Update: June 2024
“…teaching them to observe all that I have commanded you.” Matthew 28:20a Bill recently had the opportunity to teach for three days all the Bible classes that juniors at Charlotte Christian School were taking. They had been studying the missionary...
Back from Ethiopia 2024
Celebrating the Diamond Jubilee (75 years) of the birth of the Gedeo church where we served for years in Yiragacheffe, Ethiopia. Yes, Look and see the faithfulness of God drawing tens of thousands of Ethiopians to be part of the bride of Christ! I had the joy of...
Bill is off to Ethiopia
In Yirgachffe, where we served for years, there will be a celebration of the 75th anniversary of the birth of the church in that area among the Gedeo people. Tens of thousands are expected to gather February 17-18. When we arrived in 1983 there were about 40 churches....
HAPPY NEW YEAR 2024!
HAPPY NEW YEAR FROM THE HARDINGS! During this season of focusing on family and special relationships, we want you to know how much your friendship and involvement in our lives have meant to us. We thought we would give a little update on each of the families. We...
DECEMBER 2023
A TIME TO REJOICE! Great News to share with you about Grace! In our last email, we asked all to pray as Grace fell gravely ill and had a hospital stay of six days and then into a two-week recovery at home. What great news we have received today, December 4, 2023!All...
September 2023
The Harding Memorial Bible College Dormitory/Office project has begun! This project will increase the capacity and impact of the HMBC preparing men and women to engage the needs of the world with the redemptive power of the gospel and the life-changing truth of...
ETHIOPIA REPORT MARCH 2023
Yirgacheffe, Ethiopia Grace and I standing in front of 30,000 Ethiopians sitting on the ground for two days in a pasture in front of our old home. They came to welcome us, our team and to worship the Lord Jesus and hear the preaching of God’s Word. Amazing!...
Harding Bible School Anniversary
10TH ANNIVERSARY OF THE HARDING BIBLE SCHOOL The photo above was taken ten years ago at the dedication of the Harding Memorial Bible School in Yirgacheffe, Ethiopia where Grace and I ministered and raised our family. It was a banner day with over 20,000 in attendance!...
Dealing With the Unexpected
Ethiopia/North AmericaDECEMBER 30, 2022 Looking back over the year 2022, we are reminded of God’s wonderful protection through all the changes. Our friends in Ethiopia have weathered some extremely difficult situations. We praise God for His protection and pray...
ETHIOPIA /NOVEMBER 2022
YES, WE ARE THANKFUL FOR YOU! Do you have any heroes? At this thanksgiving time, we wanted to share with you some of the heroes that moved us and have blazed a trail for us. We thank God for their great influence and inspiration in our lives. Mary Beam & Betty...
ETHIOPIA /AUGUST 2022
GRADUATION FROM THE HARDING BIBLE SCHOOL REJOICE! On July 31, 2022 in Yirgacheffe , Ethiopia, 78 students graduated! During their ministry internships, 2,094 souls came to Jesus and are now being discipled in their local churches! PRAY: For these precious students as...
ETHIOPIA – PART 2 : FEBRUARY 2022
In our last letter, we shared about the tens of thousands who gathered where we had served for years in Ethiopia to celebrate the Lord Jesus Christ and to visually witness the fruit of ministry. Now, here is the rest of the story of my visit. Three generations of...
ETHIOPIA : FEBRUARY 2022 REPORT
How wonderful to see the fruit of ministry and God’s gathering of His people in Ethiopia! Hungry hearts for the Word of God To witness 20,000 people sitting on the ground for three days in a pasture in front of our old house in Yirgacheffe was astounding! My...
ETHIOPIA : FEBRUARY 2022
Tomorrow, February 8, Bill will board a plane and head to Addis Ababa, Ethiopia via Chicago and we desire your prayer for the Lord’s blessing on the items below: Bill will meet up with Drew, our son from South Africa, and travel south to Yirgacheffe where we...
MERRY CHRISTMAS FROM BILL AND GRACE
MERRY CHRISTMAS and HAPPY NEW YEAR from THE HARDING “TRIBE”! As you can imagine, it has been a doozy of a year but also full of blessings. KYLE AND MARGARET Kyle, our youngest son, his wife, Margaret and their four little ones, William, Maggie Grace, and...
