What do you do at SIM NZ? If you could describe your role in no more than two sentences, what would you tell us?

My position with SIM is in partnership with my wife Fiona. We lead the Communications & Media for SIM NZ. My primary responsibilities include designing the Together magazine and other regular communications. I also assist partners with developing forms of effective communications. I enjoy the graphic design, layout and video editing side of this while I leave the interviews and creating of stories to Fiona.

Tell us about your journey into global missions.

My journey started years ago before marriage where I had a heart for the issue of trafficking. I shared this with Fiona early on in our relationship (who worked for SIM at the time) and we decided to travel overseas to explore where God might take us. We were blessed to connect with several organisations and non-profits in Thailand and the Philippines, allowing us to explore and help in many areas including website development, database skills training and English language teaching.

These memories stay firm in your mind and even a decade later I can still picture events and people we encountered along the way.

Fast forward to recent times and this led to another trip to Asia. We wanted to take our children, Abi (12) and Ethan (10) along with us to show them life outside of New Zealand. Last year in October we joined a team from International Needs and explored various ministries in Cambodia. We also had the opportunity to spend time with a New Zealand family working in this country.

Our family have mission on our hearts, and I am excited to watch this space and see how we can serve more in this area and show our children the same.

How did you come to work with SIM, and how long have you been working for the NZ office?

I came to work with SIM through the connections Fiona has with the New Zealand office and personnel. Zoe, who previously led the communications area of SIM NZ, suggested that Fiona and I would be able to take over this role. Fiona with her authoring skills and mine with creative design were a match for this need. After a discussion with Rob, we agreed and the rest you might say is history.  I have been working for SIM around 6 months now.

What do you enjoy about working for SIM?

I would say the best part of working for SIM is fundamentally the foundations of what SIM do – to encourage, support, resource and share the stories of people who work to share God’s word and love through a variety of ways. It is also exciting to connect with other organisations and believers on this journey who share the same heart and vision for this world and the people God loves.

What are some of the challenges in your role?

Being in the early stages of our time with SIM the biggest challenge is simply establishing a routine, finding out the scope of our job and working through the changes that are happening in the space of communication.

Tell us about your family.

We currently live in Leeston, Canterbury. My wife Fiona and I have two children Abi (12) and Ethan (10).  I enjoy the outdoors which includes running, tramping and biking. Fiona has a creative spirit and loves writing. Abi is working her way up to being a leader in youth programmes and is a dedicated reader (which starts early at breakfast). Ethan is creative and enjoys drawing and making comic strips. Both Abi and Ethan love games (and I join in from time to time).

What do you enjoy in your spare time?

As mentioned I enjoy being outside and doing activities in nature. I also am keen on reading and learning, so some of my time can be on teaching myself new skills (usually via Udemy). I love movies and am more than happy to sit and watch a good film with pizza for dinner.

A lesson you have learnt in life that you would like to share:

A lesson that has sat with me is do everything to the best of your ability. Make sure you act with integrity and work hard. This is a way of shining your light to the people around you because they know you are dependable and will do what you are asked to do. This builds trust and has led to many advantages in my work, including strong dependable working relationships with my colleagues and particularly my direct boss. Work as though you are working for the Lord!

How can we pray for you?

Pray for making decisions around Abi and Ethan’s school. Next year Abi starts high school so we need to decide which school this might be, and if we need to move to reduce travel time.

As Fiona and I extend the communications of SIM NZ, pray for how we progress with this, particularly around new magazine design and the social media side of communications.

Pray for balancing work and life together. We seem to be involved in many areas, so we do want to ensure we balance time with family and our time with God.

To give to the SIM NZ office, visit here.