Barefoot Pastors On Barefoot Sunday Provide Voice for 300 Million Children

March 22, 2010 - PRLog -- Bishop Paul S. Morton, Bishop James Dixon, , Dr. Stephen J. Thurston, Bishop J. Drew Sheard, and Bishop Gregory Ingram will headline the list of nearly 5,000 Pastors who will preach in their bare feet on Easter Sunday, April 4, 2010.

“Barefoot Sunday” is a movement created by Samaritan’s Feet that has worldwide appeal.  
 
(Charlotte, NC) –February 18, 2010 – Samaritan’s Feet announced today a national launch of “Barefoot Sunday” movement to honor the late Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.  The program will take place on Easter Sunday, April 4th, which is also the 42nd anniversary of Dr. King’s assassination.  Pastors will be encouraged to preach their Easter Services in their bare feet in remembrance of the 300 million children who wake up every day without shoes.
Bishop Paul S. Morton, Bishop James Dixon, Dr. Stephen J. Thurston, Bishop J. Drew Sheard, and Bishop Gregory Ingram are asking all of their pastors from their respective denominations to join them in their barefoot efforts.  They will be joined by 5,000 other Pastors from different denominations across the country to bring awareness to the plight of these children.  The goal is to put 1,000,000 pairs of shoes on the feet of children through Samaritan’s Feet.  The Pastors will ask their congregation to make a $10.00 donation, which buys, processes, sorts, warehouses, ships, and distributes a pair of shoes to a child in need.
“I am so honored to serve with these great leaders and inter-denominational Bishops from across the country and around the world to help Samaritan’s Feet reach millions of children,” said Manny Ohonme, President and Founder of Samaritan’s Feet.  “These pastors are making a choice to preach barefoot.  The children we serve don’t have a choice to be barefoot.  They live with this every day.  By preaching in their bare feet, it makes a statement to their congregation that they are not above these hurting families.  We expect to reach more children through their efforts.  Impoverished children will be delivered hope from such a simple act of compassion and courage.”

“When our Savior rose from the grave, He was barefoot,” said Bishop Paul S. Morton.  “I am no better than anyone else and that’s why I am so proud to be a part of this endeavor.  What an honor to join my colleagues in a collective effort to reach millions for Christ on Easter Sunday.”  

“I met Manny and his team and I knew right away that we had to get involved,” said Bishop James Dixon, who’s congregation distributed 5,000 pairs of shoes in Houston, TX in December.  “I want to honor my Savior by demonstrating compassion and humility.  I am so honored to be a part of this endeavor and I am humbled by the list of Pastors that are joining the movement.  Our collective congregations will make an eternal impact on millions of children that we will never meet.  I can’t think of a better way to spend Easter Sunday.”

Easter Sunday, April 4th, Samaritan’s Feet will continue to honor the legacy of Dr. Martin Luther King, by asking all Pastors to preach in their bare feet in honor of Dr. King who sacrificed so much for so many.   Dr. King’s impact continues to be felt through his teachings of serving and helping the poor.  Samaritan’s Feet embodies that mantra and lives it out every day.  Pastors will honor his life by standing for the 300 million children around the world who don’t have a voice.  They suffer from diseases, infection and many other ailments because they don’t have shoes to wear.  Needless to say, many can’t play sports or go to school without shoes.  

Barefoot History
In November of 2007, Samaritan’s Feet asked Ron Hunter, a college basketball coach (IUPUI), to take off his shoes and socks to raise 40,000 pairs of shoes and draw awareness to the world-wide issue of 300 million children without shoes.  

Coach Hunter said yes and embraced the goal of 40,000 pairs of shoes that he wanted donated by January 24, 2008 in honor of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.  In less than six weeks, his goal was blown out of the water.  By tip-off Coach Hunter and Samaritan’s Feet had raised over 140,000 pairs of shoes and over $30,000.  The media exposure was incredible.  Over 439 media outlets covered the story before and after he coached the game, including, ABC World News Tonight, CNN, ESPN, Sports Illustrated, USA Today, LA Times and many more. He also personally delivered the shoes with his team to Lima, Peru in August. In fact, Coach Hunter became the 2008 ABC News Person of the year.

That singular effort has now led to a barefoot movement that is sweeping the country.  Over the first two months of 2010, Samaritan’s Feet has had over 3,000 coaches’ coach a game in their bare feet.  In fact, every day, people from around the country call Samaritan’s Feet to find out how they can help and are willing to shed their shoes.  They are eager to use their platforms to help make a difference and reach our goal.  

Confirmed Pastors
As a result of the success, on Easter Sunday, nearly 5,000 Pastors will be preaching in their bare feet.  
•   Bishop Morton, International Presiding Bishop – Full Gospel Baptist Church Fellowship International, Bishop James Dixon, Kingdom Builders Global Fellowship, Dr. Thurston, President, National Baptist Convention of America, Inc, Bishop Ingram, Presiding Prelate, 10th Episcopal District African Methodist Episcopal Church, Jurisdictional Bishop Elect, J. Drew Sheard, Church of God in Christ Inc, and many more.
INTERESTED MEDIA:   For further information, contact Samaritan’s Feet Marketing Director, Todd Melloh at 317-417-3525 or tmelloh@samaritansfeet.org or www.samaritansfeet.org.  



About Samaritan's Feet
There are over 300 million children who go without shoes every day.  It's their only mode of transportation.  That's why Samaritan's Feet was started.

Samaritan's Feet is a humanitarian relief organization that puts shoes on the feet of children all around the world.  Our goal is to provide-10 million pairs of shoes for 10 million impoverished people in 10 years.  To date, nearly 3 million pairs of shoes for children around the world have been collected.  

It was started in 2003 by President and Founder, Manny Ohonme.  Manny received his first pair of shoes at the age of 9 from a missionary.  He started playing basketball and other sports with these new pair of shoes.  He earned a spot on a traveling basketball team and eventually his high school team.  Upon graduating high school, he was offered a scholarship to play basketball at the University of North Dakota (Lake Region), and later received his Bachelor's and Master's Degrees.

Manny spent ten years in the marketing and logistics business before he started Samaritan's Feet to help children and pay it forward to what he was given-a pair of shoes that gave him hope.  

Samaritan's Feet, based in Charlotte, NC, is a humanitarian non-profit relief organization dedicated to taking a life-changing message of hope and equipping the feet of impoverished children in the US and around the world with shoes.  Our focus is on children from North America, Africa, South America, Asia, Middle East and the Caribbean.

# # #

About Samaritan's Feet - the company based in Charlotte, NC, it is a humanitarian non-profit relief organization dedicated to taking a life-changing message of hope and equipping the feet of impoverished children in the US and around the world with shoes. Our focus is on children from North America, Africa, South America, Asia, Middle East and the Caribbean.