Thanks For Praying
YOU ARE A VITAL PART OF OUR MINISTRY!Thank you for praying! The Ambassador of Ethiopia to the United States, Fitsum Arega What an honor to have the privilege to take the Ambassador through the Billy Graham Library at his request! We had time to pray for him and the...
URGENT PRAYER NEEDED FOR ETHIOPIA!!!
A STATE OF EMERGENCY HASBEEN DECLARED IN ETHIOPIA! Rebel forces are within 120 miles of the capital city, Addis Ababa. Various other rebel groups are uniting. The US embassy has advised all Americans to evacuate. Our SIM colleagues have been advised to gather their...
REACHING THE LEAST REACHED
WORLDWIDE INITIATIVES TO REACH THE LEAST REACHED: THE TUAREG AND THE FULANI INHABITING MUCH OF NORTH AFRICA SIM REACHING OUT TO THE REMOTE TRIBES OF ETHIOPIA WITH THE LIFE-SAVING MESSAGE OF THE GOSPEL… CHILDREN INCLUDED! SIM BRINGING GOOD NEWS TO...
The Lion in a Disrupted World
In the Lion we discover the power of Christ as an eternal king, and in the Lamb we find the grace of Jesus as an eternal savior. Jesus Christ, as the Lion, conquered sin and death so that we could share in the glory of his eternal kingdom. This victory was made...
PRESSING ON
THREE AMIGOS STILL SHARING THE GLORIOUS GOSPEL WITH SIM. In God’s providence, He has led each of us into the SIM world to be salt and light, proclaimers of the good news found in the person and work of Jesus Christ. Dad served in active ministry in SIM for 42...
Christmas 2020
MERRY CHRISTMAS and HAPPY NEW YEAR from THE HARDING “TRIBE”! As you can imagine, it has been a doozy of a year but also full of blessings. KYLE AND MARGARET Kyle, our youngest son, his wife, Margaret and their four little ones,William, Maggie...
THANKSGIVING 2020
Things we are thankful for: #1 What God has brought together: Bill and Grace Can you believe it? This year we celebrated 45 years of marriage and we still love each other! So, so blessed! Thank you Jesus! #2 Safety in Ethiopia and Here in America Do...
In Difficult Times, Things to Rejoice and Give Praise to God For:
#1 We rejoice that Dad has his 92nd Birthday! On September 13, dad will turn a young 92! He is a great dad, granddad and great-grand dad. He prizes…a good joke, a good laugh, tennis (now on TV) , church, morning devotions and prayer with Betty, his wife,...
What Matters Most?
As you think globally, what matters most? In these uncertain times, we, SIM, are asking God to raise up workers for His global kingdom. Please click HERE Thanks for praying earnestly for this! Family is so vitally important especially with all the COVID-19...
CONTEXT: COVID-19
BE ANXIOUS FOR NOTHING In these turbulent times of global pandemic marked with uncertainty, anxiety, and darkness, we need hope. May we not TAP OUT because of feelings of helplessness, hopelessness and even grief. May gratitude trump our grief. God is the only hope...
South Africa 2020
Drew and Janna kids in South Africa 2020 (L-R) Kaiden, Kaia Kerani, Kelty and Kirsi
Coronavirus Impacts Ministry
Bill’s Ethiopia trip cancelled! In a response to the growing global spread of the Corona virus, COVID-19, SIM’s Management Team has asked us to cancel all international travel for a time. We have had a year of planning to take a team of 21 students and...
In Triumph and Tragedy…
Marvel at what God is doing in Ethiopia in triumph and tragedy! Bill returns to preach in Yirgacheffe to an estimated 30,000 Ethiopians who gathered to hear the Word of God and worship extravagantly. Unforgettable! Our team: L-R Tom Fulp from Charlotte, Hendrick...
The Youth of Ethiopia
41% of Ethiopia’s 105 million population are under age 15, 15-29 are 28% = 72.4 million! These are amazing stats! SIM and the SIM related church, EKHC, are taking great initiatives in this area of mission. The challenge is to prioritize and mobilize the church...
Ethiopia and Beyond
Ethiopia and Beyond… What is the compelling challenge? Launching another decade of accelerating evangelism and intentional discipleship through the proclamation of God’s life-giving and life-changing Word in the context of political, religious, ethnic...
