The Sudan Interior Mission (SIM) in Ethiopia (1928-1970)

The Setting

The Sudan Interior Mission, commonly known by its acronym SIM, emerged in the late-nineteenth century in North America as one of the mission institutions spawned by the conservative religious movements that eventually crystallized into what was termed "fundamentalism" in the 1920s. The fundamentalist movement was a loose, diverse, and changing federation of cobelligerents, united in their fierce opposition to attempts to bring Christianity into line with modern thought. ¹ New discoveries in the field of natural science, rapid industrial growth, and urbanization had led to the secularization of public culture, and emerging fundamentalist faiths found their expectations characterized as incompatible with contemporary views of social reform and religious thought. Evangelical Christian groups who in one way or another were associated with the fundamentalists legitimated their worldview by adhering strictly to biblical truth and defending their beliefs against modernist thought.

The SIM was influenced by these ideological undercurrents of fundamentalist evangelicalism, which emphasized, among other things, the inerrancy of the Bible; Gospel proclamation, as distinct from Christian service, which was the main concern of liberal mission institutions; individual conversion, resulting from genuine repentance and an admission of one's sins; radical behavioral change as evidence of regeneration; and the formation of new communities as the inevitable consequence of spiritual regeneration.

The SIM can also be identified with the new faith mission agencies of the time, such as Hudson Taylor's China Inland Mission, which were not attached to a single church or denomination for financial support and base of recruitment. SIM and similar mission institutions depended on voluntary contributions of individuals and nonaffiliated Christian agencies. As "faith" missions, they had no invested money of their own or the assurance of any future budget. The new agencies opted for this approach both for reasons of autonomy and initiative, and to distance themselves from the growing influence of the liberal Christians. As a rule, such institutions were interdenominational and loose in terms of their structure, to allow flexibility in programs, procedures, and field initiatives.

The Foundation of the Sudan Interior Mission

The SIM was founded by Rowland Victor Bingham, who rose out of the tradition of the new evangelicalism of the late-nineteenth century. In actual fact, the genesis of the SIM can be traced to the vision of Walter Gowans, a young Canadian who in 1893 dreamt of going to the Sudan, a name then designating the area south of the Sahara and north of the equator. Gowans shared his vision for the Sudan with his mother, who in turn impressed the evangelical burden upon Bingham. The previous year, Bingham had heard a sermon by Adoniram Judson of Boston and decided to serve as a missionary, but without making a definite decision as to where he should go. Recollecting his feelings, he noted, "Waiting on God, I felt I must go and join Walter Gowans in Britain. He was there to see what could be done to reach the central Sudan with the gospel." ²

Pending his voyage to Britain, Bingham made a round of churches in the United States to announce his calling to the foreign mission. While on his tour, he met Thomas Kent, a college friend of Gowans, who expressed his willingness to go with him to Africa. The two joined Gowans in Britain and at once sailed to Africa, where they arrived in Lagos on 4 December 1893. Less than a month after their arrival, however, Gowans and Kent were both infected by malaria and died in 1894. After five months, Bingham returned home, still determined to fulfill the dream for himself and his deceased colleagues, and sought further theological training to better equip him for the task ahead. He saw the need to set up some sort of organization to serve as an institutional core and home base, and on 27 May 1898, a mission board was established for this purpose. In 1900 he set out for Africa for...