Key Ministries
- Sending mission partners
We work alongside New Zealand churches to send their people to serve cross-culturally. This involves both mobilisation and ongoing member care. - Equipping churches
We equip local churches to both be aware of global mission and understand how to be missional. We act as a mission advocate and coach.
Spiritual Landscape in New Zealand
New Zealand’s spiritual landscape is changing rapidly. According to the 2023 census, 51.6 per cent of the population identifies as having ‘no religion’, a steady increase since 2006. Despite this, 81 per cent express some form of spiritual belief. A key reason many explore spirituality is witnessing others who genuinely live out sincere faith.
About 31 per cent identify as Christian, yet only 12.4 per cent attend church regularly, marking a significant decline from previous decades when New Zealand was known as a Christian nation with the highest mission workers per capita worldwide.
While the church’s cultural influence has diminished, vibrant faith communities remain, and there is opportunity for people to encounter Christ through friends, family, and faith communities. The society is multicultural and religiously diverse, making a clear presentation of biblical Christianity crucial. A renewed movement of the Holy Spirit (Wairua Tapu) has recently been observed in some churches.
SIM New Zealand supports the church by encouraging believers to build relationships across faiths and cultures for the sake of the gospel.
Please pray
- For new prayer groups to start that give all generations a chance to participate in praying for mission
- For our mobilisers as they focus on three New Zealand communities this year — Palmerston North, Christchurch and Dunedin — coming alongside church pastors and congregations to build mission awareness and engagement
- For four new long-term mission partners who sense God’s calling to serve cross-culturally outside New Zealand
- For our board as they work with leadership to refresh our next six-year strategic plan
- For strategic partnerships with churches to be developed through mutual relationships
Latest stories from around SIM
A statement from Kevin and Krista Rideout.
Galius had a tough childhood in Namibia. He lost his mother at childbirth and his father also passed away when he was a teenager. Today, Galius is st...
They come for the games, but they leave with something far greater. Across the world, Sports Friends camps are creating opportunities for young people to d...
We are grateful to confirm that our good friend and brother in Christ, Kevin Rideout, has been released after over nine months in captivity.
In Ethiopia, mission is taking new forms. Technology is opening doors into places once unreachable, and local believers are stepping forward with deep cult...
In northern Ghana, youth worker Charity has spent years building relationships with young people and their families. She encourages them in their faith wh...
Across the world, young people are showing a growing openness to faith: from Thailand to North Africa to Central Asia. As spiritual hunger rises among Gen ...
An encounter with rural ministry as a teenager changed the course of Samuel's life. Years later, God led him, his wife and their children from Ethiopia to ...
In Central Asia, a small group of young Christians is being intentionally equipped as emerging leaders. Mentoring, ministry experience and sports outreach ...
Creativity has become a doorway to encounter God in Addis Ababa, where mission workers Malaika and Halawi are helping believers hear His voice through pr...
In North Africa, Lobna’s life was marked by manipulation, addiction, and fear until God intervened through the faithful love of His people. This is the s...
Even in retirement, nurse midwife Beth Roberts continues to live out her calling. After nearly three decades in Guinea, she now supports mission workers, r...