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: http://www.churchbuildersindia.com.
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 http://www.air1.com 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”
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.
About 4 percent of India’s population are Christians, but that number is changing…as children, adults, and communities are transformed through Jesus Christ and his Church. For more information on how you can help, visit www.churchbuildersindia.com or call 1-800-999-3892.
