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HAMPTON, Va., July 24 /Christian Newswire:
On Tuesday, July 28, International Cooperating
Ministries (ICM), a not-for-profit trans-denominational
ministry that partners with indigenous ministries in 52
countries, and contemporary Christian radio network, Air
1 Radio, will raise funds to build church orphanages for
ICM’s Church Builders India project.
ICM Executive Chair, Janice Rosser Allen, will serve as
on-air co-host, providing information and sharing the
vision about the project, which is focused on helping
the orphaned street children in India. ICM initially
partnered with Air 1 in 2006 resulting in six church
orphanages being built in Cambodia and Indonesia.
According to Paul Goldsmith, Brand Manager for Air 1
Radio, the station is glad to be able to help ICM share
about the orphanage work. “In addition to creating
exposure for their ministry, we are excited to partner
with ICM for a special one-day fundraiser on Air 1 to
build church-orphanages in India,” Goldsmith said.
Currently, each church orphanage costs $18,000 and
provides a place of worship for about 200 believers and
a home for one dozen children. One ICM India partner who
is a pastor reported that the church orphanage is one of
the most effective tools for witnessing to a community
as villagers see the compassion of the congregants
serving the children and others in need.
Since ICM’s orphanage work in India began, there has
been a growing awareness of the magnitude of the orphan
problem and a strengthened resolve to meet that need.
After returning from a trip to India in mid-2007, Burt
Reed, Senior ICM Field Director for Asia, reported that
children were being sold for as little as $12 into the
slave trade. Some were placed in factories or made house
slaves, while others were sold into prostitution or made
beggars. Reed was shocked to hear that slave traders
were often amputating the children’s limbs to make them
more effective beggars.
In response to this news, Reed shared that some of ICM’s
India partners were taking immediate action by adding a
second floor to their existing church buildings,
providing sanctuaries for the orphaned children.
Following Reed’s report, ICM Founder, Dois Rosser,
acknowledged the need to expand the orphanage work. At
that time ICM began to implement a two-story church
orphanage model to quickly raise church homes for these
children. Today, ICM has partnered to build 47 church
orphanages in India with another 37 underway.
The number of orphaned street children in India remains
a staggering problem, with conservative estimates at 12
million—one million are expected to die within a year.
Many of these children are from the lower caste groups
considered “untouchables”. The recent movie “Slumdog
Millionaire” brought this Indian orphan tragedy to a new
level of global awareness, but ICM hopes the Air 1 radio
outreach will allow an even greater number of people to
join the ministry’s thousands of partners who have
already taken action in the name of Jesus Christ to
assist.
This isn’t the first time ICM has helped build church
orphanages. In Cambodia, ICM partnered to build 105
church homes with great success. Many of the children
later grew up with a longing to give back to others
through service professions, becoming policemen or
pastors.
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