FROM CRISIS TO CHRIST-CENTERED HOPE AND RESTORATION

Swamp Monster and Shoes

 A special Thanks to all who contributed to the Open Your Heart to the Hungry matching Grant  - it was a great success!
 
Few of you could every picture me working as a Swamp Monster in the Haunted House at the Minnesota State Fair. A long-time family friend, Peter, had worked at the Haunted House the year before and told me I would have a blast and make good money if I joined him this year. So, this 17 year-old young man, decided to give it a go.
 
The days were long as we worked a split shift. Starting at 10:00 AM we would work till 2:00 PM and then get a four-hour break to hang out at the fair. Then we would work from 6:00 PM till 10:00 PM. That summer I spent 144 hours at the fair working and exploring the fair which included eating everything, it seemed, under the sun.

My main job was to be a Swamp Monster. I was on the lower floor alone in the last exhibit before people were to exit. It was an eerie Louisiana Bayou seen. I had a Python Mask and knee-high uncomfortable wader boots that took on water as there was four inches of water in the room.





As people peered through the window into the eerie scene I would try to scare them by lunging at them while kicking up water to get them wet. It succeeded most of the time, but if I got to close I would occasionally get punched.


I will never forget how bad my feet hurt from wearing those wader boots eight hours a day that took on water. Soggy wet hurting feet - you get the picture.
 
Thirteen months after being a swamp monster at the State Fair I had become a Christian through a Televised Billy Graham Evangelical Crusade and enrolled at the University of Northwestern in St. Paul. Instead of scaring people I was now wanting to help people both Spiritually and Physically.
 
When our good friend, Shawn Morrison (Good in the Hood Director) hooked up with Schuler Shoes and started selling new and slightly used shoes out of a bus - Jericho Road was eager to have them on our campus. Why? Too many people have hurting feet because they can’t afford shoes.

             
Good in the Hood went from a bus to a long trailer where they offloaded trays of sized shoes onto display racks in our parking lot. People were able to freely shop for Adult Pairs of Shoes for $5 and Children’s for $2 the first Friday this recent August. We timed it to maximize the opportunity for children to get back to school shoes.
 
Including children there were 240 shoppers who bought over 140 pairs of shoes. Over $400 was paid averaging about $2.86 per pair of shoes.
 
Jericho Road thanks Good in the Hood for their special shoe ministry partnership and for Ashleigh (upper right picture in orange shirt) who offered crucially needed translation skills. Many people will go to work or school with good shoes - What a sole/soul-encouraging blessing!