What do you do at SIM NZ? If you could describe your role in no more than two sentences, what would you tell us?
I am the personnel director for SIM NZ overseeing a personnel team of five people. We work together to recruit, equip and send workers into God’s global mission.

Tell us about your journey into global missions.
I was challenged to become involved in mission during my time at Bible College in Germany. Many of my classmates were preparing for missions and through involvement in local outreaches and visiting mission speakers, my interest in missions grew. In my last year at Bible College at age 21, I made a deliberate choice to follow God’s leading into global mission in Africa.

How did you come to work with SIM and how long have you been working for the NZ office?
A SIM mission partner working in Benin, west Africa, came to speak at our missions conference. This was my first introduction to SIM, and I knew God was nudging me in this direction as I listened to his simple testimony of being on God’s mission. More than 50 years later, I am still with SIM!

What do you enjoy about working for SIM?
I enjoy the fact that we are all working for the same purpose, to make disciples of Jesus Christ in communities where He is least known. Everyone has a different part to play but we are all working to fulfill God’s mission. I have met so many amazing people during my years with SIM who inspire and motivate me to live for Christ.

What are some of the challenges in your role?
Challenges…there are always challenges. At the moment, we are facing a decreasing number of mission partners in SIM NZ. We recognize the need to mobilise for mission, to be so excited about what God has done for us that we want to share this with others. Another challenge is to prepare our workers well for effective cross-cultural work so they can last the distance. It would be wonderful if we could have larger number of applicants so we could run training cohorts rather than orientating and training individual candidates.

Tell us about your family.
Our four children were all born in SIM hospitals in Nigeria and Benin. They are all married, and we have 9 grandchildren.

What do you enjoy in your spare time?
I enjoy gardening. This is something I never got to do during our years overseas mainly because of the harsh climates where we lived. So, it’s lovely to be able to learn to do that now. Reading is also something that I enjoy.

A lesson you have learnt in life that you would like to share:
There is joy and contentment in following Jesus. I know I can trust Jesus in spite of challenging circumstances because I have seen Him come through for me so many times. God sometime works in unexpected ways, so I am learning to wait for Him to work in His timing.

How can we pray for you?
Pray for the personnel team as we mobilize for mission and respond to enquirers. Give thanks for the opportunity that I have in May and June to run a missions course, ‘MomentumYes,’ in my home church in Waiuku. Pray for creativity to advertise this well and for people to commit to attending and learning more about missions.

To give to the SIM NZ office, visit here https://sim.org.nz/give/