The American Baptist Special Interest Missionary (SIM) Program was started in 1952 with the support of American Baptist Women. This program
- personalizes American Baptist mission.
- acquaints congregations with missionaries and their ministries.
- cultivates prayer and financial support for our mission in the United States and other countries.
Traditionally, the SIM program was administered through American Baptist Women’s Ministries. However, not every church has an active AB Women’s Ministries group. To reach every American Baptist church, National and International Ministries have expanded the SIM program in recent years so that all American Baptist churches will receive information. This was done at the request of pastors who want their congregations to learn more about American Baptist mission and to build stronger partnerships with our missionaries.
Following are the names and contact information for the SIMs assigned to ABCRM. Because our ABW Ministries groups remain organized according to state boundaries, you will note different names have been assigned to churches in Wyoming and Colorado:
Names assigned to Colorado and New Mexico:
Rev. Mercedes Gonzalez-Barnes and Rev. Richard Barnes (United States)
Rev. Lauran Bethell (Global Service Missionary)
Mr. Tom and Terry Myers (Bulgaria)
http://www.myersbulgaria.org/
Rev. David Reed and Rev. Joyce Anderson-Reed (Mexico)
Rev. Daniel and Mrs. Estela Schweissing (Bahamas)
Dr. Paul K. Chapman (Ecumenical Ministries in US)
Rev. Vincent Harris (Race Track Chaplain)
Mr. Trevor Jones (Alaska Ministries)
www.kodiakbaptistmission.org
Names assigned to Wyoming:
Rev. Lauran Bethell (Global Service Missionary)
Rev. Debra and Rev. Dr. Flint Miller (Philippines)
Rev. David Reed and Rev. Joyce Anderson-Reed (Mexico)
Rev. Daniel and Mrs. Estella Schweissing (Bahamas)
Mr. Alvin Lewis (Neighborhood Action/Christian Center)
Dr. Lawrence Lindley (Neighborhood Action/Christian Center)
LindleyLM@juno.com
Website: www.ednamartincc.org
Mr. David Sheldon (Neighborhood Action/Christian Center)
theplace@theplace-cncn.org
Website: www.theplace-cncn.org
How to Support Your SIMs. . .
Get everyone involved. The ministries of your Special Interest Missionaries are valuable knowledge for pastors, adults, youth, and children.
Keep up to date. You can find biographical information and journals or newsletters from your SIMs on the Web: www.nationalministries.org and www.internationalministries.org.
You may subscribe to receive journals and newsletter via e-mail. Visit the above sites or call 1-800-ABC-3USA, ext. 2207 for IM, or ext. 2073 for NM.
Read. Learn about the challenges, successes, failures, and concerns faced by your missionaries.
Write. Every missionary loves to get mail, especially missionary kids! Send an e-mail. Mail a birthday or holiday card. Involve a Sunday School class, youth group, or Bible study group in writing a letter, where everyone can include a word of greeting and support. Please understand that missionaries always welcome correspondence, but are not always able to send a personal response.
Pray. Prayer is the most important way you can support your Special Interest Missionaries. Consider adding them to your church’s prayer chain. Journals and newsletter tell you about issues they are facing, struggles in their ministries, and situations unique to where they live that impact their work. Global prayer needs are posted weekly on the IM website.
Projects. Your SIM may have a mission service project that could use your help or support. For a current list of ideas, request a copy of the American Baptist Mission Service Projects book by calling 1-800-4-JUDSON. This resource is free.
Sign up. Both NM and IM have a variety of resources that relate to the ministries of your Special Interest Missionaries. Order God’s Kids from IM so Sunday school classes can learn about missionary kids. The monthly IM Update is available in print or via e-mail. Sign up for NM’s “Mission in America” mailing with the latest information about American Baptist mission in the US and Puerto Rico.
Promote. Keep your SIMS visible. Make a display or bulletin board with a map of where they work. Add photos, letters or journals, news articles about that area, post prayer needs or cards you want folks to sign.
Use your website. Post recent information, photos and prayer reminds on your church’s website. Add hyperlinks directly to IM missionary profiles and journals. You can also add hyperlinks to NM’s web page for home mission news and missionary information.
Gifts. Everyone likes a birthday gift. Ask your SIMs what they would appreciate receiving. (For those living overseas, check first to see what is allowed through customs and if missionaries have to pay to receive packages.)
Support. Include ongoing financial support for your Special Interest Missionaries in your church’s annual budget. This should be noted on the Monthly Report of Mission Support that is sent to your Region office. Please call 800-ABC-3USA, ext. 2140, to learn how to provide the ongoing support necessary for each IM missionary.
Personal gifts of money.
IM and NM Missionaries: Personal monetary gifts may be included by your church treasurer with the monthly remittance of other mission funds. The amount should be noted on the Monthly Report of Mission Support that is sent to your Region office. Use Miscellaneous Objectives (MO) with the name of the missionary and location of service in the detail section of the form. These gifts are considered to be over and above your regular mission giving.
NM Missionaries: You may send personal gift checks directly to NM missionaries.
IM Missionaries: Send personal gift checks to IM for deposit into a missionary’s personal account. Mark “Personal gift for (name) “ and send to Treasurer, International Ministries, P.O. Box 851, Valley Forge, PA 19482-0851. Please do not send personal gift checks directly to IM missionaries who serve in other countries.
Visit. Why not plan to visit your SIM? What a great way to get young and old alike interested in mission work. If you alternate between national and international visits, your church can learn about the vast scope of American Baptist mission.
Invite. Ask the missionary to visit your church. Contact the Region office to request a missionary visit. |
