Our Inspirations
“To serve as a paradigm now of what a plausible Future might be is what we’re here for."
- W.H. Auden, “The Garrison”
We look to the following leaders as inspiring paradigms for our mission, vision, and values.
EYOB
(1997-2011)
On May 1, 2010, Andrew met a boy named Eyob with a horrific head wound begging for help in the streets of Addis. Despite his suffering, Eyob embodied extraordinary love, generosity, and hope. His dream was to become a pastor and professor who would inspire hope for others in pain. Despite many medical procedures, Eyob died before he could fulfill his dream. We trace the birth of IFF to Andrew’s encounter with Eyob, and we seek to continue Eyob’s dream through our mission. Authentic faith must see and serve the Eyobs around us. Read more about Eyob’s inspiring story here.
Dietrich Bonhoeffer
(1906-1945):
Professor, Pastor, Martyr
“Our relationship to God is no ‘religious’ relationship to some highest, most powerful, and best being imaginable... Instead, our relationship to God is a new life in ‘being there for others,’ through participation in the being of Jesus. The transcendent is not the infinite, unattainable tasks, but the neighbor within reach in any given situation." Prison writings, April 1944
“Jesus Christ is also in us every step we take, in every person we meet… Jesus Christ, God himself, speaks to us from every human being… God’s claim is made on us in the wanderer on the street, the beggar at the door, the sick person at the door of the church, though certainly no less in every person near to us, in every person with whom we are together today. ‘Just as you did it to one the least of these, you did it to me,’ Jesus says. I am for you, you are for me God’s claim, God himself; in this recognition, our gaze opens to the fullness of the divine life in the world.” Sermon from April 15, 1928
Oscar Romero
(1917-1980):
Pastor, Advocate For The Poor, Martyr
“With all contributing their own interior life, their own responsibility, their own way of being, all can build the beautiful structure of the common good, the good that we construct together and that creates conditions of kindness, of trust, of freedom, of peace.” July 10, 1977
“The church considers this its ministry: to defend God’s image in human beings.” January 21, 1979
Mother Teresa
(1910-1997):
Missionary, Educator, Servant Of The Poor
“What we need is to love without getting tired. How does a lamp burn? Through the continuous input of small drops of oil. What are these drops of oil in our lamps? They are the small things of daily life: faithfulness, small words of kindness, a thought for others, our way of being silent, of looking, of speaking, and of acting. Do not look for Jesus away from yourselves. He is not out there; He is in you. Keep your lamp burning, and you will recognize Him.” No Greater Love
“To God nothing is little. He cannot make anything small; they are infinite. Yes my dear children, be faithful in little practices of love, little sacrifices.” No Greater Love
Martin Luther King Jr.
(1929-1968):
Preacher, Public Intellectual, Activist, Martyr
"The end of life is not to be happy nor to achieve pleasure and avoid pain but to do the will of God, come what may." Strength to Love
“Love is mankind’s most potent weapon for personal and social transformation… More than ever before, people of all races and nations are today challenged to be neighborly. The call for a worldwide good-neighbor policy is the call to a way of life that will transform our imminent cosmic elegy into a psalm of creative fulfillment.” Strength to Love