Jill Hudspeth Shoe Drop Journals

2-2-09
I am so glad that I waited to compile my thoughts about the project until now..
What inner peace I feel when I think of the project. What a start to a great program ahead.

I am blessed to have a network of women that support me and think as I do.. When the note on facebook came out I was just reading a book called "crazy love", putting …love into action…
It was to well timed, I could not ignore the direction to jump and see exactly what God was planning.

Russ had a vision of 100 pairs of shoes… my first fear was he would not see the value of used shoes… Every time I brought up a idea he was always 100percent supportive.. I appreciate the way he was able to look bigger and see we could accomplish more at this time .. I knew that God had more shoes in mind..



I put the word out to a few women..
Sally from Tehachapi jumped into it right away volunteering to spread the word in her area. Connie in lake Hughes, Angelique at Higher Vision Church. Shannon and Julie from San Diego.

It was awesome to see them all respond back in such a positive direction.
Some brought the shoes up to me, other women volunteered to meet me with shoes..
Once again the timing was coming together.. It was no stress…

With the women of higher vision on board I was able to drop by the church and fill up our car.. More than once we completed filled every inch of the SUV with shoes. Angelique and another gal Dannae both asked their works to get on board.. More shoes piled in..

The weather in January was awesome ..Josie was home from college all month and was instrumental in helping with the project.. Purchasing laundry soap, washing shoes, laying them out in the sun. Working at Canyon Creek Sports Camp we have the privilege of having a laundry room with 5 washing machines. This allowed us to get the work done in a fraction of the time

She then helped with Cleaning the ones which could not go in the wash..
Next came Organizing by type…bagging them up..

Lastly she took the first load down the hill to Russ .

Once the shoes were gathered and organized the excitement of a trip was hard to contain..
I was impressed with Russ and seeing the organization that He and Keisha both had preparing and dividing up responsibilities for the trip.. They were flexible and willing to adjust to the many changes …

Before leaving the camp I made sure that a group of women were praying for safe travels and for God's hand to direct our path.. I was confident the whole time that we were under his care.
Thursday morning arrived and I was up and ready to go and meet Julie..

Keisha had to pick up the van and then meet Russ together they loaded up all the shoes for the trip. With a rattling window they happily approached the two of us in San Diego running on little sleep they were both up beat and not discouraged my timing set backs..

After switching the vehicle out in san diego we were off and running for the boarder..

Julie was so helpful with directions the whole time she was thinking ahead…keeping her eye on exact where it looked like we were going.. Or even not going..

When we arrived at the gate we were directed to stop and meet with the officials …They explained that it was not possible to bring this many shoes in.. exactly how many they asked..
The one official was very polite and kind with giving us directions to a different boarder which we would have to go . They stopped traffic and opened up a gate to show us out of their country.. As we sat in traffic we began to regroup with ideas of what we could do..

We were not without hope.. Willing to make changes to make it work
The first pair of shoes were given to a women at the boarder with a child in her arms with no shoes m she was happy enough to have a few pairs for her daughter..
Maybe we were to give them out one pair at a time.. Time would tell…
A man named Javier was walking between cars a missionary asking for money …he was helpful with suggestions and willing to share what he knew. From his own experiences




After a delay at the gate… someone a few cars away was being detained… watching guns drawn we were happy all we had on board was shoes..





After a bathroom stop we headed to the next boarder crossing.. thinking of our options we decide the worse case was being turned away again and thought it was worth a try.. Not exact remembering why… Russ and myself changed seats .. As we drove thru the gate I waved at the officer and no one motioned for us to stop…Julie kept repeating do not slow down keep going keep driving.. It took a half mile before we were all laughing and excited that we had made it.. Now onto rethinking our path in mexico to reach the location of the instructions.. The tricky part was the computer print out has a unusual way of printing and some very important directions were cut off.. Lucky to have Keisha fore sight in using her cell phone and paying for the extra charges she was able to follow along as to where to head,… as we arrived near down town we did not seem to have any idea where to turn.. Not afraid to ask we asked for help on more than one occasion.. We came across 3 teens , (Picture – Shoes)they were at first hesitant to stop and see what the large red van was asking .. But the girl was willing to answer a question…After some discussion we were able to share a few pairs of shoes with them and left them all smiling ..
It seemed we were heading in circles…some what .. The afternoon was slipping away..
We turned right down one street and headed straight to a cross.. The direction was too hard to not miss. Keisha headed straight and parked at the front door. Russ and myself jumped out to see what kind of help we could get.. Not speaking the language I was not much help for sure..
A man was inside and not much progress was being made..

