Serving In Mission

SIM
Motto By Prayer.
Founded 1893 (1893)
Founders Walter Gowans
Rowland Bingham
Thomas Kent
Type Non-profit, Christian
Location
  • Global
Fields Christian Missionary Outreach
Members
2,000 missionaries serving in more than 70 countries on 6 continents (2017)[1]
Website http://www.sim.org

SIM is an international, interdenominational Christian mission organization. It was established in 1893 by its three founders, Walter Gowans and Rowland Bingham of Canada and Thomas Kent of the United States. The initials originally stood for "Soudan Interior Mission," Soudan being an older spelling of the Sudan region of West Africa. After various name changes and mergers, the mission simply goes by "SIM" today. In French-speaking countries it is known as "Société Internationale Missionnaire." Today, SIM is also a member of the Forum of Bible Agencies International.

It is made up of united organizations that began more than 100 years ago, including:

  • Africa Evangelical Fellowship
  • Andes Evangelical Mission
  • International Christian Fellowship
  • Sudan Interior Mission

In 2017 SIM had more than 4,000 workers, therefrom 2,000 active missionaries, from more than 60 countries serving in over 70 countries in 6 continents (principally South America, Africa and Asia).[1]

Organization

Sending offices are located in Australia, Canada, Côte d'Ivoire, Ethiopia, France, India, South Korea, South Africa, South America, United Kingdom, Singapore, New Zealand, Switzerland, and the United States. They partner with many local mission organizations. In Germany they have no office. So they partner with DMG interpersonal e.V.[2]

History

Sudan Interior Mission

In 1893 Walter Gowans, Rowland Bingham and Thomas Kent landed in Lagos, Nigeria. Their aim was to evangelize the "Soudan" region of Africa through the organization of the "Soudan Interior Mission." Gowans and Kent traveled to what is now Northern Nigeria with a Kru guide, Tom Coffee, but the two died of malaria.[3] Bingham survived and returned to his home in Canada.[4]

Bingham reorganized the mission in 1898 as the "African Industrial Mission," with a hope to be self-supporting through the production and trade of cotton.[5] In 1900, Bingham made a second attempt to establish a base in Africa but came down with fever and returned home. A third attempt in 1902 succeeded, which finally established a base 500 miles inland in Patigi, Nigeria. In 1906, the mission was once renamed "Sudan Interior Mission."[6]

After the initial base was set up, the mission branched out into other countries in West Africa, and then in the 1920s, to East Africa. Until 1998, SIM had worked in Benin, Burkina Faso, Central African Republic, Ivory Coast, Eritrea, Ethiopia, Ghana, Guinea, Kenya, Liberia, Malawi, Niger, Nigeria, Senegal, South Africa, Sudan and Togo.[4]

Andes Evangelical Mission

The work of Andes Evangelical Mission (AEM) began in 1907, when a couple from New Zealand began to work in Bolivia. AEM joined with SIM in 1982, and the work of SIM expanded to a new continent, South America.[4]

International Christian Fellowship

In the 1890s, two other small missions were formed to work in Ceylon (now Sri Lanka), South India, and in the Philippines. In 1968, they joined forces and became the International Christian Fellowship (ICF). In 1989, ICF merged with SIM, which expanded the work of SIM to parts of Asia.[4]

Africa Evangelical Fellowship

AEF (Africa Evangelical Fellowship) began in 1879, when a wealthy South African-born widow living in England read of the plight of soldiers in military camps in her home country, and went to Cape Town to open a soldiers' home there.

From this root, a mission was formed, and in 1889, the Cape General Mission began. After the Boer War, the Mission, now known as the South African General Mission, began to expand into parts of southern Africa, and then to islands in the Indian Ocean.

In 1965, the mission became known as the Africa Evangelical Fellowship. In 1998, AEF joined with SIM, and the work of the newly merged Mission embraced Angola, Botswana, Gabon, Madagascar, Mauritius, Réunion, Mozambique, Namibia, Swaziland, Tanzania, Zambia and Zimbabwe, bringing the total of countries in which SIM is active to more than 43.

In 1998, AEF merged with SIM.

Middle East Christian Outreach

In 2016, Middle East Christian Outreach joined hands with SIM.

Across

Founded in 1972 by four mission societies (AIM, SUM, SIM, and MAF), Across has since gone through a number of transitions in response to the changing conditions in South Sudan and partners outside Sudan. [7] Across delivers literacy classes, Digital Audio Players (DAPs) (MP3 players) for literacy and social education, All Children Reading radio project (USAID)[8] and runs Sudan Literature Centre which publishes in local language literacy materials for children and Christian literature for Christian church in South Sudan[9].

Purpose

The purpose of SIM includes planting, strengthening and partnering with churches around the world in order to:

  • Evangelize
  • Disciple Christians into churches
  • Train and Equip churches in ministry and outreach

References

  1. 1 2 "SIM". www.sim.org. SIM. Retrieved 28 August 2017.
  2. ↑ Blöcher, Detlef. "How DMG partners with sending churches and mission organisations". www.dmgint.de. DMG interpersonal e.V. Retrieved 28 August 2017.
  3. ↑ Geysbeek, Tim (April 2018). "From Sasstown to Zaria: Tom Coffee and the Kru Origins of the Soudan Interior Mission, 1893–1895". Studies in World Christianity. 24 (1): 46–65. doi:10.3366/swc.2018.0204.
  4. 1 2 3 4 "History". sim.co.uk. SIM UK. Retrieved 26 February 2018.
  5. ↑ Fiedler, Klaus (1994). The Story of Faith Missions: From Hudson Taylor to Present Day Africa. Oxford: Regnum. pp. 78–79. ISBN 978-1-870345-18-7.
  6. ↑ Corwin, Gary R. (1999). "Bingham, Rowland Victor". In Gerald H. Anderson. Biographical Dictionary of Christian Missions. Grand Rapids, MI: Wm. B. Eerdmans Publishing. pp. 64–65. ISBN 978-0-8028-4680-8.
  7. ↑ Hall, Rhys (7 July 2016). "Across Background". Across. Retrieved 24 April 2018.
  8. ↑ Hall, Rhys. "All Children Reading: A Grand Challenge for Development". All Children Reading. Retrieved 24 April 2018.
  9. ↑ "Sudan Literature Centre catalogue". Open Library. Retrieved 24 April 2018.
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