Harding Bible School Graduation
51 Graduate from the Harding Bible School in Yirgacheffe, EthiopiaAugust 2019 We wanted to share the news with you that came last week from where we have served for years. Seeing this line of Ethiopian students of the Word of God who are now more prepared to to take...
SOUTH SUDAN – APRIL 2019
Off to Africa to minister to our SIM S. Sudan team! We are excited and thrilled to have been invited to lead the Spiritual Life Conference for our SIM S. Sudan team. We leave on Easter Sunday afternoon to Nairobi, Kenya. After that, we board a train to Mombasa,...
ETHIOPIA 2019
KELTY, 12 YEARS, OLD SHARING HER LOVE FOR JESUS TO 35,000 ETHIOPIANS Earlier in June 2018, ethnic strife erupted in southern Ethiopia between two tribes internally displacing just under one million lives. This conference in Yirgacheffe was held where we had served for...
Launching Into 2019
In Africa we call this a "tribe"! The Harding tribe! They do grow up and we do grow old but we love it! Maybe not the “old” part! We give thanks today for all that God has provided for us and our family. As we launch into this new year with all the...
Back from Ethiopia!
Full of thanksgiving for what God is doing in Ethiopia. Steve Olin and I had the privilege of meeting mission and national church leaders and sharing our hearts and the Word of God to thousands of Ethiopians who long for the truth of God’s Word. Steve gave his...
ETHIOPIA AND BEYOND
STEVE OLIN AND BILL OFF TO ETHIOPIA TAKING OFF THIS SATURDAY, NOVEMBER 3 We would cherish your prayers for us as we believe God has prepared our hearts and the hearts on many Ethiopians for the Spirit of God to speak to them through the Word of God and the testimony...
HURRICANE FLORENCE VS THE CAROLINAS
Thanks for all the emails inquiring of the effect of the hurricane on us and our family. We had lots of rain but no issues. No flooding, no electricity lost, no trees down. We actually left the day before the rain started and headed to appointments in Washington DC....
THE HARDING GATHERING
THE BLUE RIDGE ASSEMBLY YMCA Black Mountain, NC It actually happened! After over a year of planning, 76 descended from around the world for the first Harding reunion in almost 20 years. Just one could not make it as Kirk Harding was taking final exams at Hebrew...
Milestones
As SIM is celebrating it’s 125th anniversary this year, we are celebrating 35 years of: Responding to need Proclaiming the Gospel Equipping the church Rejoice and celebrate with us in the faithfulness of God and the incredible blessing it has been on this...
Serving a Week in Dallas
Humbled and privileged to share our hearts and God’s Word in Dallas What a grand privilege, blessing and honor to be part of God’s grand design and purpose! Nothing fulfills, satisfies or delights more than being involved consciously in that...
Around the World in 5 Weeks
A SYNOPSIS OF A FIVE WEEK JOURNEY AROUND THE WORLD ETHIOPIA TENS OF THOUSANDS GATHER TO CELEBRATE 50 YEARS OF THE FOUNDATION OF BIBLE SCHOOLS IN YIRGACHEFFE Bill, leading a team, Drew, Kaia, Lana, Steve, Tim, Stephen and Endeshaw, arrived at the old home place where...
2018 Adventure
Off to Ethiopia, Kenya, South Africa and Australia One never knows what he will see in Africa! Always a surprise around the corner. You have got to have a great sense of humor! On February 6th Bill took off to Ethiopia for the annual conference in Yirgacheffe, where...HAPPY NEW YEAR!
OUR WISH FOR YOU “Dear friend, I pray that you may enjoy good health and that all may go well with you, even as your soul is getting along well. It gave me great joy to have some brothers come and tell about your faithfulness to the truth and how you continue...
EXALTATION IN ETHIOPIA
CHRISTMAS IN NOVEMBER? WHAT AN AMAZING GIFT! Thirty two years ago Grace and Bill, young zealous missionaries in their 2nd year in remote southern Ethiopia, were between the anvil and the hammer of ruthless, dominating Marxist-Leninist government…all for the sake...
