Invested Thanksgiving holiday into the children of Juarez, Mexico

Great way to say "Thanks" for the blessings of God is to help those who are in poverty...we did that with a team from our church over the U.S. Thanksgiving holiday - took 1,000 pairs of shoes to children living in some of the roughest parts of the border town of Juarez, Mexico. Partnering with some wonderful churches, some missing a wall, some without adequate roofing, but all filled with wonderful people - one single mom with 7 children told one of our team, these shoes were the first Christmas presents her children will have ever received in their lives...amazing...humbling.
We did cake and cokes for the kids, hair and face painting - had many salvations and the churches were greatly blessed - by giving them the shoes, they become the source of help for many families in the weeks to come...that's really significant...
Led by one of our young leaders, Pablo Contreras, "Hope for the Sole" is now becoming a well known outreach across Juarez, many of the evening outreaches were filled with guests... at one church we gave pizzas to over 200 people - many of them first time guests - the pastor was elated! (seems the local radio station heard about us, and got the word out) This is an example of staying after a vision - 6 years ago we made pancakes for the children in the dump, 5 years ago we sent 75 pairs of shoes, 3 years ago I drove down with just me and Pablo and 200 pairs of shoes, last year we took 350 pairs and 16 people, this year 1,000 pairs and 24 people! Next year? Help us with the shoes! We'll have details out in February... and, the new video from this outreach will be on our church website by next week... www.hopechurch.tv - you can see last years outreach on there now... (we hit snow, sleet, highways filled with wrecks - 9hr. drive took 12 - team hung tough... proud of them!)
off to London in the morning - grace and peace to you - paul