February 3, 2012

Twenty-three Central Bible College students traveled to Joplin, Missouri, to participate in the Martin Luther King National Day of Service on January 21, 2012.

Samaritan's Feet, a faith-based humanitarian aid organization, hosted a foot washing outreach to the needy of the community. During the outreach, students from Central Bible College joined other volunteers in washing the feet of those in the community who have found themselves underprivileged or impoverished. Once the feet were washed, each individual received a new pair of shoes.

"We washed people's feet and worked with little kids from bad situations," said Dave Leake, a junior at Central Bible College. "We just talked to them and asked them how their lives were going. It was awesome to be able to dig into their lives for a little bit and find out what we could pray for."

Chelsea Philebaum, a CBC senior, commented, "It was such an awesome experience. We worked mostly with younger kids, foster children. But there was one older lady there who was standing off to the side. I asked to wash her feet and she refused at first. After some convincing, however, she let me. She was a Christian, but she had lost so much in the Joplin tornado. When I had finished washing her feet, she just began to encourage me, saying that I was special and that God was going to use me. It was so humbling to just wash someone's feet and be that servant to them."

The Samaritan's Feet Organization estimates that there are 300 million children who go without shoes every day. One million are estimated to die each year from foot borne diseases. Through their work, Samaritan's Feet hopes to provide 10 million pairs of shoes for 10 million impoverished children in the next 10 years.

Since their establishment in 2003, Samaritan's Feet and their team of 70,000 ambassadors have been able to provide more than 3.5 million children with shoes in more than 60 nations. While in Joplin for the day, Phil Gocke, director of Student Ministries at Central Bible College, estimates 115 children were given shoes.

For more information about Central Bible College, see its website at http://www.CBCag.edu.

AG-NEWS