Jeremy Courtney Bio

Jeremy and Jessica Courtney moved to Iraq in January 2007 with hopes of loving and serving the poor. Almost three years before, they had moved to Turkey to begin a business in the eastern part of that country to contribute to the development of an area that has been left behind the growing global prosperity. But drawn to areas where needs are acute and opportunities are abundant, the Courtneys felt a compelling calling to move even farther east to Northern Iraq.

The Courtneys had dozens of ideas for how they might spread an awareness of Kurdish culture and nurture opportunities for indigenously sustainable development, but they would have never imagined they would soon be selling shoes to save kids’ lives. Through Jeremy’s initial contract work with an NGO in Northern Iraq, he began to see firsthand the heartbreaking results of poverty and stymied economic and technological development. He also connected with a co-worker, Cody Fisher, who would quickly become a collaborator in this enterprise of culture and compassion.

Dissatisfied with mere sympathy, Jeremy started looking for solutions. He found one in his growing fascination with klashi kurdi: hand-stitched, locally made shoes traditionally worn by the Kurds. He also discovered Shevet Achim (Brothers Together), a group of Israeli doctors who donate their surgical skills to Muslim families as a way of working towards harmony and reconciliation. Buy Shoes. Save Lives. simply connects these two discoveries, opening up an international market to buy fashionable shoes in a way that saves lives by funding travel and exam costs for pediatric heart surgeries with Shevet Achim. And BSSL stimulates the local economy so that future generations of Iraqi children can find essential health services closer to home.

Anyone who spends even a brief amount of time with Jeremy knows that his life is driven by a love for Jesus. He strives in each moment to submit to Jesus’ example and to fulfill Jesus’ mission of healing and reconciliation in the world. Jeremy sees his work through BSSL as a way of living out his own identity as a follower of Jesus, seeking to love the least and lowliest of the world’s people as an expression of his love for Jesus.

Jeremy and his wife Jessica have a two year old daughter, Emma, and an infant son, Micah. In his spare time after saving lives through selling fabulous footwear, Jeremy is a musician and songwriter. He is also passionate about discovering ways that people can build meaningful bridges of understanding and reconciliation across cultures through music and storytelling.