Dignity in Mission
Quenching the thirst for love. Like this little Ethiopian girl in southern Ethiopia, many are longing for a sense of dignity and love. To be a child of the King of Kings…that is dignity! We know this is found in the person and work of our Lord Jesus Christ. What...
Remember This Picture?
The Report of the One Month of Evangelism Outreach prior to Graduation. Before they had the graduation celebration, each student was assigned to spend one month in the most feared neighboring tribe who have homicide historically built right into the culture for...
32 Graduate from The Harding Bible School
Launching in to Mission During their final month of two years of Bible and church leadership training, these students in Yirgacheffe, Ethiopia took on the big challenge of taking the gospel to one of the most feared tribes in Ethiopia. Definitely a cross-cultural...
A STORY OF RECLAMATION
God can use the small things in life, even a summer job! Give it all to Jesus! A great big thanks to Cedar Springs Presbyterian Church in Knoxville, TN who have supported us financially and in prayer for 34 years. Their staff put this video together for your...
MY DAD: A MAN OF PRAYER
Every morning, in their daily devotions, Dad (89 in September) and his wife, Betty, pray for each of their kids and grand-kids by name. Betty needed a drink of water while dad was praying. She opened her eyes to reach for the glass and then could not resist taking...
Yirgacheffe Mission Conference 2017
What an amazing outpouring of the Spirit of God in worship in remote Yirgachefe, Ethiopia! God was glorified in the commissioning of 20 Ethiopian cross-cultural missionaries..to China, Pakistan and other regions of the world. Eighty-four Ethiopian missionaries brought...
Off to Ethiopia: A time to celebrate and worship.
THEN…1983…the church underground, intense persecution…drilling for water. In 1983 at the height of famine and drought crippling the country along with a ruthless communist dictatorship in power, God miraculously makes provision for our family to...
OFF TO ETHIOPIA!
THE BIRTH PLACE OF COFFEE! Yes, it was in Kafa province where coffee was first discovered and eventually put on donkey backs down to the Nile River to be taken to the rest of the world. Now a premium coffee sold at Starbucks and other coffee-houses around the world!...
MERRY CHRISTMAS FROM BILL & GRACE
It is Christmas eve here in Waxhaw, NC and we wanted to wish you a MERRY CHRISTMAS from our hearts to yours. Ours are so full of the blessing of rich friendships in you…children and grands who know the Jesus we celebrate this Christmas…and the joy of...
MERRY CHRISTMAS 2016!
Kyle and Margaret increase Harding tribe with twins! L-R William 3 yrs, Elizabeth Anne, Meri Mae 2 months, Maggie Grace 20 months and St. Bernard Stella. All anticipating Christmas! As you can imagine, Kyle and Margaret have their hands full and sleep is a rare thing...
December 2016
As we celebrate the birth of our Lord Jesus Christ, our hearts are filled with gratitude and joy for all we have in HIM! We were reminded again so vividly of the absolute privilege that has been ours after recently returning for almost a month in Ethiopia and South...
WATER ! WATER! WATER! The cry of Ethiopia.
Something so basic, so vital for life, yet we take it all for granted. It was in 1983 that Bill and Grace headed to Ethiopia at the height of one of the worst drought and famines in Ethiopia’s history. It was in that context, that Bill was able to drill wells...
JUNE GUSTAFSON – DESTINATION HEAVEN
KISSED BY GRIEF AND GLORY AT THE SAME TIME What an awesome mom! We’ll miss her dearly. The past two and one half weeks we have been in South Africa in ministry with SIM and also visiting our son, Drew, Janna and their five daughters. While there, so far away, we...
HEADING SOUTH
Cape Town / Stellenbosch, SouthAfrica Tomorrow, Election Day in America, we will take off via France to visit our son, Drew, Janna and the Fab Five, our granddaughters. Perfect timing, eh? Janna’s parents will also be there. Looking forward with excitement for...
WHAT IS OUR MISSION?
Is it about people? Yes! Is it about poverty? Yes! Most importantly, it is about pointing people, rich or poor, to a personal relationship with God through the person and work of Jesus Christ!The Ministry of SIM
SIM is an international mission organization with more than 1,600 active missionaries serving in more than 60 countries. SIM members serve God among many diverse people groups in Africa, Asia, and South America.
Click Here to learn more about SIM.