orphan souls

Once upon a time, I was lost. Lost like Hansel and Gretyl. Lost like the TV show. Lost like a valuable jewel under the seat cushions.

Psalm 119 says, "I have strayed like a lost sheep." God promises in Ezekiel 34 that he will "search for the lost and bring back the strays." I believe that one of the ways he does that is to use believers to reach out to others who are lost. 

Right now, and for the next few days, KLOVE is having its spring pledge drive. I am always blessed and encouraged by the stories that are shared about how God is working through this radio station to reach people. Last year, from January to December 2012, more than 10,000 people got saved! They were lost and now they are found!

This year during pledge drive, KLOVE is working with Shoes for Orphan Souls, an organization that brings new shoes and socks to orphans around the world (including the US) who are without shoes. There are over 143 MILLION children without shoes. 

But it isn't simply a lack of shoes. That lack means no access to education; no education leads to a cycle of poverty. So, providing these children with shoes can dramatically change their lives!

Not only that, but as the workers from Shoes for Orphan Souls wash their tender little feet and gently put on fuzzy socks and new shoes, they also share the Gospel with the children. Orphans who own nothing and are alone are told the wonderful promises of God:

Psalm 27:10 -- Though my father and mother forsake me, the Lord will receive me.

Galatians 4:4-7 -- But when the set time had fully come, God sent his Son, born of a woman, born under the law,to redeem those under the law, that we might receive adoption to sonship. Because you are his sons, God sent the Spirit of his Son into our hearts, the Spirit who calls out, “Abba, Father.” So you are no longer a slave, but God’s child; and since you are his child, God has made you also an heir.

And if I have been blessed with shoes and sonship, how can I not also give to encourage orphans? 
James 1:27 -- Religion that God our Father accepts as pure and faultless is this: to look after orphans and widows in their distress and to keep oneself from being polluted by the world.