PIERCE CITY – Earlier this fall, members from the First Baptist Church here fitted shoes on the feet of 375 children, as well as nearly 50 teachers and staff members, from the Pierce City Elementary School.
By partnering with the rural development branch of Convoy of Hope in Springfield, the church was not only able to provide shoes for children in the community, but they also found a renewed sense of purpose.
“It has really given the church a mission again,” said Pastor Ryan McMillian, who began serving at the church in the spring of 2014. “It has helped them to be excited about the Great Commission.”
According to McMillian, this ministry to the Pierce City community was a true “hands-and-feet-of-Jesus project,” which required the faithful service of church members every step of the way: Church members measured the feet of students, staff and teachers from the elementary school, wrote recipients’ names in each pair of shoes, collected socks to give alongside the shoes, put the socks and shoes in one-gallon zipper bags and sorted them by class. Then church members personally put the shoes on the children’s feet.
The church plans to do this project every year, alongside other ministries to the community, McMillian said. They hope that, through these acts of service, the people of Pierce City will know that the church is open to them and cares.