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The India Christian Mission Center (ICMC)
exists to serve India's orphans, widows, lepers, the handicapped
and the unreached, irrespective of caste, creed, community and
religion through the love of Jesus.
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 Sponsorship:
One for One
We have 927
children sponsored. If each sponsor found a friend to
sponsor, all the children would have a sponsor!
Tell a friend about ICMC! Just point them to
the website at
www.icmcindia.org to click on Sponsor a Child.
(In case
you're wondering, that's Jason Olcott above (Arizona, Spring of
Life) and Melissa Sloan at the top (Mississippi, Community
Bible) and Shannon Carpenter (Arizona, Spring of Life) way down
on the other Sponsor a Child below...) |
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WATCH a NEW VIDEO (Use it!)
Watch
the four-minute video
of the children at ICMC, produced by Central Christian Church in
Nevada and Brendon Hollingsworth
www.icmcindia.org. View it online (high speed
internet), download it and show it at your church or small group
or to a friend!
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More "Mayor's" Land
Purchased!
from Brendon Hollingsworth, in India for three months
"On behalf of
Dr. Jay, I am writing to let you know that the 7.55 acres of
land formerly owned by the mayor is officially ICMC's!
Dr. Jay has
been working towards this for 7 years. As the time for the
land registration approached, a couple of disputes arose.
One came from a tribal who was living
 in the house on the
land. He initially refused to leave.
The second
issue came from an untitled acre attached to the mayors
land. This acre of land was included in the original
agreement. In the end the man vacated the land, and the
single acre was included in the land purchase.
I accompanied
Dr. Jay to the registration office yesterday and watched the
transfer of ownership take place. Dr. Jay immediately moved
some of his livestock into the fields and today will begin
developing the land for rice cultivation".
Photo:
Dr Jay on the mayors land. Clearing brush from the
property.
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Dam Work Continues
 A
re-build of the 3-acre dam continues as funds come in.
A trench running from the Yercaud mountains captures the
water and sends it here. During dry season is the time
to finish it.
Dr Jay wrote, "It should be completed before July 2006.
It should be done before rain comes in July 2006".
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Caretaker Training and
Children's VBS a Success
by Brendon Hollingsworth, in India for three months
 Friday’s
focus were the caretakers. We brought an incredible leader
from Youth for Christ in Tiruchy to spend a day with them
teaching on leadership and the development of the whole
person, mind, body and spirit. We cooked and served a
special meal for them (the girls on the team worked in the
kitchen with the cook) for lunch. We also included tea
breaks in the morning and afternoon. Just after lunch,
Peter, a head caretaker, came up to me smiling and said,
“The caretakers are amazed. No one has ever done anything
for them like this.”
The kids
loved the Capstone Ministries team. The children were split
into different age groups and the team used music, skits,
games, puppets, and personal testimonies to teach and
encourage the kids. On Saturday evening we set up a LCD
projector in front of the Teacher Training Inst. and showed
an evangelistic movie that Youth For Christ dubbed into Tamil.
I ask
you to continue your fervent prayers for the children and
staff here at ICMC. We desperately need more laborers,
equipped, anointed laborers with a vision to see love these
children to a point of wholeness in the Lord. Please pray
that truth, justice and love would reign in this place. An
intense battle continues and Sarah and I strongly believe
that sacrifices of intercessory prayer, fasting, and worship
are what the Lord has called us to commit ourselves to.
This is something that our brothers and sisters in the US
can do with us if you choose.
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What I Learned in a Day
by Jeanne Zahn, in India January 06
 Our van wound
further and further into the heart of the mountains of India.
We passed villages worthy of National Geographic, tucked in
between rice, coconut and mango fields and thick jungles of
underbrush. Someone mentioned the movie Proof of Life, and
the moment before the guerillas stopped the car on the remote,
winding road and kidnapped the American.
Just a few days
ago we were regular moms and dads wiping our kids runny noses,
doing laundry, and ordering Pizza Hut. A pastor, a
business owner, a psychologist, stay-at-home
moms, a nurse, a journalist, a public speaker, college students and a
psychologist, ranging from twenty to sixty years old.
Survivor couldn't have selected a better cast to spin the globe
and land on the other side of the world, dropping the players in
the middle of 2,000 orphans in a culture as different from
theirs as the 48 hour Amazing Race it took to get there...just
to see what they learned.
This is my story
and here's what I learned. With photos.
