Application Process
For all SIM mission opportunities, you begin the application process by completing a brief online inquiry form. Afterward, you’ll be contacted by a member of our Recruitment Team, usually within a few business days. This is always an exciting conversation. We’ll want to hear your story!
Attend our Connect Event at the SIM USA Campus.
From there, your coach will guide you through the rest of the initial application process. This includes the completion of a pre-application (PreApp) and a formal application.
The PreApp consists of a series of basic questions where we are looking for big-picture responses from you. Don’t worry, there’s no need to study. We simply use your answers here to help you explore where God may be leading you.
SIM has dedicated staff called Applicant Coordinators, who walk alongside Applicants and help them complete and submit all the necessary information and required documents (Doctrinal Assessment, Psychological Assessment, medical forms, and staff interviews) while getting to know the Applicant and what God is doing in their lives. We always say that this application process is a two-way street: SIM is praying through whether this seems like a good fit for the Applicant to join SIM at the same time that the Applicant is praying through whether SIM is a good fit for them. We genuinely want you to be where God calls you, whether or not that’s with SIM! Becoming a missionary is an important process, and we are truly interested in God’s best for you. After prayerful examination, a Review Committee meets to approve the Applicant to become a “Candidate.”
The information we gather is handled confidentially and in compliance with the Authorization for Release of Information, which your Applicant Coordinator will send when they connect with you.
Placement
We place missionaries based on several criteria including length of service. First, we prioritize matching the needs of a ministry with the skills of a missionary-to-be (you!). Mission work is a broad and very diverse field. We list 30 different skills — from agriculture to accounting — for you to pray through and discern how God wants to use the abilities He’s given you to bless others. We encourage you to invite your family, friends, and church to pray with you through this process!
This process involves agreeing on placement, and this includes four different entities to be in agreement. These four different parties come together to confirm the placement of an individual serving cross-culturally as a missionary.
The four parties involved are:
- The missionary or missionary family
- The missionary’s church
- SIM USA
- The receiving SIM entity overseas where the missionary family will serve
There are thousands of opportunities around the globe to invest in and grow with a community. Long-term missionaries are the heart of SIM and have a unique opportunity to share Jesus with those they work and live among.
Training
We want to send people to their countries of service equipped to thrive, which is why we have an entire team of people devoted to preparing you for the field. Each SIM worker’s training is tailored to them, but they all include cross-cultural missionary training, language training, and missionary support raising training. There are other types of missionary training that vary depending on each person’s situation and background. Different trainings to become a missionary can include theological training, security training and job-specific training.
We are committed to lifelong learning. We practice discipleship, consultative leadership, mutual development, and training as enduring disciplines. We want to see people continue to grow and develop throughout their ministry.
Raising Funds
SIM missionaries raise their own financial support. We have seen God provide time and time again — and we are filled with faith that He will continue to do so. But we don’t leave you to raise money all on your own! We have several resources available to help you invite other believers to participate in God’s work in and through you.
The outcomes of this process and these ministry partnerships often include increasing faith and joy, and deepening relationships with God and each other. That’s why we call this Relationship Development Ministry.
