Although I was brought up in a Christian family, I turned away from God as a teenager. I know firsthand that he is a God of many chances and have seen in my own life how he used others to draw me back to him, making a re-commitment when I was 21.
I supported cross-cultural mission, but it wasn’t ever something I considered doing myself. With a background of arts education in museums and galleries, I first fell in love with Latin America while working on a number of different arts projects. When I returned from a short-term arts projects in Ecuador I felt God prompting me and decided to explore the possibility of returning to Latin America longer-term. I came to Lima with Church Mission Society in September 2013.
Anna Sims - Peru
Call
I am passionate about God, Latin America, people and the arts.
Role
I am part of Walking in Liberty, a prison ministry supporting English-speaking female foreign inmates and ex-offenders in Lima.
More about Anna Sims
[The film above is a short, animated video sharing the story of one of the women I work with, a prison inmate who attends our Bible study.]
In John 10:10 Jesus says he has “come to give life and life in abundance” – I know this to be true. God is a relational and creative God and is using my previous experiences and my love of people to come alongside others and be part of their faith journey.
I am part of Walking in Liberty, a prison ministry supporting English-speaking female foreign inmates and ex-offenders in Lima. Our regular visits mean that not only are we building relationships with the women that we are going in to visit (including singing, Bible study, prayer and conversations) but also many others who we see on a weekly basis. These include prison officers, colectivo (bus) drivers, shopkeepers who look after our valuables while we’re inside, inmates whose job it is to call the visitors, mototaxistas and other visitors.
Upon their release, the women often stay in Lima while processing the paperwork to return to their passport countries. This provides us with an opportunity to continue encouraging the women in their faith journey and accompanying them through the transition.
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