SIM USA, Inc.

Summary

Simply put, SIM (Serving In Mission) is an international mission organization with more than 1,400 committed missionaries serving in over 40 countries on five continents and 2 islands in the Indian Ocean.

One of the unique attractions of SIM is its abundance and variety of service opportunities. SIM members follow God's leading to diverse unreached people groups spanning Africa, Asia, South America, Europe, and North America. SIM members not only serve in far-flung geographical areas, they are "international" themselves. In fact, SIM missionaries represent over 30 nationalities. They also serve in a wide spectrum of career fields. In other words, the SIM family can use people of every race and nationality with almost any skill imaginable.

This organization is a nonprofit, contributions to it are fully tax deductible to the extent allowed by law. It is a member of the Evangelical Council for Financial Accountability (ECFA).

Contact Information: [ Back to top ]

Organization Details [ Back to top ]

Purpose [ Back to top ]

SIM USA, Inc. ("SIM") is an evangelical, interdenominational international mission agency working primarily in South America, Africa and Southern Asia. The purpose of SIM is to glorify God by planting, strengthening, and partnering with churches around the world to evangelize the unreached, minister to human need, disciple believers into churches and equip churches to fulfill Christ's Commission. As one of the largest international mission agencies, SIM has more than 1,600 active missionaries (from 40 countries) serving in more than 50 countries on five continents and 2 islands in the Indian Ocean.

In addition to the missionary, church planting, short term missions and community service activities which SIM supports, the organization also operates the following programs: Carachipampa Christian School (a school for children in Bolivia), ECWA Evangel Hospital (Nigeria), The Maradi Integrated Development Project, Radio Mosoj Chaski (radio station in Bolivia), SIM Retirement Village (Sebring, Florida), SIM TEC (technical education to evangelize and disciple students), Centre Biblique de Niamey - Bible Center of Niamey (Niger), Sahel Academy (Niger), the Christian Missions Home Page (an internet ministry). SIM is also involved in the publishing of SIMNOW (mission magazine), Harvest (an update on projects), World Watch (relief and development bulletin of SIM Canada), Dare to Make a Difference (a booklet on what the Bible says about how you can make a difference).

SIM USA, Inc. is a participant in an international group known collectively as SIM International. SIM International is composed of eight sending countries including in Australia, Canada, East Asia, Korea, United Kingdom/Northern Europe, New Zealand, Switzerland/Southern Europe, and the United States; and, fifteen area divisions, including: Bangladesh; Benin/Togo; Burkina Faso/Mali; East Asia; Eastern Africa; Eastern Andes; Eritrea; Southern Africa; Western Africa; and SIM International Administration.

SIM subscribes to the following core values: (1) Committed to Biblical truth, (2) Dependent on God, (3) People of Prayer, (4) Mission Focused, (5) Church Centered, (6) Concerned about Human Needs, (7) A Christ-like Family, (8) A Sharing Community, (9) International, (10) Interdenominational.

SIM stands for the Society for International Ministries. The Society for International Ministries includes the Andes Evangelical Mission, International Christian Fellowship, the Africa Evangelical Fellowship and the Sudan Interior Mission. To move forward into the 21st century SIM has become a part of the Evangel Fellowship International Missions Association (EFIMA). EFIMA is not a new missionary agency, rather it is an association of existing mission efforts which have been developing cooperative contacts and coordinated efforts for decades. These groups are pledged to cooperate in strategy and planning, and to help one another in ministry. SIM's role will be to give special focus to 99 distinct ethnic groups that are as yet unreached with the Gospel. SIM will help train, mobilize and enable its partner churches to send their people. In most cases SIM missionaries will continue to work side-by-side with missionaries from the new churches until these target groups have their own mature church, prepared to disciple the next generation. SIM has a Statement of Relationships (posted on its web site) which governs its relationships with external organizations. SIM is organized as a religious order associated with churches of the Protestant faith. One of SIM USA, Inc.'s primary roles is to raise funds and resources which are distributed through SIM International.

This organization is a nonprofit, contributions to it are fully tax deductible to the extent allowed by law. It is a member of the Evangelical Council for Financial Accountability (ECFA).

Mission Statement [ Back to top ]

SIM expresses its purpose statement as follows:

The purpose of SIM is to glorify God by planting, strengthening and partnering with churches around the world as we: Evangelize the unreached, Minister to Human Need, Disciple believers into churches, Equip churches to fulfill Christ's Commission.

