Project Living Well

Randy’s October, 2011 Update:

Imagine not having clean water to drink and watching the people you love die from diseases caused by contaminated water.  This update highlights a young man, whom I’m currently mentoring, who is trying to do something about this issue.

Matt Creates Project Living Well:

Matt Johnson is 29 years old.

A year ago, he left a lucrative job in wealth management to follow a calling he sensed to help provide access to clean drinking water to under-resourced people around the world who are physically thirsty, and simultaneously provide meaningful opportunities to those in the U.S. who are thirsty for purpose in their lives.  He formed an organization called Project Living Well.

Here’s what Matt had to say:

The Need:

“There are 1 BILLION people in the world that do not have access to clean water.  Of that, 2.2 MILLION people die each year due to drinking contaminated water.”

“Without water (the most basic need), the more ‘advanced’ steps in society cannot exist, such as sanitation, health, education and a functioning economy.  Without a functioning economy, there simply aren’t resources available to just ‘dig a well’.” – Jodi Mohney, Living Water International.

Digging the First Well in Nicaragua:

“We scheduled our first trip to Nicaragua, the 2nd most impoverished country in Central America.

“After two days and 115 feet of drilling, our team (who had never been on an international trip like this before) hit water.  The well was less than 20 feet away from a school [for 110 children].  The children came out of their classrooms and swarmed around us to watch the water flow out of the pipe.  Within minutes, our team began splashing one another with the cold, refreshing water.

“Before we knew it, the entire school of children jumped in on the action.  Children began lining up in front of the pipe waiting for the next gush of water to come out.

[Wait for it!… ]

[Bam!]

“There was so much laughter, happiness and joy.  It was like we brought a water-park to a small, rural community in the middle of a 3rd world country.

 

‘These children had never before seen, touched or tasted clean water.

Living Well in Our Own Backyard:

[One day in downtown Chicago] “As we headed towards the train station, we saw a homeless man, all bundled up to stay warm.  I happened to have some change in my pocket, so I dropped it in his cup.  His head stayed down as he said… ‘Thank you, sir’.

“I stopped, turned and extended my hand and said… ‘Hi, I’m Matt.’

“The homeless man looked up with this big old smile on his face, set down his cup, took off his glove and extended his hand… ‘Hi, my name is Anthony.  It’s so great to meet you Matt.’

“As I shook his bare hand, I physically felt something inside of me warm up.  I can’t explain it.  It didn’t happen when I dropped change in his cup.  It happened when I physically engaged.  When my colleague shook Anthony’s hand, he felt chills.

“The entire exchange was over in seven seconds.  We said farewell and headed towards the train.  Then it hit us like a ton of bricks – we don’t just have to travel to third world countries to engage with people in need and feel that spark inside of our hearts.  It can happen here, right at home, right in our backyards.

“We knew we needed to do this again – to engage with homeless folks.  So [on another day] we headed back downtown with no agenda, just a backpack full of PB&J sandwiches.  It was a beautifully imperfect experience.

“To quote our new friend Dave, a homeless Vietnam veteran who’s confined to a wheelchair,… ‘It’s nice when people put money in my cup.  But what makes my day, is when people… people like you…stop and talk with me.  I love that.  Thank you for stopping and talking with me.  It means so much to me.’

[Since then, Matt and his team have invited others to join them.  Once they put an invitation on Craig’s List.  Five random strangers from different faith backgrounds joined them to be with the homeless.  Each felt a desire to do something more with their lives.  On another occasion, an atheist joined Matt and his team.  Sharing these experiences together opened up natural conversations about faith, love, and service.  The atheist later returned by himself to bring new socks to one of the homeless men he connected with.  Something amazing happens when we get out of our comfort zones and engage the poor in meaningful ways.  These encounters inspired the team to add a Challenge to the T-shirts and products they sell…]

The T-Shirt Challenge Project:

[The Project Living Well Challenge:]

“Your t-shirt comes with a ‘Challenge‘ that you get to create.  In order to get your t-shirt, you need to determine one thing that you will do to help someone in need.  It could be with a local organization… in your community… through your church… at your school or work place…  It’s a chance to help everyone involved begin Living Well.

[Recently, a potential contributor issued a challenge to Matt and his team.] “The challenge was to sell 100+ t-shirts we had in stock by the end of the next day, and they would help fund our project.

“Within hours (of complete chaos and extraordinary events) every t-shirt was sold.  For the first time, we had a glimpse into the potential this project has… People desire to engage with those in need, to do good.  They simply lack the invitation and encouragement to do so.  As one man said, ‘I’ve been meaning to serve in the inner city for a long time.  I am now going to go do it!’

[This picture is of a wall in their office showing some of the challenges people promised to take.  If you accepted the challenge to help someone in need locally, what would you do?]

A Trip to Guatamala:

[Their second trip was to…] “…Guatemala City where we provided clean water to 23 families living in the city dump.  The trip was made possible because of the countless individuals who purchased our limited run ‘Never The Same’ t-shirts and accepted the PLW challenge: to begin Living Well by helping someone in need.  A portion of each sale went directly towards funding water relief efforts with our partners in Latin America.

“We came away from the trip inspired with an audacious goal for this project: to inspire 1 million people to begin Living Well by engaging with those in need locally, while providing access to clean water to 1 million people who lack access abroad.

“It’s a huge goal. But it’s already begun…

Email:

“This was one of the emails we recently received that left us speechless…

‘Dear Matt and team, I’m a 17 year old girl living in TX.  I was web surfing and I came across your blog.  I just wanted to say how inspired I truly am.  I often contemplate the mysteries of life, and finding a purpose in this world is something that I’ve searched for my entire life.  My heart dropped as I read your blog, because I know now that this is my calling.  I want to make a difference and do my part.  This has shed light onto my future.  I finally feel like I have a sense of direction.  I am a Catholic.  I’m slightly detached from my church and the religion itself.  I do believe in God but I don’t have ‘that’ relationship with Jesus that you talk about, but it does seem amazing.  I’m open minded and willing to explore that part of my faith.  I hope that I could have that understanding of him, that you do one day.  One of my favorite quotes that I want to share with you is that:

 ‘I am only one, but I am one.  I cannot do everything, but I can do something.  I will not let what I cannot do, interfere with what I can do.‘-Edward Everett Hale. 

‘ Maybe when I graduate in 2012, I will come and try to be a part of the team.  That would be amazing! – Danielle’

“Incredibly, messages like this one from Danielle are becoming more and more commonplace for us.  We’ve found that people of all walks of faith are seeing what we are doing and it is challenging and inspiring them.” – Matt Johnson.

How you can make a difference:

One of the many hopes of this mentoring ministry is to continue to identify, develop, equip, and support the next generation of difference makers, like Matt, so they may better live out their unique redemptive purposes and bring more love, grace, truth, and life to the world.

While you consider your year-end giving, would you please consider investing in the next generation of Christ following leaders?  What would the world be like without them?

Contributions are tax deductible!

Thank you so much for joining me on this amazing journey.  You are making a difference.

In His Love,
Randy

You can contact me at randy@legacyshepherding.org