(story also sent in separate email #2)
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Update
from Sarah Zook
 Sarah
Zook (left) from Plymouth Convenant in Michigan, at ICMC for
three months: "Please
continue to pray for me as I feel the Lord has really placed a
call on my life to stay here full time. Pray for wisdom and
discernment as I look at what this means for the near term
future. It is my desire to listen to the heart of the Lord and
be obedient.
In Proverbs, we
are repeatedly told that men make many plans, but it is the Lord
who directs their steps. I am praying for sensitivity to know
where my steps are being directed. While I am convinced the
Lord has called me, I need to figure out logistics, timing, we
are still praying for a team to be put together, fundraising,
etc. I would be so grateful for prayer as I need to start
making some decisions now and as I get back that will set the
course for the future. In addition, I have some ideas of
specific ways that I could be used serving here, but the need is
truly great. Pray that the Lord will make it clear in what
capacity that He would have me serve here".
Read about Emina
with scabies, Monika the AIDS girl, and a pet lizard...
http://www.plymouthcovenant.com/Missions/India/News/20060318.htm
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Update
from Brendon Hollingsworth
 Brendon
Hollingsworth (left), our first US ICMC long termer in Child
Development, at ICMC for three months: "Please
remember to pray for Dr. Jay and the ongoing legal battle he is
facing. The opposition has a very weak case but has been
successful in dragging the matter out for over a year.
Several Hindu political parties are joining forces in the fight
against Dr. Jay and two of his faithful staff. Motivated
by hatred for Christ and greed, these enemies are seeking to
publicly punish Dr. Jay while also extorting money..."
Read more in Light from the East.
With Photos.
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A Sidewalk Talk
by Jeanne Zahn, ICMC Rep, from trip to India Jan
06
I sat down on the
dusty curb. A skinny dog
wandered by me, sniffing at the pieces of trash floating in the
gutter. Old toothless men on tricycles shared the road with
buses, loaded carts pulled by oxen with horns painted red and
blue, motorcycles with drivers in white dress shirts, the honk,
honk of horns a constant reminder of India in the city.
She looked at me
with curiosity. Her eyes. Not the eyes I imagined a street
prostitute would look, not hard or defeated. Careful eyeliner,
pasty white powder on her face, bright eyes lifted in a curious,
half-smile. She pointed to my choudedar dress and said
something. “America,” I said. “I come from America.” She
liked that. She exchanged knowing glances with the lady next to
her holding a baby.
I pinched the
baby’s fat cheeks and said, “Oh, she is so cute!” The woman
frowned and drew the baby out of my sight. She rocked back and
forth, “Allah, allah, allah.” Then I remembered seeing the
black chalk smeared across the baby’s forehead. The Hindus
believe that if a baby is beautiful, then Allah will notice and
curse the baby.
I asked where she
lived using my hands and facial expressions. She patted
the cement and put her two hands to her cheeks like she was
sleeping. Without understanding our spoken words, in a
game of charades, I learned that her and her sister live on the
streets every day, sleeping sometimes on this sidewalk,
sometimes across the road. They get water to drink from a
faucet at the end of the street. I met their mother
walking by with a basket of rags balanced on her head. Her mother washes
clothes for a living and shares the income for food. She patted
my skin, “Christian?” she asked.
“Yes! Jesus. One God.
Strong, most powerful God. Jesus is the only God,” I said, many
motions. She patted her chest and said, “Hindu.”
From Dr Jay,
"Women and widows work so hard in India. So please do
pray for widows. Thier life is so hard in India".
ICMC
provides a place for widows and women -- to care for the orphans
while they live and eat at House of Peace and Promised Land.
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Sponsor a Child!
 Click
on
Sponsor a Child
and log on to provide a home, an education, and a place to learn
Christian values and ethics for an orphan, semi-orphaned or
abandoned child in India for $25/month. Questions
about sponsorships? Click on
Sponsor
FAQ.
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Sponsor
Question of the Month
Why would my
child be replaced by another child?
Sometimes the
situation changes for the child's extended family and they can
go home to their village. Sometimes the child has grown
up, finished their studies, and is ready to go out on their own.
Sometimes a child goes to their village for a holiday time to
visit extended family and the village doesn't allow them to
return. Each January and June (after holidays) are
times when the make-up of children at ICMC may change.
Other questions?
