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Issue 3 of 3 — 2018
For Christians Only
East Asia Edition
E-copy of the SIMNOW magazine
can be found at www.simeast.org
and facebook.com/SIMEASTASIA.
2 Editorial
by Dr Diane Marshal l ( Global Director for Regional Development )
In this edition of SIMnow, we want to think about thriving in global missions as a
journey rather than a destination. God launches our workers into new relationships
and ministries when they enter a new context. This requires depending on Him
for the big things, such as personnel, resources and finances. Dependence is also
about the little things, like adjusting to new foods and daily rhythms, which often take more energy than
we expect. I’ve been there myself, and it’s demanding, day in and day out! Fruitful cross-cultural workers
call upon God moment by moment for his wisdom and strength. As we say in SIM, each day is “By Prayer”
(Phil 1: 9-11).
Next, thriving in cross-cultural ministry requires a learning heart. Frequently workers have to navigate the
challenges of learning language, or even changes in accent and vocabulary for a language we thought
we knew. We encounter new ways of doing things that once seemed so automatic in our home culture.
Nothing is simple! All this learning takes humility, courage, sensitivity and resilience (1 Cor 9:24-27).
Thirdly, to succeed in making disciples of the Lord Jesus Christ in communities where He is least known
requires building relationships of trust. Thriving involves growing relationships with local people and with
our team members. How do we do this? What does it look like in practice? In the least it means learning
culture, understanding the strengths and needs of those with whom we minister, engaging with unseen
powers, and modelling the process of life transformation. To make disciples of Jesus, we have to be on the
journey of becoming disciples of Jesus (Mk 10:35-45).
Fourthly, a worker who thrives is part of a thriving team. No Christian worker, whether at home or overseas,
can ‘go it alone’ – we need each other! Count the number of people Paul names in his letter to the
Philippians, or in Romans 16. Fruitful cross-cultural ministry requires teamwork. Yet building healthy teams
is challenging – they require skilled and gracious leadership. SIM is working on this challenge through
intentional leadership development – we want to begin through leaders who thrive (Phil 2:19-30).
Finally, thriving depends on healthy partnerships. Paul says to the Philippians, “In all my prayers for all
of you, I always pray with joy because of your partnership in the gospel from the first day until now”
(Phil 1:4-5). Effective collaboration and partnership in the gospel are essential in the mission journey. The
most important partnership, as the Apostle himself demonstrates, is between the church and its bands of
mission workers (Acts 14:26-15:3a).
SIM partners with churches to fulfil God’s mission across cultures locally and globally – thriving churches
and thriving agencies. This involves collaborating with churches in cross-cultural ministry through fostering
healthy communication, exercising pastoral and member care, training in cross-cultural ministry and
mentoring. As well as financial resources, the skills of managing finances and legal matters, projects, HR
and missional business are also needed. Most important is having a shared vision for those living and dying
without ever hearing of Jesus (Rom 15:23-29).
In this edition of SIMnow we invite you to consider some of the multiple factors – personal and corporate –
that contribute to thriving workers in their ministries making Christ known in our world today. Follow SIM’s
history and growth over 125 years, give thanks for the expansion of SIM East Asia, and celebrate with us
as we join God in His mission.
Official publication of SIM (Serving In Mission), an interdenominational evangelical Protestant mission. SIM includes Africa Evangelical Fellowship, Andes Evangelical
Mission, International Christian Fellowship, Sudan Interior Mission and Middle East Christian Outreach. The East Asia edition of SIM Now is printed by SIM East Asia,
116 Lavender Street, Pek Chuan Building, #04 - 09 Singapore 338730. ISSN 0711 - 6683 - 11981, MCI (P) 023/02/2018. Permission to reprint any material must be
obtained from the Editor, SIM East Asia – Email: eastasia.info@sim.org. East Asia Editor: Stanley Ling. Assistant Editor: Lye Sue Kheong. Designer: Seah Gek Khee.
Printer: GL Printing Sdn Bhd. 29 Jalan Masai Taman Perindustrian, Kota Putri Satu, 81750 Masai, Johor, Malaysia. For security reasons, contributors are occasionally given
pseudonyms. All rights reserved. When applicable, stock photos are sometimes used to help represent stories.
3
God’s provision to help
SIM East Asia to Flourish
by Dr Stanley Ling ( Regional Director, SIM East Asia )
SIM East Asia (SIM EA) started when a young doctor, Andrew Ng, and his wife, Belinda,
heeded Jesus’ call to missions. Returning from a mission hospital in West Africa after 12
years, Dr Andrew and Belinda served in SIM EA as Regional Director and Personnel Director
respectively. Over these years, the number of SIM EA workers grew from 20 to 50. After 18
years they were asked to assume wider international leadership roles in SIM.
