September 1, 2006, is an exciting day for me—the first day of working together for the new SIM International Leadership Team.

Those who serve with SIM are from increasingly diverse cultures and it is only appropriate to have a Leadership Team that expresses who we are. Christianity can no longer be viewed as a “western religion”; it is truly a faith for the world.

The past 18 months have been a journey of discovery for me as I have worked to build this new team. God has guided in a very clear way through this search process. Let me introduce you to this special group of people.

	From left to right: Joshua Bogunjoko, Dave Bremner, Liz McGregor, Malcolm McGregor Dorothy Haile, Rene Palacio, Jeff Hahn, Andrew Ng, Eldon Porter

Doctors Joshua and Joanna Bogunjoko are from Nigeria, and they both have a background of medical missionary service with SIM and with the Evangelical Church of West Africa (ECWA) in their homeland and in neighboring Niger. Joshua served most recently as Director of Galmi Hospital in Niger. He will lead SIM in Europe and West Africa.

Dr Dave Bremner, who takes up leadership of SIM in East and Southern Africa, and his wife Nikki are from South Africa. They helped establish churches in unreached rural Paraguay, where his veterinarian skills opened many doors for the Gospel among the agricultural community there.

Liz McGregor is Special Assistant to the International Director, with a passion for discipleship and mentoring. During these months of transition, she has picked up some of the responsibilities of outgoing members of the International Leadership Team as they have moved on to new roles.

Dorothy Haile (British) is the International Personnel Director, a ministry she has provided for several years.

Rene Palacio (ethnic Cuban) continues as Chief Financial Officer, with his wife Lilli who is from South Africa.

Jeff Hahn (North American) and his wife Fiona (from Scotland) lead the new Ministry Development Team, which is charged with stimulating strategic initiatives and maintaining the mission’s position on the front line of opportunities and challenges in the 21st century.

Dr Andrew Ng and his wife Belinda are ethnic Chinese from Singapore, where they have facilitated mission mobilization by directing SIM East Asia for the past decade. They were the first Asians to join SIM in the 1980s, and served at Galmi Hospital in Niger. Andrew’s area of responsibility will be Asia and the Pacific.

Eldon and Becky Porter are from North America. They served in Bolivia for 21 years in leadership development and mentoring, and helped establish a gospel radio station and a crisis pregnancy center. Eldon is leading SIM in North, Central and South America.

The SIM community comprises workers from more than forty nationalities, who are sent out by a growing number of sending bases around the world. They serve in nearly fifty countries, where churches they have helped to start, and alongside whom they now serve, reflect the rich diversity of the family of God. SIM’s leadership team has become more representative of the new reality of the global church. The composition of this new team reflects the mission’s commitment to inclusion, affirmation and mutual learning among people from diverse ethnicities and cultures in this new age of mission. Please pray for us as we seek to serve the SIM community around the world.