NEWS

Soul to Sole

By Rev. Keith D. Brown, director of O2 Ministries
Otterbein UMC, Navarre OH

It’s starting to get cold outside.  She has to sit out of gym class and can’t even run around during recess.  Some days the secretary of the school uses duct tape to help hold the shoes together.  Her mom is a single mom raising two kids.  It might not sound like a lot, but two pairs of new shoes for her kids just isn’t going to happen this year.  

O2 Ministries has partnered with a local elementary to provide shoes to needy children.  This mission project is called “Soul to Sole.”  In an effort to change our community, O2 began looking for areas of need.  We started with talking to the principal where we hold our services.  She said that her students were basically taken care of through a strong PTO.  Then she suggested checking with another elementary school in the district.  We met with the another elementary principal and secretary and talked about the needs of their students and families. We found out that this elementary is the lowest socio-economic school in the district.  They have a lot of single parent, migrant families and transitional working families.

The story of the little girl is true.  As a matter of fact, she received our first donation for a new pair of shoes.  The shoes not only lifted her spirits, she was like a new girl when she walked into school the next day.  The story doesn’t end there.  She had just entered therapy for her feet but couldn’t continue because she didn’t have proper shoes.  Now, she does.  Twenty dollars for a new pair of shoes will have a lasting impact on this little girl’s life.

Second Corinthians 9 tells us, “Remember this: Whoever sows sparingly will also reap sparingly, and whoever sows generously will also reap generously.”  On the first night of asking for donations for “Soul to Sole” at O2, a goal was set of $200 for the month of October. That goal was met on the FIRST NIGHT!  Praise God!  Then a second goal of $200 was set and that was raised over the next two Sundays.  Overall, there has been over $400 raised for 22 pairs of shoes for children at the local elementary.  Praise God!

11/02/07