Step into my shoes

As a parent, there are few things I want more than to see my kids become people who love and serve others with the heart of Jesus. This is a scary thing to want.

If I’m honest, I want them to become these people without experiencing a lot of personal pain, loss, or risk. But in my stronger moments, it means I hope God disturbs my kids’ sense of identity, their understanding of how they fit in the neighborhood and world, and how they live out their calling.

We live in these tensions a lot as parents. Comfort, safety, and assurance of security often vie for dominance over the downward way of Jesus that calls us to give ourselves away in service to the poor and marginalized.

We need help navigating this tension. That’s why we’re so glad to partner with our friends at Compassion International on a new project, Step Into My Shoes.

Step Into My Shoes is an invitation to experience life through the eyes of a family across the world and process what it means for your family’s life in your own neighborhood. No passport required. The FYI team has been working alongside Compassion’s Advocacy team to create a resource you can use to create discussions at the dinner table, at bedtime, and through fun hands-on family activities. Here’s a video explaining why we created this experience for you:

The Family Kit includes a written guide, DVD, and more to help you lead your family through this four-step experience.

If you are a church leader, there’s also a group starter kit that includes all you need for adapting the experience to a local congregation, including a 75% discount on individual family kits.

To be clear, the goal of this project isn’t to get you or your church to sponsor more kids through Compassion. While that might be a step you want to take, the hope is simply that each family and each church will take one next step—whatever that step might be, locally or globally—toward helping children in need. That’s something we can all rally behind. Join us on this journey!