Click on
www.icmcindia.org/Sponsor FAQ.htm |
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Short
Term Teams Plan Trips
June
5-19 2006:
There is interest for a trip to work at the Promised Land during this time.
If you are interested, email Jeanne at
jzahn@icmcindia.org
July
2006:
Mike Webster plans to lead a team of medical professionals
during July at the Promised Land. Contact Mike for an
application at
michael.webster@usm.edu
Late
August:
 John
Jackson plans to take a small team of pastors and business
leaders ready to investigate partnering with ICMC.
Contact John at
jjackson@icmcindia.org
August
4-14 2006: Brendon
McCarthy from Ireland is bringing 45 teens and chaperones on a
short-term trip to ICMC. Trip Full.
Fall
2006 for two to five years:
Brendon Hollingsworth is
 recruiting
for a short/long term team to invest in ICMC and the children.
Looking for humble, willing, and able men, women and families.
All applicants require creativity, flexibility, leadership
skills, experience in your particular field, and a mature,
growing relationship with Jesus.
Contact
Brendon at
urlightsea@yahoo.com
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What I Have Learned
About Philanthropic Giving
by Ira Richardson, Rotarian and Past President
Dallas Club, US Army (retired)
+ Finance your
life insurance. If you are 74-90 years old and have a net
worth > $5,000,000, you can have someone else pay the premiums
on your life insurance policy. You can leave the death benefits
to your family and/or a charity. It has no impact on your estate
plan. Spouses can insure the same assets for different
beneficiaries.
+ Refinance
your life insurance. If your life insurance is older than 1
year, refinance. (1) Get a higher death benefit at the
same premium or (2) lower your premium and get the same death
benefit. Give ½ the death benefit increase or ½ the
premium savings to charity. Refinancing is suitable for
burial, whole life, term, universal life (UL) and variable
universal life (VUL) insurance policies.
+ Loan
an asset to charity – charitable lead trust (CLT). If you
have an asset you do not need for your day-to-day use, loan it
to charity for 5-20 years. Your favorite charity sells the
asset, earns annual operating income from the cash invested in a
5-20 year municipal bond, AA+, insured ladder, the lender gets
an income tax deduction, the lender avoids the capital gains tax
on the loaned asset, and the lender/heirs gets the asset’s cash
equivalent value back tax-free in 5-20 years. CLT’s are good for
nonprofits that need operating income
now.
+ Pay donor
now, pay charity later – charitable remainder trust (CRT).
In any given year, 5% of a diversified donor base will die. CRTs
result in large but intermittent cash infusions to charities.
CRT’s sustain the charity’s missions in perpetuity. You
must get the donor to put the bequeath in their wills, trusts
and estate plans.
+ Remainder
interests in homes. This strategy takes assets away from
heirs. The donor (couple) lives in their home to death or
transition to assisted living. The charity sells their home at
the passing of the 2d spouse. The home equity line of credit (HELOC),
taxes and fees are paid from the proceeds. The charity keeps the
remainder in accordance with the codicil added to the couple’s
will at the time of the irrevocable gift of their home.
Philanthropic
giving + passion = substantial gifting (otherwise ignored) to
charities
Someone’s giving
saved my life twice. Let me know how I can help a charity you
have a passion for fund their important missions.
Ira Richardson, US
Army (Retired). 214.274.5678.
irax@sbcglobal.net
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Update
from Mrs Christy
The good Lord was so great
to us during this period. So we are so thankful
to Him. During the first week of February all
the 12th students were writing their
revision exams and the other high school and
primary children had their 3rd
Midterm tests.
From 2 to 5 of February we
all attended the meetings of Rev. Benchmans at
Salem.
Building work was going on
at Salem and the Promised Land.
On 21.2.06 the 10th
batch Timothy
school graduation took place at the Promised
Land. Bro. Brendon, Miss. Sarah and Miss. Susan
graced the occasion. Rev. Robertsingh was the
chief guest who delivered a useful message on
mission. The students were so happy to receive
their certificates and gifts and they promised
to work at their native places. Poultry farm
work was also going on at the Promised Land.
St. Neva Miller’s school
children went on a picnic to a park and had
amusements there. St. Basil Matriculation School
participated in a scout program conducted by the
Salem District on 25.02.’06. Most of the
participants were from the House of Peace.
Miss Colleen Hosey left for USA on 15.02.’06.
