New Shoes give Christmas JOY! And New Smiles Last a Lifetime
- Sep 15, 2025
- By the LIFE Team
LIFE’s Christmas Shoe Project began in 2008, and since the first pair of shoes was delivered to a child in need, more than 2 million pairs have been delivered!
Sharing the gift of new shoes with a child who has never had a new pair – or has maybe never even worn shoes – is a moment of pure joy. For poverty-stricken children in underdeveloped nations, a small cut on the bottom of a foot can be devastating, as it creates an opening where infection or disease can enter their small bodies.
Some are crippled for life because of injuries to their feet as children. That’s why shoes are so important.
While new shoes can last for years, a new smile lasts a lifetime! The corrective surgeries for children with cleft lips or palates are truly lifechanging. It is not uncommon for parents and families in developing countries to abandon their little ones because of these kinds of facial disfigurements and consequent health issues.
One mission partner explained, “We often need to work with the parents to convince them that it is best for their children to get the surgery.” Some of the parents think “fate” made the child that way and to change it would be to “tempt fate” or “offend the gods.”
Thanks to friends of LIFE, reconstruction surgeries are paid for, a wonderful gift to some of the poorest families in the world. A child, once disfigured and ostracized, is now given a new chance to succeed in life, and we thank God for dedicated missionaries and medical personnel who help put smiles on their precious faces!
Life Updates
![Mission Feeding](https://lifetoday.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/09/Side-MRL-2025.jpg")