1GLOBAL SUMMER 2012

In this issuePAGE 3 On the ground with SIM

PAGE 4 Hope for despair in Japan

PAGE 7 A new voice of leadership

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T h E C A l lI am so heartened to be sharing this

edition of SIMGlobal with you.The main articles in this issue report on

two events of incredible meaning to SIM and our ministry partners. The first is about SIM’s

new strategic partnership with Asian Access—a partnership that is bringing glory to God and allowing SIM to get involved in one of the least evangelized countries in the world.

And the second is a celebration of an announcement that has brought joy to everyone in SIM—about a movement in leadership

that is giving great glory to God. I hope you find both articles as encouraging as I do.

As we look back at these events, recap the year, and draw together the three threads of SIM’s ministry around the world, I am humbled. It is obvious that God has moved in amazing ways, both in this ministry and through it, in 2012.

And we have the joy that he uses each of us in his mission. It’s because of your commitment to the kingdom of God. It is because His people are devoted to serving Him by praying, giving, and going.

Thank you for choosing to be a key part of God’s work through SIM.

BRuCE JOhNsON President SIM USA

Recently, SIM and Asian Access jointly won the prestigious eXcelerate

award for partnership in mission. SIM’s partnership with Asian Access is

a strategic and timely example of how working together and merging strengths can have dramatic impact on the world for Christ.

It may be a timely example (and one you can read more about in

the feature article), but it’s not the only one. SIM often shares its

missionaries with other organizations—especially those that have

specialized ministries, such as medical or veterinary.

And, of course, SIM always strives to partner with the local church and local organizations when working on the mission field in cross-cultural missions. It’s not just a way to equip the Church and build into

the body of Christ—it enhances the quality of our ministry as we learn

the best way of ministering to the culture from national Christians.

Today, as always, SIM is proud to partner with fellow believers and

fellow organizations, as we all seek to proclaim the same name, the only name. Jesus.

» The recent tragedies in Japan have opened the hearts and minds of the nation. Many are finding new hope in Christ as rebuilding continues and life moves forward.

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» A sign marking the distance to and location of Japan will have to be added to the signpost at SIM’s USA office! Now that SIM is partnered with Asian Access, for the first time ever SIM missionaries (like those pictured above) will be headed to the land of the rising sun.

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» Uruguay is known as a mission-resistant country, with only 1,600 to 1,800 churches—less than half of which have youth outreach programs. In response to this, the Preparing Outstanding Youth leaders for Paraguay project has designed conferences for Uruguayan youth leaders—two days of encouragement, intense training, and uplifting worship. Nearly 500 youth leaders attended the summits, and amazingly, the government and the Ministry of Tourism have declared the conference as a point of interest for the city!

» The Badjao people are often called “sea gypsies.” They are a people indigenous to the Philippines, and traditionally, spend most if not all their time on the water traveling from island to island in pursuit of the fish harvest. Sadly, in the wake of shrinking fish harvests and war, their traditional way of life is quickly disappearing, leaving their children with uncertain futures. sIM Philippines missionaries have been working diligently to provide for these underprivileged people and give Badjao children the chance for education through scholarships. A strong church is growing among the Badjao, but funding for the food and scholarship program is lacking.

» Neil Ingall has been serving in South Sudan for the past year as a community outreach nurse. As a short-term (1 year) missionary, he has been visiting isolated villages to provide clinics and health assessments for children like those shown here who wouldn’t normally be able to see a physician.

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• PrayfortheasBrownsthey makethetransitiontoanew culture,andanewlife.• PrayfortheJapanese people,thatthegospel wouldpenetratetheirhearts andbringhealingto theirnation.• Findouthowyoucan supporttheworkinJapan bygivingorgoing. Call1-800-521-6449 orvisitSIMGlobal.org

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CrIppLEd By dESpAIr,

JApANSEArChESfOr hOpE

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There is a quiet current of despair that runs beneath Japanese society. It underlies cultural traditions and thought patterns that surface

sometimes more abruptly, more violently, than others. It shows through in the “Wabi-sabi” aesthetic.

Wabi-sabi is a concept based on Buddhist teachings on the marks of existence: impermanence, suffering, and emptiness of self-nature—a world-view that embraces the ideas of transience and imperfection.

