Faith, Engineering, and Love: Inside Water Mission's Global Journey

In this inspiring episode, Charlotte interviews George Greene, delving into the impactful journey of Water Mission, a Christian engineering ministry dedicated to addressing the global water crisis. George shares personal stories about the organization's growth from a family's leap of faith to a global mission impacting millions. We explore the transformative power of providing access to clean water and the deeper meaning behind their work, including the significance of their annual Walk for Water event. 

Listen to discover how Water Mission not only changes lives by improving health and empowering communities but also represents a call to action for listeners to find their own purpose and contribute to meaningful causes.

For more information on Water Mission, click below:
https://watermission.org/

Thanks so much for listening!

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Transcript

0:43

hi, everyone. Thanks so much for joining me today. I'm really excited to have George Green on the podcast I guess I should clarify, should say George Green, the fourth, because his dad is also George Green. But George is the chief executive officer and president of water mission. With their headquarters being in Charleston, water mission is a nonprofit Christian engineering ministry. That provides sustainable, safe water solutions. All over the world. I'm really glad George's here today to be able to share. Uh, his story, his faith. And the impact that water mission has for millions of people around the world.

Charlotte 1:30

Hey, George. Thanks so much for joining me today. I really appreciate it.

George 1:35

Thank you, Charlotte. It was great to reconnect with you a month or so back and,, and get to hear what all you've been up to since, the last 20 or so years have passed since we'd, connected. But, um, and, uh, yeah, great to, great to get to connect with you as well.

Charlotte 1:50

I've known what you've done and, growing up in the church with your family, But I was personally impacted, with it when my son last summer went on a mission trip with Water Mission and our church down to Honduras. I wanted to swing back and reconnect with you and hear your story of why you wanted to go work with your parents and the wonderful things that you're doing globally for so many people.

George 2:16

Well, uh, yeah, thank you again and glad that your son was able to engage in that unique way. It's, you know, we, we, we live in a bubble here and just have an amazing, uh, part of the country we get to live in and blessed and where we live and, and it's so easy to, um, just not be aware of what's going on globally and just some of the global issues, um, yeah, it's, it's important to be aware of some of these things, but at the same time as we think about the journey that we're on in life and, and what God's put us here for and, and, and purpose, um, you know, there's a lot of stuff that's kind of in drowning, a lot of that stuff out and, uh, and a lot of noise and, yeah. and then even with, uh, the work that we do while we're based here in Charleston, it's kind of funny, I think a lot of people know us, but they don't really have a good understanding of who we are. Or the scale that, is, uh, in place today, uh, cause we, we literally came from nothing 23 years ago with, starting from my parents, selling their business and, and shifting to, uh, to start with water mission and build the ministry that today is, is a, um, a big, broad initiative that's impacting a lot of lives. So happy to spend the time today and, maybe it, uh, leads to opportunities for folks to see about engagement opportunities. And if nothing else, to be inspired, to look into other ministry opportunities as well, to have an impact in this, in this world.

Charlotte 3:41

Yeah, I think it's fabulous. And I'll be honest until, um, I came, up there to visit you at the office, I. Had no idea of the scale and the magnitude of all the different communities and all the work that you do. but before we get into that, let's just go back, 23 years of, of your sister going off to Honduras and just kind of what really started it all.

