Welcomed. Needed. Appreciated.
Our Heroes
Like beauty, heroism is better seen than told. When you look on either, you know it for what it is. Yet the telling is no less important, because those that hear are enriched. This is about some of our heroes, and we think you will be richer for the reading.
One hero is a couple giving $25 per month to ECR for more than 10 years. They never miss a month. They have put several young people through college-all the way through. They said that since their child was autistic and cannot expect to go to college, they want to extend that opportunity to another child and turn the obstacle into a blessing. ECR currently maintains twenty full time college scholarships.
Consider a Pastor and church in Pearl City Hawaii, who teamed with ECR several years ago to buy and refurbish a home for blind children in Saigon. Investing thousands of dollars, these kids now have a home; a school and a business that helps meet their life needs. Add about 200 church members to that list.
How about the schoolteacher who regularly gives her time to proof read every single newsletter giving her time and expense for ECR. She has served on our board and financially supports ECR generously.
Speaking of the Board, past and present, not one single member has ever been compensated a dime. They have traveled at their own expense and have given invaluable contributions of oversight and instruction to ECR.
Our people on the ground in Vietnam are our heroes. Spreading the gospel boldly in a country that still falls high on the list of persecuted Christian areas. So concerned are we that we cannot speak their names although many of you have met them.
Our prayer warriors are unsung heroes. On their knees praying for the souls of those they will never meet, on this earth.
Our list could go on and on. This heroism has gone on for many years. Our heroes making life bearable for those without means and often without hope. Servants demonstrating the love of Christ through their deeds which often leads the lost to salvation.
Since 1994 when ECR began making medical team trips, 136 volunteers have joined in over a dozen trips treating over 17,000 patients. Ask one of the heart valve recipients what they think of these volunteers. Ask some of the 155 college graduates how much they appreciate the gifts of others or the mother whose son is provided with his yearly anti-seizure medicine. They will all call them “heroes” and they all have been told why these heroes are there to help.
There is one more collective hero to put to the list — the donors who faithfully give to ECR so that all this can happen. We are indeed “encircled by a great cloud of witnesses,” these generous and gracious people are the real heroes of these stories. To everyone on that list, we say, “THANK YOU!”
