More Than Shoes: Hope for Children and Families with Shawn Spurrier

23.09.2026

Faith & Finance

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24:57

Sometimes the simplest gifts can carry the deepest meaning.

For one mother in Mexico named Alma, watching her children receive new shoes brought tears to her eyes. She had grown up without something so basic, but now her children were having a different experience.

Her story is one of many that Shawn Spurrier, Director of Buckner Shoes for Orphan Souls, a ministry of Buckner International serving vulnerable children and families in the United States and around the world, has witnessed. Shawn joined the show today to explain why something as ordinary as a new pair of shoes can have an impact far beyond what we might imagine.

For millions of children worldwide, shoes can protect against injury and disease, remove barriers to attending school, and provide dignity and confidence. And sometimes, they can become the beginning of a relationship that allows a family to experience the love and hope of Christ.

More Than a Pair of Shoes

For many of us, choosing shoes is an everyday decision. We think about comfort, style, or what we have planned for the day.

But for millions of children worldwide, shoes are a basic need.

“For you and me, a pair of shoes was a choice that we made this morning,” Shawn says. “But for tens of millions of children around the world, a pair of shoes is a primary need for attending school.”

Shoes can also help protect children from injury and disease. Beyond those practical benefits, receiving a new pair can restore a sense of dignity and confidence and remind a child that he or she is seen, loved, and not forgotten.

That’s why FaithFi is partnering with Buckner Shoes for Orphan Souls this month to provide new shoes for 1,000 children worldwide.

But the impact doesn’t stop with the child.

Coming Alongside the Whole Family

Parents naturally want to provide for their children. Yet families facing poverty may have to make difficult decisions between necessities such as food, clothing, and shoes.

Providing shoes can help carry one of those burdens.

Shawn says the gratitude on a parent’s face can be just as meaningful as the excitement of the child receiving the shoes. But Buckner’s goal is not simply to distribute shoes and leave.

Through its Family Hope Centers and partnerships with churches, ministries, and other organizations in local communities, Buckner seeks to build relationships with families and connect them with additional support, including after-school programs, economic empowerment, family coaching, and spiritual discipleship.

“This is not just dropping a pair of shoes off and leaving,” Shawn says. “This is really oftentimes the beginning of a relationship, or continuing or furthering a relationship.”

That relational approach also creates opportunities to share the hope of the gospel. Shoes distributed through Buckner include handwritten notes expressing the love of Christ, and volunteers have opportunities to spend time with children and families, wash their feet, and share the gospel with them.

The Theology of the Ordinary

Shawn describes this kind of ministry as the “theology of the ordinary”—the recognition that God often works through ordinary people, ordinary places, and ordinary means.

A pair of shoes might not seem remarkable. But placed on the feet of a child who needs them, that simple gift can help protect their health, make it possible to attend school, encourage a struggling family, and open the door to an ongoing relationship.

“One of the things that animates my faith the most is that theology of the ordinary—that God uses ordinary people and ordinary places and ordinary means to love and serve His world,” Shawn says.

That’s a helpful reminder for all of us as stewards. Faithfulness doesn’t always require doing something dramatic. Sometimes we simply use what God has entrusted to us to meet a need right in front of us.

And Alma’s story shows how meaningful something so ordinary can become.

A Different Story for the Next Generation

When Alma watched her children receive their shoes, she thought about her own childhood. She hadn’t had the same opportunity. Now, watching her children receive something she once went without filled her with gratitude.

“The only thing that I can do is to thank God,” she said. “I didn’t have that, but they do, and I thank God.”

For Shawn, moments like that reveal something deeper about the work.

“As parents, we want to see our kids experience things that are better than what we’ve gotten to,” he says.

Shoes alone cannot solve every challenge facing a vulnerable family. But they can meet a real need today while helping connect families with people and ministries committed to walking alongside them for the future.

And behind every pair is a particular child with a particular story.

One Pair, One Child, One Story

FaithFi and Buckner Shoes for Orphan Souls are working to provide shoes for 1,000 children by the end of September.

Every $15 provides a child with a new pair of shoes and socks and helps cover the cost of getting those shoes to the ministry program serving them. A gift of $150 can provide shoes for 10 children.

“Every pair represents the life of a child who’s going to be impacted,” Shawn says.

One pair may help protect a child’s health. Another may remove a barrier to education. Another may encourage a mother or father struggling to provide. And each can create an opportunity to tangibly express the love of Christ.

A pair of shoes may seem ordinary. But ordinary acts of generosity, offered faithfully, can carry extraordinary meaning.

To help provide shoes for a child, visit GiveShoesToday.org.

On Today’s Program, Rob Answers Listener Questions:

I bought my home last year for about $200,000 and currently owe roughly $167,000. How much equity would I need before I could qualify for a reverse mortgage?
I’m a single mom of three with limited income. What are the best steps I can take to improve my credit score?

Resources Mentioned:

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