George 4:08

Yeah. And if, um, if you're okay, I might actually go further back than that. Cause you know, the story is, um, makes a little bit more sense when you look at the track record of my, my parents and, and, and where they came from. Sure. I'd love to hear it. And maybe, yeah, so, so we moved to Charleston in 1981. I was four years old at the time and the, the genesis of what triggered the move, was my parents. My father is originally from Florida. My mother was from Mississippi and, um, my father's background. I think you are aware. He's a Ph. D. chemical engineer. And, um, prior to moving to Charleston, he actually had a pretty incredible career path that was opening up, uh, working with Exxon, uh, research and engineering, uh, based out of Florham Park, New Jersey, which is, uh, I don't know if it's still the head of their research and engineering, uh, but at the time it was and, um, but, uh, with my parents both being from the South. Um, they, they were excited about the potential career path that he was on. But at the same time, they saw that that was going to have us moving around the world every two to four years. And they really wanted to be intentional about raising a family and having a place where kids felt rooted and would think of as home. And, uh, ultimately they saw that as a higher priority than the career path that, uh, that was in front of them. And so they decided to leave Exxon. And, um, my parents found. This small wastewater laboratory here in Charleston that was for sale, and it was about to go out of business at the time and and they decided that, you know, that was something that had potential. And really, their goals with that were just to be able to support raising a family and living in a nice area of town. So we moved here in 1981. And, uh, when we did that, my parents bought this, uh, small, uh, business. It was already named general engineering laboratories. And, uh, and, and when we started, it literally was just my dad working in the business and, uh, and, and trying to run it, um, very quickly though, the, the business just took off. And, um, and he went back to my mother and said, Hey, I need your help. And so she ended up coming and they ended up being just a really dynamic, uh, um, team and, and growing that business. From the two of them in 1981 to fast forward to what you were asking about with when my sister graduated from college, uh, in 1996 time period. Um, at that point, it had grown into the largest, um, uh, single site privately in laboratory in the country. I think they had somewhere around 350 full time staff at that point. And what started out as a waste water laboratory was now a full service laboratory. So testing anything you could think of from obviously waste water as well. But, you know, soil, air, radioactive contaminants, you name it. Um, the other thing with that business to That was kind of a unique value, uh, add proposition was, um, one of the triggers when they got into this was there were all kinds of, uh, federal government regulations that were trying to crack down on pollution. And, and so requirements about testing and monitoring, and the laboratories had the ability to, um, test and, and, and provide the data. Um, but a lot of times when they'd hand the data back to the clients that were trying to get things tested and understand, you know, if they were contaminating things or not. They didn't really know what to do with the data. And so another big aspect of the growth with, um, uh, with the business was the development of actually an engineering consulting, uh, program that would come along with the ability to take the data that was being presented to these customers. And then also talk through, um, you know, Hey, here's a, an action plan for you of how you would actually use this information and then turn it into something that would allow you to hit these regulations and, and that kind of the timing The combination of those services and just, you know, my parents, uh, focus on quality services and treating others the way that they want to be treated with their for profit business. That business just took off. And, uh, and that was what I grew up in. So, Every summer, starting in the fourth grade, I was, um, working, uh, at that business, um, not necessarily by choice in the early years, um, but, um, but, but kind of being groomed to understand that business and fourth grade. Um, you know, my summer job was cleaning toilets and empty and trash cans. So pretty basic stuff. But by the time I was graduating from high school and heading off to, um, to Clemson, where I went and got a degree in chemical engineering as well. That final summer, I was running a very, um, High end laboratory instrument and kind of had come through the full spectrum of a high level overview of a number of different things that that business supported. So fast forward 1996. By this point, I'm a junior at Clemson and my sister. Had or actually, it might have been my senior year at Clemson. Um, uh, I'm sorry. 1998. My sister had moved to Honduras after she graduated from college and a number of folks know Jenny, um, that at ST Phillips as well. Jenny moved to Honduras to Tegucigalpa. In 1996, and she moved there and took a job teaching second grade in an international school. I don't think she actually knew that Susie McCall. Uh, was in Tegucigalpa, um, you know, Susie and a number of maybe your listeners might as well. Um, the fun thing with that connection was Susie was our Sunday school teacher. Um, I don't know if you remember the fun and the sun program, but, uh, but just kind of really neat that, you know, Jenny happened to land in Tegucigalpa and not really looking at that. Move as a ministry opportunity more just to go explore and, and, and, you know, have some adventure. Um, but, uh, but while she was there, reconnected with Susie, got engaged in a number of different ministries that Susie was involved in and other things. My parents went down and visited her. I went and visit her and then fast forward to 1998. She moved back that summer. She moved back to Charleston and then like two, three months later, a category five hurricane hit called Hurricane Mitch, and it was the worst disaster in the recorded history of the country still is today. They had 75 inches of rainfall over a six day period and literally entire sections of cities were washed away as a result. And, and watching this happen and then, and this experience that our family had, uh, with Honduras, you know, my dad tells the story. He just felt God put a burden on his heart. They need to do something about it, but he didn't know what. And so, um, as, as in traveling down and spend the time in Honduras, uh, we had made some strong connections through the Episcopal church of Honduras. And so my dad felt compelled to send the, um, at the time, the Bishop of Honduras, a fellow named Leo Friday. An email saying that he wanted to he was offering to help and he knew a little bit about water and Bishop Friday responded back almost immediately and asked for assistance with drinking water and a community of 1000 people and another community of 1500 people. And he listed 6 communities that they were trying to help. Um, and, uh, and, and coming out of that request. You know, my dad with his background and, um, and engineering, uh, and, and with the for profit business, they didn't actually sell products. They sold services. They, they knew how to test water and make sure that it was safe to drink, but they didn't sell water treatment systems or build them for that matter. But they knew how to and and as they went out, my parents went out to look and see if they could just purchase some systems and send them down. They couldn't find anything. And so my dad's reaction was, well, let's just build something. And so the initial, uh, um, water treatment system that, uh, that we ended up sending. The initial design literally happened on a napkin at lunch and then within a two week period, give or take using volunteers from their for profit company, General Engineering Laboratories. Today it's known as the gel group. They actually built by just going around to the local hardware stores and buying. All the plumbing parts and everything, they built six drinking water systems that were skid mounted. And then, uh, um, with just the amazing, uh, as God would have, you know, um, laid out the story that, that we're, we get to be a part of with this, that we have an air force base here in Charleston and that there's an air force base in Honduras. And that we were able to load all this equipment onto a C5 Galaxy at Charleston Air Force Base and fly direct with 19 volunteers, a couple of pickup trucks, 20 tons of relief supplies, um, and fly directly into Honduras and then go and install these things. And, and, uh, and, and the, the crazy thing with that, that's just a, it's a miracle that, that all those doors and how everything kind of came together specifically with the access to that C5 Galaxy, you know, we've, we're now 23 years old. I think we have 800 staff globally. Um, we're, um, we're, we're still doing disaster relief work. We're also doing long term community engagement projects. But over the last 23 years, we've essentially responded to every major disaster since we got started with Hurricane Mitch. We've never been able to get on an Air Force plane. The way that we were able to when we didn't even exist, uh, um, and sending all that stuff down to Honduras and you can't help but just pause and stop and look at, you know, how God opened that door and allowing that to happen with ultimately seeing what that would lead to it with. But what I joke of is that experience going into Honduras. My parents had their eyes open to the global water crisis. Um, and, uh, and coming out of that, you know, That it triggered their midlife crisis where they decided to sell their four proper business and, uh, and, and felt God calling them to, um, to do something about the global water crisis, which is essentially why water mission was founded and, and, um, you know, the focus that we've had over the last 23 years. Yeah. I mean,

