ICM Hope Centers exist to follow the call of James 1:27, which encourages us as Christians to “look after orphans and widows in their distress.” To show society that God is the “father to the fatherless and a defender of widows” as David describes in Psalms 68:5, Hope Centers seek to address the social, practical, and spiritual well-being of some of the most vulnerable members of our world.

One young man who has recently been impacted by an ICM Hope Center is Ravi.

Abandoned as a child, Ravi never had a mother to teach him how to walk properly, speak, or use the bathroom. His father was a drug addict, neglecting to take care of him and his eight other siblings. So, Ravi grew up alone in his country of Pakistan.

The boy wandered the streets most days, dirty and hungry. But the day he met a Hope Center employee in 2019 changed everything.

“When I met Ravi, he lived on the streets. People despised him, threw stones at him, and spat at him,” says Eleazar Müller, the Hope Center director. “He couldn’t talk much, he wanted to eat, and he stank terribly.”

The Hope Center quickly became a place where Ravi experienced acceptance and love for the first time in his life. People fed him, washed him, and welcomed him despite his disabilities.

Now around 20 years old, Ravi has an ID card, a job, and a joy that is evident by the wide grin often seen on his face.

“He is a part of our society, our family. We rejoice in the transformation God has made in Ravi’s life that we could never have imagined.”

Currently ICM has developed more than 970 Hope Centers in 58 different countries, helping indigenous churches serve thousands of people –many of them orphans like Ravi. Praise God for how he is at work through local Christians as they love and serve those in need.