For the Japanese, beauty has always been tinged with sadness. The stunning beauty of the cherries in bloom is melancholy because it is fleeting. The fluttering snow of the petals swirling in the wind is really the death of the blossoms, which endure for just a week, then fade away.

This undercurrent of despair occasionally surfaces in Western news when we hear of yet another “honor” suicide by a disgraced high-ranking official.

But this undercurrent has become a riptide in the wake of 2011’s earthquake and tsunami.

Thousands watched helplessly from tenuous points of safety as the insidious wall of water effortlessly crushed their towns, crushed their families, crushed the very backbones of their lives—businesses, ancestral homes, ancient places of worship. In the wake, surrounded by rubble, many simply had no idea how to go on living. So they didn’t.

Japan’s suicide rate is one of the highest in the world. Reports say that 30,000 deaths a year can be attributed to suicide. And in the months after the tsunami, the numbers skyrocketed. As the nation continues struggling to heal itself, the numbers are still high.

But there is hope.

The crushing weight of despair has the Japanese people searching for answers and a reason to go on living. Suddenly, in a country that was a resistant mission field—where Christianity represents just 1% of the population—the window for evangelism has been thrown wide open.

Pastors are calling desperately for help from Christians around the world. “The time is now,” they are saying. “The fields are growing white, and there is too much work for us to handle alone. Please come!”

Dan and Casi Brown are answering that call. The Californian couple and their two little girls are

just now tying up the final details of raising support, packing and selling their home, and relocating to Rifu—a town in the heart of the tsunami impact region.

Their journey started last year, when, after the birth of their second daughter, they began praying about adopting a third. Separately, they sought the Lord, simply asking, “Where? Where should we look for our new little one?”

God told Casi, “Look at Asia.” He told Dan, “Japan.”

But as the couple discussed their feelings, Dan told Casi: “He said Japan, but He didn’t say ‘adopt.’ He said ‘go.’”

And as Casi contemplated the thought, she couldn’t escape Japan. It began popping up around every corner—in conversations with friends, in the media, everywhere. God made it clear. She would go.

The couple jumped into action. They knew they needed to go with an organization, that they would need the structure, the guidance, and the safety of that organizational umbrella. But where to begin? They asked Google.

More than a year ago, the triple disasters that devastated Japan are still claiMing lives. one faMily and two Mission organizations respond, as the sparse church in Japan calls for reinforceMents.

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SIM, at the time, was not on the list of mission organizations working in Japan. But as the Browns investigated Asian Access, they realized they’d found the right place. Asian Access’s ministry objectives and vision matched up perfectly with the way that Dan and Casi wanted to do ministry—relationally.

They began the application process with Asian Access, but just as things got started, they stalled out. They were told to wait just a bit—big things were happening at Asian Access.

Big things were happening for missions!At the end of last year, SIM and Asian Access

announced that they had become partners. They had not merged, but formed a strategic partnership in order to significantly boost impact in Japan. They recognized that the window that has opened in Japan wouldn’t stay open forever. The time to go was now, but Asian Access simply couldn’t do it alone.

As a smaller organization, they had the capacity to deploy perhaps two or three missionary units a year. But both organizations contributed

their strengths to the partnership, and adapted to the needs of the other. SIM took over the task of recruiting, preparing, and sending missionaries to Japan, while Asian Access continued to manage and care for them once they were on the field, providing the strategy and vision for the task in Japan. Now, working together, they can deploy more missionaries to Japan at a much faster rate. Together, they have a goal of planting 1,000 churches in Japan by 2020 and mobilizing 1,000 Japanese missionaries.

And it looks like, with the strategic partnership in place, God is ready to move His people for Japan. It’s clear to Dan and Casi Brown that God has orchestrated the timing of the last several years, setting them up to head to Japan at this perfect time.

During this time of preparation for their new life in Rifu, Japan, they have experienced God’s faithfulness in new ways, drawing them even closer to Him. Raising support for a country like Japan is much more difficult than it would be for a country with a lower cost of living. Learning Japanese certainly isn’t a piece of cake. And moving a family of four to a foreign culture means more than just a little packing.

But the Browns are confident that God will provide all they need to get where He wants them to go. “Like SIM’s motto,” Dan said, “It has to be ‘By Prayer.’ We know that’s where God wants us to be. He’ll get us there.”

