Archive for SIM

The ABC’s of SIM Opportunities

I have decided to take up the challenge of going through the alphabet and listing from A-Z some of the opportunities that are available for Christians who are interested in serving God with SIM. There will be quite an array of opportunities so strap yourself in and enjoy!

A is for…..

Administrator in Angola

Do you have gifts in administration and organisation? If so, SIM Angola could use you on our team. You would help us with visa requirements for missionaries and visitors and with financial issues. Help us realise our full potential as an area office and see that our vision for ministry in Angola is fulfilled.

Arsenic Alleviation Programme in Bangladesh

A cup of cold water . . . it sounds so simple, but much of the water in Bangladesh has been contaminated with arsenic. How would you like to provide relief for those whose only source of water causes disease and sickness? God can use you as a coordinator to oversee the Arsenic Alleviation Programme in Kushtia.

Addiction Recovery Counsellor in Mongolia

Here is a great short-term opportunity for experienced counsellors with a heart to train others to work with Celebrate Recovery materials. Addiction recovery counsellors are needed on a short-term basis to increase the knowledge of local trainers. Mongolia.

Three examples of ‘A’ for opportunities around the world for now will do. Look out for the letter ‘B’ coming soon! If you feel that you may be interested in any of these opportunities feel free to contact SIM. You can contact Michael and I here in Western Australia for more information by emailing sim.wa[at]sim.org.au.

Painting again

This week I’ve had the ol’ acrylic paints out once again, it’s been a while. I wanted to try to paint something that catches the eye. I’m not sure that it’s finished but it will do for my purposes. This is much more of a poster illustration than anything and will have the words ‘Find Your Place’ in the centre. This is for our display for Go!Reachout which is on this weekend here in Perth.

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This is about 90cm x 60cm I would think (haven’t measured it). I’ve had to do this late at night and have managed to get this far in two nights. Not sure if I’ll do any more on it, might just leave it because I tend to overwork things if I keep fiddling.

I am like an Op Shop Canister

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Our kitchen is slowly transforming to what I want it to be…a 1950′s retro kitchen with ‘diner’ tendencies. The other day I had 10 minutes to browse a local op shop (thrift shop) and discovered these three canisters amongst the recycled ‘treasures’ in the kitchen section. I was excited to find them and even more pleased when I turned them over for the price to discover that they were only $3.75 for the set. Wow, what a bargain!

To some this is not a bargain at all. Many would think that they are only worth $3.75 and would still have left them on the shelf but I saw so much more value in them. They fit into my kitchen perfectly next to my ‘diner’ style sugar container and items that I’ve collected which were once well used in my Nanna’s kitchen.

Lately I’ve been feeling a bit like these canisters, undervalued. It’s a tendency of mine to go down that line of thinking and something I have to watch out for. I have to try to remember that God has a use for me no matter how small, I just need to be patient. For now I am completely satisfied with being a stay at home Mum and contributing to my role within SIM where I can. I just have to keep reminding myself that God values me even when I ‘feel’ undervalued. I am also aware that I can pass on this pouty-ness to my daughters (Keziah already makes a grunt noise when she can’t get something to work) and must work on this area for their sakes. I want to be the best example I can and show them they are valued and loved by their parents but also by God.

So, which kitchen item are you like?

Lessons Learnt at a Market

I have been running this post through my head for the last 24 hours or so and thought I’d share some of the lessons I’ve learnt from my first big market. These are things that may not apply to other sellers (or they may) but are quite specific to me.

1. It’s not all about the money.
If you read my blog regularly you will know that the money from my sales goes to the work of SIM. For this reason I was really hoping for a lot of sales. I was so tired that at the end of the day I felt neither excited nor disappointed about the amount of money I made. This may have been because I have nothing to mark it against being the first event I’ve done.

As the day progressed instead of worrying about sales and money I started to enjoy just meeting people (some I had only ‘met’ online) and was pleased to see a couple of the SIMAid project catalogues go into people’s hands. A lot of people asked about polymer clay and how I made my products but a few asked about SIM and it was nice to meet some YWAM ladies too who dropped by.

I am more concerned about doing what I believe God is asking me to do in representing the work of SIM than making money. He is in charge of my sales so I believe that I sold what he wanted me to sell. End of story.

