Shoes helps churches reach out to orphans in Romania

Romania (MNN) — Hundreds of pairs of shoes were the tools used in Romania to talk to orphan children about Christ. Buckner Orphan Care International just returned from a ‘Shoes For Orphan Souls’ trip where they began distributing more than 10,000 shoes to those in need.

Buckner’s Tiffany Taylor says, “The most important part for us passing out these shoes is that we’re able to share the Gospel with the children. So, we recruit these teams of people. And, we had all walks of life. I had a 16 year old up to a 63 year old who were on this trip.”

Taylor says each child they visit receives new socks and shoes. “I can not even describe to you that light on their face — the smile. They don’t get anything new. It means a lot to them.”

Buckner works through the local church. Taylor says, “The shoes are a foot in the door to these orphanages. And, what is able to happen afterwards is Buckner works with the local church volunteers so that they come in every week and they do Bible study with these kids and they continue to mentor them, so that the children know they’re not forgotten.”

Buckner is looking for churches to help collect new shoes to help with this distribution effort. They also need churches to go on shoe trips to help share the Gospel with even more children.