(South America)–Elsewhere, SIM International’s goal is for their missionaries to literally work themselves out of a job. Once established, they work to help churches be self-sustained. However, the question then becomes, ‘If the church is running on its own, are missionaries still needed?’ According to SIM’s Arden Steel and the Bolivian church, the answer to that, is ‘yes’. “We do need missionaries. Not as many, perhaps, as in the past, partly because our Bolivian church has gotten very involved in missions. Now, they have their own missions department.” Steel’s work in Bolivia has changed roles over the years of ministry there. However, the greater challenge is attracting new workers. “We still need continually, missionaries, especially short-termers with our missionary children’s school. We need missionaries to work together with our national church, our main emphasis in Bolivia’s training. [And,] We do have some in evangelism and discipleship.”
