March 18, 2025 • 46 mins
Mike Mantel, President and CEO of Living Water International, shares his remarkable journey from installing sprinkler systems in California to addressing the global water crisis through physical and spiritual transformation in partnership with Food For The Poor.
At the heart of Living Water International's mission, called "Misión Integral"—the powerful interplay between physical water and the living water of the gospel delivered through local churches. When communities gain access to clean water, children can attend school, women spend less time collecting water and face fewer safety risks, and health improves dramatically. In other words, WHEN WATER FLOWS, LIFE GROWS. More profoundly, when local churches facilitate these water projects, they become more visible and relevant in their communities, delivering living and literal water.
The transformation extends beyond individual lives to entire communities. In Honduras, families once paying thousands of dollars annually for trucked water now pay just hundreds for maintained systems, freeing up resources for education and nutrition. Churches that once competed now collaborate for community good. In addition to water flowing in communities, so does the Gospel message.
Want to be part of this life-changing work? Join us in supporting Food For The Poor and our partner to bring both physical and spiritual water to communities in need.
foodforthepoor.org/waterday
@living_water
#livingwater
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Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:00):
This is the one that strikes me, because I've got
nieces and nephews, danny's gottwo small children, one in five.
One in five.
Children like access to basicwater.
And here you are now part ofLiving Water International in
the Integral Ministry, or MisiónIntegral.
(00:20):
All right, did I?
Perfect, we're good.
That was pretty good.
I was going to get Danny tohelp us with some Spanish
lessons.
If I didn't get it?
No, right, did I?
Perfect, we're good.
Speaker 2 (00:24):
That was pretty good.
Speaker 1 (00:25):
I was going to get Danny to help us with some
Spanish lessons if I didn't getit.
No, man, that was perfect,you're fine Welcome to Beyond
the Plate I'm Paul Jacobs wherefood is more than just a meal.
It's a powerful way to connect,inspire and transform.
Speaker 3 (00:36):
We call it Tertulia, a gathering where bonds are
formed.
Speaker 1 (00:40):
Get ready to dive into real stories that inspire,
challenge and nourish the soul.
Speaker 3 (00:45):
I'm Daniel Patino, inviting you to join our
tertulia and explore how foodand connection can truly
transform lives.
Speaker 1 (00:54):
Let's go Beyond the.
Speaker 3 (00:54):
Plate.
All right, welcome back toanother episode of Beyond the
Plate.
I'm Danny Patino.
I am Paul Jacobs, that'sino.
I am Paul Jacobs, that's right.
Still are Paul.
Jacobs, I still am Because it'sseason two of Beyond the Plate
and I'm loving it just as muchas our first episode, and if you
haven't checked it out, pleasego ahead and check us out on
(01:15):
YouTube, beyond the Plate, atFood for the Poor Beyond the
Plate or your favorite podcastplatform.
Speaker 1 (01:23):
Do I have to give you another reminder?
Speaker 3 (01:24):
It's our podcast.
It's your podcast platform, ifyou're seeing this.
I want to start off with a coolnote here.
I wanted you to name just yourfavorite type of water.
Oh, still Still water.
Let me see Bubbly.
Speaker 1 (01:40):
Bubbly oh, there's ice water.
We live in Florida.
Are you doubling?
Speaker 3 (01:44):
down on water.
That's still water.
Water, yeah, but it's got icein it.
That's ice water.
Okay, all right, that's fine.
Oh, the one I used to drinkwhen I was a kid from the hose a
water hose, water from thewater hose that gave me
superpowers.
I remember playing outside.
Superpowers, yeah, I rememberplaying outside with my friends
and then I would drink from thewater hose and all of a sudden I
get to catch the football a lotfaster, throw it a lot farther.
(02:05):
There's some superpowers in thewater.
Speaker 1 (02:06):
That's right, because you couldn't track that mud in
from outside to get the icewater.
Speaker 3 (02:10):
Yeah, I couldn't drink from the inside of the
house because as soon as my momsaw me, she goes.
You know what?
Your room isn't as tidy as Ithought it was before you left.
All right, how about?
It's just flavored water.
Coffee is flavored water.
It's kind of water for adults.
I like to think about it.
Yeah, let's see Anotheralkaline water.
Speaker 1 (02:29):
Oh, that's the expensive stuff that I don't buy
at Costco.
Speaker 3 (02:32):
Yeah, that's the one where you put two AA batteries
in some water and it gives youthat power.
Speaker 1 (02:38):
Oh yeah, Wait, wait, Purified water for the babies
right, You've got two littleones at home.
Speaker 3 (02:43):
Water for the babies right, You've got two little
ones at home, that's right.
I have two little ones thatstill need purified water once
in a while, and it's greatduring hurricanes and here in
South Florida we have ahurricane almost every other
year and that purified water issomething that we need.
But just go ahead, grab yourfavorite cup of water tap
sparkling or straight from thefancy fridge filter and join me
in welcoming our guest on thisspecial water day episode of
Beyond the Plate.
(03:04):
It's the man who probably knowsmore about H2O than anyone else
we know the president and CEOof Living Water International,
Mike Mantel.
Mike, thanks for making asplash with us today.
Speaker 2 (03:14):
That's my last dad joke, that's it.
Speaker 1 (03:17):
Delighted, he wrote those himself he did.
Speaker 2 (03:20):
Clearly oh yes.
Speaker 3 (03:21):
Thank you, thank you, thank you.
I'll be here all week.
Don't forget to tip yourwaitress.
Welcome, mike.
Speaker 2 (03:29):
Thank you, Paul.
Speaker 3 (03:29):
Great to be here and now.
We've had our laughs now, butlet's dive into your story, mike
, and tell us about the earlydays of growing up in Modesto,
california, and where youweren't just learning about
water, you were literally,literally, delivering it to
communities.
Talk about let's talk aboutstarting from the ground up.
Speaker 2 (03:49):
No, All right, Literally ground up Back in the
day long time ago, Modesto,California, in the Central
Valley.
It's a farming community andit's dry, dry, dry and my dad
was an immigrant and he got usto work every day putting in
sprinkler systems.
So it's hot, hotter even thanin Florida.
(04:11):
Here it got really, really hotand we'd get on tractors and
trenchers and we'd put in PVCpipe, sprinkler pipe, Pipe,
Sprinkler pipe and the onlything that sustained me was
there was an arch in Modesto,the city arch, and it said water
(04:34):
, wealth, contentment, health.
And while I was sweating and Ihated working for my dad, I was
encouraged that what we weredoing was transforming the lives
of people right here in Modesto, California, that's right.
So early on first grade, firstgrade through the first year in
(04:56):
Modesto Junior College, I wasputting in sprinkler systems.
Wow, that's a first grade.
Speaker 1 (05:01):
Okay, that's a work ethic, because you know, we all
have this blue collar dad storyright, dad sold cars, dad
painted airplanes and then dadinstalled sprinkler systems and
got us to work.
Early on, early on, early on,got us to work.
That's amazing.
So you leave Modesto,california, water, wealth,
(05:25):
contentment and health and findyourself in a place with air
conditioning.
Speaker 2 (05:30):
You remember that.
Speaker 3 (05:31):
Of course, for a great reason.
Speaker 1 (05:35):
This is interesting because I love your story.
So you find yourself in a placewhere there's only one
billionaire in town and that guymentored you.
Now, I actually have read aboutbillionaires, but I don't know
anyone personally or anyone thatwould mentor me.
What was going on here with youafter college that you jumped
right into this amazingrelationship with a billionaire?
Speaker 2 (05:59):
Well, the air conditioning is what got me out
of California into college,because you know, when you look
through a window from theoutside to the inside, people
are cool on the inside.
That's right, you're hot on theoutside.
When you look through thatwindow you'll see people of the
opposite sex.
That's right, Because you knowas a young man, there's no girls
(06:20):
digging trenches on the outside, so I wanted to get on the
inside of these buildings.
So the only way was to geteducated.
I had to go to college.
I had to go to college and so,being a kid of an immigrant, I
only heard of one school, andthat was Calvin College.
I don't know if anybody's ofyour listeners have heard of
(06:40):
Calvin College, but I went there.
I thought it was on the EastCoast.
That's when I discovered I needto learn a little bit about
geography, because Michigan isnot on the East Coast,
michigan's only halfway fromCalifornia.
And I studied business becauseI wanted to be rich, because I
didn't want to be diggingtrenches anymore, and my goal
(07:01):
was to get a job for the ownerand founder of Domino's Pizza.
Now, this man is, and was, suchan amazing genius, a business
genius, so he didn't completecollege.
He wanted to be an architect,he wanted to be a priest, he
(07:23):
wanted to be a baseball player.
He wanted to be a priest, hewanted to be a baseball player,
he wanted to be a number ofthings, but he ended up starting
a little pizza store little, atthe time there was one domino's
pizza well and he discoveredthat if he put pizzas in boxes
and got them to college students, they would pay money.
Oh yeah, and so that one pizzastore became three pizza stores.
(07:46):
So you see, on the logo ofDomino's Pizza there's three
dots.
Those are the three originalpizza stores.
And then over the years itexploded Thousands, thousands of
pizza stores.
Well, tom wasn't satisfied withjust being a great business
person.
He wanted to develop realestate because he wanted to be
(08:06):
an architect.
He bought the Detroit Tigersbecause he loved baseball.
He went on to develop the AveMaria College in Naples, florida
.
