04-25-17-01 TC

Khmer New Year – Cambodia

by AsiaBlogCambodia

The people of Cambodia celebrate Khmer New Year, a three day holiday in April. We spend time with family and friends. Most non-profit organizations set aside time for staff fellowship. ICCM teachers, house managers and other key leaders eat lunch and fellowship together.

The children who attend programs at the different houses (Love, Joy, Peace) get together to play traditional games. They have a lot of fun and sharing over a simple, delicious meal.

The children from the House of Joy had a field trip. This adventure included a trip to the Royal Palace, to the Killing Field, a tragic period in the history of Cambodia, and to the Mall, a big market. They were really excited to see a lot of new things, especially how the people in the city live.

Bun Chandara, a holistic child development teacher at House of Joy says, “My students learned a lot about our country’s history. They can learn and know new things in Phnom Penh. Praise to the Lord for the trip. I love my ICCM students!”

The children at the House of Peace were so excited to play games with ICCM teachers. We have planned programs before, during and after the holiday for the students to keep them safe. Too many times teenagers and youths have died in accidents when they go out somewhere on Khmer New Year.

The ICCM Cambodia team and children are thankful for the many sponsors who give to help children in Cambodia to grow up holistically and learn a lot from new things in life.

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Emigration from Haiti

by AmericasBlogHaiti

Mondale Perkins Oscar, National Coordinator ICCM-Haiti, reports, “We will never stop praying for our sponsors who are very precious to us. The sacrifice they make every day to contribute to the lives of so many little ones in Haiti is priceless. With eyes of faith, they know whenever they invest in the life of a child, they do it for the Kingdom of God.

“The degrading situation of the country forces many people to seek refuge in other countries. At first, it was Brazil with open doors. Even people who had a status – a good job and houses, left the country, to escape the bad management of our leaders. Now many are heading for Chile.

“ICCM pays the price. Many of our teachers who were recruited by ICCM, who participated in seminars ICCM organized, who worked in our schools, left without even a note of apology. So, we are always in a perpetual restart.

“Our secondary students are also among those leaving the country. They are young to decide. But, once they have their parents’ permission, they just leave.

“Men and women, young and adult, when they find an opportunity, they leave everything, they go.”

According to a Wall Street Journal article (Jan. 21, 2018) 105,000 Haitians entered Chile in 2017. About 49,000 Haitians entered Chile in 2016. They enter Chile on tourist visas. Then, if they get jobs they can apply for work visas and eventually residency.

Pray for the ICCM Haiti team, the church, and schools who are dealing with the loss of those who are leaving Haiti.

Facts about refugees:

  • More than 65 million people worldwide are now displaced from their homes.
  • More than half of the world’s refugees – 51% – are children.

Clean Water

Water filters are received with joy by communities in creative access countries!

Arbegona Tea Break

Ethiopia: They Yearn to Learn!

by AfricaBlogEthiopia

Ethiopia is home to five excellent ICCM schools. Children may be living in material poverty, but their educational environment is rich. One of those schools is at a crossroads, where desperate need meets tremendous opportunity.

The town of Alem Tena, an hour or so from Addis Ababa, suffers from four serious problems. A very hot climate and deep poverty are two of the four — but these are common to many towns in Ethiopia. The third is almost unique to Alem Tena: The water is contaminated with fluoride, with perhaps 400 times as much as our city water systems use for cavity prevention. The visible result is that most of the children have dark brown stains on their teeth. Even worse, their bones and teeth are being destroyed. And yet, this is home. Families live here. Children are growing up here.

Our school in Alem Tena boasts high academic achievement. On regional and national exams, these students distinguish themselves. In 2016, all 8th graders passed the regional exam to 9th grade, averaging more than 80% on their results. But now comes the fourth major problem: no high school. Once students pass 8th grade, where will they go? Our school only goes through 8th grade. Because of sponsorship, the children have had the benefits of a private school and a Christian education. Once they graduate from 8th grade, they must travel a long way to a public school, move to a place with a public high school, or find a Catholic or Muslim school — but these private schools charge more than most parents can pay. Sounds like we are in dire straits!

But there is amazing news. About a year ago, the local government granted a good piece of property to our school for construction of a high school. This gift of land was received with great joy! In fact, in 2014 our Africa Learning Conference attendees had stood on this very land and prayed that God would give it to us. He has!

