Murray Overton, Director of Bingham Academy, Ethiopia

Thirty-eight people, from 11 different nations, met in Chiang Mai, Thailand 1-9 November, for the SIM MK Education Consultation 2007 (SIMKEC 2007). They met with the purpose of learning together how to more effectively aid SIM personnel in the education of their children.

Pooling hundreds of years of experience in global education, the delegates spent eight days discussing the current situation and how it could be improved and widened to include the children of SIMers from newly emerging sending churches.

Representatives of the Ethiopian Kale Heywet Church and Latin American churches were welcomed, and they shared what God is doing in their nations, mobilizing people into multi-cultural mission, both at home and overseas.

Examining Traditional MK Education

During the first 3 days of SIMKEC 2007, 14 delegates from our SIM-related schools addressed the issues that face educators in traditional MK education. Delegates from schools in Bolivia, Ethiopia, India, Malawi, Niger, Nigeria and Pakistan brought a passion for education and a love for MKs and hundreds of local children educated by our schools.

Discussion was lively, touching on curriculum, discipline, staffing and examinations. Old friendships were renewed and new ones formed. Educators learned that, despite the geographical distances between schools, many of the issues faced are similar. Others who share the same problems can offer advice and empathy.

Dr. David Wilcox of ACSI (Association of Christian Schools International) led devotions each morning, as well as sharing his expertise in international education.

	Delegates gather to pray for Ato Girma of the Ethiopian Kale Heywet Church

Exploring Non-traditional Options

During the second half of the consultation, representatives of the schools were joined by staff from SIM sending offices, as well as home-schooling parents, bringing the total to 38. Discussion broadened, as the consultation turned to ways in which non-traditional educational options can be used to help personnel in areas isolated from traditional schools.

Dr. Ken Williams, from Australia, gave an interesting and informative insight into the ‘one room school’ model used very successfully for decades in the remote rural areas of Australia. Is this the way to move forward in areas where a few mission families are to be found? Or is the model of a home-schooling co-operative more appropriate?

One major topic of discussion was that of language, and the importance of children maintaining their mother tongue. All of SIM’s schools run in English, using a North American or British curriculum as a base, so where do MKs from the new sending nations, such as Ethiopia or Guatemala, fit into the picture? At present, little is being done to meet the needs of children from these families.

The various issues raised gave delegates much ‘food for thought’ to take away with them. Their task now is to share these issues with their fellow SIMers, and to start working on some solutions before the next SIMKEC in 2010.