Love, Hope and Opportunity for Every Disabled Child

This is ICC’s vision and yes, our new logo which will be officially launched in the coming weeks.

ICC’s ‘heart’ may look different but it’s the same heart we’ve always had for God, for China, for her people and especially for the abandoned and disabled. The new colour, the Chinese characters and calligraphy simply communicate that message to supporters in China as well as supporters around the world. The logo combines the Chinese ‘zhong’ character which literally means ‘centre’ (also the Chinese character for ‘China’) and a heart.

As an organisation and as leaders we’ve asked ourselves – What is the essence of what we do and who we are? Do our current logo, vision and mission statements effectively communicate who we’ve become and where we’re heading? ICC’s work has evolved over the past thirteen years and we agree it’s time to acknowledge the change.

Our vision is simple but by no means small – Love, hope and opportunity for every disabled child. We currently care for more than 200 children and young adults and over the last six years have trained almost 500 Chinese social welfare workers but there remains much to be done.

ICC remains committed to the vision for the long haul and will continue to:

• Innovate projects that provide holistic care and support services to the abandoned and disabled in China’s state welfare system and reduce abandonment of those with disabilities
• Provide training services that address the needs of China’s developing social welfare system in the areas of management, and support and disability services
• Advocate on behalf of China’s abandoned and disabled to all sectors of government and society
• Empower Chinese leaders and the community to respond to the needs of China’s abandoned and disabled.

So expect changes as we launch the new face of ICC!

UK Reps in China

ICC UK Representatives, Ken and Sandra Jones, are currently in China for three months, serving the Changsha Project and international volunteers. They wrote to us today:

'We are at the stage of feeling that our time here is flying by. Due to our great age and infirmity (!!!!) we are only working half days – which is nice really and means that we can be on hand for baby cuddling, playing zoos and trains etc. with Lisa’s crew. We take the bus out to Ya Tang Cun (home to the profoundly disabled and babies and toddlers) two mornings a week to take the boys for walks. They love it and get so excited when they see us because they rarely get the opportunity to leave the building and see cars, diggers, tractors and dogs in the streets around the apartment. Last week we just stood and watched some men cementing the road by a local factory. One boy just loved the back and forth movement of the workman’s trowel; another liked the cement mixer noises; one was very fearful of the noises and another just wanted to stroke the shiny cars he walked past. All valuable experiences for these precious lads and a joy for us to share such times with them. We also have two sessions a week in the sheltered workshops where we have great fun helping with card and jewellery production. We are humbled by the diligence and tenacity of the young adults as they struggle to overcome their difficulties to thread beads, apply glue or simply fold squares of paper. It’s so special to have this opportunity – we wouldn’t have missed it for the world. I doubt if we have been much use to them but they have certainly been a great blessing to us! Today, during the rest period, we taught them the ‘Hokey Kokey’.

We thought about you all this morning in our 7am gathering and trust that your portion of blessing will encourage and sustain you all in every aspect of your lives. Much love – Ken and Sandra.’