After a whole year of working through the bureaucratic red tape and planning with architects and leaders, we are ready to build! All documents are in hand. High school can be a reality.

The local government is pressing us to begin construction immediately or risk losing the land. So far, we have managed to build a security fence and a guard house on the property. We have just sent $25,000 to begin construction.

To build the classroom block, bathrooms, and required laboratories, the estimated cost is $167,000. We are now raising funds for this first phase. Phase two will add an administration block and a library. This is projected to cost another $67,000, for an approximate grand total of $234,000.
Is this impossible? Absolutely not! God has helped us complete big projects like this before, through compassionate and generous donors.

Is this a good investment? If only you could see our wonderful high school at Arbegona, another rural Ethiopian community! To help you envision it, look at the photo below. Students are lined up for a tea break in front of a classroom block on which is painted the Periodic Table of Elements. No educational space is wasted! The photo above that is a university-educated science teacher in a lab furnished by parents’ contributions. Students in this excellent school earn top marks in their whole state! We know this is possible in Alem Tena, too.

Will you pray with us for this dream to become a reality? Donated land, visionary leaders, a partnership from ICCM, and construction support from abroad will change the Alem Tena community for the better in a wonderful way!

graduates smiling

Schools for the Fulani – What’s the Story?

by AfricaBlogNigeria

Our story of ICCM schools for Fulani children first began in Elaite, a small town in Kogi State overlooking Emiworo Village more than 10 years ago!

I’ll never forget these words from the first Fulani man we met, a true ‘man of peace’, Chief Bature. “My grandfather cheated my father when he gave him cows and wives but wouldn’t send him to school. And my father cheated me. He gave me cows and wives, but not an education. I don’t want to cheat my children that way. Please, won’t you open a school for my children?”

And that was when the Free Methodist Church and International Child Care Ministries stepped in with full support, sponsoring hundreds of Fulani children and opening four schools for them in three states, blessing these children, their parents and entire communities with not only the highest standard of education but also with the Good News of Jesus Christ, Who loves them, Who died for them and Who gives them eternal
life with Him in Heaven.

Today, the story continues! All four of the ICCM schools continue to provide an excellent Christian education to Fulani children! There are definitely challenges. More ICCM sponsors are needed, but there are great victories too. In July, Bright Hope Christian Academy, Emiworo, graduated the first class of students with all students writing and passing their college entrance exams!

It all began with, “Please open a school for my children!”

International Child Care Ministries and Schools for Africa, a Global Partner of Free
Methodist World Missions, are planting seeds of peace and the Gospel among the
Fulani people through education, healthcare and more. This is work God loves, and His
promise is for us and for the Fulani.

“Peacemakers who sow in peace raise a harvest of righteousness” (James 3:18, NIV).

Written by Phyllis Sortor, retired ICCM National Coordinator

Linda with Haiti kids

Giving and Working Together as a Global Family

by Blog

Linda Adams, ICCM Director
As the director of International Child Care Ministries, I get to watch God work through people. It will happen soon. Some people will learn about a need and be moved to direct their donation very specifically. Maybe a photo will grab someone’s heart, and they will respond to the need.

I love people’s passion when they give in this way. Gifts to special projects or for “where needed most” often show up in the nick of time, in exactly the right amount.

Some of the most amazing of these gifts come from wills and trusts established long ago. The donors never saw the precise situation where the need arose, but they gave in faith and their gift was perfectly timed, many years later.

You can read about this more fully in my December Light and Life magazine article. (Click here to read it online.)

The story illustrates the unity of our global family — Free Methodist World Missions, ICCM, national leaders, sponsored children and the Free Methodist Foundation. We work with one purpose, toward common aims. … Givers partner with God for the good of the world.

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Straddling the Gap: My Radical 10-Year Learning Curve

by Blog

Linda Adams DirectorMy life reached a turning point one Sunday in 2007 when the Munyakuri family walked into New Hope Church (Rochester, NY). I was clueless at the time, but a new chapter in my life had begun. When these new immigrants from Africa called me “Pastor,” I was honored.

When they called me “Mother,” I was perplexed! Their membership in the household of faith was a primary reality for them, not just a metaphor. Belonging to the family of God was central to their identity and has become central to mine, as they and thousands more from 37 countries have inducted me into a new way of seeing the world. Why 37?