Program Accomplishments [ Back to top ]

The fruit of SIM’s work includes more than 10,000 SIM related churches and four million baptized believers in previously unreached areas. Fifteen thousand church leaders are studying in SIM-related Bible schools and seminaries. Additionally, millions not directly related to SIM have heard the gospel or have been discipled through SIM radio, literature, medicine, emergency relief, community development, and theological education.

Statement of Faith [ Back to top ]

SIM subscribes to the following doctrinal statement:

A. The Bible, which is verbally inspired by the Holy Spirit in the canonical Scripture as originally given, and is the inerrant and authoritative Word of God. (2 Timothy 3:15-17; 2 Peter 1:21)

B. The triune Godhead in three persons: Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. (Deuteronomy 6:4; Matthew 28:19; 2 Corinthians 13:14)
The Father, who is Spirit, infinite, eternal, and unchangeable in all His attributes. (John 4:24; Exodus 34:6)
The Son, Jesus Christ; His deity, virgin birth, sinless life, atoning death, bodily resurrection, personal exaltation at God's right hand, and personal return. (John 1:1; Isaiah 7:14; Hebrews 7:26; 1 Corinthians 15:3,4; Acts 1:11)
The Holy Spirit, who is a divine person, equal with the Father and the Son, and of the same nature. (John 15:26)

C. The personality of Satan, who is called the devil. (Revelation 20:2)

D. The fall and lost estate of man, whose total depravity makes necessary the new birth. (Romans 5:12; John 3:5)

E. Salvation by grace through faith in the shed blood and substitutionary death of Jesus Christ our Lord and Savior. (Titus 3:4-7; Ephesians 2:8,9; Romans 5:8)

F. The eternal blessedness of the saved and the everlasting punishment of the lost. (Matthew 25:46; Philippians 3:21)

G. The Church, the bride of Christ: in its universal aspect comprising the whole body of those who have been born of the spirit; and in its local expression established for worship, mutual edification, and witness. (Ephesians 1:22,23; 5:25-32; Acts 15:41; 16,5)

H. Christ's Great Commission to go into all the world and preach the gospel to every creature, making disciples, baptizing, and teaching. (Matthew 28:18-20)

History [ Back to top ]

SIM’s (original name - Sudan Interior Mission), was begun over one hundred years ago when three young men landed at Lagos, Nigeria. The oldest of the three was only 25 but each had a desire to establish a witness among the 60 million unreached people of what was then known as the Soudan. Unable to interest established missions - most of which said reaching the Soudan was impossible and possibly outside God’s will - the three set out under their own name. In 1902, the party successfully established a base 500 miles inland. From this base, the work of SIM began in Africa.

Across the Southern Hemisphere on the island of Ceylon (now known as Sri Lanka), four Englishmen began their work in 1893 among the island’s Singhalese Buddhists and Tamil Hindus, forming the Ceylon and India General Mission (CIGM). From Ceylon the work expanded into South India, later reaching out across the subcontinent and then to the Philippines.

Also in 1893, Charles Reeves and M.E. Gavin left their home in Australia. A Eurasian Christian from Poona, India, had come to Australia in search of missionaries to work in his home area. Reeves and Gavin could not resist the challenge and set sail under the name Poona and Indian Village Mission (PIVM).

In 1907 New Zealander George Allan landed in Bolivia to minister to the Quechua Indians. Allan's Bolivian Indian Mission grew in the years that followed to become the fourth tributary, the Andes Evangelical Mission (AEM).

In 1968, the two India/Asian tributaries joined to become the International Christian Fellowship (ICF), and in the 1980's, AEM, ICF and SIM joined hands and forces to become what we know today as SIM, the Society for International Ministries. The most recent addition occurred in 1998 when AEF (Africa Evangelical Fellowship) merged with SIM. AEF officially began its work in Cape Town, South Africa, in 1889 as the South Africa General Mission under the leadership of Andrew Murray, Mrs. Osborne, Spencer Walton, and George Howe. Starting from urban South Africa, missionary efforts spread into many of the other countries and people groups of southern Africa.

Ministry Needs [ Back to top ]

SIM is always looking for people who can help in the following areas: prayer; short term missions; long term missions; giving.

Specific project needs include: Galmi Hospital in Niger, Africa - construction of new operating rooms and a pharmacy; Africa Bible Challenge - bible translation, printing and literature projects; Housing facility for street kids in Khartoum, Sudan; Harvest of Hope campaign - provides seven ways to support overseas mission efforts; Establishing radio broadcasts to the Quecha Indians of the Andes.

Research Analysis

Transparency Grade [ Back to top ]

MinistryWatch.com 5 Star Financial Efficiency Ratings [ Back to top ]

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