After meeting all the conditions for long-term missionaries we are now members of SIM, an international, interdenominational mission agency with more than 1,000 members.

It is so cool to be part of the family. I wish I could tell you the sense of family that we feel after spending 3 weeks at Candidate Orientation. Caring for and loving each other (see John 13:34-35) is a big part of being a Christian and a big plus for being a SIMer.

We played Scrabble, talked theology and missiology, we burped babies, discussed cultural issues, and talked about hard stuff. We visited a mosque, a Spanish-speaking church, and a French-speaking African church.

We gave our testimony four separate times and we learned how the soverign Lord had worked and called our friends to serve Him. God is at work in Asia, Africa, and South America through SIM missionaries serving in all kinds of capacities.

We left tired but feeling like we had pounded expresso shots of pure missions excitement. I will always remember SIM-CO 2004.