2. I need to work on my reactions.
Last week I shared a photo with you of my earring display. It was all done up in colour order and I’d spent half a day putting it together. Well, ‘clever me’ managed to stick it all down and take it to the market as it was. The idea was to save time and just put it up when I got there.

I did that. It arrived fine. I put it up. I was nearly finished when I asked Michael if he would come around to the front of my stall and help pin my sign on the table. Let me just say that Michael was a great help to me at the market (thank you honey). He put aside a whole day in his very busy schedule to be there and sit there and told lots of people lots of big stories about how great I am (cough cough blush). I tell you that because I don’t want you to get the wrong idea about what I’m about to say.

As Michael squeezed past the two tables to come around the front and pin up my sign I heard a very loud crash. I looked down and there on the floor was my earring display. I thought oh no some of my earrings fell off! I picked it up and you guessed it…..all 72 pairs were on the floor (and in amongst everything else on the table).

I have no idea if Michael blushed about this because I was too busy growling and reacting very badly and saying things like ‘you are kidding me, this is the worst thing that could have happened’ (and a lot more). I am embarrassed to say that I did not react the way that a loving wife who respects the other person should react. I acted as if he had purposely knocked the display to the ground. This is an area I need to work on. It really wasn’t the worst thing in the world, we scooped up the earrings and I rehung them. Took me about 15 mins and we were ready right on time. I hope that I can learn this lesson and learn some self-control.

3. People are not scary.
Sitting in a market and talking to people I do not know is usually very scary to me. I was feeling slightly out of my comfort zone and in many cases I’m sure I came across a bit cheesy and too ‘hello, how are you, la la la’. That was just nerves. I need to learn how to relax and be myself. I suppose I’m afraid that people won’t like the real me. The real me is a conservative Christian (I’m not ashamed of that, just not sure how people will react to it) with a tiny hippy bent. The real me is someone who wants that pat on the back at the same time as wanting to be equal and treated the same as everyone else. I guess I need to just relax and think ‘like me or lump me’. I have never been ‘cool’, ‘trendy’, ‘in’ whatever in my life. Not once. I was very much ‘out’ in my school years and I suppose I’ve dragged that with me even now. I need to focus on doing what I feel God wants me to do and be myself.

There are more lessons but these are the main three. Nothing whatsoever to do with business, displays or marketing although I’m sure those lessons were there too.

Made On The Left Report

So, how did it go? This is the question I’ve been asked a few times over the last 24 hours so I thought I’d take the chance to write a little summary of the event while the girls are asleep. We got to the Hyde Park Hotel around 9am and set up our table as quickly as we could. I was in a bit of a flutter as I haven’t done a big event before. All was sorted and set up by the starting time of 10am and then people started to slowly come in. Overall it went well. The day had some very busy peaks and some quieter valleys but was steady over all I thought. I was next to fellow polyclayer J2aney and Annie from 17Threads.

It’s hard to tell what ‘good sales’ are as I have nothing to compare to but let me just say that my sales were under $400 and I’m happy with that for now. Of course I would have liked more but I’m fairly sure that this slow economy is effecting everything. I have a post in mind about some of the lessons I learnt by attending the market and I’ll put that up later but for now, here are some photos of the day.

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Different angles of my display

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Lotta from PrincessLotta

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Feli from InMonoDesigns

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Lauren from Osier hard at work

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Niina from NiinaAoki

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Ali from Aussiepatches

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Beth from The Tiny Little Girl

So it was a great day, met lots of people, saw a lot of interesting things and had a whole day with Michael minus two kids (rare). I’ll be blogging about lessons learnt a bit later.

Two Big Events

For our household this has been a very busy and crazy year. In between travel, moving house, having a baby and normal life we have hardly had a run of ‘normal’ time. Well, ‘normal’ is nearly here but we have two big events left in the year first.

The first event is the market I’ve mentioned before which is this Saturday. Here are the details:
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Made On The Left
Designer Arts and Crafts Market
Showcasing Western Australian Talent
Saturday November 15th 10am – 4pm
Hyde Park Hotel
331 Bulwer Street
West Perth

I’ll show you in a separate post the beads I’ve prepared for the event.

