Churches pair up to help community’s kids, relate the Gospel.

By Richard  Gould | Hickory Daily Record

Published: September 14, 2008

HICKORY - Volunteers in a long line of chairs sat across from children eager for a new pair of shoes.

They didn't just hand children a box of shoes and send them on their way. They took part in a solemn ritual first. The volunteers performed a ceremonial foot washing for each child.

Taking their cues from the Gospel account of Jesus washing his disciples' feet, the volunteers instructed the children to remove their old shoes and socks. Then they placed the children's bare feet into a plastic tub and scrubbed them clean before sending them on their way decked out in a new pair of shoes and socks.

Jay Wilson helped organize the event and said 230 pairs of shoes were on hand to be given away and he planned to feed hot dogs to about 600 people at this year's Back to School Bash. Last year's bash was similar but instead of shoes, backpacks were given away.

Volunteers cooked at barbecue grills as children from the surrounding neighborhood played in the two bounce-houses and listened to music in the parking lot.

John McGill, the youth pastor at Christ United Methodist Church, was instrumental in the event's production and he felt good about the day's turnout.

"We just came out here to love on these communities. We're here to show the love of God in practical ways," he said.

Christ United Methodist Church teamed up with Morning Star First Baptist Church and the Charlotte-based Samaritan's Feet mission organization to put the event together and it was held on Morning Star's grounds.

Wilson said when the children arrived, they were taken in groups to one of the church's rooms where they participated in a short Bible study, sang a few songs and had the spiritual significance of the foot-washing ceremony explained to them. Then they were led into a larger room where a volunteer washed their feet, gave them new shoes and socks and explained the salvation message of the gospels to them.

Then, wearing their new shoes, most of the children stopped by the cookout for some lunch before heading for home.