He was a very creative man.
I just was fortunate to get ajob working for him.
And he let us learn, he let usdiscover.
(08:28):
And I started out on thevegetable cart.
I thought I was hired becauseof my business acumen.
Speaker 3 (08:37):
No for your dicing abilities.
Speaker 2 (08:40):
I was hired because I put in sprinkler systems, wow,
and probably he thought I knewsomething about vegetables so I
was on the vegetable cart.
But because there was so muchgoing on, I got new jobs all the
time.
I got putting in the telephonesystems jobs being a
construction expediter job, thedirector of operations of a real
(09:05):
estate organization.
I got lots of jobs.
Speaker 3 (09:08):
Yeah, but they all were similar to each other.
That was outside jobs, outsideRight.
Speaker 1 (09:12):
You had to be outside .
Speaker 3 (09:13):
That didn't sound like something in an office
where it was air conditioningand you know pretty women
walking around, things like thatit always led you back outside,
always outside, yeah.
Speaker 2 (09:22):
I kept trying to get cool yeah.
But it always led you backoutside, always outside, I kept
trying to get cool, but I keptgetting hot.
Speaker 1 (09:26):
Wow, all right.
So while we're on the topic ofoutside, tom Moynihan, founder
of Domino's Pizza, your mentor,hires you to do all these
outside jobs.
And then there comes a projectthat you have to purchase a
windmill.
Yes, and you met anotherinteresting character in the
(09:46):
story.
I like to.
When we talked earlier, Iremember you know you were
telling us some of these storiesand it's like these acts right.
And here's act two.
Act two is this enters in thiscolorful windmill salesman by
the name of Max Keller.
Max Keller, tell us about Max.
Speaker 2 (10:07):
I just wanted to buy a windmill to put it outside of
Tom Monahan's petting farm.
You know he put together a farm.
This is outside, right Outside.
Not an indoor farm, yet Outsidefarm To teach kids that wheat
produced pizza dough andtomatoes produced you know,
tomato paste.
And I just wanted to show kidsthat water came from the ground.
(10:31):
So you know, if you open up afaucet you can't really see it,
but if you put a windmill likethe old farm windmills outside,
you could see when that vaneturns, that the water's coming
up out of the ground and Ithought, oh, that would be very
educational.
So how do you get a windmillright?
We didn't have the internet inthose days.
So you start calling aroundwho's got windmills?
(10:52):
Two companies back in the whatwas it?
The early eighties that hadwindmills, and one of them was
owned by Max Keller.
So Max shows up and he is toughand he's crusty.
That's not what to be described,as he was a tough man and
(11:14):
crusty and you know that wasbefore we all got healthy and he
would smoke cigarettes and Ihad an indoor office.
I didn't spend any time inthere, but we were in my indoor
office he pulls out a cigarette.
I just remember him smoking.
I was just spend any time inthere, but we're in my indoor
office he pulls out a cigarette.
I just remember him smoking.
I was just looking at him andI'm like Max, I want to buy a
windmill.
Tell me about windmills.
And he told me about the veinsizes and where they're used and
(11:37):
it sounded very interesting tome and I said well, how much
does one of those windmills cost?
He said you'd probably get onefor $11,957.
Speaker 3 (11:47):
That's specific, you're right, but for you, my
man, $11,942.
Speaker 2 (11:53):
I have a special deal for you.
But then I bought the windmillfor the petting farm and I was
talking to Max and I said, max,tell me a little bit about your
dreams for your windmill company.
And he said Mike, I got thebest windmills in the world.
(12:14):
He said you know, I've been toSenegal, west Africa, and they
got lousy windmills.
They're made in Argentina, hetells me.
He doesn't know.
My father-in-law was made inArgentina.
So I'm just it might trigger mea little bit, I'm just
listening to him.
I said okay, max.
He said you know what I'm goingto do.
(12:35):
He says I'm going to prove outmy technology in that desert, in
the Sahel Desert.
In the Sahel Desert I'm goingto string a line of my windmills
across that desert because thedesert has taken a mile a year
of farmland from people.
And then he swore and he saidand I'm going to take back that
desert for Jesus.
(12:56):
It blew my mind.
I'm still buying, I'm notsmiling.
Speaker 3 (13:01):
I'm just listening right, Sure Wow.
Speaker 2 (13:03):
So I wrote him a little letter and I said Max,
what do you mean?
Water in the name of Jesus?
And he told me his marvelousplans.
So then of course he put thearm on me.
He said but I need $15,000 todrill a water well in Senegal.
And he says if you could get mesome money to drill a water
(13:25):
well, I'll put my windmill ontop of that water well, and a
story I'll tell you some othertime.
But we got a little moneytogether.
Okay, gave it to Max.
Max says I'm going in two weeks.
You want to come?
Speaker 1 (13:42):
He invites you to Senegal, okay.
Speaker 3 (13:44):
So the trust factor is high here.
It's not like you thought youwere going to give him money and
then we never see Max again.
You know you believe them.
Speaker 2 (13:53):
It's a good story and he was crusty.
That's what I mentioned.
We're taking this.
Speaker 1 (14:00):
Cinegolf to Jesus.
It's like you would trust thatguy I don't know, with a I'll
probably trust him with a35-foot pole or something, I
don't know.
Speaker 2 (14:09):
Well, my windmill was up at the petting zoo so I knew
it was real.
It was real and I, you know,checked him out a little bit.
But it was the passion, it wasthe vision, it was this we can
take back this desert, right?
I'm like I pick up the phone, Icall my wife and I say there is
a crazy man in my office.
He's inviting me to go toSenegal.
(14:30):
And he says we're going in twoweeks and we're going to put up
a windmill.
And I said what do you think?
She said you've always wantedto go to Africa.
Why not Beautiful?
And so you know, I got my bootson and my Serengeti sunglasses
and my zip-off pants and Iwalked up that ramp, got on Air
(14:53):
Afrique and then I was inSenegal about nine hours later.
Speaker 1 (14:59):
That's amazing.
And then you know, you show upand this is the thing that we
were fascinated by.
You show up in Senegal, africa,with Krusty Max, and I hope he
doesn't get upset that I callhim Krusty Max, but you said it
we love you, Max.
Speaker 2 (15:11):
You started it.
Speaker 1 (15:12):
You've got.
Here's the scene it's a Muslimtribe, it's drillers from the UK
.
You've got a ex-Vietnamesecolonel.
You've got a ex-Vietnamesecolonel and windmill guy Max.
You've got the money from thepizza king of Ann Arbor,
michigan, and you yeah, this islike the scene of the A-Team
(15:36):
Right Minus the Mohawk and beingBaracus.
But I'm fascinated because thiswas this master strategy God
had for you all along.
Yeah, wow.
Speaker 2 (15:48):
And sometimes you can't see it in the present
right.
So I'm on an adventure.
I'm traveling through the sandsin an old blue Mercedes taxi
cab, ancient right, and passingbeautiful people.
I'm out on the edge of what Iknew.
And then I discovered thesecommunities, this drilling crew,
(16:11):
max, the cast of character,paul, that you just described.
And when the crew hit thatwater and it started gushing up
the masthead, all the womenstarted dancing and making these
static noises, yeah, and thekids started running and
(16:31):
laughing.
And Krusty old Max I saw adifferent side of him.
He started singing Hallelujahpraise Jesus and all these
little Muslim kids startedfollowing him saying Hallelujah
praise Jesus.
And then this Vietnamesecolonel he was the country
(16:52):
director for World Vision hegets up on a rock and he says
this water was brought to younot by the God of the Madabu,
but by Jesus Christ, and thiswater will save your life and
the living water will save youforever.
He says this in a restrictedcontext.
(17:13):
It was illegal to talk aboutJesus, and he's telling the
story because water and theliving water were so integral.
I'm watching this.
It's a miracle because it'simpossible, the cast of
characters you just described.
Nobody could come up with astrategy that says, oh, let's
(17:35):
get the drilling crew from theUK and Max the Crushed, windmill
, guy and the Pizza.
Gang and some money.
Let's pull it all together andlet's change the lives of these
150 nomadic Muslim tribes.
Nobody could think of that.
Speaker 3 (17:52):
No, you'd get 100 no's before a yes.
No, it's not happening.
It's not happening.
I don't know.
Speaker 2 (17:57):
How to pull it off.
Yeah, so that's when it reallyhit me, and I think this was
divine intervention.
This is a guy just loving me.
I was just praying God, how'sthis possible?
It's impossible.
And you know, I was working forone of the smartest people I'd
ever met, most creative people.
(18:18):
I said to God I want to workfor you because nobody could
figure this stuff out, Nobodyhas a better strategy than you.
And so I'm praying this quietlyup on this little sand hill.
And then it got personal,because I'm in that story.
(18:39):
I'm a part of that story.
I picked the windmill.
You know I ran the organizationthat produced the resources to
fund the well.
I'm a part of that story and ifI'm a part of God's story, then
God must know me, he must see me.
If he's inviting me toparticipate in what he's doing
(19:01):
in the world, he must love meand I can take along my friends.
We can go on adventures that'llchange the world.
Now that was compelling for meand I said I got home and I
started praying, told Natalie, Isaid I'm going to work for God
and I pray every morning.
God, let me work for you.
(19:23):
I want to work for you.
You're the master strategist.
There's nobody smarter,stronger, more competitive.
I want to work for you.
I want to work for you.