Another family a mother and her 2 children could over hear the conversation.. She seemed open to us and brought us over a newspaper with the churches address.. While Russ attempted to make contact and let the orphanage know where we were at.. I again went to grab a few pairs of shoes.. Minutes later the family was jumping into the van to show us the way … how long we asked … maybe 15 minutes.. Hallelujah.. Up the hill we went

With shoes packed on the seats Julie and I were both sitting on each others lap.. Happy we were sharing the experience together.. As we continued up the hill Julie started taking notes since we would have to return later to bring the family back to their car.. This is no easy tasks being that we continued to take turns and then go back around the same spot again.. The beauty of having them with us we were more encouraged that we would find our destination sooner or later.. What trust was shown bringing her children along with strangers… would we do the same for a stranger?

It seemed a hour later we were making more stops and asking questions.. Having the family with us we were able to ask better questions and get better answers since she actually knew the area.. It was comical to see us heading back to a area she called home.. We stopped a few times with the directions being written it seemed more unrealistic to follow.. we saw the end of a beautiful sunset and the onset of darkness. With excitement for all of us we had found our location …Roberto came out to assist us on our return trip to town.. We now had bonded with our new friends and were invited to see their home close by.. Believing we were on a adventure it sounded like a great plan after they rescued us from the city ..

Again I was impressed with Keisha she had been driving since 8am and now well after dark was maneuvering up and down tight streets even in reverse she handled that van like a bus driver.. Our group followed the family into the house and for a second Keisha did not know which way to turn.. I called to her and we laughed , it was easy to get confused with all the houses looking alike on the block..

We shared a glass of juice and a few photos.. Then headed back to town again.. Roberto was not rushing us at all and we enjoyed the trip even more having a guide to get us back home. It was great to hear dianna and Roberto also connecting .. The church was doing something special on Saturday for children and she had invited his kids to join in.. another connection was made.. When we arrived back we gave hugs and shoes for their program..


Hunger had arrived and a well deserved beer was needed.. Close to the church we were able to find a great meal .. being a night to celebrate Russ's birthday the restaurant employees even sang a song in celebration.. Julie practiced her Spanish with Mark Anthonio since she was missing her Spanish class we felt it was a much better learning lesson by far.. Walking back to the car we marveled at how the day had turned out.. Everything was in place… the kids were already down for the night.. Roberto asked for volunteers to help with breakfast and we were shown to our quarters .. Very nice accommodations .. Hot water even.. Keisha again was full of surprises for the girls .. She had done a REI stop and had gifts for us to make the experience go better. The rooms was comfortable and we had it all to ourselves… Julie was the only one with out a sleeping bag and probably will not try that again.. Luck we were in mexico and not Canada giving out shoes

Early in the morning I could hear mens voices coming from the outer room I was ready to meet the neighbors that were staying in our same accommodations.. Even Russ was up at the dawn.. Catching me off guard since he had worked all night before ..camera in hand he was catching the first day light and watching the city come alive..

The beauty of the neighbors was that coffee was brewing and I was able to have morning coffee …just another blessing that God had provided.. The men were from San Jose and were down building. They had been coming for 9 years and felt it was their calling to come .. They had land and were planning on building a orphanage near by.. I especially was touched by their kindness for the children giving a hug and attention to some of the little boys who came for hugs . They knew the kids names and you could feel that the connection was genuine. They encouraged us to connect again and wanted to know we were welcome to help them in future trips ..

