Fact Sheet

Our Mission

International Christian Concern (ICC) exists to relieve the suffering of the worldwide persecuted church and help it grow in strength and breadth by providing effective assistance, advocacy and awareness with integrity toward God and our donors.

Our Work

Since 1995, ICC has served as an advocate for the worldwide persecuted Church. We are committed to connecting the largely ignorant Western world to the needs of the 200 million Christians around the world who suffer persecution for their faith in Christ.

Awareness

As faithful stewards of God’s word, ICC feels that we have been called to stand in a massive gap created by the church and the mainstream media and educate those around us about the existence and severity of Christian persecution worldwide. This is why we’ve developed a number of reports and resources designed to educate and equip others to help us raise awareness for the persecuted. Our website provides daily news on Christian persecution in over 45 countries. Our contacts in countries around the world provide us with the information to publish incidents of persecution as quickly as possible. We also publish an annual report on the world’s ten worst persecutors of Christians to draw attention to the plight of persecuted Christians around the world and, ideally, to urge leaders here and abroad to take action to ensure that religious freedom is upheld in the even the darkest corners of the world.

Assistance

In addition to our efforts to raise awareness and advocate for the persecuted Church, we are bringing practical help and finances to suffering believers to heal, withstand blows, and to grow in depth and breadth. ICC also provides help to the families of pastors who have been imprisoned or murdered for their faith. When pastors were murdered in Nigeria in January 2010, ICC provided funds to their wives to help them start their own businesses to sustain their families and care for their young children. We received this letter from one of the wives’ of the martyred pastors: “The cold hands of death snatched away my confidant and best friend, worn in the robes of religious fanaticism or better put religious extremism. An irreplaceable loss it is. It probably might have got¬ten worse but for the sincere and timely intervention of partners and donors with the International Christian Concern. Raising three children and a [sic] unborn kid would have been almost impossible seeing that Pastor was the breadwinner of the family. ... Pastor Usen. Sylvester was murdered but his children have a legacy because of you... Yes you.” ICC also provides the persecuted church with Bibles, support for underground pastors, and additional projects depending on the needs of the persecuted in particular countries.

Advocacy

We are working through government leaders in the US Congress, State Department, and the White House to change legislation, bring pressure on persecuting countries, and to secure the release of the imprisoned. Advocacy is a challenging yet important function that ICC provides for suffering Christians, not because we believe we can ultimately stop persecution before Christ’s return, but because we believe we have a scriptural mandate to “speak up for those who cannot speak for themselves (Proverbs 31:8).” We received this letter from a Nigerian Christian who we helped to be released from prison in Saudi Arabia: "...I am grateful to you for your efforts in prayers and pressures in the time of our detention in Saudi Arabia. I thank the Lord Jesus Christ for choosing me to suffer for His name. It is a great Joy to me as the reward is great. In fact, the persecution is for promotion." Benjamin Afobunor

Our Ratings, Memberships, and Efficiency

ICC has been awarded high marks by charity watchdog groups for our efficient and ethical use of our financial support and the effectiveness of our work:  [ECFA + Charity Navigator + BBB + CSC logos] ICC is a 501c (3) tax-exempt organization. Therefore, all donations to ICC are tax-deductible.  We strive to keep our total general/administrative/fundraising expenses at or around 10%. As you can see from the graph below, we keep our fundraising expenses to an absolute minimum.