Editor’s Note: Early this Spring, ICC’s Director of Donor Relations, Pastor Rick Bowes, shared some compelling thoughts with several of our ICC family members. Those thoughts continue to ring true, and we wanted to share an excerpt with you, our Que Pasa readers.
Thank you for your generosity to the ICC kids. Through your continued donations, you are not only changing lives, but you are saving lives.
Above you can see a photo of the “inspiration bookcase” that is in my office at the ICC headquarters. The photos that I’ve taped to the shelves not only represent what’s going on in my life, but I believe that they may, in a sense, represent your lives as well. Though I didn’t intend it when I put them up there, the photos can be classified into two specific categories; my own personal family, and my ICC family.
Please notice that right in the middle of the bookcase, to the left of ICC founders Ken and Alcyon Fleck, there is a quote from a political speech that I had copied down years ago and wrote out to my teenage son and daughter. The core message of that quote is that when we stand up for an ideal when we act to improve the lot of another, and when we strike out against injustice, it is at those times that we send out “Ripples of Hope” that build into a current that sweeps down the mightiest walls of oppression.
My message to you today is to thank you for being “Ripples of Hope” to our ICC kids. Throughout the world, our kids are thriving because you have given them this hope, which in turn has given them a second chance at life.
A closing thought — with first, an unprecedented pandemic, and now with acts of aggression that threaten the entire world, it seems that all we’ve known is disintegrating before our eyes. That said, there are three short words of scriptural counsel that have been coming to my mind time and time again —
“Do not fear; Be at peace; Occupy till I come.”
Though all three listed above are critically important, the last one, “Occupy till I come”, speaks to our understanding that we are locked in the grip of a great controversy of good and evil, and that it’s our job to stay faithful to the ministry of Jesus. In short, “staying faithful to the ministry of Jesus” is what we are trying to do here at ICC. Thank you for helping us to do just that.
Initiate a “Ripple of Hope” this month by supporting the children with a special gift. Thank you!