You're the master strategist.
There's nobody smarter,stronger, more compact.
I want to work for you.
And then, every time, somethingcame my way.
Speaker 1 (19:35):
I said, well, I kind of like working where I'm
working.
Yeah, because this is the sameguy praying that when he went to
college he wanted to studybusiness, because he wanted to
be rich.
Speaker 3 (19:41):
Get out of that outside sprinkler business.
I want to get inside.
Okay, I want to get inside.
But God says you want to getinside.
Okay, I want to get inside.
Speaker 1 (19:46):
But God says you want to work for me.
I'm going to choose where we'regoing.
Speaker 3 (19:50):
Okay, good, this is good.
Speaker 2 (19:52):
I like this.
So a few things came my way.
I kept saying well, later,later.
But Natalie and I were at alittle Bible study and we're
learning about tithing 10%.
You know, you go to the OldTestament.
It's very interesting.
(20:12):
Minimum, you should give 10% ofyour resources first to God.
Then there's all kinds of otherthings you ought to give too.
But we didn't have much moneyand we thought, well, we should
give 10% of our first fruits ofour business time.
You know why don't we?
I was 30.
(20:34):
Why don't we give three years,10% of our work life, to God
while we're young?
First fruits, let's go doministry.
I'll go work with World Visionif they'll have me.
And the reason I said that isbecause Natalie told me one time
(20:58):
she says you pray every morningthat God will open a door and
then you don't walk through thatdoor.
She said either stop prayingfor the open door or walk
through that door when it's open.
And so I like, okay, honey.
And that's what led me to makea three-year commitment of 10%
(21:20):
of my work life 35 years ago toserving the Lord, and I was
hoping it would be with.
Speaker 3 (21:33):
Bear brews.
Picture this You're brewing anincredible craft beer, but
entering the non-alcoholicmarket feels impossible.
Well, we're talking about toomuch cost, too much risk Sound
familiar.
Speaker 1 (21:43):
That's where bear brews rolls in.
Literally, they're your mobilepartner for advanced
de-alcoholization andpasteurization.
Say that five times fast Canned.
No capital investment, nohassle, just results.
Speaker 3 (21:55):
Their mobile tech lets you create non-alcoholic
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Your fans love Same beer, hugenew market.
Speaker 1 (22:02):
Oh, and here's a game changer.
All right, they recover thealcohol byproduct.
You can use it to createseltzers, cocktails, you name it
.
More products, more revenue,bear.
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Brews Based in North Carolina.
Bear Brews works with craftbreweries like yours.
Whether you're brewing 2,500barrels or 200,000, that's a lot
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They bring the tech to you.
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Oh, I see what you did there.
They even do small batch trialsto prove the market.
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Speaker 1 (22:37):
Ready to grow your craft brew empire?
Sure am, visit bearbrewscomright now.
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Speaker 3 (22:45):
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I'm talking about Bearrewscom.
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I'm talking about bare brews.
Let's make your beer the nextbest thing.
I'll applaud to that.
Yeah, cheers to that dot com.
That's v-a-r-e brews dot comnow we're talking with mike
(23:06):
mantel, ceo and president ofliving water.
And, mike, let's get real here.
Let's get real, all three of ushave a latina wife at home very
important fact very importantfact, my, my uh.
Speaker 1 (23:18):
Nothing to do with world water day, but no no, no,
but a very important fact, Iknow.
Speaker 3 (23:21):
I just want to highlight it.
I'm getting brownie points as Isay it.
Um, my wife is from bogota,which is the capital of Colombia
, ciudad de Guatemala, and weknow Natalie has a background in
.
Argentina right and as Latinowives do their best, they can
turn anything into a greatopportunity.
They can turn life on a dimeyou know, like our Chicagoans,
(23:45):
with Walter Payton as a runningback, he can turn left and right
at just a turn of a dime.
And like you, just, they got aspecial gift, did you just?
Speaker 1 (23:50):
call his wife sweetness, not at all.
Speaker 3 (23:52):
You just said that.
Oh sorry.
But, I'm pretty sure he saysthat to her all the time because
of, like what you just sharedwith us, either you stop praying
to God and open another door,and when God opens that door,
you walk through it, walk, andwhen God opens that door, you
walk through it, walk through it, and that led you into some
amazing other opportunities.
It did.
Speaker 2 (24:09):
Yeah.
And so one other little tidbitbefore we get to water.
Back to water.
Nana and I, when we got married, we wanted to be on our own.
We didn't want to live with ourfamilies.
I grew up in California.
Of course she says we're nevergoing to go live in California.
She grew up in California.
Of course she says we're nevergoing to go live in California.
(24:30):
She grew up in Chicago.
I said we're never going to golive in Chicago.
When I got the job opportunityto move to Chicago and work with
World Vision in 1992, I saideven Chicago, because I was off
the plate, off the plate, it wasbeyond the plate.
(24:53):
She said even Chicago.
And so in Chicago we learnedabout organizing churches Latino
churches, african-americanchurches, anglo churches.
We invited churches to worktogether in the urban areas, in
(25:15):
the suburban areas, to develophousing initiatives, to develop
youth initiatives.
We took Chicagoans and webrought them to Zambia when the
HIV AIDS crisis was beginning tobe visible and all these great
Chicagoans started building ahospital in in in Kitway, zambia
(25:39):
.
And what I saw in Chicago wasthat people can cross the lines
that divide us.
We can cross ethnic, economic,geographic lines and the church
is at the very center of thatand that's what I learned over
my 17 years in working out ofChicago and in the states around
(26:03):
Illinois.
But I always longed to see thatfirst experience again, where
water and the gospel would cometogether and transform the lives
of people physically andspiritually.
And so 16, 17 years ago that'swhen I was invited to Texas.
(26:24):
So now I'm a Texan, I'm nolonger a Chicago, I'm a Texan.
Speaker 3 (26:27):
I'm no longer Chicago , I'm a.
Speaker 2 (26:28):
Texan.
Whoa, mike, you know what I'msaying.
Yeah, we're down in the land ofold Wow.
So now I'm a Texan and we livein Water International for these
beautiful 17 years.
Speaker 1 (26:43):
So you shift from Cold Lake Michigan to the heart
of Texas, deep in the heart ofTexas, and you end up seeing a
literal sign in terms ofbringing you back to this water
that you wanted to be a part ofat the stats.
(27:03):
We're here with Mike Mantelfrom Living Water International
commemorating World Water Day.
Some very important statisticsbefore I talk about the integral
mission of the World LivingWater International More than
820,000 people they areliterally estimated to die each
(27:28):
year due to water-relatedillnesses.
200 million hours Women arespending 200 million hours each
day, not a year each day aroundthe globe collecting water.
This is the one that strikes me, because I've got nieces and
nephews.
Danny's got two small childrenone in five.
(27:49):
One in five children likeaccess to basic water.
And here you are now part ofLiving Water International in
the integral ministry or Mission.
Integral, all right, did IPerfect?
We're good.
I was going to get Danny tohelp us with I Perfect.
Speaker 3 (28:07):
We're good, that was pretty good.
Speaker 1 (28:08):
I was going to get Danny to help us with some
Spanish lessons.
If I didn't get it, you're fine, but I love the mission
statement.
It is investing ourselves inthe interplay of water and the
gospel delivered through thechurch, so that the church
becomes more visible, relevantin the lives of low income
communities, communities so thatthey can make disciples Key.
(28:29):
We're not just delivering waterout of a well, like we did in
Senegal, africa.
There is something happeningthat's even deeper than that.
Let me finish.
It says caring about thequality of water, sanitation,
hygiene, delivered in concertwith the gospel of Jesus.
So when we're talking to youabout delivering living water,
(28:53):
it literally is literal andliving water.
Amen.
Speaker 2 (28:57):
You know, when you go to the scriptures you see
living water throughout thescriptures.
You know the Bible begins withthe water in the Garden of Eden.
It ends with the water flowingout Garden of Eden.
It ends with the water flowingout of the throne room of God.
You know all of theinterventions that we see
throughout the Bible with thepeople leaving Egypt or
(29:19):
baptizing water.
Water is illustrativethroughout the scriptures.
I didn't come up with the nameLiving Water, clearly, you know
it predated me by about, youknow, 5,000 years.
But Living Water, the interplayof the gospel, spiritual water
(29:44):
and healthy water, physicalwater, is miraculous that when
people have access to water theybecome healthy.
Healthy kids can go to school,educated kids have a chance at
developing their economies, atdeveloping their economies.
(30:05):
When water is close to awoman's home, she's safer than
when she needs to travel outalone.
Wars are fought over water.
It's all the power of physicalwater.
It's the fundamental first stepin human development.
(30:26):
Jesus came to share the goodnews of the kingdom of God, to
heal the sick.
So it is, in deed and word,integral, mission, mission.
Integral is the interplay ofboth the physical and the
spiritual water, and so when wepursue the Great Commission.
(30:49):
We're sharing health and thegospel together.
And when the church is at thevery center of that, when the
neighborhood looks over and thepastor or the priest or the
central organizing woman of thatchurch, when they are seen as
(31:12):
the facilitator, the messenger,the guardian of that water point
, the church becomes visible andwow, what's up, pastor?
What's going on here?
Well, we can tell the story oflove.
Well, we can tell the story oflove.
The local pastor can tell thestory of love, the local
(31:32):
parishioners, the localcongregants can tell the story
of love.
