Shoe Drive for Orphans

shoesfororphansouls.org

Hearts of Compassion at Parkview B.C. in Decatur is hosting a shoe drive for orphans (through Shoes for Orphan Souls) during the month of February. We are collecting new, kids and teens, athletic shoes, socks, and shoelaces!There are 3 drop-off boxes: by the Info. Table (near the Activity Room), outside the Fuzion Theater, and in the Fieldhouse lobby.

So, go out and get those shoes and drop them off at our church! We will ship them to Buckner Children and Family Services (the ministry that houses SFOS) in Texas, and they distribute them to orphans around the world.

On a personal note, this is so important to me. Many of you may not know, but when we adopted DanNi, after we got to the hotel, I noticed a nasty, and I mean nasty infection on the side of her right foot. She would not let me get within 10 feet of her at the time, but I saw it nonetheless. At our medical clinic visit Sept. 17th, I asked the doctor to look at it. I was asking questions through our interpreter....how did she get it? What is it? What caused it? Will she be okay? He rattled/mumbled some Chinese to DanNi and she refused to talk, even to him. Then the doctor rattled off something to our guide and she basically said, "Here is an antibiotic."

Wow, okay. It's red, oozing, and looks really bad. I would like to know a little more, but I guess that's all I'm gonna get. So, we began to pray that it would be healed and that whatever medicine they gave us would work. Trust me, in a foreign county, you have no idea what to expect; can barely ask questions, and even if you do, you are lucky to get an answer.....leaving you more confused than when the ordeal started.....leaving you thinking, "Is this right? What did they just give me? Is this really going to help? Or do they just want to shut me up and move on?"  The latter is really how I felt. BUT, I knew that God knew what was wrong with her foot and trusted that He would heal it.

Long story short, we FINALLY get home and I took DanNi to the doctor Mon., Oct. 5th. Dr. Parmer looked at it and just gathered that it was probably a small cut, initally, and got really infected due to the unsanitary conditions in which she was living.....dirty, unclean water....I mean she recently told us she brushed her teeth about once a month.....agggghhhhh...but of our 3 girls, she actually has the best teeth....go figure!

So, something so simple as a pair of shoes....closed tennis shoes....that we take for granted here in the US...I mean, I think I have 4 pairs in my closet---the newest pair and 3 old pair, for 'just in case'.....could have prevented her infection. Because you see, when we adopted her, she had a pair of cheap, rubber-like sandals.....and ohhhhh my, they stunk! I thought about throwing them away, but they are bagged up in our garage. One day I will show them to her, as a reminder of where she was, and just how much God loves her and how far she's come. They did not provide the protection for her feet like she needed, in such a dirty environment.

Shoes, simply put, shoes actually provide protection for these children and communicate the love of Jesus. Will you consider buying a pair today?