June 2, 2025
Over 7,000 shoes collected in The Tide’s fourth annual shoe drive
“The ‘Your Soles, Their Souls’ campaign is a great way to bring awareness to what we have been doing around the world, as well as provide funding for additional literacy classes in India,” says Don Shenk
CHAMBERSBURG, Pa. — Where some might not see the eternal significance of new or gently used shoes, The Tide® (www.thetide.org),a global broadcasting ministry that shares the Gospel on three continents and in a variety of languages and dialects, is thrilled to announce that through their fourth annual “Your Soles, Their Souls” shoe drive the team gathered 7,550 pairs of shoes. The shoes collected will benefit micro-businesses in developing countries around the world, and the funds raised from this campaign will help finance The Tide’s Gospel outreach through literacy classes in India.
The Tide’s Executive Director, Don Shenk, remarked, “Many of us have unworn and unloved shoes, but how often do we think of them as playing a part in making an eternal impact for God’s Kingdom? For the fourth year in a row, The Tide has collected our supporters’ shoes and used them to further the Great Commission. Every year, our collection goal grows, and we have seen God work through the shoe drive, delivering more than we ever could have imagined. We are thrilled to celebrate that after just a few months of collecting, we have received over 7,000 pairs of shoes!”
Through a community effort, new or gently worn shoes were collected and donated to The Tide ministry. Their partnering organization picked up the shoes at the end of the drive and paid The Tide ministry for the shoes. The funds collected will be used to finance The Tide’s Gospel Outreach Literacy Classes in India. The “boots on the ground” team in India then uses biblically based material in the classes, exposing the students to the Gospel as they learn. Along with supporting The Tide’s ministry in India, their partnering organization sends the shoes to over 20 developing countries.
“After almost 80 years of ministry through media broadcasts, we are always looking for ways to keep spreading the Gospel for the next 80 years to come,” says Don Shenk, The Tide ministry director. “The annual ‘Your Soles, Their Souls’ campaign is a great way to bring awareness to what we have been doing around the world, as well as provide funding for additional literacy classes in India.”
From its humble origins in 1946 as a local Gospel radio broadcast in Chambersburg, PA, The Tide® ministry has grown into a global network of Christian media broadcasting partnerships committed to worldwide evangelism and discipleship. In 2008, The Tide® ministry ended all English-language programming in order to focus on developing and distributing indigenous heart-language content in areas around the world that are less touched by the Gospel. Today, The Tide® ministry works with partners in multiple countries across three continents to broadcast Gospel-centered messages via radio, satellite TV and other media. In order to make disciples and plant churches, The Tide® ministry also provides resources for literature distribution, correspondence courses, discipleship and leadership training activities, and the distribution of radios and media players.
For more information about The Tide® ministry broadcast projects, history, radio programs around the world, special year-long campaigns, the weekly Global Update radio features or other news, visit its website atwww.thetide.org or its Facebook page.
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To schedule interviews with Don Shenk, director of The Tide® global radio ministry, contact Media@HamiltonStrategies.com, Beth Bogucki, 610.584.1096, ext. 105, Dawn Foglein, ext. 100, or Daniel Moyer, ext. 104.
To inquire about airing any of The Tide® ministry radio broadcasts, contact Michael Hamilton, 610.584.1096, ext. 101.