The growth of SIM EA in the early years can be seen in God’s call and preparation of one
couple, the obedience of this couple, and the wisdom of SIM leaders to encourage, guide
and mentor them on their journey to serving God in His mission. It can also be seen in the
vision and support of the church leadership that Andrew and Belinda belong to.
Andrew was succeeded by Dr Stanley Ling as the Regional Director when they left for the
USA to serve as the Deputy International Director for SIM Asia-Pacific. From 50 workers,
SIM EA grew to 180 workers serving in over 30 countries in Africa, Asia, Middle East and
South America. To deal with this growth and increasing accountability to churches and
governments, the SIM EA office also grew from 5 staff in 2006 to 25 staff in 2018, including
15 local staff and 10 home-based missionaries.
Finance has also grown in tandem, from over S$300k in 2006 to over S$800k in 2018.
Beginning with Dr Andrew Ng, SIM EA has developed a financial structure to facilitate
growth. The faithfulness of God’s churches and people has helped SIM EA weather various
crises, never lacking God’s provision.
Effective 1 Oct 2018, SIM global restructuring resulted in 10 different regions, with SIM EA
as one of them. With this restructuring, SIM EA is now responsible for 4 receiving fields,
besides the original 9 sending councils.
We praise God for this growth and are thankful that individuals, churches and supporters
continually respond to God’s call, enabling SIM EA to always have the required leadership
and provide the necessary support and services to our workers and the churches who
partner with us. To God and to them we joyfully stand accountable.
God uses us as vessels to carry the water of everlasting life to the
many who are living and dying without hearing God’s Good News.
Stories
4
from Beyond...
Statements that begin with "Stories from Beyond..." may sound a little eerie...but that is exactly what life beyond
the borders may look like for our workers in the fields! We hope that through these snippets extracted from their
prayer letters, you will get a glimpse into their lives, understand their circumstances a little more, and pray for them
more meaningfully.
From The Chows (Niger)
The tetanus boy has become a ‘real’ Yahaya, follower of Jesus Christ!
Received night call for tetanus anti-toxin.
Went to see the patient, who was in an isolated and dark room to help with his condition. He was with his father and
uncle, who were sitting behind him and supporting him. Saw the name on the chart - Yahaya (John in Hausa), 20
years old; I asked the father “Are you a Christian?”
“No”
“Why is he called Yahaya? That is a Christian name”
“Actually his name is R____. But when they registered him, somehow they heard wrongly and wrote Yahaya…”
“Yahaya is a very special name, he was a friend and disciple of Yesu Almasihu (Jesus Christ)”
That was how we started the conversation.
Yahaya had gone to Ghana to look for work. Somehow he got an injury that led to tetanus. He’d received some sort
of treatment somewhere, but when the condition grew worse, they decided to bring him to Galmi.
“Why come to Galmi?” I asked.
“We only trust Galmi now”
This brought a lump to my throat, and I saw more clearly the despair in the father’s eyes.
“We will do our best. Galmi is different from other hospitals because we pray in the name of Jesus Christ for
you. Do you mind if I pray?”
“Please, pray for him!”
But just as I was starting, Yahaya began to have a severe bout of painful muscle spasm and he was gasping “help…
my neck… help… my legs.”. I said a quick prayer and went to look for his doctor.
Over the next few days, Yahaya’s medications kept being adjusted upwards as his spasms continued. Our doctors
and nurses would pray with and for them when they did the daily rounds.
Week two, doses were still increasing, but he’d been switched from injection to oral tablets (more than 30 tablets
each time).
The Ramadan fasting month had begun. Yahaya’s dose was still being increased, but one day as I was praying, there
was an immense peace about his situation. When I went to visit him, he said, “Sister! I want to go home!” I told him
that we were praying for him and I had a lot of peace that he would be alright (even though his dose was still being
increased!).
I gave him the SD card from my cellphone, containing the Bible in Hausa, Bible stories, various testimonies and
videos for discipleship.
Two days later, when I went to the ward to review the medication charts, I couldn’t find Yahaya’s. The nurse said, “Oh
it’s with the doctor. He’s writing the discharge medications.” Praise and thanks be to God!
When I visited him, his father said he had managed to put the SD card into his own cellphone and it worked, and
they had been listening, reading and watching the materials on their cellphone. I again asked that he show it to
Yahaya when he’s fully recovered, as he may want to become a follower of Jesus. To my surprise and joy, the father
said, “Don’t need to wait. We have all received Jesus already, we are followers already.” The father’s eyes were
smiling. Yahaya too flashed me a bright smile, and the uncle nodded his head. The hospital evangelist had visited,
shared and prayed with them, and they had made the decision to become Christians!
