By Analiz González
Buckner News Service

The Global Aid Network, a ministry of Campus Crusade for Christ, partnered with Buckner to distribute more than 30,000 pairs of Shoes for Orphan Souls to needy people across the globe.

Over the past 18 months, shoes were shipped and distributed in Russia, Belarus, Tajikistan, Ethiopia, Djibouti, Burkina Faso, Liberia, El Salvador, Jamaica and Ukraine. Volunteers often hiked over mountains or clambered on the back of donkeys to place shoes on the feet of people in places without roads or vehicles.

More than 3,400 men, 13,400 women and 13,200 children benefited from the distribution.

“We were glad to partner again with GAiN,” said Rachael Garton, director of Shoes for Orphan Souls. “It’s always rewarding to see shoes distributed where there is not only a need for shoes, but also for knowledge of God. When GAIN goes out there with supplies, they’re distributing more than shoes. They’re distributing Jesus.”

Andrew Knight, director of Buckner humanitarian aid, said Buckner has been partnering with GAIN for years.

“They’ve given us school supplies and other materials that we’ve needed for ministry and we’ve provided them with shoes,” Knight said. “We use their donations to serve in the name of Jesus and I know that a lot of times, our shoes open doors for ministry that wouldn’t be able to happen otherwise.”

GAiN is a global-aid network that conducts mission trips aimed at serving the poor by providing humanitarian aid and spreading the gospel through evangelistic outreaches that involve showing the JESUS Film and working through translators.

“Our vision is always to share the gospel,” said Carrie McDonald, humanitarian aid manager for GAiN. “It gives them hope and life and shows them that somebody loves them when they have nobody else. It shows them that they have a heavenly father when they might not have an earthly father like you and I would.”

McDonald said that on a GAiN mission trip to Zimbabwe, she saw about 1,800 people come to Christ.

“We were lined up to pray for the people and we were basically getting mobbed because they had finally found a hope,” she said, and added that although no shoes were distributed on that trip, shoes and other forms of aid help open doors for similar opportunities.