My name is Steph. I have passion to encourage women with practical principles for purposeful and powerful lives by knowing Jesus. I met my friend, Katie, when I spoke at a women’s retreat. We later found out that we lived one block away from each other. Katie has a passion to help, love, support and advocate for those overlooked.

Katie hosted a Sole Hope shoe party. I invited some friends and we had a great time. I blogged about the party with the heart to encourage other women to spread hope, one shoe at a time. About two dozen friends collected at our neighbor Katie’s home to spread hope in Africa…one shoe at a time.

That’s right, we can spread hope in Africa right smack dab in the middle of air-conditioned suburbia.

In one night, we made 38 pairs of shoes.

In one night, we had lots of laughs.

In one night, we spread hope.

The longer I walk with Jesus, the more I see that it doesn’t take much to spread hope. It started with one woman, Katie, having a burden for Africa. She rallied four women from four different churches to pray. Then asked friends to come help. Spreading hope isn’t complicated, it requires that you just show up with the right heart.

Maybe you’re called to host a shoe party? Sponsor a child? Feed the hungry? Clothe the poor? Visit an inmate? I dunno.

I hope we can share ideas here to sharpen one another to spread even more hope. In small or big ways, how do you spread hope?

Click here for more information on Sole Hope.

To read more from Steph, check out her blog at www.encouragedinheart.org

To hear from Katie on Average Advocate, read her post Poverty vs. Indifference: An Advocate’s Hope or check out her blog at www.katiesprettylittlelife.blogspot.com.

Currently, Elisa is in the process of getting a Sole Hope party going in her Virginia suburb outside of D.C. She will then blog more specifically about the experience of hosting one of these parties. There will also be a feature post on the organization of Sole Hope. So stay tuned!

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Update: Here is the link to the post Elisa wrote about her Sole Hope party, about how to pull one off:  Action: Sole Hope Shoe-Cutting Party. But she is helping others start them in Northern Virginia, so keep an eye on the Local Opportunities Page of Average Advocate.