When vision is cast and God shows up

Oct. 2009 – This past weekend was an amazing weekend. I was privileged to witness the generous outpouring of peoples hearts and got to hear a story of forgiveness and reconciliation.

With very little hype or promotion (just a single short 2-min. video clip, a brief announcement about a week ago), people showed up at our church with shoes. slightly worn shoes, brand new shoes, boxes of shoes, bags of shoes. Men brought them, women brought them, children brought them. At the end of the day our teams packaged over 2,200 pairs. All because someone had an idea and a passion – that caught. The original plan, as I understand it, was to collect a few shoes, throw them in the trunk and drop them off at the Nashville collection center on the way to a conference. What resulted was a contribution that required an additional large van and trailer to transport. One of many many efforts by churches all across the US. All because not only was a vision cast, but vision was caught – and the spirit of God moved in the hearts of people.

You see the shoes went to an organization that distributes them to children all over the world. Children who die in large numbers daily from disease they pickup from walking barefoot in communities and villages too poor to maintain adequate sanitation. For these children, shoes were not a fashion item, a comfort item, or even protection from sharp stones or cold weather. Shoes, even used ones, were a life-saving barrier from inevitable sickness.

The vision cast and caught was not to simply collect shoes for some poor kids somewhere. It was about showing God’s care and grace and bringing hope thru a life-saving effort.