Since 2008 I’ve visited 30 countries where ICCM children live and seven sponsoring countries. I’m beginning my 10th year of local-global living, straddling the income and development gap and recognizing sisters and brothers for who they are: family. I’ve joined heart and hands with people who care passionately about children and give their lives to develop the little ones. Some work in places where helping children grow physically, spiritually, mentally and socially is done at great personal risk.

I recently met with leaders who are regularly interrogated by authorities who oppose our Christian faith and do everything in their power to thwart our ministry to children. Yet these leaders persist in giving children life-transforming opportunities for education and holistic growth.

These people are now my beloved teachers. What have I learned in the past 10 years? Too much to fully include here! But a few themes rise to the forefront:

Tribalism
This world is riddled with strife and conflict among people groups. Cultures are often structured in rigid hierarchies, with dominant groups and marginalized ones. And yet, the Kingdom of God includes and unifies people from every nation, tribe, people and language (see Revelation 7:9). Our oneness must overcome our divisions!

Gendercide
I had no reference point for the level of discrimination against women and girls in this world. My grief at the practice of eliminating daughters either in the womb or immediately after birth, simply because of their gender, is indescribable. Our Creator gives the image of God to both male and female (see Genesis 1:27); together, we reflect the totality of who God is. Seeing girls welcomed into the joy of learning, alongside their brothers, brings deep satisfaction and sets in motion generational change.

Child Trafficking
As ugly as it is, we cannot turn away from the enormous evil of slavery in our world today. More than ever before in human history, men, and women, boys and girls are being sold into lives of exploitation and desperation. Yet our Lord said His mission included “setting the captives free” (see Luke 4:19). We can do no less. ICCM’s preventative measures express the reality, “an ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure.”

Local Transformation
As grateful as I am for aid and strategic interventions by governments and non-governmental organizations (NGO’s), I’m more convinced than ever that transformation takes place in local contexts. As we dream of a world where every child is loved, safe and developing their God-given potential, that dream takes place in a thousand grassroots settings. Adults in the sponsored child’s world are the ones who know her by name, teach him day in and day out and share life in the community. Love is local. We can support from a distance, but the most important realities in the child’s life are mediated by godly men and women whose example and instruction make the most difference. As director of ICCM, it is my great privilege and deep honor to invest in these leaders, resourcing them with both finances and organizational knowledge. Together, we can see children whose learning curve is already steep, growing to be all God envisions them to be!

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A Sponsor’s Blessing

by AmericasBlogBrazil

Valquiria was among a group of adolescent girls peppering me with questions just before classes began one morning. Valquiria suffers the effects of Albinism – the absence of the pigment melanin in her skin. This condition is especially challenging in the dry, hot climate, 10 degrees south of the Equator, where the sun shines in punishing brilliance nearly every day. Valquiria needs a prescription lotion to protect her skin. Several times this has been supplied through gifts from her sponsor. In this recent photo, she is pictured with other students receiving gifts from sponsors and the school’s assistant director. Because of sponsorship, Valquiria studies at our ICCM school, which is readily recognized as the best in the region. The students are taught to value, respect and love each other. Your prayers for her are much appreciated, especially because her father recently passed away after a three-year battle with cancer. It was a delight to learn both the director and assistant director of our school were themselves sponsored through ICCM. Every sponsorship of a student at our Monte Santo school is an answer to prayer.

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Making a Difference in Brazil

by AmericasBlogBrazil

I met Andrei when I visited our ICCM school in Monte Santo, Bahia, Brazil, in September. I asked if I could get a picture with him because I knew his sponsors. After we had our picture taken together and he had returned to class, Sirlene, the school’s assistant director, told me more about him. Andrei’s behavior at school had been poor. The staff noticed he was eating as much as possible at meal and snack times. His teacher thought his behavior would improve if he could come to school early and have breakfast before class. She suspected he was coming to school very hungry – possibly without breakfast and or no dinner the night before. Gilson, the school’s director, arranged for Andrei to be among the students who arrive at school early to eat breakfast, due to nutritional concerns. Andrei’s behavior improved markedly. When I saw Andrei during another visit, he proudly showed me the shoes that had been purchased, with a gift sent by his sponsor, to replace the tattered ones he’d been wearing.