And together lives change.
They change physically, theychange spiritually and through
the church, they change socially.
And it's a miraculous interplay.
And so when we say living water, we mean both at the same time.
(31:55):
Not one precedes the other, buttogether it is the full gospel
of Jesus Christ.
Speaker 1 (32:00):
Wow, you know it's interesting.
Before I kick it to Danny, thething I can't get out of my head
is you're here with us at Foodfor the Poor, where we are
working with Living Water,international, impacting for
Jesus, measuring outcomes, thechurch being mobilized, moving
forward the kingdom of God, butyou didn't once tell me how a
(32:22):
well was drilled and how thewater tastes.
Speaker 3 (32:25):
I find that fascinating Living Water
International living up to thestandards of the kingdom and how
the water tastes.
Speaker 1 (32:27):
I find that fascinating Living water
international living up to thestandards of the kingdom and not
the world system.
I love that.
That's awesome.
Speaker 2 (32:34):
We love working with food for the poor.
You know your spirit, yourstrategy, your culture is lock
Well, they're not lockstep withours.
We are aligned spiritually,sharing the same passion to
provide pathways for people tomove out of poverty and see
(32:54):
transformed lives.
That amazes me.
How can two individual,independent organizations have
the same spirit, the samestrategy, the same focus?
Only God, you know.
When we see the physical andthe spiritual water interrelated
, I think God is moving hispeople to not only love God and
(33:15):
love neighbor, neighbor here andneighbor there, not only to
share the great commission ofhealth in the gospel, but to do
so with collaborative commitment.
We can do this together.
When we work together, theunbelieving world will see the
love and unity of the body ofChrist.
(33:35):
People will follow Jesus justbecause we're working together
and addressing very real needsand caring for people's
transformation.
Speaker 3 (33:45):
I can see why he sticks with the company for
double digits it's like it's nota three-year plan, four-year
plan.
You're 17 plus with it.
And since we're talking aboutnumbers with this Paul was just
sharing with us with numbers,this staggering 700 million.
700 million people without safewater.
It's enough to just make anyonefeel overwhelmed Now.
(34:07):
So where do you find the driveto keep going?
I mean to push for another well, another community, another
church partner.
Seriously, do you drink extracoffee?
Speaker 2 (34:19):
or is it just pure determination?
I drink a lot of coffee.
I get up early, start my coffeeearly, go all day long, but
it's overwhelming when you lookat the global challenge.
But across the world, you canshrink to a country and across
(34:40):
the country you can shrink to adistrict or a region and across
a district you can focus in on acommunity and within a
community you could focus in ona number of churches who have
members right.
So unless we link ourselves toa tangible, step-by-step process
(35:01):
, it is overwhelming.
But here's the secret the churchof Jesus Christ resides
everywhere.
That's true.
The Spirit of God proceeds,encourages us and follows us.
But for the Church we would runout of energy, we would run out
of money, we would run out ofthat passion.
(35:22):
But we're just a part of God'seffort to love people, to invite
people into his kingdom andhelp them get a healthy life.
We're just a part.
We don't have to carry thewhole thing.
We just need to do what we do.
And what we do is water,sanitation and hygiene through
(35:43):
the local church in 17 countries.
That's what we do, and we workin partnership with Food for the
Poor Right.
And that's what you do.
You do more than water, but thewater that you do with us is
outstanding work and it's thefirst step.
Speaker 3 (35:58):
Yes, it's the first step.
I have something to share withyou.
When the team was just recentlyin Honduras excuse me, el
Salvador we met a father thatjust just started getting water
in their community, right, andwhen he told us, he's like, yeah
, we just got water.
And it's like, oh, so what wasthe process?
He goes no, we had to travelabout an hour to a pond that was
(36:21):
here and, of course, that waterisn't the best.
So for 24 years they were doingthis same process, day in and
day out, and it was like almosta family trip.
As many containers as you cantake is as much water you can
bring back.
When we got there, this fatherwas showing us that now he had a
shower in his home, he now hada toilet in his home, running
(36:44):
water, and he even showed us allthe ways he used to do it.
And the containers were alreadyfilled up with dirt because
they weren't looking at themanymore, they didn't need them
anymore.
But it was the excitement inhis face, it was just the
emotions that were going through, just showing off, like if he
just got a new patio or a newgrill or, you know, a new car,
somebody.
For him.
It was finally I got water inmy home.
(37:07):
The safety factor just finallywe're going to get water that's
not going to make us sick everytime we drink it.
So the health factor there nowour kids he was showing that, as
now his nephew, they didn'thave to go through this process
like he did and his predecessorsdid.
So, yes, water is an amazing,uh just just factor in in most
(37:29):
of our lives now.
And, and the fact that he wasshowing us that it was now
telling me that now he'schanging his life for the better
.
Now he can focus on otherthings like okay, now I don't
have to worry about water everyday, now I can worry about maybe
getting a job, uh, educating my, my, my, future family, things
of that sort.
And it was just a heartfeltmoment in that.
And just those span of fiveminutes of him just going look,
(37:51):
that's a shower, now, that's abathroom.
Now, now I get to drink waterin my own home.
Would you like some?
And it's like it's that pushthat now they're going to be
able to live just a healthierlife and a correct life, but
that story reminds me of Dannyis that he was proud because he
was a part of that solution thatsolution, one of the things
(38:18):
that was so interesting to meover these course of these years
, the plan that God had for yourlife, dating back to Modesto,
california, in the spring.
Speaker 1 (38:24):
I think you were like the original Aquaman.
Speaker 3 (38:25):
I think they loosely based Aquaman's story on Mike.
Speaker 1 (38:34):
They just change it to Arthur, put him in the ocean,
you know.
But what is interesting to meis that through all of this, you
had these, a community of yourown.
You had a community of your own, the Tom Moynihans, the Max
Kellermans, the Max Kellermansyou had men that were in your
(39:00):
life at one point, that prayedin and advised you in to your
next position.
And you are here in thiscommunity.
I'm sure, out of the 25countries that listened to this
podcast, the 270 over, probablyover 270 cities where people are
listening to this podcast,there are people with ways and
means that could do a great work.
(39:21):
As we commemorate World WaterDay, as we restore communities
together Living Water,international Food for the Poor
they have a heart for children,with the last word here tell us
a story.
Give us a picture that bringsit all home to the urgency and
(39:43):
the need that not only theliving water, the thriving
community, the thriving churchin the community, that it needs
to be funded, it needs to behelped along.
We cannot do this without thatperson.
Give us a story that wouldbring it all home for us.
Speaker 2 (40:04):
It's similar to what I shared conceptually a moment
ago, but I was in um was inHonduras.
It was in Honduras, Chuluteca,and we were visiting.
There's a big dry belt thatruns up through Central America
and it's one of the reasonspeople leave their rural
(40:28):
communities and pursue life inthe urban communities because
it's so dry you can't make aliving, you know.
But there's water, there'saquifers under that, and I
visited a village that wasreceiving the trucked water.
They're paying like anindividual family is paying
(40:51):
about two grand a year, my God,On trucked water.
And there was a an open uh poolthat was part of a government
project maybe 25 years prior.
There was an old rusted tank upon the hill that was
(41:12):
disconnected from the pool, andbut then I'm walking through
this village and I'm seeing allthese galvanized pipes.
It reminded me of my youth.
They're all laying down thereon the ground and in front of
everybody's house was a littlepressure tank, a little pot.
People were growing vegetables.
(41:36):
Kids were running through thekind of dirt, stony streets, but
they were running in theirschool uniforms.
They were happy.
I said, well, what happenedhere?
And then I still got thetranslation, because my Espanol
is no bueno.
Speaker 3 (41:55):
Es bueno, bonito y barato.
Speaker 2 (42:02):
And they told me that in our partnership together,
Food for the Poor and LivingWater International, what we did
is we put a settling pit inthat old pond, which was a bunch
of stones and some charcoal andsome gravel.
Speaker 3 (42:18):
Okay.
Speaker 2 (42:19):
And that filtered out some of the larger stuff.
And then we, along with thecommunity, we ran a pipe from
that pool up to that old tankand we had a bunch of volunteers
and local community clean upthat old tank and fix anything
that's problem with it.
Put a submersible solar pump inthat pool Wow, solar pump,
(42:43):
little screens on top.
That was pumping water up thehill to that tank and every one
of those families put togethertheir.
There was a partnership with alocal foundation.
They paid for the galvanizedpipes coming off the hill and
then every family tapped intothat water pipe and brought
(43:04):
water into their house.
And I sat there and I said whoorganized this?
Well, y'all did, and theseseven church leaders.
I said said you all workedtogether before.
No, never worked together.
Do you, do you hang out?
No, no, everyone just had theirown church.
(43:26):
You know, they were competingwith one another, of course, but
they weren't hanging out, theyweren't working together.
So why are you working togethernow?
Well, because we could affectchange in our people's lives.
And they all paid a small fee.
Right, I think they were payinglike $120 a year to keep all
(43:47):
the maintenance working, versus$2,000 a year.
Now imagine that $1,880 goinginto education, going into food,
improved food.
I was blown away.
And our parts are relativelysmall because the resources are
(44:07):
there.
It's just working together andhaving a local church presence
that can compel the community,encourage the community, sustain
the community.
Lives are changed Wow.
Speaker 1 (44:19):
Praise the Lord, I'm coining this.
I like it.
Bueno, bonito, maravilloso.
