“Do you know why I’m washing your feet?” I ask the 5 year old whose dingy little toes I hold in my hands.
“Because I’m getting new shoes today.” He excitedly answers through a huge smile.
“And why are you getting new shoes?” I say as I rinse the now-brown soapsuds from his feet. 
“Because I have to walk to school.”
“You’re getting new shoes because Jesus loves you very much. He knows you have to walk to school and He wants your feet to be safe. Jesus loves you so much; He wants to give you everything you need.”
After his feet are clean and dry, I help him wiggle into a shiny brown set of shoes. I pray over him, pray God’s protection and provision. I pray that he will grow up to know he is loved; loved by a Father who will never abuse, never leave, never die.
This is one of my favorite days on the Race. It is a rare opportunity to offer a practical, immediate solution and have the privilege of following that solution with an explanation, “Because Jesus loves you.”
How do you show love in a country where two-thirds of the children will die of HIV/AIDS before their 14th birthday? How do you bring Jesus to a place where, in the absence of parents, 7 year olds are raising their younger siblings?
In light of these tragedies, a new pair of shoes may seem little more than a band-aid on a bullet-wound. But, to a 5 year old boy who walks to school alone each day, it amounts to comfort beyond words.