Charlotte 14:16

it's amazing. And I remember even you showing me that picture of the airplane and then even your parents pickup trucks. I mean, it was a, from their business with their logo on it, getting onto this, huge air force carrier and going down to Honduras and installing these, water systems, it's, it's quite remarkable, and in such a quick amount of time. You know, relatively speaking that they were able to build these systems and to get down to Honduras so

George 14:46

quickly. Yeah, it was, it was an amazing thing that just came together and, and that, you know, this was, they, they were busy running their for-profit company with all kinds of priorities and, and things that were moving forward. So to shift and to pivot into a disaster relief effort into a developing country that. It is a four hour flight on a C5 Galaxy from Charleston is definitely, uh, um, yeah, a lot of, a lot of things, definitely a leap of

Charlotte 15:17

faith, for sure.

George 15:18

Yeah, but, um, but yes, so definitely. And, and, and yeah, it's been amazing to be a part of that, that journey, uh, with, um, with just seeing what, uh, where, where water mission has been able to, um, see what God's called us to and really step into that in a, in a big way with, uh, Touching the lives of people as we think about who we are today and our roots going back there. So how

Charlotte 15:41

long after they're disaster recovery of hurricane Mitch. Did your parents say, I mean, cause at first they're going into this, just trying to help because they've been so moved by the Honduras community. at what point did they stop and say, Hmm, I wonder where else we could help and maybe kind of shift their thought process of selling

