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Works of the Order in Action!

The Order of St. Ignatius of Antioch and International Christian Charities (IOCC)

Ehmej School (near Byblos, Lebanon) before and afterEhmej School (near Byblos, Lebanon) before and after

In the parable of the Sower and the Seed (Matthew 13:1–23), Jesus explains to His disciples that the one “who receives the word on good ground is the one who hears the word and understands it, who indeed bears fruit and produces: some a hundredfold, some sixty, some thirty.”

Each year the Order of St. Ignatius of Antioch makes a grant to International Orthodox Christian Charities (IOCC). This annual grant of $25,000 is much like the seed or word which falls on good ground. IOCC uses this “seed money” and leverages it with grants from governmental agencies, non-governmental organizations and churchbased charities to bear fruit in abundance. Here are some examples:

  • Last year the United States Agency for International Development (USAID) awarded $26.4 million to IOCC for a program in Lebanon that will improve student achievement, expand afterschool programs, provide training for public school teachers and upgrade educational facilities in 600 Lebanese public schools over the next four years.
  • With the support of the Order of St. Ignatius of Antioch, IOCC continues to work in Jerusalem, the West Bank and Gaza. Families in these vulnerable areas are receiving food, hygiene and other supplies, as well as materials to maintain agricultural activities to provide subsistence food for their families.
  • An estimated 7,500 Iraqi refugees in Syria are receiving supplies for basic hygiene and other supplies, as well as vocational and business training. Iraqi Christians are also receiving basic food and hygiene articles for survival.
  • For $1.40 a day a knight or dame of the Order can help IOCC support life-saving and lifechanging projects in the Near East and throughout the world. Join The Order of St. Ignatius of Antioch and help IOCC, so that together we may hear and understand the word and bear fruit many fold. For more information on The Order go to www.orderofstignatius.org.

Very Reverend Michael Ellias
IOCC Board of Trustees and Dioceses of the East Spiritual Advisor for the Order of St. Ignatius of Antioch

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