It had been a while, but the Living Stones and the Albers Bible Fellowship Classes from First Baptist Church Richardson returned to Buckner International to sort shoes.  It was good to be back.

The big news of the day was… Drum roll please….  We picked up forty-three boxes of shoes (that would be 693 pairs of shoes) for our folks to take to the Texas Valley next week.  For many years, members from FBCR have taken mission trips to aid the poor and needy in The Valley.  These volunteer missionaries build and repair churches.  They build playgrounds and take needed food supplies to share.  Buckner partners with our Valley Missions group and provides shoes to be given to the poor and needy.

Three SUVs were loaded and I do mean loaded with the 43 boxes of shoes.  Ann and Bob have such a heart for missions and they are in charge of helping to deliver the shoes to The Valley.

Surprise!  Surprise!!  Another Bible Fellowship Class from First Baptist Church Richardson came to sort shoes on this day also.

This group was welcomed by Neil Knighton.  Neil is a member of FBCR and also works for Buckner International.  He shared the story of how the Shoes for Orphaned Souls began.  A local Christian radio station -KLTY (I think)- had a shoe drive for Russian Orphans .  It was successful, and people wanted to do it again, but the radio station was a radio station – not a humanitarian aid organization.  Buckner eventually took over the project.   Since 1999 more than 2.5 million pairs of shoes have been delivered to 76 countries (including the United States).  Neil was energetic and inspiring.  Made us proud to be a part part of this mission.

Rebecca and Ethan came to volunteer on this day also.  This was another surprise.  Rebecca and Ethan are the daughter-in-law and grandson to dear friends from our class.  It was so unusual that all of the groups volunteering on this day had ties to First Baptist Church Richardson.

Notes from children to include in the shoes are always touching.  A sweet child carefully colored this picture.  I can just imagine a child seeing this and knowing that the shoes are sent with love.

On this day our combined groups  prepared and sorted around 2000+ pairs of shoes.   It is a good feeling to know that we are a part of this mission, plus we have so much fun fellowshipping together.

Blessings to you and yours,

We are looking forward to hearing reports from Ann and Bob when they return from The Valley.