Their mission extended all over South Africa to the islands of the Indian Ocean . When the AEF merged with SIM in 1998, its work extended to Angola , Botswana , Gabon , Madagascar , Mauritius , Réunion , Mozambique , Namibia , Swaziland , Tanzania , Zambia and Zimbabwe .

In 2013, the Nigerian Joshua Bogunjoko was elected director for the first time, not least because many employees from the global south are now working in northern Europe.

2014 was Nancy Writebol, a nurse of the SIM, in the Liberian Monrovia occasion of the Ebola fever epidemic in 2014 with the Ebola virus infected and had to be evacuated. Since she had become immune, she returned to work in the hospital after a few weeks. The SIM doctors also decided to stay in Monrovia and continue working. You were later voted Person of the Year 2014 by Time magazine .

In 2018, SIM employees worked in 70 countries, and SIM also works with partners in 40 countries. It maintains around 50 hospitals and health centers, numerous schools, agricultural projects and other diaconal and church institutions.

SIM Switzerland

SIM Switzerland is constituted as an independent association. Contractual agreements with SIM at international level regulate the cooperation. In 1962 Edward and Adrianna Emmet founded the Swiss branch in Lausanne with the aim of primarily recruiting French-speaking employees for the French-speaking countries of Africa. The name "Société Internationale Missionnaire" was chosen, which has been retained to this day. It is a fitting description of the SIM. From these beginnings, SIM-France-Belgique and SIM-Italia (ONLUS) emerged, which are also constituted as independent associations according to the laws of the respective country. In 1999 the Swiss club was relocated to Biel .

SIM Switzerland motivates and advises Christians who are willing to work abroad. It trains them and accompanies their deployment from Switzerland. In this context, it also offers people doing community service the opportunity to do missions. The posted workers' activities include:

  • Health (hospitals, AIDS prevention, health training in person and via radio, training programs for local doctors and nurses, etc.)
  • Help for the socially disadvantaged (street children, women's groups, etc.)
  • Development programs (agriculture, water, afforestation, etc.)
  • School / vocational training (teacher support, student support, theological training, etc.)
  • Cultural promotion (music, radio programs, mediation reconciliation work, research into native languages ​​and literacy, translation of the Bible, creation of lexicons, etc.)
  • Nonviolent conflict resolution in prisons

The basis and motivation for these activities is the biblical image of man: Everyone has their dignity from God regardless of economic opportunities, level of education, cultural background, religion, gender and age. From this perspective, the SIM understands faith in Jesus Christ as an offer that everyone can accept or decline with a free choice of conscience. The practice of faith leads to loving acceptance of others and practical humanitarian activity.

Working method

SIM is aware of its need for supplementation and therefore works in partnership with organizations that share its values. The SIM helps holistically through sustainable work: physical, emotional and spiritual needs are dealt with equally. As a global organization, SIM consciously lives an attitude of complementarity across cultural differences.

The SIM also sees itself as in need of supplementation in the church sector. As a work with evangelical convictions, it is deliberately interdenominational. It is in contact with churches and parishes of various types and promotes their cooperation

Partner organizations

In the German-speaking area, SIM is represented in Switzerland. However, they also have employees in Germany. These are sent from Germany via DMG interpersonal eV. From Austria this is done via the BEG foreign mission . For South Tyrol / Italy this is done by the partner company im - italian ministries.

Leadership style

The SIM wants to promote the employees. Long-term employees are encouraged to become members, giving them the right to vote and be elected. Management positions are filled by election of the members. A participatory management style should enable employees to bring in their ideas and concepts.

financing

The work of the SIM is financed by individual donors, various Christian churches and in individual cases by public authorities. The gifts are for the most part intended. SIM undertakes to use these for their intended purpose. The bookkeeping is prepared according to generally accepted guidelines for good bookkeeping and is subject to regular internal and external controls. (In Switzerland according to GAAP-FER 21 and annual auditing by an independent auditor.)

literature

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ https://www.sim.org/our-leadership
  2. ↑ https://www.sim.org/ 2017-08-28 9:54 am
  3. ↑ https://misionessim.org/
  4. ↑ https://www.facebook.com/LaSIMParaguay/
  5. ↑ https://simchile.org/
  6. ↑ https://www.sim.org/ 2017-08-28 9:54 am
  7. ^ SIM Links that Liberate: Partners in Sending - DMG Germany. (No longer available online.) Formerly in the original ; Retrieved September 7, 2010 .  ( Page no longer available , search in web archives )  Info: The link was automatically marked as defective. Please check the link according to the instructions and then remove this notice.@1@ 2Template: Dead Link / webtest.sim.org  
  8. ↑ History of the SIM (English) ( Memento of the original from June 20, 2007 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. @1@ 2Template: Webachiv / IABot / www.simusa.org
  9. ↑ History of the Church ECWA (English)
  10. ↑ Special issue 125 years SIM , November 2018
  11. ↑ Christof Bauernfeind: The work in the mission has changed significantly , ideaSpektrum , Liestal September 5, 2018, p. 8
  12. ↑ History of the SIM in Great Britain (English) ( Memento of the original from February 14, 2005 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. @1@ 2Template: Webachiv / IABot / sim.co.uk
  13. ↑ https://www.sim.co.uk/stories/dr-joshua-bogunjoko-sims-new-international-director
  14. ↑ Christof Bauernfeind: The work in the mission has changed significantly , ideaSpektrum, Liestal September 5, 2018, pp. 8-11
  15. ↑ Christof Bauernfeind: The work in the mission has changed significantly , ideaSpektrum, Liestal September 5, 2018, pp. 8-11
  16. ↑ https://www.sim.ch/de/sich-informieren/unsere-partner/