I am very sad to say that
as you know my mother went to be with the Lord
on 27.2.’06. My mother had told “My name has
been written on the Book of Life” before she
died. We took her body to our native place and
did everything prayerfully. I am happy that my
mother is now resting in the arms of Jesus
leaving all her earthly pains and sufferings. I
could not forget my mother, a wonderful guide in
my life. We thank those who expressed their
condolences through e-mails and letters. Bro.
Brendan and Sarah shared our sorrows with us
during this period.
On 2.3.’06 Board
Examinations started for 12th
students 14 boys (including my younger son,
Bright) and
9 girls are writing their +2 exams. They need
your valuable prayers. During ‘the Lentern Days’
we conduct special spiritual meetings for our
children at the House of Peace recollecting the
sufferings of Christ, our Saviour. These
meetings are proven useful and the children are
touched by Christ. On 3.3.’06 all the Salem
Centre children attended a fasting prayer
meeting at Salem. It was very useful for them.
We have a new manager for
the ICMC office from 10.03.06 as our old manager
left his job from 11.03.’06.
St. Basil Matriculation
School children went on a tour to a amusement
park on 11.03.’06. All the children enjoyed the
tour.
We are waiting for the
NCTE inspection for St. Grace Lilian College of
Education. St. Grace Lilian Teacher Training
Institute is run by ICMC very well by His grace.
Bro. Brendon bought a team
of 12 people from Bangalore and had a program
like VBS for the children and had a training
program for the workers at the Promised Land
during the first week of March ’06. These
program meant much to our children and staff
members.
We had special services in
all the village churches apart from Sunday
worship services. Bro. Brendon and Miss
Sarah are still with us. They have been doing
very good job for the mission.
We covet your precious
prayer for everything.
Yours in Him,
Mrs. J. Christy
MY MOTHER – MEMORABLE
A short, fair complexed,
smiling figure
This is my mother for
ever
An embodiment of love,
sacrifice, prayer, honesty
Hard work, faith and purity
Tearful prayers became the base for the entire life
of this faithful widow
(1Timothy 5:3)
of the past forty five years.
From her mouth always
came gracious words
glorifying her majestic
Saviour
Enjoyed the fellowship with
her six children, their families
and twelve grand children
Finished her race of faith
(II Timothy 4:7)
Resting in the arms of
Jesus, our Father
One day I will see
her
in heaven.
“I cannot forget you,
my mother!”
by
Mrs. J. Christy
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You can set up
automatic payments online now! Go to
www.icmcindia.org
and click on MAKE A DONATION. You will use a secure
account to charge your credit card or debit card with a
one-time or re-occuring payment.
You can also
use your online bank's Bill Pay system to cut a check to
ICMC each month. Visit the website for your personal
bank and add ICMC as a Payee. Account number is your
note to us.
NOTE to
existing sponsors: Children are being linked to you as I
write, but you may not see your children yet. We
have you linked to your child in ICMC's manual system.
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What's
Happening for ICMC in the USA
SET IT UP IN YOUR
AREA!
Are you a school, a church, a
rotary club, a mom with friends, a motivated sponsor?
We have rotarians, pastors,
business leaders, teachers, sponsors, (and moms) who are awesome
speakers, passionate about ICMC, and willing to speak to your
club, church, school assembly, or home dinner party.
The speakers are engaging and
will be experienced in your field or interest area. They
also have already been to India and ICMC and can speak
personally.
Contact Jeanne at
jzahn@icmcindia.org and you will be linked to the
right speaker in your area and field.
If you have an
event or trip to post for your state, church, school, or
organization, please contact Jeanne at
jzahn@icmcindia.org
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What
do you Think?
Do you like this format of
getting information from ICMC? You will get it each month,
mid-month via email. Make sure to let us know email
changes as this saves on costs.
Let
us know your thoughts, ideas, suggestions, or problems viewing
at
jzahn@icmcindia.org
jzahn@icmcindia.org
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Miss a
Newsletter?
Click here...
February 2006
January 2006
December 2005
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Addresses
For sponsorship
checks:
ICMC
PO Box 530758
Henderson, Nevada 89053
For letters/cards
to children:
ICMC
Dr. S. Jayaraj Krishnan
(Your child's name)
House of Peace
Vasanthapuram,
Chinna Thirupathy PO
Salem - 636 008
Tamil Nadu India
It cost .84
in stamps and write "airmail" on the envelope.
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