Editor's note: In July, 1998, the Louisiana Conference Tennis Shoe Delivery Team visited South Africa and Angola kicking off the shipment to Africa of over 30,000 pair of tennis shoes collected by UM churches in Louisiana The shoes are needed because people, especially children, must walk long distances in the war-torn country. Without shoes, they often become ill and even die from the infections caused by cuts on their feet. The following letter is from the Christian refugees in Angola who received the shoes. Each family received three pair.

ATTENTION: Bishop Solomon (and the Louisiana Annual Conference)

SUBJECT: Thanks

The war that has destroyed this country has forced the rural population to seek security in the crowded cities abandoning all we possess. We have submitted to improper condition[s] for human life, lacking all that is necessary for human needs, such as drinking water in the homes. The Christians have fled the East Angola Conference and can be encountered in Luanda, centralized in the Class of Noe. We thank you for the help we received through the representatives of the Bishop of Angola and our Missionary Rosetta, who has distributed food, clothing and shoes. An Angolan Proverb says: One spoon of soup in need has more value than a pot of soup when we have an abundance of food.

We pray to God that this help will be multiplied and also [are] asking for you to pray for Peace in Angola.

Christian Refugees
Central United Methodist Church Luanda, Angola, Africa

Used by permission of The United Methodist Review, Louisiana Conference Edition

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