George 16:08

the business. Yeah, so, um, maybe for a little bit additional context in that too, because this is where does my story overlap with these things. When Mitch hit and that relief effort happened, uh, that was during my junior year at Clemson and coming out of that experience, um, and, and just the impact that it had on my parents. Um, and, and, and by the way, when I went off to college, uh, I, I remember my dad telling me. Go get a degree in chemical engineering. And, uh, once you do that, if you want to come back and have a shot at joining us in the family business, uh, then, um, then, you know, then we can, we can have that conversation then, but that was kind of the, the, the precursor to, yeah, so I'm, so I'm working at, uh, up in, uh, Clemson. And, uh, and, and by the time my senior year rolls around and I'm literally like, I think it was my first semester of my senior year and you can kind of see the light at the end of the tunnel and, and that you're actually going to finish. And, um, was when my parents came up to talk to me about just what they were feeling, uh, with, um, where they thought God was leading them. And, and they actually came up, uh, it was for my birthday in October and, uh, and they were said, well, you You know, what, what would you think about this? Um, and, and just recognizing that, you know, this was something that, that I was planning to come back and join them at gel at general gene laboratories at the time, and, and, uh, it was really interesting that, that, you know, for me, it was, um, I didn't really have any kind of. Um, negative thoughts about it. I, I was really excited about what they were talking about. And, and, uh, and as a part of that conversation, they said that, you know, if you feel that God's calling you into this, you know, we would love for you to consider joining us as well. Um, while I was at Clemson, I had participated in a program called the Cooperative Education Program. And what that means is you actually, uh, um, interview and get a job, um, where you work a semester and then go to school a semester. And the job that, um, that you get is actually, uh, um, coordinated with the major that, uh, that you're focused on. So with my focus on, uh, um, chemical engineering, I interviewed with a handful of different, uh, um, uh, companies that would hire, uh, chemical engineers and ended up, uh, um, taking, uh, an internship, um, with a big German chemical company called BASF there. Actually, the largest chemical manufacturer globally, and, uh, and I actually worked with them for the equivalent of about a year. So, uh, um, three, two semesters in a summer, um, while I was going to school and had a job offer from them coming out of school as well. Um, and, um, but at the same time as, as, as I was engaged with my, the original plan was not to go work with them. The original plan was going to come back and work with parents, but with this, uh, this change and where my parents were 1. Um, I, I, not that they needed my blessing, but that they were coming there to talk to me about that was, of course, an honor. Um, and, and I was excited with where they were feeling God was leading them and ultimately felt that God was calling me to come join them as well. And so when I graduated from Clemson, I came back to Charleston and, and, uh, fun, um, The fun kind of, uh, um, uh, full circle as far as how that got started was, uh, water mission is a nonprofit and to be a nonprofit, you have to be approved by the IRS, um, to have what's called a 501 C 3 C. And what that means is that you have the ability to accept gifts, um, and that, uh, the people that are making those gifts can, uh, um, uh, have them tax deductible, which is something that's, of course, very closely regulated by the IRS. Um, but, uh, so our, uh, our, um, date of receiving our official, uh, confirmation. From the IRS is July 1st, 2001. And that also is my hire date with, uh, with water emissions. So I, um, so fun kind of first day of, uh, the, the ministry being founded, um, as a separate entity. Um, and, and my employment, uh, um, uh, coordinating or, or fun ones that, uh, that overlap. So, yeah, so I don't know if that's a helpful to, um, and that literally started. So 23 years ago, coming up on July 1st. Um, we started out with my parents, um, who were volunteers and they were also our only donors at the time. Um, and, uh, me and one other staff person. Um, so, so literally four of us, two of them are volunteers and my parents never received any kind of compensation. Um, and, and my dad continues to be a major donor to the ministry today. Um, which is just an amazing kind of God story. When you think about how, how God blessed them with success with their former business that essentially allowed them to go and give, um, not only their treasure and being donors. But also their time and their talent and their influence to, um, to help get water mission to where we are today. We're starting with two full time staff and two volunteers, and now we're somewhere around 800 global staff. And, um, and I think we estimate we've touched the lives of over 8 million people over the last 23 years.

Charlotte 21:19

I think that's remarkable. It's also, um, very telling of the relationship that you have with your parents and your own faith, because a college kid coming out with all these big ideas that you're going to take over the family business, you know, the fact that you didn't have any negative feelings and that you, you know, welcomed with open arms, this new opportunity and that this new mission, because I don't know that all, you know, 20, 21 year olds would have that foresight or have that deep faith or a good relationship with their parents that they would, be like, of course I'm on board and, and not think about. What you could have missed

George 22:04

out on. Yeah. Well, I, I don't want you to give me too much credit. There, there, there certainly was a, a level of having no idea what I was getting into. Um, I, I, I will say at the highest level, um, uh, um, I, I have not always made the best decisions in life. And, uh, and, and as I looked at, um. Uh, the potential paths that I could head down, uh, coming out of college. Um, I really felt that this is where God was calling me and it was going to be the best thing for my life. Um, and, uh, now did I really understand what that was going to entail? Uh, I can look back today and say, I had no idea. But at the same time, you know, I, we, we, we all have a. We all have a conscience. We all have kind of promptings from the Holy spirit. Um, and when I say that, uh, assuming we've made a decision to follow Jesus and, and, and, um, accept him as Lord of our lives, um, then that kind of, you know, that pricking and, and, uh, of your conscience and, and kind of, um, knowing what things you should or shouldn't be doing. Uh, um, I think we all have that to some degree, um, even though we may be very immature with, uh, with the start of those journeys.

Charlotte 23:18

So as you guys are starting to grow this mission and initially was Honduras your main country that you're going into, or when did you actually just start spreading out and reaching all these other communities?

George 23:33

Yeah, so it's a good question. I don't know the exact dates of the

Charlotte 23:36

various, it doesn't have to be specific. I was just curious of how it kind of started.

