I’m wearing my new Klash shoes I bought from Buy Shoes. Save Lives.
They aren’t TOMS shoes. They aren’t slippers. Here’s what they are:
- They are a 3000 year old Kurdish craftsman tradition, requiring 40 hours to make one pair of shoes by hand.
- The organization is run by Christians. In Iraq.
- They raise money to pay for heart surgeries for a generation of Iraqi children. Saddam Hussein’s 281 chemical attacks and experiments on the Kurds of northern Iraq contribute to this high rate of life-threatening disease among children in this region.
- 140 pairs of shoes sold pays for one surgery.
- They are $120 and you can buy yours at http://buyshoessavelives.com/klash/
Watch this video that shows the shoes being made. This mission also show us as Americans that Iraqis are not our enemy. They are people, many just like us, with no control over their government’s actions. With families they are trying to provide for. They are a people divided. But many who don’t want to be. Many want unity. Many want love to prevail.
I love that a group of Christians put this labor of love together in the middle of one of the most infamous Muslim countries. To shine the love of Jesus both to the Iraqis, as well as to Americans. To show us that when we look into the face of who we’ve been told our “enemy” is, they are actually a lot like us. I love supporting people who are sticking their necks out to do the things Jesus tells us to do. I know how encouraging it is for me when others come alongside of my efforts to raise money for Haiti, and I know it’s equally encouraging to the Preemptive Love Coalition when people like you and I buy their shoes. They too are people just like you and I, trying to make a difference in the world. My shoes are a reminder to me that there are others in the world who care about the things Jesus cares about and that I’m not working toward these goals alone. I think they feel the same about each sale they make.
I love the creativity of selling these amazing shoes with the twofold purpose of bringing hope and dignity to families, such as the one featured in the video, as well as providing life-saving medical help to children.
I love my Klash.
Consider buying a pair.
There are also children’s shoes, candles, apparel, and scarfs for sale, which you can find on the full product page.
Another cool video of how the shoes are made:
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He is:
Author of Beyond the Battle: A man's guide to his identity in Christ in an oversexualized world
Host of the The Flip Side Podcast
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Just read about these today in Jeremy’s book, but it seems the link no longer works. Any idea if it has moved? Thanks.
Oh no! Thanks for pointing this out Amy. I wonder if they’ve stopped doing the shoes? Their main website is still up: http://preemptivelove.org/ which shoes a lot of ways people can still be involved, including t-shirts, books, etc. but I’m not finding the shoes anywhere 🙁
The chapter about the shoes is how I found you. Might be worth contacting Jeremy to find out for sure, though. Thanks for replying.
Good call. I just emailed him; will let you know if I find anything out.
Amy, sorry I forgot to keep you updated on this. I got an email back from Jeremy and he said: “Unfortunately, we had to discontinue the Klash sales due to various factors ranging from more demand than we could reasonably meet, difficulties with local production, a shift in our strategic emphasis here inside Iraq, etc.
The Klash were an amazing chapter for us. We were sad to see them go. But glad to know they helped inspire and pave the way for what we are doing now.”
So thanks for asking as I had no idea they weren’t doing the Klash anymore. Sounds like they have a lot of great stuff still going on though. http://www.PreEmptiveLove.org
Good call. I just emailed him; will let you know if I find anything out