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BrazilBrazil was the "beginning of days" for the vision of I.C.I. ministry. Having followed the Lord's leading to Goiania, the founding Ministers received a donation of land to establish a missionary training center for South America. I.C.I.'s representative, Rev. Eduardo Torsani, made great progress in promoting the idea of putting "North American training into the Latin soul." Opening up many opportunities to bring spiritual life to many churches, I.C.I. went even further inland, when President Steve Goundry and Rev. Torsani traveled to Corumba. The small city of Corumba is situated in the very center of the continent, sharing a border with Bolivia. The majestic River Paraguay runs close by and through the medical ministry of Healthcare for Humanity, I.C.I. was able to bring the Gospel to the remote Indian villages along the river. Ministry of this kind is desperately needed and so many villages in Paraguay, Bolivia and Brazil were touched with God's love. The vision in Goiania of the missionary training center still remains and so the Board of I.C.I. continues to seek God for its fulfillment and for its eventual purpose. Dominican RepublicThe ministry of I.C.I. in the Dominican Republic has been accomplished through our associate ministry of Healthcare for Humanity. Seeing the abject poverty in isolated areas of the country, President Steve Goundry made two further visits to the island with medical teams. Ministering to the physical needs of the people during the day and preaching God's word to them in the evenings (some in crowded open-air venues), the full expression of Christ's love was shown. Many young people are responding to the Gospel and it is our desire to teach, mentor and mature some of them to future leadership positions. The country has recently been hit by natural disasters. Of note was a town called Jimani. It was here where the financial assistance of nearly two thousand dollars was sent by I.C.I. to ship medical supplies to a hurting community. Once again, the "message" and the "medicine" have proved to be the key to the problems. GuatemalaGuatemala has become a special place for all of us here at I.C.I. We made some deep connections with the Guatemalan people when we were there recently. In particular, the link with Pastor Israel and his wife, Cecilia was precious to us all. They were wonderful hosts to our medical team. The opportunity to work in Guatemala came through a ministry called ‘Plant Today’ when Pastor Steve was asked to work in tandem with their vision for total renewal of a town through the Gospel. The town that was chosen was called San Pedro Las Huertes –a very poor town, only a few miles away from the celebrated Antigua. The medical mission was a part of many other things that were being planned for the furtherance of the kingdom of God in that area. The medical team flew in and conducted its clinics at the foot of an extinct volcano. Nearly six hundred patients were attended to. The clinics were so well received, that the “fragrance” of the work seemed to hang in the atmosphere even after the team had left. The Guatemalans were some of the nicest, warmest and appreciative people that we have ever met. It was easy to make a connection with them and we are all looking forward to visiting them again in the future. HondurasThe door of opportunity to be a blessing to Honduras opened to us in 2008. Pastor Steve made an initial visit to the capital city Tegucigalpa, to make arrangements for the I.C.I. medical team to quickly follow. Soon after, the medical team flew into the country, albeit at the other end, because the main airport had been closed down due to a fatal aircraft landing a few months before. Traveling the difficult, mountainous roads, the team arrived in the capital and after preaching the word of God on the Sunday, they commenced their clinics in the retreat center, located in the surrounding hills. Nearly seven hundred patients were ministered to that week and were greatly helped in their physical problems. However, the spiritual and social problems of the Honduran people were greater –especially among the youth. In a culture of violence, many young people are being coerced into street gangs. The clinics were conducted from a retreat center that our host, Pastor Marco had constructed with the purpose of being able to get some of the endangered youth out of the city. He has about seventy kids staying at the center on weekends. Added to that, is the feeding program he has going on. Currently, he has over five hundred children being fed at five different locations around the city. I.C.I. is pleased to be able to financially support this feeding ministry every month. We look forward to returning there in the future to further assist this ‘Oasis of Love.’ United StatesWhile Brazil was the "beginning of days" for the ministry of I.C.I., the United States was truly the beginning of its legal existence. The Corporation came into existence in the State of Florida in September 2002. Shortly afterwards, it received its I.R.S. ruling for tax-deductible gifts. Located in the city of Boca Raton, the team members founded the "genesis" of this ministry with like-minded people with a love for missions. Realizing that many in Latin countries were going to the missions field without adequate training, support and supplies, the burden for this problem was the catalyst for the work. The additions of Rev. Trementozzi and Rev. LaVerghetta further strengthened the ministry with their personal involvement and their contributions of pastoral care and prophetic insight. While the focus has generally been on the foreign field, nevertheless, the growing team of ministers here has been a blessing to many in their respective churches, especially in the area of teaching the Scriptures. While we can say that the branches of I.C.I. are sending forth their shoots across the world, we are thankful to God for our roots in Boca Raton, having received financial support from local people with a concern for the harvest. Ecuador |
