Just because we named our shoe giving project Christmas Shoes Project, does not mean we only give shoes around Christmas time. If you are not familiar with this project, you can find the story on our site. But a quick recap, in 2005 we first visited a little village in Guatemala, and then returned in 2006. Not knowing at the time, but God had something incredible HE was going to do.
A photo was taken of a little 5 year old girl in 2005, and then the Lord brought us back to this same village and reconnected us with her in 2006. She followed us around her village with no shoes. The Holy Spirit said take a photo of her feet, I obeyed and later the Holy Spirit used that photo to speak to my heart to start this project, of which thousands of shoes have been placed on children’s feet. By the way, again in another totally unexpected blessing and another amazing story, that little girl is now our daughter and is 18.
The name Christmas Shoes came from the popular song that New Song released as a bonus track in 2000, about the little boy wanting to buy a pair of shoes for his dying mother to meet Jesus and did not have enough money. My mother had loved that song. In 2002 this song took on a new meaning when my own mother went home to be with Jesus after a long battle with brain cancer. And in honor of her, the name Christmas Shoes Project came about. She never got to see her grandchildren grow up, or even know that God called us to ministry, but I am sure she is looking down from heaven smiling wearing her new shoes next to Jesus.
In the beginning, we solicited folks to purchase new tennis shoes, socks, and underwear for the children. We would then take all this with us to Guatemala and give to the poor children we came across. However, over the years as this program grew and more and more people gave shoes, it became a monster to manage. We would go and collect the shoes, bring them back, sort them by size and gender, and pack them in boxes, and store them until we could ship them. The time, space, and shipping costs, made this program very expensive to maintain. The donations we were receiving with the shoes was not enough to cover the costs.
So in an effort to be good stewards of the precious resources that the Lord gave our ministry, we began to pray and ask God to provide more money for this needed ministry. The Lord answered in an unexpected way, as I am learning HE usually does. As I was leading a mission team through our local market, I noticed a Croc style shoe that was now available in Guatemala under the Chicote Brand. They were about $3-5/pair depending on size. The Lord just answered our prayers. We called Chicote and was able to purchase the shoes wholesale if we bought them by the case. So now we are able to bless 10 times or more the number of children with the same amount of money we were spending on just shipping!
There is one drawback, folks liked to go shopping for the shoes and our donations have fallen, since we changed to this way of buying shoes directly from the manufacturer in Guatemala. But I know in my heart that this change was from God, and even though the donations have fallen, we are still able to do even more. A funny thing always happens as we start giving shoes out, every child always receives a pair regardless of how many children are in line. Miraculously, shoes seem to keep multiplying. If Jesus can multiply bread and fish, why not shoes? It happens, over and over, in Jesus name we give!
If you would like to give in Jesus name to put shoes on a child’s feet, $3 is all it takes to bless one child. We spend more than that on a coffee. Visit our web site www.hishands.org to learn ways you can give.
