A Southern life

Andrew Sim is the picture of a Southern Man. Born in Gore to a farming family, he grew up in the fertile but often fierce Southland sheep country, on a farm that had belonged to his grandfather, then his father, and that is still in the family today.

Growing up with two brothers and two sisters, his earliest memories are of ‘building tree huts and building swings in the hay barn. We only had two channels on the TV, so that wasn’t a priority’.

Andrew has always worked on the land, farming sheep and dairy, and this summer he is doing the hardy work of velveting deer just out of Winton, where he lives with his wife Darrylann and their four children—twins Abby and Cameron (13), Charlotte (9) and Elijah (7).

Throughout his early life Andrew held within him deeper questions. ‘Way before I met Darrylann, I always wondered about the future, what it would have for me, and I started to wonder about heaven, and whether that was true,’ he says.

Darrylann, meanwhile, was born and bred in the picture-postcard town of Te Anau. As a child, she remembers going to the local Presbyterian Church with her grandmother. ‘My nana really
encouraged me, and I used to take myself off to Sunday school and then youth group. I just really enjoyed it,’ she recalls fondly.

She treasures a Bible her nana gave to her, with an inscription from Luke 10:27 written by her nana’s hand: ‘Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your strength and with all your mind.’

As a teenager, Darrylann drifted away from church. But still searching to fill that nagging space in her soul, she began learning more about witchcraft and magic.

God is a matchmaker

‘I believe that in my life I have had a series of knocks on the door,’ says Andrew, quoting one of his favourite Bible verses where Jesus says: ‘Here I am! I stand at the door and knock. If anyone hears my voice and opens the door, I will come in and eat with that person, and they with me’ (Revelation 3:20).

The first knocks were quiet, wondering questions about the meaning of his life. But the second knock on the door of his heart was when he met Darrylann. ‘God was working away when we met. We weren’t Christians back then, but he’s a match-maker.’

It was a typical Saturday night. Andrew was dragged along by his mates to a pub in the tiny Fiordland village of Manapouri. Darrylann was dragged along by her mates to the same pub. ‘I knew he was a farmer as soon as I saw him,’ she laughs. That was 20 years ago, and this year they celebrate 14 years of marriage.

The couple moved to Ashburton, where Darrylann felt drawn back to church. Her nana had died, and Darrylann was feeling isolated and lonely. ‘The first day I went back to church, they taught on the very passage that my nana had written in the front of my Bible: Love the Lord with all your soul, strength and mind. And I thought, “Well, that must mean something.” ’

She started going along regularly, and Andrew took an interest in her books on faith, devouring anything that gave him more clues about Heaven and the future.

Opening the Door

When Andrew and Darrylann discovered they were pregnant with twins, they found themselves being pulled back toward Te Anau and began attending the local Baptist church. Darrylann says she wore a cross, as a sign of her rekindled faith, but also wore a crystal and St Christopher’s medallion ‘to cover my bases, just in case’.

The final knock on the door was at the funeral of Andrew’s father. He had suffered with Parkinson’s disease for 20 years and in his final days had accepted Christ as his Saviour. ‘God used Dad to lead me to Christ,’ says Andrew. ‘I was sitting in church at the funeral and the minister prayed over my dad, “Father, you know him, and you knew him before he was born”. And I thought, “That’s amazing.” I just wanted to find out more, and I knew that place to find it was at church.’

A few months later, after attending an Alpha course, Andrew and Darrylann both committed their lives to following Jesus. After much prayer, Darrylann burned all her witchcraft books and memorabilia —she knew the truth and there would be no looking back.

The day that the couple were baptised sealed their new-found joy: ‘It was a day I’ll never forget, and I believe that God sent an angel to be with us,’ says Andrew with wonder.

He explains a little more about his angelic visitor. ‘A man turned up and said, “I heard something is happening here today?”, and I said, “Yes we’re getting baptised”. He came for the service and had a guitar, and he sang a song I’d never heard. Then he came for a meal with us, and sang us more songs on his guitar. He was the first person to greet us, and the last person to say goodbye on that day.’

Andrew isn’t the first farmer to see an angel; it echoes an earlier story, when an angel announced to shepherds that a baby had been born who would be the Saviour of humankind: Jesus Christ.

A full life

Today, the Sim family continue to discover Jesus in their everyday lives. When they moved to Winton three years ago, they began attending The Salvation Army. ‘We always used to drive past the corps (church), and it looked really inviting,’ remembers Darrylann. ‘When we went along it was very welcoming and family friendly, and it was a place where kids can be kids.’

She recently made a deeper commitment and became a Salvation Army soldier (member). ‘It was just the next step that I needed to make—a stronger commitment instead of treading comfortably,’ Darrylann explains.

When she first came to faith, Darrylann received a prophecy that their family would be one that welcomed many children. Today, she is involved in the corps’ Sunday school, leads Bible in Schools, and regularly has around eight children at the house on weekends.

Andrew is still a true outdoors man, a passion that has grown stronger with his faith. ‘When I became a Christian it was like a curtain had been opened,’ he says. ‘The trees and green grass seemed to expand and be so vibrant, and I went around photographing all the trees, the lush grass and God’s creation.’

Darrylann agrees—her family loves nothing more than feeding the lambs and planting the vegie garden. She has just returned from Auckland where their oldest daughter Abby placed third overall in the national Young Farmers competition. ‘I couldn’t wait to get back and hear the birds singing again,’ says Darylann.

The Sims are a proud Southern family, experiencing the wonder of Jesus as they live among some of God’s most glorious creation.

By Ingrid Barratt