No, that's beautiful, that'sawesome.
Well, mike Mantel, presidentand CEO of Living Water
International, we are Aquaman,I'm claiming it.
(44:39):
Dc Comics can come after me,but I'm claiming it.
We've had just an amazing timeas we commemorate World Water
Day with you.
But if you're a fan of Beyondthe Plate and our second season,
you will know that we alwaysend on a positive note.
Speaker 3 (44:59):
Second season did you practice?
You're a bass tenor now, aren'tyou?
Yes, I think I'm a bass tenor.
All right, good stuff.
So is frank sinatra just alittle quick note is sharing
with your partners.
Uh, so this positive note isfrom a pioneer and a subject
matter expert in water.
So he says, quote we forgetthat water cycle and the life
(45:24):
cycle are one.
Say it again we forget that thewater cycle and the life cycle
are one.
And he reminds us of thereliance on water and the need
to respect its role insustaining life.
And that person is Chakusto.
Wow, knew a lot about water.
Yeah, he did.
You are the land, chakusto.
Speaker 1 (45:46):
Outside.
Well, Mike Mantell, thank youfor being a part of Beyond the
Plate.
God bless you and we definitelylook forward to hearing more of
some of those Max Kellermanstories.
Speaker 2 (46:01):
Thank you, Paul.
Danny, what a joy.
Thanks for what you're doingChanging the world, letting
people know what's important andyou do it so well.
This has been fun.
Speaker 1 (46:10):
Team Fistbump, team Fistbump, team Park yeah, thanks
, mike.
Speaker 3 (46:19):
You bar.
Yeah, thanks, you just wentbeyond the plate.
Don't miss out on a chance tomake a real difference.
Folks follow us on instagramand tiktok at beyond the plate
podcast and subscribe to ouryoutube channel.
Speaker 1 (46:25):
Stay connected by texting best bite to 51555
you're gonna get a cool link andwe look forward to having you
with us on the next episode ofbeyond the plate.
This is the one that strikes me, because I've got
nieces and nephews, danny's gottwo small children, one in five.
One in five.
Children like access to basicwater.
And here you are now part ofLiving Water International in
the Integral Ministry, or MisiónIntegral.
(00:20):
All right, did I?
Perfect, we're good.
That was pretty good.
I was going to get Danny tohelp us with some Spanish
lessons.
If I didn't get it?
No, right, did I?
Perfect, we're good.
Speaker 2 (00:24):
That was pretty good.
Speaker 1 (00:25):
I was going to get Danny to help us with some
Spanish lessons if I didn't getit.
No, man, that was perfect,you're fine Welcome to Beyond
the Plate I'm Paul Jacobs wherefood is more than just a meal.
It's a powerful way to connect,inspire and transform.
Speaker 3 (00:36):
We call it Tertulia, a gathering where bonds are
formed.
Speaker 1 (00:40):
Get ready to dive into real stories that inspire,
challenge and nourish the soul.
Speaker 3 (00:45):
I'm Daniel Patino, inviting you to join our
tertulia and explore how foodand connection can truly
transform lives.
Speaker 1 (00:54):
Let's go Beyond the.
Speaker 3 (00:54):
Plate.
All right, welcome back toanother episode of Beyond the
Plate.
I'm Danny Patino.
I am Paul Jacobs, that'sino.
I am Paul Jacobs, that's right.
Still are Paul.
Jacobs, I still am Because it'sseason two of Beyond the Plate
and I'm loving it just as muchas our first episode, and if you
haven't checked it out, pleasego ahead and check us out on
(01:15):
YouTube, beyond the Plate, atFood for the Poor Beyond the
Plate or your favorite podcastplatform.
Speaker 1 (01:23):
Do I have to give you another reminder?
Speaker 3 (01:24):
It's our podcast.
It's your podcast platform, ifyou're seeing this.
I want to start off with a coolnote here.
I wanted you to name just yourfavorite type of water.
Oh, still Still water.
Let me see Bubbly.
Speaker 1 (01:40):
Bubbly oh, there's ice water.
We live in Florida.
Are you doubling?
Speaker 3 (01:44):
down on water.
That's still water.
Water, yeah, but it's got icein it.
That's ice water.
Okay, all right, that's fine.
Oh, the one I used to drinkwhen I was a kid from the hose a
water hose, water from thewater hose that gave me
superpowers.
I remember playing outside.
Superpowers, yeah, I rememberplaying outside with my friends
and then I would drink from thewater hose and all of a sudden I
get to catch the football a lotfaster, throw it a lot farther.
(02:05):
There's some superpowers in thewater.
Speaker 1 (02:06):
That's right, because you couldn't track that mud in
from outside to get the icewater.
Speaker 3 (02:10):
Yeah, I couldn't drink from the inside of the
house because as soon as my momsaw me, she goes.
You know what?
Your room isn't as tidy as Ithought it was before you left.
All right, how about?
It's just flavored water.
Coffee is flavored water.
It's kind of water for adults.
I like to think about it.
Yeah, let's see Anotheralkaline water.
Speaker 1 (02:29):
Oh, that's the expensive stuff that I don't buy
at Costco.
Speaker 3 (02:32):
Yeah, that's the one where you put two AA batteries
in some water and it gives youthat power.
Speaker 1 (02:38):
Oh yeah, Wait, wait, Purified water for the babies
right, You've got two littleones at home.
Speaker 3 (02:43):
Water for the babies right, You've got two little
ones at home, that's right.
I have two little ones thatstill need purified water once
in a while, and it's greatduring hurricanes and here in
South Florida we have ahurricane almost every other
year and that purified water issomething that we need.
But just go ahead, grab yourfavorite cup of water tap
sparkling or straight from thefancy fridge filter and join me
in welcoming our guest on thisspecial water day episode of
Beyond the Plate.
(03:04):
It's the man who probably knowsmore about H2O than anyone else
we know the president and CEOof Living Water International,
Mike Mantel.
Mike, thanks for making asplash with us today.
Speaker 2 (03:14):
That's my last dad joke, that's it.
Speaker 1 (03:17):
Delighted, he wrote those himself he did.
Speaker 2 (03:20):
Clearly oh yes.
Speaker 3 (03:21):
Thank you, thank you, thank you.
I'll be here all week.
Don't forget to tip yourwaitress.
Welcome, mike.
Speaker 2 (03:29):
Thank you, Paul.
Speaker 3 (03:29):
Great to be here and now.
We've had our laughs now, butlet's dive into your story, mike
, and tell us about the earlydays of growing up in Modesto,
california, and where youweren't just learning about
water, you were literally,literally, delivering it to
communities.
Talk about let's talk aboutstarting from the ground up.
Speaker 2 (03:49):
No, All right, Literally ground up Back in the
day long time ago, Modesto,California, in the Central
Valley.
It's a farming community andit's dry, dry, dry and my dad
was an immigrant and he got usto work every day putting in
sprinkler systems.
So it's hot, hotter even thanin Florida.
(04:11):
Here it got really, really hotand we'd get on tractors and
trenchers and we'd put in PVCpipe, sprinkler pipe, Pipe,
Sprinkler pipe and the onlything that sustained me was
there was an arch in Modesto,the city arch, and it said water
(04:34):
, wealth, contentment, health.
And while I was sweating and Ihated working for my dad, I was
encouraged that what we weredoing was transforming the lives
of people right here in Modesto, California, that's right.
So early on first grade, firstgrade through the first year in
(04:56):
Modesto Junior College, I wasputting in sprinkler systems.
Wow, that's a first grade.
Speaker 1 (05:01):
Okay, that's a work ethic, because you know, we all
have this blue collar dad storyright, dad sold cars, dad
painted airplanes and then dadinstalled sprinkler systems and
got us to work.
Early on, early on, early on,got us to work.
That's amazing.
So you leave Modesto,california, water, wealth,
(05:25):
contentment and health and findyourself in a place with air
conditioning.
Speaker 2 (05:30):
You remember that.
Speaker 3 (05:31):
Of course, for a great reason.
Speaker 1 (05:35):
This is interesting because I love your story.
So you find yourself in a placewhere there's only one
billionaire in town and that guymentored you.
Now, I actually have read aboutbillionaires, but I don't know
anyone personally or anyone thatwould mentor me.
What was going on here with youafter college that you jumped
right into this amazingrelationship with a billionaire?
Speaker 2 (05:59):
Well, the air conditioning is what got me out
of California into college,because you know, when you look
through a window from theoutside to the inside, people
are cool on the inside.
That's right, you're hot on theoutside.
When you look through thatwindow you'll see people of the
opposite sex.
That's right, Because you knowas a young man, there's no girls
(06:20):
digging trenches on the outside, so I wanted to get on the
inside of these buildings.
So the only way was to geteducated.
I had to go to college.
I had to go to college and so,being a kid of an immigrant, I
only heard of one school, andthat was Calvin College.
I don't know if anybody's ofyour listeners have heard of
(06:40):
Calvin College, but I went there.
I thought it was on the EastCoast.
That's when I discovered I needto learn a little bit about
geography, because Michigan isnot on the East Coast,
michigan's only halfway fromCalifornia.
And I studied business becauseI wanted to be rich, because I
didn't want to be diggingtrenches anymore, and my goal
(07:01):
was to get a job for the ownerand founder of Domino's Pizza.
Now, this man is, and was, suchan amazing genius, a business
genius, so he didn't completecollege.