5
Update on Projects
Electronic Pastoral Book Set [SG90808]
This project aims to make available good evangelical resources for pastors and missionaries serving in creative access
fields where such materials are not easily accessible or available. Biblical materials comprising bibles, commentaries,
songs, video clips, maps, etc. are downloaded onto micro-SD memory chips to help them to teach and preach God’s
word more effectively.
60 tablets were recently made available to pastors and church leaders in East Asia pursuing Bachelor of Theology
with a Singapore based seminary. They were extremely grateful as many simply cannot get hold of good biblical
resources for learning and teaching, and to be better equipped for ministry.
Letter from
a missionary serving in a creative access
nation after receiving the tablet :
Dear XXX,
I hope all is going well in Singapore. I wanted to thank you for taking the time to
conduct a training here in xxx. I greatly appreciate the gift of the tablet resource.
I know using this tablet during my remaining 9 months in xxx before my
Church leaders engrossed Sabbatical leave will enable me to equip like-minded xxx with tools and
with the biblical contents resources to help them in their walk with the Lord. There may also be
found in the tablet
opportunities to use the tablet with xxx as well.
I hope there is continued funding for these tablets in order to outfit every worker
in xxx, and even throughout Asia.
Pastors receiving instructions on how
to use the computers sponsored by Thank you again.
loving Singapore Christians
Blessings, XXX
SIM Chinese Diaspora Ministry [SG90810]
The SIM Chinese Diaspora Ministry (SCDM) started in 2008. Its Vision is:
“Where there are Chinese restaurants, there will be churches established
and Where there are missionaries serving, there will also be Chinese
missionaries serving together.”
From its humble beginnings in Nigeria and South Africa, SCDM now minsters
in Angola, Ethiopia, Mozambique, Zambia and Zimbabwe. Rev Jame Ha,
the founding Director of SCDM actively visits the churches and small groups,
teaching and encouraging them in their faith. Rev Frank Tuan and Mrs Ada
Tuan have retired, but continues to be informally involved in Chinese ministry
work in South Africa. First Chinese Fellowship be set up by SIM in
Kano, Nigeria. Middle is Rev Chan Choy Leng.
A new Chinese church in Swaziland was planted in October through the Rev James Ha is at the far right.
efforts of the Tuans and their mother church. The first Chinese fellowship in
Kano, Northen Nigeria, was started recently by Rev Chan Choy Leng from
Malaysia. Rev Chan also flies regularly to Lagos to assist the Chinese
fellowships there.
SCDM’s partnership with the Sabah Basel Christian Church (Malaysia) led to
Rev James Ha spending one and a half months ministering to the Madagascar
Chinese Church (MCC). This resulted in SIM being invited to send Chinese
missionaries to Madagascar for long term ministry with the MCC. Pray for
God to provide workers for this harvest field.
A Memorandum Of Understanding was established with the GETS Theological
Seminary in South Africa, allowing Chinrese church to send Christians from
Evening Service of South Africa
Africa to study theology at the seminary, based in Johannesburg. Chinese Methodist Church
Kent’s grave
6 Walter Gowans, Thomas Kent and
Defining moments in SIM’s
Rowland Bingham arrive in Lagos,
Nigeria, committed to reaching the
125 years of existence
60 million people in the interior
(Soudan) who are living and dying
without ever hearing the gospel
18 93 1894
Bingham returns Gowans &
for 3rd time to Africa Kent died in Nigeria
SIM establishes
with new workers, and of malaria. Bingham
first church in
Egbe, Nigeria, established a base 800km recovers in Canada,
up the Niger River. Work returns to Lagos,
with baptism of
expands from there into suffers again from
13 people
West Africa malaria and is unable
to continue
1909 1902
SIM policy of SIM merges First baptism
making decisions SIM opens a with Abyssinian among the Wariji
as close to the Christian bookshop in Frontiers Mission, people of Nigeria.
