Blind Faith: Kansas church serves
children unseen

By Emily Underwood
Buckner International

(DALLAS, Texas) — If blind faith is believing that God can be your eyes, then Brenda Blackburn’s vision is 20/20.

Blackburn, along with four other adult volunteers from Lakin United Methodist Church in Lakin, Kan., traveled nine hours to Mesquite, Texas with their church youth group to perform mission work at Buckner International’s Shoes for Orphan Souls warehouse. The group processed wee-squeaks shoes, broke down boxes to be recycled, packed shoes for shipment, and wrote notes to the orphans that will receive the shoes.

“What made this specific mission trip different from other mission trips was that in the past we were directly involved with the people we were serving,” Blackburn said. “On this trip, we were not directly involved and even though we didn’t get to see the end result, we knew that we are part of a mission.”

Mission work does not just take the form of placing the shoes on the feet of the orphans, but it takes on various identities as well, she said. The preparation and work that must be done before the final delivery of the shoes is abundant.

“We are all an important part of the mission, even though we don’t actually see the eyes of the orphans getting the shoes,” she added.

After the trip, many parents approached Blackburn with stories that their children took away from the mission trip. One mother of a teenage daughter told Blackburn that her child’s favorite part was working in the warehouse, even more so than the additional side trip to Six Flags while they were in the Dallas area.

Blackburn chuckled and said, “What a blessing to hear that the mission trip took precedent over Six Flags.”

Blackburn expressed her gratitude towards the Buckner staff and said that they were great encouragers throughout the day.

“We can’t always be the one that is there physically, but we can plant seeds and trust in God’s timing. He will then use those seeds to be fruitful in times and in ways that we are unaware of.”

The youth group from Lakin United Methodist Church not only served at the warehouse, but also donated 90 pairs of shoes and 85 pairs of socks towards Shoes for Orphan Souls. Blind faith really does deliver.

To learn more about the ways your church can get involved, contact Jillian Zeiger at 214-328-7463 or visit www.shoesfororphansouls.org.