He wanted to be an architect,he wanted to be a priest, he
(07:23):
wanted to be a baseball player.
He wanted to be a priest, hewanted to be a baseball player,
he wanted to be a number ofthings, but he ended up starting
a little pizza store little, atthe time there was one domino's
pizza well and he discoveredthat if he put pizzas in boxes
and got them to college students, they would pay money.
Oh yeah, and so that one pizzastore became three pizza stores.
(07:46):
So you see, on the logo ofDomino's Pizza there's three
dots.
Those are the three originalpizza stores.
And then over the years itexploded Thousands, thousands of
pizza stores.
Well, tom wasn't satisfied withjust being a great business
person.
He wanted to develop realestate because he wanted to be
(08:06):
an architect.
He bought the Detroit Tigersbecause he loved baseball.
He went on to develop the AveMaria College in Naples, florida
.
He was a very creative man.
I just was fortunate to get ajob working for him.
And he let us learn, he let usdiscover.
(08:28):
And I started out on thevegetable cart.
I thought I was hired becauseof my business acumen.
Speaker 3 (08:37):
No for your dicing abilities.
Speaker 2 (08:40):
I was hired because I put in sprinkler systems, wow,
and probably he thought I knewsomething about vegetables so I
was on the vegetable cart.
But because there was so muchgoing on, I got new jobs all the
time.
I got putting in the telephonesystems jobs being a
construction expediter job, thedirector of operations of a real
(09:05):
estate organization.
I got lots of jobs.
Speaker 3 (09:08):
Yeah, but they all were similar to each other.
That was outside jobs, outsideRight.
Speaker 1 (09:12):
You had to be outside .
Speaker 3 (09:13):
That didn't sound like something in an office
where it was air conditioningand you know pretty women
walking around, things like thatit always led you back outside,
always outside, yeah.
Speaker 2 (09:22):
I kept trying to get cool yeah.
But it always led you backoutside, always outside, I kept
trying to get cool, but I keptgetting hot.
Speaker 1 (09:26):
Wow, all right.
So while we're on the topic ofoutside, tom Moynihan, founder
of Domino's Pizza, your mentor,hires you to do all these
outside jobs.
And then there comes a projectthat you have to purchase a
windmill.
Yes, and you met anotherinteresting character in the
(09:46):
story.
I like to.
When we talked earlier, Iremember you know you were
telling us some of these storiesand it's like these acts right.
And here's act two.
Act two is this enters in thiscolorful windmill salesman by
the name of Max Keller.
Max Keller, tell us about Max.
Speaker 2 (10:07):
I just wanted to buy a windmill to put it outside of
Tom Monahan's petting farm.
You know he put together a farm.
This is outside, right Outside.
Not an indoor farm, yet Outsidefarm To teach kids that wheat
produced pizza dough andtomatoes produced you know,
tomato paste.
And I just wanted to show kidsthat water came from the ground.
(10:31):
So you know, if you open up afaucet you can't really see it,
but if you put a windmill likethe old farm windmills outside,
you could see when that vaneturns, that the water's coming
up out of the ground and Ithought, oh, that would be very
educational.
So how do you get a windmillright?
We didn't have the internet inthose days.
So you start calling aroundwho's got windmills?
(10:52):
Two companies back in the whatwas it?
The early eighties that hadwindmills, and one of them was
owned by Max Keller.
So Max shows up and he is toughand he's crusty.
That's not what to be described,as he was a tough man and
(11:14):
crusty and you know that wasbefore we all got healthy and he
would smoke cigarettes and Ihad an indoor office.
I didn't spend any time inthere, but we were in my indoor
office he pulls out a cigarette.
I just remember him smoking.
I was just spend any time inthere, but we're in my indoor
office he pulls out a cigarette.
I just remember him smoking.
I was just looking at him andI'm like Max, I want to buy a
windmill.
Tell me about windmills.
And he told me about the veinsizes and where they're used and
(11:37):
it sounded very interesting tome and I said well, how much
does one of those windmills cost?
He said you'd probably get onefor $11,957.
Speaker 3 (11:47):
That's specific, you're right, but for you, my
man, $11,942.
Speaker 2 (11:53):
I have a special deal for you.
But then I bought the windmillfor the petting farm and I was
talking to Max and I said, max,tell me a little bit about your
dreams for your windmill company.
And he said Mike, I got thebest windmills in the world.
(12:14):
He said you know, I've been toSenegal, west Africa, and they
got lousy windmills.
They're made in Argentina, hetells me.
He doesn't know.
My father-in-law was made inArgentina.
So I'm just it might trigger mea little bit, I'm just
listening to him.
I said okay, max.
He said you know what I'm goingto do.
(12:35):
He says I'm going to prove outmy technology in that desert, in
the Sahel Desert.
In the Sahel Desert I'm goingto string a line of my windmills
across that desert because thedesert has taken a mile a year
of farmland from people.
And then he swore and he saidand I'm going to take back that
desert for Jesus.
(12:56):
It blew my mind.
I'm still buying, I'm notsmiling.
Speaker 3 (13:01):
I'm just listening right, Sure Wow.
Speaker 2 (13:03):
So I wrote him a little letter and I said Max,
what do you mean?
Water in the name of Jesus?
And he told me his marvelousplans.
So then of course he put thearm on me.
He said but I need $15,000 todrill a water well in Senegal.
And he says if you could get mesome money to drill a water
(13:25):
well, I'll put my windmill ontop of that water well, and a
story I'll tell you some othertime.
But we got a little moneytogether.
Okay, gave it to Max.
Max says I'm going in two weeks.
You want to come?
Speaker 1 (13:42):
He invites you to Senegal, okay.
Speaker 3 (13:44):
So the trust factor is high here.
It's not like you thought youwere going to give him money and
then we never see Max again.
You know you believe them.
Speaker 2 (13:53):
It's a good story and he was crusty.
That's what I mentioned.
We're taking this.
Speaker 1 (14:00):
Cinegolf to Jesus.
It's like you would trust thatguy I don't know, with a I'll
probably trust him with a35-foot pole or something, I
don't know.
Speaker 2 (14:09):
Well, my windmill was up at the petting zoo so I knew
it was real.
It was real and I, you know,checked him out a little bit.
But it was the passion, it wasthe vision, it was this we can
take back this desert, right?
I'm like I pick up the phone, Icall my wife and I say there is
a crazy man in my office.
He's inviting me to go toSenegal.
(14:30):
And he says we're going in twoweeks and we're going to put up
a windmill.
And I said what do you think?
She said you've always wantedto go to Africa.
Why not Beautiful?
And so you know, I got my bootson and my Serengeti sunglasses
and my zip-off pants and Iwalked up that ramp, got on Air
(14:53):
Afrique and then I was inSenegal about nine hours later.
Speaker 1 (14:59):
That's amazing.
And then you know, you show upand this is the thing that we
were fascinated by.
You show up in Senegal, africa,with Krusty Max, and I hope he
doesn't get upset that I callhim Krusty Max, but you said it
we love you, Max.
Speaker 2 (15:11):
You started it.
Speaker 1 (15:12):
You've got.
Here's the scene it's a Muslimtribe, it's drillers from the UK
.
You've got a ex-Vietnamesecolonel.
You've got a ex-Vietnamesecolonel and windmill guy Max.
You've got the money from thepizza king of Ann Arbor,
michigan, and you yeah, this islike the scene of the A-Team
(15:36):
Right Minus the Mohawk and beingBaracus.
But I'm fascinated because thiswas this master strategy God
had for you all along.
Yeah, wow.
Speaker 2 (15:48):
And sometimes you can't see it in the present
right.
So I'm on an adventure.
I'm traveling through the sandsin an old blue Mercedes taxi
cab, ancient right, and passingbeautiful people.
I'm out on the edge of what Iknew.
And then I discovered thesecommunities, this drilling crew,
(16:11):
max, the cast of character,paul, that you just described.
And when the crew hit thatwater and it started gushing up
the masthead, all the womenstarted dancing and making these
static noises, yeah, and thekids started running and
(16:31):
laughing.
And Krusty old Max I saw adifferent side of him.
He started singing Hallelujahpraise Jesus and all these
little Muslim kids startedfollowing him saying Hallelujah
praise Jesus.
And then this Vietnamesecolonel he was the country
(16:52):
director for World Vision hegets up on a rock and he says
this water was brought to younot by the God of the Madabu,
but by Jesus Christ, and thiswater will save your life and
the living water will save youforever.
He says this in a restrictedcontext.
(17:13):
It was illegal to talk aboutJesus, and he's telling the
story because water and theliving water were so integral.
I'm watching this.
It's a miracle because it'simpossible, the cast of
characters you just described.
Nobody could come up with astrategy that says, oh, let's
(17:35):
get the drilling crew from theUK and Max the Crushed, windmill
, guy and the Pizza.
Gang and some money.
Let's pull it all together andlet's change the lives of these
150 nomadic Muslim tribes.
Nobody could think of that.
Speaker 3 (17:52):
No, you'd get 100 no's before a yes.
No, it's not happening.
It's not happening.
I don't know.
Speaker 2 (17:57):
How to pull it off.
Yeah, so that's when it reallyhit me, and I think this was
divine intervention.
This is a guy just loving me.
I was just praying God, how'sthis possible?
It's impossible.
And you know, I was working forone of the smartest people I'd
ever met, most creative people.
