Serving In Mission
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SIM (Serving In Mission) is an international, interdenominational Christian mission organization. It was established in 1893 by its three founders, Walter Gowans and Rowland Bingham of Canada and Thomas Kent of the United States.
It is made up of united organizations that began more than 100 years ago, including Africa Evangelical Fellowship, Andes Evangelical Mission, International Christian Fellowship and Sudan Interior Mission.
In 2005 SIM had about 1,600 active missionaries, from 37 countries serving in over 40 countries in South America, Africa and Asia.
[edit] History
In 1893 Walter Gowans, Rowland Bingham and Thomas Kent landed in Lagos, Nigeria. Their aim was to evangelize the 'Soudan' region of Africa. Though Gowans and Kent died of malaria, Bingham survived and returned to his home in Canada. He came down with fever on his second attempt and returned home, but he sent out a third team which finally established a base 500 miles inland in 1902.
During this time a Scotsman began work on the island of Ceylon; two Australians, Charles Reeves and M.E. Gavin, established a base in India; and New Zealanders, George and Mary Allan, reached Bolivia. After decades of independent success, the four mission groups joined in the 1980s to form an international ministry, now called SIM (Serving In Mission).