George 23:41

Yeah, Honduras was where we got started. Um, just with those initial roots from that disaster relief effort. And it was always a place that we continued to, um, to invest in and to grow. Um, you know, there were some, uh, um, there were some early excursions into Belize, uh, with, um, with some initiatives, there were some work in the Dominican Republic. Um, we ended up engaging, uh, I think, um, Haiti became a, um, a focus area for us in like 2003, um, I think Uganda about the same time today. Our major focus areas are, um, um, are Mexico, Honduras, Peru, and in Africa, Uganda, Kenya, Malawi, Tanzania, and then Indonesia as well. And, um, and 1 of the things it was a real eye opener for us when we think about. What we, you know, what, what should we be doing? Um, so, you know, with our roots coming out of the for profit world, um, and, and a very technically focused for profit company, um, we had a very different perspective with the founding of a charity. And, um, and, and so, you know, maybe just some high level concepts to think about. Um, I don't know, you know, living in a charity and, and, and functioning as a charity for the last 23 years. There's something I've probably spent a lot more time thinking about than the average person. Uh, but, um, you know, the charities, the people that donate to charities, uh, um, are, um, are not the ones that receive the benefit of the service from the charity. And so if you think about a for profit company, um, a for profit company, The people that pay for the product or the service that the company provides are the ones that receive it. And if that for profit company doesn't do a good job and adding value with that product or service, then that customer is going to go somewhere else to have their, um, their needs met, um, with a charity. We're kind of with decoupling those things. And when you decouple them, it really presents an environment that can be right for inefficiencies for bad projects for any number of things, because it doesn't have that level of accountability. And so it was a real eye opener for us. kind of coming from the for profit world and then starting water mission as a non profit that, um, that with a, um, an understanding that we really needed to build out some internal accountability loops and just understanding how effective we are in the work that, uh, that we, um, that we are doing or not. And how do we talk about those, those kinds of things? Um, so, so in our, in our early days, You know, with, um, we had a very heavy technical focus and we always have, um, because that's where we came out of in the early days, we thought that we could just make good equipment available. So, if we, if we went into a community and saw what their needs are, you know, we could specify a water treatment system and then come and donate it to the community and gift it to them and train them on how to operate it and then they take it and run with it. And what we didn't realize was, um, that, you know, that you really have to have a long term commitment. Um, and you also, it's not just equipment, you really need to be thoughtful around the people processes and systems and how things get supported and managed and run. Um, and then also, when you think about building things and designing things, um, when we look at how stuff works in a country like the United States, where we have had access to safe order for over 100 years, you know, there are a number of best practices that need to be incorporated, um, modeling some of those things. Things that, um, um, that, that essentially set you up for success. And when you think about where we started 23 years ago with two staff and two volunteers, um, we didn't really have that knowledge. And so there was a real steep learning curve over the first five, six years. Um, to where we felt like we all of a sudden had maybe a pretty decent grasp on all the things that we needed to be good at. Um, in order to see a project be successful. And so if you look at what all we do today. Um, we have, uh, um, a heavy focus still with engineering. So we have, we actually probably have, I think, over 15 licensed professional engineers on staff in the United States. And if you, if you were to look at, um, engineering organizations in Charleston, that actually makes us one of the largest engineering firms in Charleston with that level of, uh, talent. Capability and capacity. Um, so that's focused on the design. We've also had to be very intentional in building out our ability to manage construction projects. So how does that design get implemented and things get built with standards and quality? Uh, in the in in a developing country. Um, so that means kind of a deeper and programmatic investment in the various countries where we have staff. And then the final aspect, the operations and maintenance side of things. Um, we're probably every water project. We'll go into a community of. 5, 000 people. And when we start a water project, essentially, what we're doing is we're building from the ground up, putting a mini municipal water system in place. And if you look at how our water system here in Charleston works at the highest level, there is a board that provides fiduciary responsibility and governance for the utility. That makes sure that water flows to us as end users. And so we're, we're, we're basically taking that same approach and model with building out that governance structure, as well as the staffing, the operation and training, um, and, and then also as a part of that revenue collection, um, to be able to cover costs and to be able to support ongoing costs. Um, so it's definitely become a much more comprehensive, uh, thing than anything we would have ever thought of when we started 23 years ago.

Charlotte 29:35

when you go into these communities from a people aspect, I imagine, I mean, water is life, and it gives them so much hope it gives them a, a safe drinking water, safe food, How, how is it when you go into these communities and the response, um, that they have for this truly lifesaving gift?

