Jim Paputsa: For this volunteer, the gospel's a shoe-in.

Pounding hammers and whirring saws are Jim Paputsa's tools of trade. But when winter weather halts his work, the Chicago Heights, Illinois, builder heads to the Dominican Republic knowing a new adventure awaits him.

Jim first traveled to the island with one of his workers, Victor Rodriguez. The Rodriguez family lives in a remote, mountainous, coffee-growing region where narrow, treacherous roads connect the widely scattered villages. Jim stayed for a month, repairing homes and improving water supplies and sanitation. "All I could offer was my work. I had my Bible with me, but I couldn't speak much Spanish. Victor did a lot of translating."

Back home, Jim began studying Spanish. When he returned the following winter, he noticed something he had missed before. "There were a lot of barefoot kids--too poor to afford even rubber shoes."

Before his third trip, Jim asked his church [Orland Park Christian Reformed] to donate shoes. "I expected maybe fifty pairs--I got 250! They covered my entire living room floor."

They also filled large coffee bean baskets slung on a mule's back Jim borrowed on his arrival. "I trekked up some pretty tricky paths and with every pair of shoes, I gave away tracts or Bibles." Then he waited to see what would happen.

Jim didn't have to wait long. One afternoon, a boy ran up to him shouting, "Christian! Christian! Come here!"

"He took me to his house," Jim explains, the memory still fresh. "There the whole family had gathered on the patio where they dry their coffee beans. They wanted me to read the Bible to them!"

With his English/Spanish Bible, Jim read key passages phonetically. He spent many days with new friends who waved him on to their porches to read.

Now that the shoes have opened doors, Jim can't wait to go back. "These people have nothing, yet the simplest things bring them such joy. Hopefully, that joy will be multiplied as they discover what God can give them."