How can I say I am involved in worldwide missions when I live in the United States?

From 2010 to 2015 I served in Senegal with SIM as a missionary. I lived with my son and his wife, Corey and Katie Garrett, who are also with SIM, homeschooling their three girls. I experienced missionary life on the front lines. The support of the team in our town and the times we gathered for worship and study as well as fellowship were very meaningful. These relationships will always have special significance because of the time we shared in that sometimes difficult setting.

One of the things that made those years easier was the sure knowledge there was an office in the USA, staffed with folks just like us, who knew what we needed because they had been there before us. We knew they were praying for us, concerned about the things we were experiencing, and stayed in touch with us through rough and smooth times. They worked to be sure we had all the resources we needed, our monthly income was delivered in a timely way, our health needs were attended to and handled a host of other details to make our lives easier.

When it was time to return home, folks in the home office provided a conveniently timed air ticket, with costs handled smoothly by the finance department. The home office made arrangements for my arrival and helped plan out what would happen when I got there. There was someone at the airport to transport me to the home office to stay in the comfortable Guest House. Time was set aside to listen to my experiences on the field. They helped me review my trials and triumphs, laughed and cried with me, and discussed options for my next steps.

This mission of ministering to missionaries is a vital part of SIM. This organization recognizes the importance of making sure missionaries ON THE FOREIGN FIELD are adequately supported ON THE HOME FIELD. This link of support and connection makes a world of difference to missionaries in foreign countries as well as in their home land. Training and equipping before missionaries go, assistance in planning and preparing as well as helping them adjust to living in a foreign culture and returning to home lands after long periods away are all essential ways the home office personnel minister to and with missionaries and their families.

It is this essential connectedness keeping strong ties of community alive across continents that is a driving purpose for missionaries serving in the home office. It is my distinct pleasure to be counted among these dedicated people who serve to keep the thread of connection strong. My role in the home office is to channel prayer requests from sixty countries worldwide into a prayer calendar published every other month so our entire community can be praying for one another. I know this link is vital for the spiritual strength of missionaries on the field because I have been there and know how important it is. I know what a huge difference it makes to know there is a whole office of people praying for me and the struggles I face daily. I hear from others on the field how significantly important it is to them, too. I see how serious the staff is about the high priority of prayer in the daily operations of the SIM USA office and I see it making a significant difference in functions at home and abroad.

So, YES, I am proud to say I am a full-time MISSIONARY, living and working in the USA, supporting hundreds of missionaries in foreign lands through the vital work of prayer. We are a team. We work together supporting one another. And together, we serve the Lord and seek to make Him known throughout the world!