International China Concern is a ministry whose vision is to share the love of God with the people of the world, believing that the Gospel is more than just words--that it is to brings God's love into any situation and make a difference in a practical way. Since 1994, ICC teams have been reaching out to the orphans of China and, working as God's hands and feet, taking His love to these neglected, abandoned and unloved children.

With a strong focus on knowing God and making Him known, ICC teams, both short-term and long-term, reach out in love to show the unloved that they have not been forgotten by our Father in Heaven. Concerned and compassionate people from many walks of life, including members of the "caring professions," all have a part to play.

The Heart of the Matter
As we look today at the images of the world presented by the media, the pictures of starvation, suffering and poverty probably have little effect on the way we live our lives. Images quickly fade, but the awful truth remains that each week 250,000 children die, most of them without ever knowing the love of God. Each generation congratulates itself on being more civilized than the one before, yet seldom does a generation rise to the challenge of making a significant difference to those in need. We today have a choice to make: to continue to neglect those who are on God's heart, or to rise up, take God's love to them and change their lives.

The Desert
"Within the desert, amongst the barren yellow dunes, amongst the desolate sun beaten plains lies a speck of green. Water flows in that place; life thrives there. Its trees provide shade and the ground yields its fruit....it is the Oasis."

For many of China's disabled orphans, life is a desert experience as they are deprived of love and adequate care. These little ones experience daily the grief of being unwanted, unattended and unloved, and their desert quickly becomes a place of death where life just withers away.

The Oasis
"Within the desert there is an Oasis where life can flourish."

ICC's "Oasis House," located in a big city in Central China, is a rehabilitation center caring for intellectually and physically disabled children. Opened early in 1997, Oasis House provides a home for 43 orphans giving them a chance to experience God's love, as well as expert care and rehabilitation that can enable them to live rich and rewarding lives. The care is provided by a dedicated team of long term ICC staff and local workers, with the support and backing of the Provincial Social Welfare Services.

Many of the care-providers in nations such as China receive little training for their work. Through a government recognized ICC training program local workers from throughout the province are being equipped to care effectively for children, including the disabled.

Hand in Hand Child Sponsorship Program
By becoming a sponsor-parent of an Oasis House child, you will be enabling them to receive quality care and loving attention from the well-trained staff in one of China's first joint venture rehabilitation homes.

Each month, you can provide a portion of the living cost of your sponsor-child. Along with other sponsoring parents, you will enable your child to receive everything he needs to achieve his potential from a spiritual, emotional and physical point of view--and your child will know that around the world, there are others joining with you in praying and caring for him.

2000 and Beyond!
ICC proposes to develop a number of services to complement those which are already in place:

• Family unit care homes for children with moderate disabilities.
• Community fostering and community homes for children and young adults with minor to moderate disabilities.
• Oasis House will become a care center for children with severe intellectual and physical disabilities.
• A day care center which will provide education, therapy and medical support for children in our care as well as children with disabilities from the community.
• A children's hospice which would provide medical and emotional support for dying children in our care, as well as children from the community; in which case their families would also live in residence and receive support and grief counselling.

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