(18:18):
I said to God I want to workfor you because nobody could
figure this stuff out, Nobodyhas a better strategy than you.
And so I'm praying this quietlyup on this little sand hill.
And then it got personal,because I'm in that story.
(18:39):
I'm a part of that story.
I picked the windmill.
You know I ran the organizationthat produced the resources to
fund the well.
I'm a part of that story and ifI'm a part of God's story, then
God must know me, he must see me.
If he's inviting me toparticipate in what he's doing
(19:01):
in the world, he must love meand I can take along my friends.
We can go on adventures that'llchange the world.
Now that was compelling for meand I said I got home and I
started praying, told Natalie, Isaid I'm going to work for God
and I pray every morning.
God, let me work for you.
(19:23):
I want to work for you.
You're the master strategist.
There's nobody smarter,stronger, more competitive.
I want to work for you.
I want to work for you.
You're the master strategist.
There's nobody smarter,stronger, more compact.
I want to work for you.
And then, every time, somethingcame my way.
Speaker 1 (19:35):
I said, well, I kind of like working where I'm
working.
Yeah, because this is the sameguy praying that when he went to
college he wanted to studybusiness, because he wanted to
be rich.
Speaker 3 (19:41):
Get out of that outside sprinkler business.
I want to get inside.
Okay, I want to get inside.
But God says you want to getinside.
Okay, I want to get inside.
Speaker 1 (19:46):
But God says you want to work for me.
I'm going to choose where we'regoing.
Speaker 3 (19:50):
Okay, good, this is good.
Speaker 2 (19:52):
I like this.
So a few things came my way.
I kept saying well, later,later.
But Natalie and I were at alittle Bible study and we're
learning about tithing 10%.
You know, you go to the OldTestament.
It's very interesting.
(20:12):
Minimum, you should give 10% ofyour resources first to God.
Then there's all kinds of otherthings you ought to give too.
But we didn't have much moneyand we thought, well, we should
give 10% of our first fruits ofour business time.
You know why don't we?
I was 30.
(20:34):
Why don't we give three years,10% of our work life, to God
while we're young?
First fruits, let's go doministry.
I'll go work with World Visionif they'll have me.
And the reason I said that isbecause Natalie told me one time
(20:58):
she says you pray every morningthat God will open a door and
then you don't walk through thatdoor.
She said either stop prayingfor the open door or walk
through that door when it's open.
And so I like, okay, honey.
And that's what led me to makea three-year commitment of 10%
(21:20):
of my work life 35 years ago toserving the Lord, and I was
hoping it would be with.
Speaker 3 (21:33):
Bear brews.
Picture this You're brewing anincredible craft beer, but
entering the non-alcoholicmarket feels impossible.
Well, we're talking about toomuch cost, too much risk Sound
familiar.
Speaker 1 (21:43):
That's where bear brews rolls in.
Literally, they're your mobilepartner for advanced
de-alcoholization andpasteurization.
Say that five times fast Canned.
No capital investment, nohassle, just results.
Speaker 3 (21:55):
Their mobile tech lets you create non-alcoholic
beer without losing that flavor.
Your fans love Same beer, hugenew market.
Speaker 1 (22:02):
Oh, and here's a game changer.
All right, they recover thealcohol byproduct.
You can use it to createseltzers, cocktails, you name it
.
More products, more revenue,bear.
Speaker 3 (22:11):
Brews Based in North Carolina.
Bear Brews works with craftbreweries like yours.
Whether you're brewing 2,500barrels or 200,000, that's a lot
.
Speaker 1 (22:20):
They bring the tech to you.
Want to test the waters?
Oh, I see what you did there.
They even do small batch trialsto prove the market.
No upfront costs, zero risk.
Speaker 3 (22:30):
So stop putting that non-alcoholic market and
seltzers on hold.
Bear Brews is here to help yougrow without breaking the bank.
Speaker 1 (22:37):
Ready to grow your craft brew empire?
Sure am, visit bearbrewscomright now.
That's bearbrewscom.
Speaker 3 (22:45):
The mobile tech, the results, the partnership.
I'm talking about Bearrewscom.
The mobile tech, the results,the partnership.
I'm talking about bare brews.
Let's make your beer the nextbest thing.
I'll applaud to that.
Yeah, cheers to that dot com.
That's v-a-r-e brews dot comnow we're talking with mike
(23:06):
mantel, ceo and president ofliving water.
And, mike, let's get real here.
Let's get real, all three of ushave a latina wife at home very
important fact very importantfact, my, my uh.
Speaker 1 (23:18):
Nothing to do with world water day, but no no, no,
but a very important fact, Iknow.
Speaker 3 (23:21):
I just want to highlight it.
I'm getting brownie points as Isay it.
Um, my wife is from bogota,which is the capital of Colombia
, ciudad de Guatemala, and weknow Natalie has a background in
.
Argentina right and as Latinowives do their best, they can
turn anything into a greatopportunity.
They can turn life on a dimeyou know, like our Chicagoans,
(23:45):
with Walter Payton as a runningback, he can turn left and right
at just a turn of a dime.
And like you, just, they got aspecial gift, did you just?
Speaker 1 (23:50):
call his wife sweetness, not at all.
Speaker 3 (23:52):
You just said that.
Oh sorry.
But, I'm pretty sure he saysthat to her all the time because
of, like what you just sharedwith us, either you stop praying
to God and open another door,and when God opens that door,
you walk through it, walk, andwhen God opens that door, you
walk through it, walk through it, and that led you into some
amazing other opportunities.
It did.
Speaker 2 (24:09):
Yeah.
And so one other little tidbitbefore we get to water.
Back to water.
Nana and I, when we got married, we wanted to be on our own.
We didn't want to live with ourfamilies.
I grew up in California.
Of course she says we're nevergoing to go live in California.
She grew up in California.
Of course she says we're nevergoing to go live in California.
(24:30):
She grew up in Chicago.
I said we're never going to golive in Chicago.
When I got the job opportunityto move to Chicago and work with
World Vision in 1992, I saideven Chicago, because I was off
the plate, off the plate, it wasbeyond the plate.
(24:53):
She said even Chicago.
And so in Chicago we learnedabout organizing churches Latino
churches, african-americanchurches, anglo churches.
We invited churches to worktogether in the urban areas, in
(25:15):
the suburban areas, to develophousing initiatives, to develop
youth initiatives.
We took Chicagoans and webrought them to Zambia when the
HIV AIDS crisis was beginning tobe visible and all these great
Chicagoans started building ahospital in in in Kitway, zambia
(25:39):
.
And what I saw in Chicago wasthat people can cross the lines
that divide us.
We can cross ethnic, economic,geographic lines and the church
is at the very center of thatand that's what I learned over
my 17 years in working out ofChicago and in the states around
(26:03):
Illinois.
But I always longed to see thatfirst experience again, where
water and the gospel would cometogether and transform the lives
of people physically andspiritually.
And so 16, 17 years ago that'swhen I was invited to Texas.
(26:24):
So now I'm a Texan, I'm nolonger a Chicago, I'm a Texan.
Speaker 3 (26:27):
I'm no longer Chicago , I'm a.
Speaker 2 (26:28):
Texan.
Whoa, mike, you know what I'msaying.
Yeah, we're down in the land ofold Wow.
So now I'm a Texan and we livein Water International for these
beautiful 17 years.
Speaker 1 (26:43):
So you shift from Cold Lake Michigan to the heart
of Texas, deep in the heart ofTexas, and you end up seeing a
literal sign in terms ofbringing you back to this water
that you wanted to be a part ofat the stats.
(27:03):
We're here with Mike Mantelfrom Living Water International
commemorating World Water Day.
Some very important statisticsbefore I talk about the integral
mission of the World LivingWater International More than
820,000 people they areliterally estimated to die each
(27:28):
year due to water-relatedillnesses.
200 million hours Women arespending 200 million hours each
day, not a year each day aroundthe globe collecting water.
This is the one that strikes me, because I've got nieces and
nephews.
Danny's got two small childrenone in five.
(27:49):
One in five children likeaccess to basic water.
And here you are now part ofLiving Water International in
the integral ministry or Mission.
Integral, all right, did IPerfect?
We're good.
I was going to get Danny tohelp us with I Perfect.
Speaker 3 (28:07):
We're good, that was pretty good.
Speaker 1 (28:08):
I was going to get Danny to help us with some
Spanish lessons.
If I didn't get it, you're fine, but I love the mission
statement.
It is investing ourselves inthe interplay of water and the
gospel delivered through thechurch, so that the church
becomes more visible, relevantin the lives of low income
communities, communities so thatthey can make disciples Key.
(28:29):
We're not just delivering waterout of a well, like we did in
Senegal, africa.
There is something happeningthat's even deeper than that.
Let me finish.
It says caring about thequality of water, sanitation,
hygiene, delivered in concertwith the gospel of Jesus.
So when we're talking to youabout delivering living water,
(28:53):
it literally is literal andliving water.
Amen.
Speaker 2 (28:57):
You know, when you go to the scriptures you see
living water throughout thescriptures.
You know the Bible begins withthe water in the Garden of Eden.
It ends with the water flowingout Garden of Eden.
It ends with the water flowingout of the throne room of God.
You know all of theinterventions that we see
throughout the Bible with thepeople leaving Egypt or
(29:19):
baptizing water.
Water is illustrativethroughout the scriptures.
I didn't come up with the nameLiving Water, clearly, you know
it predated me by about, youknow, 5,000 years.