And if you’ve ever considered missionary work, Japan is calling. The time is now. And as people making the leap of faith themselves, the Browns can say wholeheartedly: “Do it!”

at the end of last year, siM and asian access announced that they had becoMe partners. they had not Merged, but forMed a strategic partnership in order to significantly boost iMpact in Japan. they recognized that the window that has opened in Japan wouldn’t stay open forever.

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The story comes full circle for SIM with the mission’s first African International Director.

More than a century ago, God used a fledgling mission, then called the “Soudan Interior Mission,” to help plant a church in Nigeria. Today that mission is known as SIM, and that church is known as the ECWA—the Evangelical Church Winning All. Now, the ECWA is the primary denomination of Nigeria. with more than 6 million members and more than 2,400 cross-cultural missionaries.

And it’s the home church of SIM’s next International Director, Dr. Joshua Bogunjoko.

With his election, God has brought the story of SIM in Nigeria full circle.

For SIM, an organization devoted to planting, developing, and empowering mission movements,

electing a Nigerian as International Director represents a kind of culmination of the work begun in Nigeria over a hundred years ago.

For Joshua, it’s also a culmination of nearly a lifetime of involvement with SIM.

He and his wife, Joanna, have been serving with SIM for nearly 20 years, the last six of which have been at SIM’s international office—Joshua as Deputy International Director for Europe and West Africa, Joanna in the SIM

Archives and with the SIM Champion for Children’s Ministry. But even before serving with SIM, Joshua attended a school begun by SIM, and was mentored by SIM missionaries.

On both sides, it’s an incredibly joyful occasion. The vote for Joshua as the next International Director was unanimous, and he’ll begin his five-year term June 1, 2013.

SIM’s current International Director, Malcolm McGregor said, “Having worked closely with Joshua for more than six years, I am excited by this appointment and believe God has clearly led and guided the Search Committee and the Board through the selection process.”

» Joshua and Joanna Bogunjoko

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A CrOSS-CULTUrAL MISSION calls for

CrOSS-CULTUrAL LEAdErShIp

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• PrayfortheBogunjokosasthey preparetotakeonthisnew role.AskthatGodgrantthem wisdom.• Prayfortheirtwochildren: Jochebed,whoisbeginning college,andJoel,whois enteringhighschool

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» prAyTogether we are praying for: • The flooding crisis in Niger. Continue to pray for the thousands without homes, and the communities as they continue to recover. The flood has also left SIM’s Sahel Academy underwater and unusable until the river dries early next year —pray for peace and blessing as they do their best to continue to function in temporary facilities. • The outbreak of Cholera in Niger, most likely as a result of increased rainfall, is concerning to doctors at SIM’s Galmi Hospital. Pray that God would stop the outbreak and prevent reemergence of the devastating infection. • Pray for Jeff and Amy McKissick, missionaries to Paraguay, as they take up their medical ministry in a new town. They have been investing in this town, Jataity, for a year through mobile clinics, English classes and visiting. Pray also that their family will be a light in the darkness in this unreached community.

» GIvE Please give to SIM’s disaster relief fund. As missionaries in Niamey, Niger reach out with aid in their neighborhoods, they are also taking steps to rebuild the ministries of the Bible and boarding schools damaged by the flood. There is much repair that needs to take place over the next months and continued giving is essential.

Please note that any donations to the disaster relief fund that go above and beyond the Niger flood fundraising goal will be saved in the relief fund to ensure rapid response to any future crises.

» GO The country of Mongolia is in desperate need of people willing to serve in a variety of ways, and 49 positions are open including: four church ministry workers with adult focus, four sports ministers, four veterinarian/animal husbandry specialists, six primary and secondary school teachers, ten English teachers, five foreign language teachers, a medical advisor/coordinator, four optometrists/opticians, seven physicians; physician assistants, dentists, and nurses; and four physical/occupational therapists.If you’d like more information on how you can use your skills to glorify God in Mongolia, please fill out the following link www.simusa.org/getstarted and a recruitment coordinator will contact you within 5 business days.

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» The Niger river flooded wide swaths of Niamey when it swelled its banks. The flooding that has left thousands homeless and devastated SIM facilities is not expected to recede until next year.

A N SW E r I N G