George 30:01

Yeah. So, um, so we describe if somebody is asking us who we are, um, we, we tell people that we're a Christian engineering charity and those three key words are, um, are very, uh, important for us. One, you know, as a Christian ministry, and this is getting into the impact that we get to have when we go in and we do a water project, um, Jesus called us, uh, um, to love our neighbors. Um, it was the, the, the, the. The essentially kind of the three commandments, love the Lord, your God with all your heart, mind, soul, and strength. So that's your primary focus. And then, um, as that question was posed, what's the greatest commandment to Jesus? He didn't stop there. He went on to say, love your neighbor as yourself. And so, um, we see that water mission has been built, uh, to glorify God, uh, first and foremost, um, but also to love our neighbors as we think about how we're trying to impact their lives by getting access to clean drinking water. Um, the third. Uh, commandment is, um, essentially to, uh, tell people about Jesus and, uh, um, uh, and to make him known. And so when we go into a community and we, um, we bring in access to safe water, I think, um, You know, most people immediately go to an understanding of, okay, they're drinking dirty water. Now they're drinking safe water. What they don't necessarily understand is that some of these communities, um, you know, the people don't have water in the communities. They may be walking 2 to 3 hours a day to go get water. That's not safe to drink. And when we do a project, we're bringing water into the community and we're taking away not only the dirty water issue by making it safe. We're also bringing water into the community and potentially giving them back 2 to 3 hours every day for them to have to go do other things. And the impact of that, you know, so, and by the way, the, the, um, the people that are primarily impacted by that lost time are women and children. And so when you think about, um, you know, who is. Who is essentially carrying the heaviest load of the global water crisis is literally falling on the backs. Of millions of women and children globally that that are dealing with this, uh, this issue. So, specifically with children, if they have their time back and they're healthy, think about what that means for their ability to go to school if they're having to spend 2 to 3 hours a day going to fetch water. And on top of that, they're sick. Um, you know, you can very easily start to think about how the, um, um, how that impacts their education. Um, we had a community, I think I shared this with you, we had a community in Honduras, or excuse me, in Tanzania, and we interviewed two women, uh, in this, uh, community. Um, one of them said that she was literally spending three hours a day. Um, to, uh, to go get water and that now has gone away. So she has that to be able to support her family and to care for her family. The other woman that we spoke to, I think I highlighted this with you as well. She actually had a restaurant in that community and, um, and she was walking hours to go get contaminated water as well. And so, as you think about now, she has safe water in her community. And she doesn't have to leave her restaurant. She can keep her restaurant open. It all of a sudden you start to really easily see how you can see an impact on the economy and on people's ability to provide for their families and to support their families. And that overall, you would see a, um, an economic increase in the areas where we do a water project. So I share all that kind of background because. When we come in with a water project, it does. It changes people's lives. It's kind of a basic building block for breaking the cycle of poverty, um, by allowing people to live healthier lives and giving them time back and, uh, and things like that, that allows us to build really deep relationships. Um, we come when we do something like that, people love us. They welcome us into the communities. I went to a commissioning celebration in Honduras last April, and they literally had a marching band that was lined both sides of the road for when we came in to visit this community, um, to just show their appreciation for who we are. And I share that because as we think about what we The opportunity is with that. Um, we look to engage the local church where we're working when we do a water project and essentially give them this platform that we have earned, um, by going and providing this tangible gift of safe water and by working with these, these, the people in these communities that are, that are hurting, uh, to help them live physically healthy lives and then, uh, um, essentially point them to the church shows, you know, this is why we're here. Um, God called us to reach out to you and to love you. And then to, uh, as we think about Jesus's ministry, you know, he came in word and deed and he touched people's lives. He healed, uh, um, the sick, um, he provided food for people that were hungry, um, and then, uh, um, he obviously had a spiritual impact with, uh, with them as well. So, you know, that's a, um, couldn't ask for a better model for how are we supposed to, um, engage in and see that live out. Yeah, I just

Charlotte 35:10

think it's remarkable. And, even just going through and looking at some of these pictures in, Tanzania of all the refugee camps. You talk about living in the United States and being so stuck in our bubble. I went on several mission trips. Myself when I was in high school and they were, were very impactful, um, um, trips that changed my perspective, but then you kind of get into the routine of life and then, you see different things on the news and, Of other communities. But then when my son went down to Honduras, and he had such a phenomenal experience, he loved the work. Like he loved digging for the water filtration and, and, you know, creating these latrines because he was engaged so much in the community and playing soccer with the kids and, you know, in getting to know the community. And that's what he said. I loved, you know, helping out and doing the hard work. but I really enjoyed getting to know the kids and the people in the community, because it really just puts in perspective of, it's not, just dropping off safe water. You're just giving a gallon of clean water. You're actually interacting with these people whose lives are going to be changed and, um, and how grateful they are. Um, but it puts, when you come back. Home, in perspective of, you know, he was just even noticing when he brushes his teeth and he just leaves the water running, and he made a comment of, oh my gosh, mom, that was so much water that they would have bent over backwards for in Honduras. And I just think what a remarkable experience for him. But then when you were showing me pictures of all the refugee camps in Tanzania, I mean, I was almost embarrassed that I live in such a bubble of not being aware of truly the global water crisis and of all these poor people, you know, um, like you said, walking hours and hours and these kids not being able to have an education, um, or a delayed education and what that does for their confidence and for them, you know, going on for fulfillment of their lives.