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Light and Life Christian School

by AmericasBlogConnected CommunityParaguay

God gave school director Jonathan Da Cunha a vision for the city of Encarnación. There was only one Christian school in town at the time. Jonathan felt led of God to start Light and Life Free Methodist School with the vision of reaching families for Christ and providing the opportunity for academic excellence in a Christ-centered environment. The school opened in 2002, offering Pre-K through 1st grade. Other grades were quickly added and 2011 marked the first high school graduating class. These graduates, many of whom go on to university, are finding marvelous ways to give back to the program that gave them a good start.

  • Encarnación is a border town, central to commerce. In recent years, a major financial crisis drove away families in search of work. God has been faithful to sustain the school through hardships and challenges.
  • The school ministers to many students from humble, single parent homes where it is difficult to make ends meet.
  • Light and Life Christian School beautifully ministers to parents as well as students. Throughout the year, parenting classes, workshops, and retreats are offered. The focus is on strengthening the parent-child bond, helping family members connect and relate well with each other, and assisting in their spiritual growth.
  • The school seeks to be a light and bring life to the children and families of Encarnación.
  • The home began with 10 children on January 6, 2003. It quickly grew to a group of 30, including some mothers.
  • Currently, there are 17 children living at the children’s home, the maximum number allowed according to current government regulations for the size of the building.
  • Four of the 17 are orphans whose parents have died.
  • The father of 4 siblings (a different group of siblings) is in jail for murdering their mother.
  • They have begun adding a second floor for more bedrooms. They lack $8,000 to finish remodeling to government standards so more children can be added. They feel a sense of urgency, having to now turn away children.

[scp_block_quote_alt width=”70%” float=”left”]This school is eligible to be a Connected Community. This new additional sponsorship model allows a church in the U.S. to come alongside as a partner to impact the lives of ICCM children. Contact ICCM Church Relations Director, Jen Finley, 1-800-342-5531 ext. 228, for information on connecting with them.[/scp_block_quote_alt]

Gifts to help complete the expansion that would allow Light and Life Children’s Home to accommodate more children may be sent to ICCM, or give to this need on the ICCM website. (Write Light and Life PA in the comments section or memo line.)

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Light and Life for María

by AmericasBlogParaguay

ICCM sponsorship has truly brought light and life to 14-year-old María in Paraguay! Today her beautiful smile and outgoing spirit give testimony to the marvelous ministry of our Free Methodist Light and Life Children’s Home and Light and Life Christian School in the city of Encarnación.

Abandoned by their father at an early age, María and her three siblings found themselves in a desperate downward spiral. Their mother, who was suffering from lung cancer, had made the difficult decision to move to Argentina to find better work in order to support the family. María and her three siblings (2 brothers, 1 sister) were left in the care of their grandmother, who found it impossible to provide for their needs. Light and Life Children’s Home opened their doors and hearts to the children, forever changing the course of their childhood and future.

The Lord, in His loving care for this dear family, quickly provided sponsors and the children were immediately enrolled in nearby Free Methodist Light and Life Christian School. They began to enjoy and deeply appreciate all that sponsorship offers. The physical, cognitive, emotional/social, and spiritual well-being of each child became a priority.

Many positive influences helped each one move from darkness to light and from despair to life. Character building classes at school, a loving Christ-centered environment in their new home and caring Sunday school teachers at church, who took a personal interest in their growth and development, all helped lead María and her siblings to faith in Jesus, which has made all the difference.

María’s transformation is remarkable! No longer painfully shy, fearful or insecure, she is now a confident, happy, active 6th grader. A good student, she has a knack for sports and enjoys music. María’s thankful heart for what God has done, and is doing, in her life leads her to enthusiastically bring friends to church so they too, can meet Jesus.

In October 2016, María’s 32-year-old mother succumbed to lung cancer in Argentina. The news of her death deeply affected María, who is the eldest. Through it all, María’s testimony is a beautiful one: “God gives me the strength I need each day to move forward. He has great plans for my life! Jeremiah 29:11 tells me so!”

Recently, Pastor Luz, Director of Light and Life Children’s Home, took María to visit some of her relatives. Upon seeing the changes in María, the whole family decided to follow Jesus as well and experience His transformation for themselves.

The small seed of sponsorship is bearing great fruit in the lives of María, her siblings, and many other children in Paraguay and around the world.