Students for International Mission Service (SIMS)

a letter
from the program director

Every month, two SIMS health-care teams visit their respective sites on the Mexican border. The difference between these two sites can teach us an important lesson.

Regardless of how many times you visit site A, there always seem to be variables that are out of your control, making it an unpredictable visit. Some of these variables include where you will meet for church, where you will eat, what you will eat, and how involved in the program you are expected to be. These endless variables present a challenge to any logistics coordinator! At this site, we are not in charge of the project, we are partners with the local church. This partnership forces us to compromise and communicate with our partners.

Site B is a different story. At site B we are in charge. The church is not a partner (presently),

“Go to the people. Live among them, learn from them, love them. Start with what they know, build on what they love, and, as with the greatest of leaders, when our work is done, the people will say, ‘we have done it ourselves.’” --Chinese proverb

and the few existing church members commute to church and are absent during Sunday’s clinic. For now, site B offers a predictable, efficient system where we are able to see many patients. In site B we work alone.

So which site appeals to you? If you want to be challenged, if you want to grow, I would urge you to visit site A where there is a partnership and an ongoing dialogue, where we are forced to think and act outside of our predictable box. The success of each site is gauged by asking what would happen if SIMS were never to return to Mexico? We at SIMS hope that our volunteers will learn this invaluable lesson of empowerment and partnership.

Juan Carlos Belliard, MPH

Program director

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