George 37:29

Yeah, you know, it's a, um, uh, it's an easy trap to, to just not be aware of what's going on around us, not only, uh, um, in our own city, uh, but on a global level and it is we think about we're called to be salt and light in this world. You know, what does that mean? Um, God, God has a purpose, um, for all of us individually. And understanding that purpose and living it out is, is, um, is, it should be our top priority. Um, and, and, um, one of the things that I heard years ago, it was a statistic that, um, uh, um, as we think about a purpose or a calling, um, however you would like to frame it or talk about it, um, that, uh, that I heard was that, um, over 50 percent of people. That receive a calling or hear a calling or understand or kind of sense of calling in their lives, um, that that happens. Um, as a result of a short term mission trip where they have gotten out of their comfort zone and maybe had their eyes open to, um, uh, to some things like what you're talking about with, with your son and, and, and some of your own experiences. And so I highly recommend that people get out into the field and go see things. Um, and, and, and just chase hard after, you know, what does God have for them and in their lives and, and that understanding that he does have a purpose for them and, and figuring out what that is, is a pretty, um, is a pretty important thing and very rewarding thing.

Charlotte 39:07

Yes, I think so too. When you really feel that calling and then tap into, what you're supposed to be doing with all these God given talents and how can it help serve him and serve your community, um, and then the world at large.

George 39:24

Yeah, and I mean, you've got a great story with that as well and the experiences that have been a part of your life and, and what that has triggered and the things that you've, um, felt that you've been called to pursue and, and going back and, and, and getting your nursing degree and working in the nicu, uh, you know, God puts things in our lives, uh, for a reason. And, and so it's important to, you know, be aware of those things and then how we respond to them, you know, what's the impact that our faith has with that. So, um, I think you said a good example too.

Charlotte 39:54

Yeah, well, thanks, Virj. But you know, I think it's also interesting is sometimes that's with a struggle. Like for me, I'll say my NICU experience. I mean, that was a traumatic experience and even, and I think that that's where it's harder to lean into that because sometimes it is, whether a disaster or a trauma or something that kind of turns your world upside down, that you, you know, it's, it's, it's, it's, it's, it's, it's, it's, it's, it's, it's, Really have to heed into that calling. And so for water missions, like hurricane Mitch, it took a natural disaster and not to say that your, your parents might not have had some other calling, but to me, it's sometimes it's amazing to see how stories play out. If Jenny hadn't gone down to Honduras and if you guys hadn't traveled there and gotten to know the community and all the different steps that kind of play out into the entire story of, how visions are kind of, um, and legacies are formed, and it's oftentimes after times of struggle.

George 41:00

Yeah, and you know, I, I think the, the thing to think about, you know, how, what, what set all of these different things in motion to ultimately see where we are today. And it started with, um, you know, a faith commitment that my parents had, um, when I was a kid about taking their faith seriously. And, um, and then, you know, the, the wild successful ride that they had with their for profit business, you know, when they were in the middle of that, they didn't have any concept that that was really setting them up to go be able to start water mission and turn that into a, an international ministry that was touching millions of lives. Um, so I, you know, this is, is, is individuals are thinking about, you know, how does this apply to me? You know, the first and foremost is making sure that you're rooted in your faith and, and that you've got, um, a good church home and some good daily best practices as far as, uh, in the word and in the Bible and, and, uh, and, and, um, um, and active in prayer, um, and, and then being open to the nudges of the Holy spirit that, uh, that come as experiences happen to you in life and, and responding to those. A wild meandering story when you think about how we got to where we are today.

Charlotte 42:20

what a beautiful legacy for your family. I know you feel that's the calling, but it's also just what a gift that the greens have given to the world.

George 42:30

Well, you're, you're kind of say that we, um, we share often that we're, um, in awe of what, um, what water mission has been able to accomplish in spite of the things that we thought we were supposed to be doing. Uh, we, we've certainly gotten to be a part of some amazing things and very successful things, but we've also made some bonehead decisions over the years as well that, uh, that, you know, require course correction. And the, um, the, the 1 thing that I would say, uh, also when, when people think about. What does God have for me in my life? Um, you know, I like to think of it, it can be very tempting to, um, to just, uh, um, to sit in, to be still. And there is a time and a place for that. Um, at the same time. I like to think of, um, I, I, I struggle with some of those things and I like to think of, um, uh, being an understanding what God's will is for, for me in my life is, um, I need to be, um, moving. I need to be, uh, um, uh, um, engaging in, in doing things, um, with the understanding that I can be steered. Um, so as you think about a ship and a ship having a destination, you're never going to get to your destination if you're not moving and, uh, but once you're moving, the ship can be steered as you, um, course correct with, um, understanding where, uh, where God wants you to go and, and the things that are ultimately, uh, are successful and the things that where doors close and you're not.

Charlotte 44:02

Right. I think that that's the important part is being open to the whispers. I think that's the important part is being open to the whispers. You know, and not having movement, but not having too much busyness that you can't hear those and that you have so much business or clutter or just, um, going on in your life that you can't really heed into, the directions or just, the little nudges that kind of tap you into what path you should go on.

