US Marine putting shoes on kids in Afghanistan

U.S. Church and U.S. Marine Give Shoes to Thousands of Shoeless Afghan Kids


MADERA, Calif., July 11, 2011 /PRNewswire/ -- In the coming months, Afghan children will be provided with shoes and flip flops by a United States Marine on active duty.

Jon Ginn is a Gunnery Sergeant (GySgt). He is serving with 3rd Battalion 4th Marines in their weapons company. He is stationed in the Helmand Province of Afghanistan. Before his departure, he and his wife Renee believed that there was a specific purpose for his deployment in addition to what was mission specific. Upon his platoon's arrival, he met many children who were without footwear of any kind in the 100+ degree heat.

All of the children in this region are living in a harsh climate and are forced to walk on rough terrain on a daily basis. In his interactions with the children and locals, Jon saw the need and had compassion on the children.

He took it upon himself to tell his wife, who spoke to Karl Roth, Pastor of Flipside Church. Roth said the church "supports our men and women of our armed forces and is proud to have a Marine meeting needs of children in the battle zone." Their church (Flipside Christian Church in Madera, CA) has been collecting and packaging over 4,000 flip flops to send to his battalion so Jon can hand them out to the Afghan children. Flipside's children's summer Vacation Bible School shared the idea with the children attending the summer program. The children were challenged to bring flip flops to send to other children half way around the world. The kids of Flipside brought in 2,000 flip flops in one weeks time to be sent to the kids in Afghanistan!

Because of shipping charges, a large parcel of the sandals will be sent to Jon later this month. Anyone from the public is allowed to donate flip flops or contribute monetarily to the delivery.
For information about sending flip flops to Afghanistan, contact Flipside Church at 559-790-0061 or karl@acts176.com Website www.acts176.com