point of action as Jos, Nigeria – the first of opening up work in SIM begins using
possible a chain across Nigeria East Africa “By Prayer”
Sokoto bookshop
1915 1924 1925 1935 1940
Igbaja seminary
SIM Rev Moses Aniye Igbaja
SIM hospital
missionaries and Theological
in Doro, Sudan,
Nigerian pastors College opens
bombed by Italian
established the in Nigeria –
air force, killing
Evangelical SIM’s first
Dr Robert & Mrs
Missionary Society formal training
Claire Grieve
institution
1948 1941
Salim Tannous (Lebanon) Michika
becomes SIM’s first Arab Clara Blaine Aoba (Japan) is
missionary, serving as an Wilson (Liberia) is SIM’s first Asian
Arabic broadcaster at SIM’s SIM’s first missionary
Radio ELWA African member
1964 1965 1967 1976
Andes Evangelical SIM Nigeria
Life SIM
Mission merges with SIM. turns over its
Challenge East Asia is
(AEM began in Bolivia in work to
South Africa registered in
1907). Ministry expands Evangelical
joins SIM Singapore
from 2 to 6 countries. Church of
[M* ministry]
West Africa
1986 1982 1980
International Christian Africa Evangelical
the merger
Fellowship merges with Fellowship merges SIM establishes a
SIM bringing in ministries in with SIM bringing in Latin America sending
South Asia & Philippines countries in office: now SIM
Southern Africa Latinoamérica
1989 1998 2006
Middle
East Christian SIM adopts
Outreach joins a new governance Dr Joshua Bogunjoko (Nigeria),
with SIM to grow model no longer whose parents first heard
outreach in the controlled by the gospel from SIM
Middle East sending countries missionaries, becomes
SIM’s International Director
2016 2015 2013
The SIM family of 4,000 missionaries
and workers celebrates 125 years of
God’s faithfulness in taking the gospel
2 01 8 to living
communities where people are
and dying without ever
hearing of Jesus
7
Reflections of a Missionary from SIM East Asia
(Abstracted from video testimony of Dr Andrew & Belinda Ng)
“Have the courage to respond to the Lord
and say to the Lord “If you will prepare me,
I’ll be ready to go.” Then serve the Lord with
all your heart, with all your soul, with all your
strength and with all your mind. ... God, if you
really want me, you choose me, you prepare
me …”
God’s providence seen in the calling of His
people at a young age, and when they respond
in obedience, preparing them over the years till
they are ready
“… we felt we should be a mission minded
church. And we even had the audacity to say that one
week of our monthly offering should go to missions. …”
Daring to dream big and trusting God to provide through His people in order to fulfil God’s
call to mission and the support of visionary leaders in putting aside resources to make it come true.
“... Pastor encouraged me to write my first letter to SIM to enquire ... and that’s how my journey began ...”
Leaders who help kickstart the process and encourage the individual to take concrete step to get things
moving.
Andrew was then mentored by SIM in the ensuing years ...
The sensitivity and wisdom of leaders to accept someone responding in obedience to God’s call and the
willingness to lead, guide and mentor someone through the journey of ratifying God’s call and getting
them ready to go.
There was a wrestle within her heart. In the end, she surrendered her all to the Lord. Immediately, God
gave her a deep sense of peace ...
Giving the needed peace and assurance to trust that God is the one leading the way
“... Yet through Andrew’s sickness, we’ve experienced the love of the body of Christ. … We know that this
is God’s provision, learning to be care receiver rather than care giver …”
Support of the church extended not only in good times, but also in bad, so that the missionary and his
family can feel the love, concern and care expressed by the church family
... learnt to trust God with their children too... sending their children to boarding school was a challenging
time … boarding school was 1000 Km away … God provided a couple to be guardians in amazing ways.
… the boys grew up happy and well adjusted...
An extended family helping to care for the children of missionaries so that they are not at risk of feeling
neglected and rejected because of their parents’ absence due to their service to the Lord
“Mission is really an unfinishable task until the Lord returns. So every generation will have to reach
their own generation … so while we are still strong and healthy and able, we should go all out and
do even the tough jobs that are still available all over the world … have the courage to give your all
to the Lord. Seek his perfect will for your life and know that because God is with you, you will never
fail … Life is just a short-term service for our God.”
8
r n a l o f... SIM’s 125th Anniversary Celebration held in Singapore by SIM East Asia
Our Jou
on 11 Nov 2018; with presentations by Mrs Belinda Ng on behalf of Dr Andrew Ng,
Dr Stanley Ling and Dr Joshua Bogunjoko on the past, present and future of SIM.
We also took time to honour Dr Andrew and Belinda Ng, as pioneer missionaries
of SIM East Asia.
Belinda
presenting and
receiving the honour
on behalf of Andrew,
who was unable to
be present
27th SIM East Asia Regional Council Meeting
The 9 sending councils under SIM East Asia met together in Kota Kinabalu from 14-16 Nov 2018. We were joined by
representatives from the 4 receiving fields that now comes under the East Asia region, as a result of the restructuring on
1 Oct 2018. This was followed by a mission seminar and workshop on 17 Nov 2018 at the Asian Center for Missions.
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