The second big event (and final for the year) is Go! Reachout. Here are the details;

Go! Reachout
GO! Reachout aims to teach the biblical basis of missions, enhance awareness of the needs of our world and provide an opportunity for young adults to meet, and explore the implications of God’s passion for the unreached. GO! Reachout represents the partnership of churches, mission agencies, Bible colleges and Christian networks, and is an event of Missions Interlink.

Saturday 29th November
Murdoch Worship Centre
Just off carpark #5 at Murdoch University

I will be representing SIM at both events in very different ways. At the market I will have SIMAid brochures out on the table and the money from the event will all go to missions. Go! Reachout will have our SIM display alongside the other missions displays and Michael is the conference chairman this year so he will be running around the place organising this and that.

So, will we see you at either of these events? Click on the links above for more information, especially for Go! Reachout in regards to the speaker and topics etc… Hope to see you there!

Are you a creative Christian?

If you are then there are some very interesting missions opportunities with SIM at the moment. Here are some examples in the area of arts/media;

Role: Graphic Artist- Video Production
Country: Philippines
Length of Service: Long-Term
Link

Role: Media Designer Associate
Country: Ghana
Length of Service: Short-Term
Link

Role: Christian Media Designer/Implementer
Country: Ghana
Length of Service: Long-Term
Link

Role: Staff Writer/Producer
Country: United States of America
Length of Service: Long-Term
Link

Role: Sudan Reporter
Country: Sudan
Length of Service: Short-Term
Link

Role: Radio Technician/Mentor
Country: Uruguay
Length of Service: Long-Term
Link

Role: Web Content Editor
Country: International
Length of Service: Long-Term
Link

MORE HERE!

Ta Daaaaaa #2

After a bit of thought and a few experiments I’ve finally sorted out how to display my earrings for the MOTL market this weekend. In between Luci having catnaps today I gave myself a very sore finger pushing pins into this pin board after lining it with courderoy fabric. I have secured the earrings to the board so I don’t have to set them up again once there. I have tried to make this as visually attractive as I can by hanging them in colour order and have done the same with my beads (which I’ll take a photo of tomorrow if I can). Almost set for the market now!

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Melville Baptist Church Fair – The Setup

Yesterday from 8.45 – 2.00 I manned my little stall at the Melville Baptist Church Fair (Fete). The Fair went well overall with lots of sales of books, plants, bric a brac and food. I didn’t sell much but it was a good day anyway. I thought I’d share some photos of the setup of my stall there. It was a good practice run for two weeks time when I’m at the Hyde Park Hotel for the Made On The Left market. All funds from that market will got to the work of SIM and I am still thinking/praying through where to send the money.

So, here are the photos, there are none of me behind the stall but I’ll try to get one next time. I would probably change a few things and need to get some better signage (this was a rushed job) too.

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Summary of Sales for Sept and Oct – Project #92704 Deborah House Shelter for Street Girls

The sales for all my items for September and October are going to Deborah House Shelter for Street Girls (92704) and compared to the previous two months sales ($US82) I did quite well. The total in sales for these two months was………..drumroll……….$US300. This is exciting as it will assist those girls in Addis Abbaba Ethiopia who are in need and quoting from the SIM website:

“Deborah House is a shelter house that offers these girls a safe place to sleep, Christian love, food, and care—by paying school fees, offering medical care, teaching about HIV and AIDS, and most importantly, teaching them about the love of Christ through Bible studies and compassionate care.

With room to house 30 girls, the shelter has almost always been at capacity since it began. As they have experienced the love of God through the staff, many of the girls have changed dramatically and made commitments to follow Christ.

In order to bring more girls off the streets, the Deborah House staff is working towards reintegrating some of the girls into the community. This will be done by reuniting some of the girls with their families, by placing others in foster families, and by other methods.”

I will let you know soon where the November and December sales will go. I have to sit down and have a good think (and pray) about it as this is the month where I will be selling at the Made On The Left market and expect to sell a lot more than usual (or hope to!).

Thank you to those of you who have purchased from me these last two months, I’m sure the girls in Ethiopia will benefit greatly from your buys!