[2005 file photo]

SíMO Training Is Upon Us!

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By the time you read this, our Summer Institute for Missionary Orientation (SíMO) [pronounced SEE' mo]training will be in full swing. Again this year, we are having a good group of missionaries joining us for this two week training experience.

This is our 7th year in operation! SíMO is completely a faith effort to address issues related to life and ministry on the mission field. We strive to see longevity and increased effectiveness among our holiness missions. Yes, we need more workers but we also need to keep the missionaries we already have! Our premise is that “missionaries are too valuable to lose!”
We are seeing a good measure of our mission being accomplished. Testimonials of former SíMO participants bring much encouragement to our training team. Our alumni speak well about their SíMO training, especially when they confront the realities of the field.

In addition to our missionary adults, this year we have a lot of MK’s (missionaries’ kids)...11 to be exact! Their ages range from 12 years on down to a one month old baby. Joy, Alyssa, and Caleb are preparing activities for them. Some of these activities include some age-appropriate experiences regarding mission work and crossing cultures.

This is also the second year for SíMO for Leaders. This new specialized training is designed to meet some of the needs of mission directors, mission board members, and their office staff. This program is catching on! This year we are seeing a nice increase (a 100% increase!) of leaders joining us for this training.

This year’s topics include: 1) the necessity for understanding worldviews and culture; 2) the dilemma of cross-cultural ethics; and 3) the whole issue of dependency upon US dollars and personnel to keep mission churches going.

Thank you for making our involvement in this event possible through your support for us. In our next Ministry to Missions newsletter, we will report regarding this year’s training event.

To subscribe to our Ministry to Missions newsletter, send me an e-mail with your mailing address to: missions@pvbi.edu.

Summer Institute
for Missionary Orientation

The Summer Institute for Missionary Orientation (SíMO) has completed six years of ministry training! It is hard to believe that we have reached such a milestone already. Again this year, the Lord brought together the missionaries He wanted together for this specialized training. [See group picture above.]

Co-founded in 2000 by veteran missionary Leroy Adams and Steve (who is the Director of SíMO), this annual missions training program has addressed issues related to mission life particularly, the missionary attrition rate. As one author wrote, “Missionaries are too valuable to lose.” Thus, we deal with a variety of pertinent issues such as, submission to authority and conflict resolution, interpersonal relationships, cross-cultural ethics, the missionary work ethic, stress management, family issues, music and worship styles, missionary finances, and many other relevant topics.

Over the few years of operating SíMO, we have had forty missionaries and mission leaders in the program. These cross-cultural Christian workers represent about ten holiness mission organizations, plus a few who were not connected with an organization. We continue our steady service to holiness missionaries and their organizations.

New to this year’s training was SíMO for Leaders. Running simultaneously with some of the regular SíMO training, this track focuses on the needs of mission leaders, mission board members, and mission office staff. Although the duration of this training is abbreviated to accommodate leaders’ schedules, the training is intensive addressing specific issues confronting mission leaders.

We are now beginning preliminary preparation for SíMO’07. The dates are June 18-29 for SíMO and June 20-22 for SíMO for Leaders. For more information regarding the SíMO or SíMO for Leaders training and for a list of subjects for this year’s SíMO for Leaders training, contact Steve using the contact information in the header of this newsletter.

Thank you for your prayers for this unique and vital ministry. Your financial support for us helps to make our involvement in this orientation training possible.

Welcome!

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Here are some biographical details about Steven & Joy Mowery to better acquaint you with them and their missions ministry.

Steven A. Mowery
Steven was raised in Sunbury, PA, USA, for most of his life. He is a graduate (1982 - ADBS) from Penn View Bible Institute located in Penns Creek, PA, USA. Following graduation, he taught history and social studies at Penn View Christian Academy for four years during which time he also did course work at Susquehanna University (Selinsgrove, PA) and Penn State University (University Park, PA). He married C. Joy (Witter) on June 15, 1985. He graduated in 1994 graduate (MAMin) from Moody Graduate School in Chicago, IL.

He has been the Director of Missions at Penn View Bible Institute since 1990. He has developed the Missions Division to the point that many Penn View graduates are ministering in a variety of cross-cultural setting around the world.

In addition to these responsibilities, he is also the co-founder and director of the Summer Institute for Missionary Orientation (SíMO -- pronounced 'SEE-mō'). This ministry to missionary training is specifically designed for both veteran missionaries and new missionaries under appointment. Veteran missionaries are personally and professionally refreshed by the training while new missionaries are prepared to confront the realities of mission life in a cross-cultural setting. The focus of SíMO is to address the missionary attrition rate. To capsulize the situation SíMO addresses: Missionaries are too valuable to lose.

Steven is a past member of the Board of Directors of Mission Helps, Inc. (1996-2006). Presently, he is a board member for FEA Ministries Inc. based in Hobe Sound, FL. This board is the governing board of Hope International Missions under which several Penn View missions graduates faithfully serve. He is also a graphics designer, a write, and a convention speaker.

Together, the Mowery's were missionaries from 1987 'til 1990 in the community of Black Point, Exuma (Great Guana Cay) in central Bahamas. The national church and mission is called Bahamas Holy Bible Mission. They were the last expatriate missionaries to serve under BHBM. All three of the original BHBM churches (Nassau, Black Point, & Pleasant Bay) are under able indigenous leadership. Three churches on Grand Bahama affiliated with Hope International Missions (Freeport, Holmes Rock, & High Rock) have joined the other BHBM churches to form a six-church Bahamian denomination. Even today, the Mowery's have ongoing communication and relationships with the church leaders and laity in these churches.

C. Joy Mowery
Joy is a third generation missionary. Her grandfather (Gordon Winter) founded the Bahamian work following World War II (in about 1948). Joy spent 7 1/2 years of her childhood in the Bahamas since her parents (Robert & Dorothy Witter) had joined the missionary team. Raised as an MK (missionaries' kid) and as a PK (preacher's kid) brought many experiences into her life.

She attended God's Bible School & Missionary Training Home in Cincinnati, OH, and graduated in 1981 (BA in Music) from Hobe Sound Bible College, Hobe Sound, FL.

Presently, she provides private piano lessons from their home and is also a member of the Missions Training Team in the Missions Division of Penn View Bible Institute. Among her Missions Training Team responsibilities is teaching a unique class "Women in Cross-Cultural Ministry." She is an important staff member of SíMO.

Joy promotes among mission organizations the need for member care and provides personal care and counseling for female missionaries impacted by the rigors and stresses of mission life.

New Ministry Dimension
A new missions ministry dimension the Mowery's are developing is "Ministry to Missions." This ministry to missionaries and national workers serves to enhance their effectiveness through 1) project development 2) marketing & promotion 3) mission consultation 4) leadership training 5) personal development 6) team development.

Together, Steven & Joy have three children: Allen, Alyssa (born in Nassua, Bahamas), & Caleb.