Summer Institute for Missionary Orientation

"Too valuable to lose" is the reason why the Summer Institute for Missionary Orientation was created. Life on the mission field is not easy, and there are many sad stories of missionaries who started off well but are now casualties. Several years ago, God laid a burden on the hearts of Br. Leroy Adams, a career missionary, and Br. Steve Mowery, director of the missions department at Penn View Bible Institute, to do something to help reduce missionary attrition. SIMO, a two-week intensive training course, was born out of that burden.

Evangelistic Faith Missions has made it their policy to send their new missionaries to SIMO; consequently, Missy, Devin, and I had the privilege to attend SIMO over the last two weeks. Our instructors, Br. Steve Hight, Br. Leroy Adams, and Br. Steve Mowery, did and excellent job of delving into a number of important topics. Subjects discussed included: The Biblical Basis of Missions, Cross-Cultural Communication, Culture Shock, Cultural Anthropology, Missionary Fund Raising, Issues of Dependency and Paternalism, and Music and Worship Styles, to name a few. In addition to the time spent in the classroom, we visited a Ukrainian church, an African-American church, and a Hindu temple. As Missy and I are preparing to go to Costa Rica, we realize that a great task lies ahead of us. We are thankful for the training that we received at SIMO and are confident that it has better prepared us to be more effective in our ministry.