Today we’d like to introduce you to Christopher Beth.
Christopher, can you briefly walk us through your story – how you started and how you got to where you are today.
The Bucket Ministry is a passionate group of ordinary people from many different churches, different countries and many different walks of life. The mission of our ministry is sharing the Love of God through the gift of clean, safe drinking water.
Our mission also includes working alongside domestic and international mission groups, churches, and other organizations to use clean water filtration systems as a tool for sharing the Gospel of Jesus Christ.
In 2012 we had an opportunity to be on the Amazon River, on a mission trip with the Dallas based non-profit organization, Amazon Outreach. While we were serving in several villages we noticed that many, if not all, villagers were drinking directly from the river in each village. We witnessed many people brushing their teeth and even cleaning their food in the river water. Obviously this was troubling to witness. Some drank from unclean cisterns. Some others had wells that were broken or contaminated or perhaps only were powered two hours per day. But most of these people simply drank water directly from the river. This tragic situation is repeated hundreds of millions times per day across our planet.
As you can imagine, drinking unclean water causes a plethora of medical conditions that include; vomiting, nausea, diarrhea, and severe dehydration. The root causes of most of these symptoms are; E. Coli, Giardia, Amoebic Dysentery, Cholera, and Typhoid. Children are obviously most at risk and many die needlessly every day from drinking unclean water.
The key to discovering the solution for the villagers along the Amazon (and for millions of other people across the world) was to find a simple, portable, and economical option to provide clean, safe drinking water. This filter also needed to have an extended lifespan as many commercial products last one year or less. After researching several options, we found a simple, portable and extremely cost effective approach to deliver clean, safe drinking water to people all over the globe.
The World Health Organization reports that 884 million people (more than two times the size of the United States) lack access to clean, safe, and drinking water.
The filter that we found, that best fits the needs, originated from kidney dialysis technology. We use the Sawyer PointONE filter that utilizes hollow fiber membrane technology. This filter delivers tiny micron filtration 100% of the time to ensure no bacteria or parasites can get through. These filter membranes are sturdy enough to withstand daily backwashing which allows the filter to be cleaned and reused again and again. This filter is easily attached to any bucket or other water receptacle and it flows freely for at least 1 MILLION GALLONS! If cared for properly this filter will produce 20+ years of clean, safe drinking water!
The filter removes all harmful bacteria, protozoa, or cysts like E. coli, Giardia, Cholera and Typhoid from the water as it passes through the membranes.
So…. we use the filter as a tool to reach more people for Jesus Christ!
This ministry was breathed into life in the Brazilian Amazon but now we work in 18 different countries.
Overall, has it been relatively smooth? If not, what were some of the struggles along the way?
As with any faith-based organization that operates internationally, The Bucket Ministry has experienced many challenges along the way. Most of which have been rapid growth based on the tremendous needs for the Gospel and clean water. We often will received dozens of requests per week to “go to work” in new areas. Also since we operate in an arena that has very few peers many of our discoveries of “best practices” have come from past failures….which is often painful at the time but in retrospect a great education.
The Bucket Ministry – what should we know? What do you guys do best? What sets you apart from the competition?
We are known for reaching the unreachable with clean, safe, drinking water and the love of Christ. One of our proudest accomplishments is the team that God has assembled to part of this ministry. Each of us has a specific God-given “toolbelt” and every time we have a special need that person just “shows up” and wants to be part of this ministry!
Perhaps what sets us apart is that while the bucket filter is a great tool to save lives (overnight) we use it as a “tool” to reach more people for Christ.
What is “success” or “successful” for you?
Our definition of success is based on many factors but the simplest way to look at it would be to compare our results to our mission statement… “To share God’s love through the gift of clean, safe, drinking water”.
A few great examples would be when we return to a village after they have had their bucket filters for a few weeks and we are told… “All illness is gone from the village”… “We are typhoid free”… “Our babies are not sick anymore”… “Our church is growing”… “Our village is now sharing water with two more villages that don’t have clean water”.
Pricing:
- We provide a bucket filter, bucket, anti-parasitic meds, and a new testament bible (in local language) to each family for between $30-$50 (depending on country). So basically for less than you can take a family to Applebees ONCE we can provide clean, safe drinking water to a family for 20+ years!
Contact Info:
- Website: www.thebucketministry.org
- Phone: 740-701-7839
- Email: info@thebucketministry.org
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/jointhebucketlist/
Image Credit:
Christy Robbins, Nelson Campos
Getting in touch: VoyageDallas is built on recommendations from the community; it’s how we uncover hidden gems, so if you know someone who deserves recognition please let us know here.
