For anyone looking for a mission with which to ser...

For anyone looking for a mission with which to serve, you are better to go with a much smaller one, one whose administrative overhead is far less and where leadership and systems can be more easily held accountable. The mission has now become too big and too corporate, and in the process has moved further away from biblical teachings when dealing with their own faithful servants.
Although I spent several years with SIM, and felt secure in it, I suddenly found myself unexpectedly thrown out. I know others in SIM to whom the same thing happened. It could be accusations in the financial, sexual, or other areas. It does not matter. If an accusation of having done something wrong comes up against you, and you don t have concrete proof to show right away that you didn t do it, then you could find yourself dropped like a hot potato from SIM without any opportunity for further discussion. They may even take the opportunity to tell your supporters of your so-called crime.
Some would baulk at what Joshua has written, but it holds a lot of truth. SIM does indeed sacrifice individual people who could be innocent, apparently to protect the reputation of the whole mission. I don t agree that SIM USA is evil but the organization as a whole has certainly become misguided by secular and legal thinking. SIM s motto in the past has been By Prayer but from my experience that certainly does not describe SIM today. New SIM applicants need to be aware of this, as well as those already inside SIM; those that dare to think It could never happen to me. That is exactly what I had thought too, but I was wrong. You might be doing everything right, but someone else can always point a finger at you. Then you ll be sunk because often legal protection and image rather than Biblical wisdom become SIM s highest priority.

UPDATE: I see that several people still in SIM have contributed here in order to say how they support SIM and see nothing wrong with it. In fact I know some of you, and a few years ago I myself would have been happy to write a similar thing as well. However, the average person is not aware of the extent SIM will go to keep its image clean. It is nothing they will broadcast and no one is going to tell you about it unless they have experienced it themselves. I reiterate: if the right type of allegations (money, racism, sexism, child abuse) come up against any of you, then you will be surprised to suddenly find yourself unsupported and in a very difficult position because the mission administrators now considers you blemished and expendable. I am not out to badmouth the mission with unfounded criticism but simply want to warn people about this organisation using the benefit of my experience.

UPDATE 2: It is rather disconcerting to see current SIM employees writing here claiming the negative reviews are unfounded when sincere warnings are trying to be made. I actually see the positive reviews as being somewhat unfounded due to lack of awareness. As I mentioned before, until allegations come up against a missionary they will most likely be BLIND to a lot of the decisions that go on behind the administrative doors.
Often it is the negative product reviewers that have experienced the product s flaws more fully. My family as well as a few others I know of have been VERY unfairly treated by SIM when allegations came up against them; and in some cases SIM even refused to reconsider their actions taken against the missionary after local law enforcement could not find evidence of foul play!
I have spent more time in SIM than anyone listing their length of service here. Perhaps that gives me some credibility too, but really it is during the events happening in the missionary s last days with SIM (after accusations are made against him/her) that the most revealing negative learning about the mission takes place.
The bottom line is that even though the mission has many positive aspects to tout, (there are plenty of nice godly people in SIM), do BE WARNED there is also a dark side to SIM that I would not wish on anyone.