Bob Fisher

People call him "Shoe Bob," but his real name is Bob Fisher. He owns a small shoe repair shop tucked in a corner of a little strip mall in Wayzata, Minnesota. Average height, average build. Shoe Bob looks like your average, hard-working, churchgoing guy.

But he is not an average guy.

Shoe Bob is a radical servant who has found a way to help the homeless. He helps the homeless by rallying his whole community, and he does it in his sleep.

A Chilly Revelation
In 1995 Bob was invited to go winter camping, something a man with a childhood fear of freezing to death had never considered. He kept his fear a secret from even his closest friends, hoping to one day overcome it with God and Minnesota.

"I purchased a pup tent, pitched it in the backyard, and bundled up in the warmest clothes I had," Bob recalls. "My plan was to sleep in the tent for one night without retreating to my house." Bob tried, but sleep eluded him. And each breath he took felt like sucking polar air. He was cold.

So he prayed.

Bob prayed, remembering words from Philippians that had become his life verse earlier that year in his quest to know Jesus more: "I want to know Christ and the power of His resurrection and the fellowship of sharing in His sufferings, becoming like Him in His death" (Phil. 3:10).

Bob prayed that he could last the whole night outside so he could tell his friends he gave it his best. But while he was tossing and turning trying to stay warm, God spoke to him. "This is a good idea, sleeping out here," He seemed to say. "Why don't you move the tent to the front yard and sleep outside to help the needy in Wayzata?"

Bob thought he heard God wrong.

"Wayzata is an affluent, lakeside community of 4,000 with BMW's, Mercedes, and Jaguars parked all along its manicured streets. Where were the needy here?"

Bob continues, "The whole thing was really an act of obedience for me. I had been wanting to know Christ more, to get closer to Him than I had ever been, so God helped me out by asking me to do something that was a gigantic personal challenge. How could I refuse?"

Bob did some homework and discovered that despite Wayzata's affluence, there were still needy people in his midst. He made a connection with the Interfaith Outreach & Community Partners, a local nonprofit organization that provides food, financial assistance, and emergency shelter to those in need.

In November 1996, Bob committed to sleeping in his tent on his front lawn, as God had suggested, until he could raise $7,000 to buy Thanksgiving dinners for 100 families. In 14 days, Bob was back in his own bed—he had raised $10,000. When Bob realized the most pressing need facing the needy in and around Wayzata was housing, he resolved to repeat his sleep out each year, dedicating the funds he raised to help meet housing needs of families in his community.

Over the past nine years, Shoe Bob has raised more than $5,500,000 for the Interfaith Outreach ministry. A 58-year-old shoe repairman with wire-rim glasses and an old-fashioned brush cut who listened to God alone in his tent in the snow.

A Personal Crisis
Last year, Bob found himself homeless due to a divorce that rocked his world. He was too distressed to do his annual sleep out. But an amazing thing happened. Hearing about Shoe Bob's plight, more than 1,000 people from the community rallied, taking turns sleeping in tents pitched on the front lawns of churches, schools, and businesses all around Wayzata. At Holy Name School, 35 sixth graders raised $40,000 by sleeping in tents in below-zero temperatures for one night.

"Their commitment was amazing," says Bob. "They made it their own."

Altogether, Bob's community slept outside in the cold for 37 nights until they reached the sleep-out goal of $1,500,000. Together, they provided emergency housing assistance for 652 families, including more than 800 children.

In His Shoes
During the nine years of sleeping in his tent, Bob has faced many challenges that seemed overwhelming, as he lay alone in the cold. "Some nights I felt like a fool. I wondered what people were thinking of me sleeping on my lawn in Minnesota in the winter." He also worried that he would not reach the financial goals that God gave him, as he battled temperatures that dipped as low as 15-degrees below. On those nights, he held fast to words that cause him to weep even today: "… remember the Lord your God, for it is He who gives you the ability to produce wealth, and so confirms His covenant, which He swore to your forefathers, as it is today" (Deut. 8:18).

This year, Bob's sleep out kicks off on November 11 with a goal of raising another $1,500,000. And this year, angels in other towns throughout Minnesota, Iowa, and Illinois will sleep in tents for the homeless in their own communities.

"If we could encourage groups around the nation to do what this community has done, I believe we could end homelessness in our country," says Bob.

Instead of sleeping out himself this year, Bob is working on developing a nonprofit organization that enables him to speak all over the country to raise awareness about the homeless and teach others how to walk in his shoes.

The shoes of an ordinary shoe repairman. The shoes of an extraordinary servant, sleeping for the homeless.

Editor's Note: For more information about Bob Fisher's ministry, visit www.bobssleepout.com.

Margaret Terry is a writer living in Burlington, Ontario, Canada.

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