I'm sitting in the Manila airport, awaiting my return flight to Davao. I've just wrapped up a last minute trip to the province of Pampanga, where some very interesting stuff is going on. I was so pleased to be able to join Mum and Dad and a small JOC team who are working in a couple different cities here in Luzon.
As Dad has been traveling around the world this year (he is in his seventh country in as many weeks), he has spoken to church and political leaders about the biosand water filter. It seems that I have become the Impact Nations "clean water guy", a resource to project leaders and apostolic leaders from around the world.
Throughout the last few weeks, I have received a number of Skype calls from Dad so he could introduce me to the men he is working with. I've had the privilege of encouraging men like Langton, who, along with his team in Zimbabwe, has already installed over one thousand biosand filters, making a significant dent in a very serious cholera outbreak. I've had discussions with men such as Robert Mponye in Uganda and Simpson Rebbavarapu in India, exploring ways to train their teams to bring safe drinking water to communities all over their respective countries.
Some of these discussions have included potential partnerships with governments at both the provincial and national level. One such possibility came to my attention five days ago. As the JOC team was working in Pampanga, Dad had an opportunity to meet with and pray for Governor Panlilio. During their initial meeting, Dad spoke of the biosand filter and the governor expressed significant interest and a second meeting was scheduled to discuss it further. Rather than discussing it via Skype, in light of the fact that I live in the same country, it was decided that a face to face meeting made sense.
I booked a flight, and two days later Dad and I were headed to the provincial capitol. After a few minutes with the governor we proceeded to a boardroom where I spoke to about eight of his senior staff about the filter technology. As always, I was peppered with technical questions as people struggled to understand the power and simplicity of this thing we call the biosand filter.
After the presentation, the provincial administrator invited us to her office where we agreed in principal to move ahead with a plan to bring clean water to the province of Pampanga. I have already written a rough draft of a Memorandum of Agreement that will be sent to their office early this week. The proposed plan is to start a new filter manufacturing center in Pampanga as a private enterprise, with the government purchasing filters for distribution in the coastal communities.
The ramifications of this deal could be huge. It brings us to a whole new level of influence. It will very likely lead to other provincial contracts in the Philippines (I already have leads in two other provinces). It will certainly strengthen our business, giving us profits that can be reinvested in other projects around the Philippines and perhaps the world.
It seems that the Lord has suddenly accelerated things and brought me to a whole new level. A couple months ago I was focused only on Mindanao, but today I am contemplating ways to make our Zimbabwe project profitable, drafting job descriptions for project leaders in Uganda, India, and northern Philippines, and beginning to get a vision for an integrated global clean water strategy.
I'm excited about the possibilities, but I'd be lying if I told you that this stuff doesn't intimidate me. I'm in way over my head. I'm just a mediocre musician. A university drop-out. Now I meet with governors and draft province-wide strategies? How did this happen? Do I really want it to happen? This stuff is hard work, and I don't know how to do a lot of it. I feel like a fraud.
However.
This morning Dad preached a message that speaks directly to this issue. I'm a child of the King of kings and He has called me—you too, by the way—to the family business. He "calls things that are not as though they were" (Romans 4:17). While I may see my current limitations, God knows my destiny and has set it like a horizon before me. He has put a purpose and a passion in my heart that will serve as the vehicle to get me there. I'm just along for the ride.
Update from Sheri Scott on February 23, 2010 at 1:50pm 
Update from Christina Wall on February 21, 2010 at 7:38am 
You need to be following Impact Nations to add updates!
Join Impact Nations