George 44:32

Yeah. And, and so just to maybe wrap that up, I don't know if I was crystal clear with that. Um, how, how does that practically play out for individuals as they think about, you know, what is God looking for me to do with my life? Go plug in or go do something with star gospel mission and, and see what that experience is like. Um, go plug in at St. Phillips and some kind of ministry capacity and, and where you see your, your, your, Your natural gifts and skills really start to align with some of these ministry opportunities. You can get a sense of that by just going and trying things and, uh, and that's what I mean by being moving and, and then, uh, uh, and then being able to be steered, uh, um, right.

Charlotte 45:15

To what your talents and your skills, you know, where they can lead you and then where they can lead you to be of service. Yeah. To others.

George 45:24

I'll say this. I mean, at the highest level of what is the body of Christ. And as we think about, um, how does the body of Christ work, um, with, uh, um, that there are a lot of members, um, and people have different roles. And so understanding, you know, what are our roles in that, uh, um, and they can be all over the place, uh, um, or any number of different things.

Charlotte 45:47

Right. It, it can be just as simple as, helping out your next door neighbor to, like you said, doing, more on a, a global mission scale. It's, just finding what your path is and what your calling is. Um, well, George, I greatly appreciate you spending all this time with me. And I do want to do a, cause I'm going to air this next week. So I'm going to do a quick little Charleston plug of, that you guys are doing the walk for water. Okay. On March 23rd in Charleston. you mean, give me a quick little, um, little snippet of the walk for water I know it's your big, local fundraiser but what it symbolizes.

George 46:23

Yeah, thank you for bringing that up. so yes, so our, um, you know, it's funny when we first got started 23 years ago, um, you know, as a charity, you have initiatives to raise resources and we had no idea what we were doing. We were really bad at it. We started out doing a gala, which was a seated dinner for 200 people, and a silent and live auction because, you know, that's what we see everybody else doing. And, you know, and it was our main revenue generation event of the year. And, um, um, my mother came up with the idea of, maybe we could pivot from doing something like that, which was kind of a very, Limited event. As far as engagement, we could only have, you know, 200 people in this room and the idea with doing a walk was something that we could invite everybody to bring your whole family. And, um, and the, the, the concept behind the walk is, um, helping people understand the global water crisis. And so what we do is everybody's going to gather on March 23rd at Riverfront Park in North Charleston. And we have buckets that that will hand out and people are going to grab a bucket and then they're going to walk. A mile and a half and they're going to fill that bucket up with contaminated water and then walk a mile and a half back to the park where we started. Um, and and the idea is that you just got to walk in the shoes of the millions of women and children that are on average walking 3 miles a day. Uh, to go get contaminated water. And when we get back to the park, we have these big swimming pools that we dump this contaminated water into. And we actually have treatment systems that are there. And we show that, uh, that this isn't something that has to, um, has to be, uh, that, uh, that we have the ability to treat this water. And we have an answer to this issue and can impact lives. And so that event, um, I think last year we had right around 5000 people come out for it. And it's amazing to see, you know, You know, that thing grew the original walk was, um, uh, in, uh, um, Oh, goodness. Uh, Hazel Parker park tiny, tiny little park right there. And I think we've got a couple of people, a couple of hundred people at the initial walk, um, to what it is today. Uh, um, we got, we got kicked out of downtown a couple of years ago cause we were too big, um, and, and. People didn't like us shutting all the streets down. And I understand that, but, uh, but yeah, and, um, and so it's an opportunity for people to come out and literally experience that. And the main reason we do it today, it certainly is still, uh, um, an opportunity to raise support and people can contribute financially and we've certainly need and welcome that. Uh, but it's also the main focus is just an advocacy, uh, event to help people, to understand, uh, what's going on. You know, what, uh, essentially a third of the global population is dealing with, um, and, and having the opportunity to do something about it.

Charlotte 49:20

I'm looking forward to it. Well, George, this was a pleasure. And I find it quite remarkable, what your family has been called to do and, By looking at all the pictures, on your website or, the book that I have of all of the glowing smiles that just lights up the face of all of these people that you have helped all over the world and, what a blessing to God and, to all of these communities.

George 49:46

Thank you, Charlotte, and appreciate your desire to talk a little bit more about it. And maybe this inspires someone to engage in ministry and, or chase after, what God's purpose is for their, uh, their lives and to also impact additional lives as a result. All right.

Charlotte 50:02

Thanks again, George. I'll see you on the

George 50:03

23rd. Sounds good. Thanks, Charlotte.

Charlotte 50:09

I appreciate you spending this time with me until next time, keep sowing the seeds of love in your life and those around you.