It was 7am and time to head to the kitchen.. I was meet by Teresa who was friendly and willing to take a rookie which had limited Spanish as her assistant. First hot cakes were planned but soon after with minutes short the menu changed to eggs.
I was cracking and asking questions.. She would give me a English and Spanish lesson..
Eggs with diced catcus and onions …then on to the chocolate milk…
Powder milk with powdered choc milk and a ½ cup of sugar which she insisted was necessary to my despair.. The kids started piling in at 730 julie was there to help with getting the food out and making sure their glasses were full.
We noticed they sat with kids their own age and segregated ..

Girls had the clean up chores helping get the dishes done..
We had chores ourselves getting the shoes ready to give away.. It was show time… tables were brought (Picture – Shoes)out and shoes laid out.. Kids were excited with their choices.. As well as the adults … with soccer cleats it was fun to see the boys trying them on… the women who helped at the home were equally excited to have new shoes…
Julie would take extra care getting the right size for each child that came her way…more good Spanish practice.. They were even helping her get the words right..
once shoes were given we packed the rest up for our next home to visit.. Roberto agreed to take us to the place outside of town in the country side.

After a photo shot we jumped back into our red carriage and our trip to places unknown .. We were encouraged to have another place to share .. The scenery was unique.. Green mountain sides, wild flowers a seasonal stream.. amongst a mount of trash sometimes burning.. The sharp contrast was hard not to miss. As we bounced along the dirt road russ opted to walk and take photos.. Again with out the help of a guide we would have had trouble finding our destination.. The road was a ride in itself.. fun to bounce along and await the next turn … soon enough we saw children watching as we approached..

This home was much bigger with over 80 children awaiting us.. We again set up the location to lay out our shoes.. They were very organized and had a certain number come to see what we brought them.. One large man with big feet was equally happy to see a pair of shoes fit his feet.. One college basketball coach was teased for sending his shoes with us… it was a blessing to see the man pose as if making a basketball shot in his new shoes. The feeling was awesome to see his excitement … this home had more younger children … it was great to put some baby shoes on a baby in a swing..
The needs were greater out in the country than the city ,we were told they were in need of flu shots and underwear … watching the lunch line we wondered how much food it would take to feed that army of children… cans and cans were open on the table and sandwiches of peanut butter and jelly were being made.
It was harder to leave knowing the needs they still had. No propane to cook …we wished we had more to share..

Our hearts were full appreciating the blessing we had all received being able to take the shoes and see the children and adults alike..

Roberto got us back to town once again, the last drop with a few bags of shoes… and now was able to direct back to the boarder.. He left us to take a bus back up the hill and we went in search of OTAY our much loved boarder crossing.

We all were on cloud nine wondering what was next for us in the future
We are brainstorming our new group name
Enjoying the unity we now have shared.. Even sitting at the boarder we plan what he group can prepare for again..

Our minds turn to a sweet treat once we cross back to California.. Spoiled as we are able to stop for a coffee to recharge for the next stop …
As the afternoon as come Keisha and Russ decide to change the mode of transportation.. The train is a new option that will allow them to avoid the Friday afternoon traffic. Shannon meets us with a car to make the swap at the rental place and within minutes we drop then off for the final journey home..

It was a whirlwind we are now pulled apart, the hours together short but pack filled with so much to remember..,and ponder.
Are we content.. How can we be…
As we share the excitement of the trip we try to explain, but words don't capture or express the magnitude of satisfaction and blessing that we all received…
What a crew to take the first maiden voyage.
Knowing that we will come together again. Looking for the right direction…do we need to wait for a bigger trip or take advantage of anything that will come our way.
tomorrow…
I am blessed to have shared this trip with my amigos..
I give God all the glory for making it possible
Peace. Peace. Peace.
A special thank you
To Josie who was willing to jump in and help me with getting the project going..
what a treat for me to spend the time with her
To Russ who gives me hope that men can have a heart to love others more than themselves. And have the vision to believe it can be done.
To Keisha whose laugh brightened my day and who genuine love and compassion was shining through..
To Julie who I love having as a traveling companion in any country and someone who always makes me feel I have a true friend..

See More Pictures From Jill...