But Living Water, the interplayof the gospel, spiritual water
(29:44):
and healthy water, physicalwater, is miraculous that when
people have access to water theybecome healthy.
Healthy kids can go to school,educated kids have a chance at
developing their economies, atdeveloping their economies.
(30:05):
When water is close to awoman's home, she's safer than
when she needs to travel outalone.
Wars are fought over water.
It's all the power of physicalwater.
It's the fundamental first stepin human development.
(30:26):
Jesus came to share the goodnews of the kingdom of God, to
heal the sick.
So it is, in deed and word,integral, mission, mission.
Integral is the interplay ofboth the physical and the
spiritual water, and so when wepursue the Great Commission.
(30:49):
We're sharing health and thegospel together.
And when the church is at thevery center of that, when the
neighborhood looks over and thepastor or the priest or the
central organizing woman of thatchurch, when they are seen as
(31:12):
the facilitator, the messenger,the guardian of that water point
, the church becomes visible andwow, what's up, pastor?
What's going on here?
Well, we can tell the story oflove.
Well, we can tell the story oflove.
The local pastor can tell thestory of love, the local
(31:32):
parishioners, the localcongregants can tell the story
of love.
And together lives change.
They change physically, theychange spiritually and through
the church, they change socially.
And it's a miraculous interplay.
And so when we say living water, we mean both at the same time.
(31:55):
Not one precedes the other, buttogether it is the full gospel
of Jesus Christ.
Speaker 1 (32:00):
Wow, you know it's interesting.
Before I kick it to Danny, thething I can't get out of my head
is you're here with us at Foodfor the Poor, where we are
working with Living Water,international, impacting for
Jesus, measuring outcomes, thechurch being mobilized, moving
forward the kingdom of God, butyou didn't once tell me how a
(32:22):
well was drilled and how thewater tastes.
Speaker 3 (32:25):
I find that fascinating Living Water
International living up to thestandards of the kingdom and how
the water tastes.
Speaker 1 (32:27):
I find that fascinating Living water
international living up to thestandards of the kingdom and not
the world system.
I love that.
That's awesome.
Speaker 2 (32:34):
We love working with food for the poor.
You know your spirit, yourstrategy, your culture is lock
Well, they're not lockstep withours.
We are aligned spiritually,sharing the same passion to
provide pathways for people tomove out of poverty and see
(32:54):
transformed lives.
That amazes me.
How can two individual,independent organizations have
the same spirit, the samestrategy, the same focus?
Only God, you know.
When we see the physical andthe spiritual water interrelated
, I think God is moving hispeople to not only love God and
(33:15):
love neighbor, neighbor here andneighbor there, not only to
share the great commission ofhealth in the gospel, but to do
so with collaborative commitment.
We can do this together.
When we work together, theunbelieving world will see the
love and unity of the body ofChrist.
(33:35):
People will follow Jesus justbecause we're working together
and addressing very real needsand caring for people's
transformation.
Speaker 3 (33:45):
I can see why he sticks with the company for
double digits it's like it's nota three-year plan, four-year
plan.
You're 17 plus with it.
And since we're talking aboutnumbers with this Paul was just
sharing with us with numbers,this staggering 700 million.
700 million people without safewater.
It's enough to just make anyonefeel overwhelmed Now.
(34:07):
So where do you find the driveto keep going?
I mean to push for another well, another community, another
church partner.
Seriously, do you drink extracoffee?
Speaker 2 (34:19):
or is it just pure determination?
I drink a lot of coffee.
I get up early, start my coffeeearly, go all day long, but
it's overwhelming when you lookat the global challenge.
But across the world, you canshrink to a country and across
(34:40):
the country you can shrink to adistrict or a region and across
a district you can focus in on acommunity and within a
community you could focus in ona number of churches who have
members right.
So unless we link ourselves toa tangible, step-by-step process
(35:01):
, it is overwhelming.
But here's the secret the churchof Jesus Christ resides
everywhere.
That's true.
The Spirit of God proceeds,encourages us and follows us.
But for the Church we would runout of energy, we would run out
of money, we would run out ofthat passion.
(35:22):
But we're just a part of God'seffort to love people, to invite
people into his kingdom andhelp them get a healthy life.
We're just a part.
We don't have to carry thewhole thing.
We just need to do what we do.
And what we do is water,sanitation and hygiene through
(35:43):
the local church in 17 countries.
That's what we do, and we workin partnership with Food for the
Poor Right.
And that's what you do.
You do more than water, but thewater that you do with us is
outstanding work and it's thefirst step.
Speaker 3 (35:58):
Yes, it's the first step.
I have something to share withyou.
When the team was just recentlyin Honduras excuse me, el
Salvador we met a father thatjust just started getting water
in their community, right, andwhen he told us, he's like, yeah
, we just got water.
And it's like, oh, so what wasthe process?
He goes no, we had to travelabout an hour to a pond that was
(36:21):
here and, of course, that waterisn't the best.
So for 24 years they were doingthis same process, day in and
day out, and it was like almosta family trip.
As many containers as you cantake is as much water you can
bring back.
When we got there, this fatherwas showing us that now he had a
shower in his home, he now hada toilet in his home, running
(36:44):
water, and he even showed us allthe ways he used to do it.
And the containers were alreadyfilled up with dirt because
they weren't looking at themanymore, they didn't need them
anymore.
But it was the excitement inhis face, it was just the
emotions that were going through, just showing off, like if he
just got a new patio or a newgrill or, you know, a new car,
somebody.
For him.
It was finally I got water inmy home.
(37:07):
The safety factor just finallywe're going to get water that's
not going to make us sick everytime we drink it.
So the health factor there nowour kids he was showing that, as
now his nephew, they didn'thave to go through this process
like he did and his predecessorsdid.
So, yes, water is an amazing,uh just just factor in in most
(37:29):
of our lives now.
And, and the fact that he wasshowing us that it was now
telling me that now he'schanging his life for the better
.
Now he can focus on otherthings like okay, now I don't
have to worry about water everyday, now I can worry about maybe
getting a job, uh, educating my, my, my, future family, things
of that sort.
And it was just a heartfeltmoment in that.
And just those span of fiveminutes of him just going look,
(37:51):
that's a shower, now, that's abathroom.
Now, now I get to drink waterin my own home.
Would you like some?
And it's like it's that pushthat now they're going to be
able to live just a healthierlife and a correct life, but
that story reminds me of Dannyis that he was proud because he
was a part of that solution thatsolution, one of the things
(38:18):
that was so interesting to meover these course of these years
, the plan that God had for yourlife, dating back to Modesto,
california, in the spring.
Speaker 1 (38:24):
I think you were like the original Aquaman.
Speaker 3 (38:25):
I think they loosely based Aquaman's story on Mike.
Speaker 1 (38:34):
They just change it to Arthur, put him in the ocean,
you know.
But what is interesting to meis that through all of this, you
had these, a community of yourown.
You had a community of your own, the Tom Moynihans, the Max
Kellermans, the Max Kellermansyou had men that were in your
(39:00):
life at one point, that prayedin and advised you in to your
next position.
And you are here in thiscommunity.
I'm sure, out of the 25countries that listened to this
podcast, the 270 over, probablyover 270 cities where people are
listening to this podcast,there are people with ways and
means that could do a great work.
(39:21):
As we commemorate World WaterDay, as we restore communities
together Living Water,international Food for the Poor
they have a heart for children,with the last word here tell us
a story.
Give us a picture that bringsit all home to the urgency and
(39:43):
the need that not only theliving water, the thriving
community, the thriving churchin the community, that it needs
to be funded, it needs to behelped along.
We cannot do this without thatperson.
Give us a story that wouldbring it all home for us.
Speaker 2 (40:04):
It's similar to what I shared conceptually a moment
ago, but I was in um was inHonduras.
It was in Honduras, Chuluteca,and we were visiting.
There's a big dry belt thatruns up through Central America
and it's one of the reasonspeople leave their rural
(40:28):
communities and pursue life inthe urban communities because
it's so dry you can't make aliving, you know.
But there's water, there'saquifers under that, and I
visited a village that wasreceiving the trucked water.
They're paying like anindividual family is paying
(40:51):
about two grand a year, my God,On trucked water.
And there was a an open uh poolthat was part of a government
project maybe 25 years prior.
There was an old rusted tank upon the hill that was
(41:12):
disconnected from the pool, andbut then I'm walking through
this village and I'm seeing allthese galvanized pipes.
It reminded me of my youth.
They're all laying down thereon the ground and in front of
everybody's house was a littlepressure tank, a little pot.
People were growing vegetables.
(41:36):
Kids were running through thekind of dirt, stony streets, but
they were running in theirschool uniforms.
They were happy.
I said, well, what happenedhere?
And then I still got thetranslation, because my Espanol
is no bueno.
Speaker 3 (41:55):
Es bueno, bonito y barato.
Speaker 2 (42:02):
And they told me that in our partnership together,
Food for the Poor and LivingWater International, what we did
is we put a settling pit inthat old pond, which was a bunch
of stones and some charcoal andsome gravel.
Speaker 3 (42:18):
Okay.
Speaker 2 (42:19):
And that filtered out some of the larger stuff.
And then we, along with thecommunity, we ran a pipe from
that pool up to that old tankand we had a bunch of volunteers
and local community clean upthat old tank and fix anything
that's problem with it.
Put a submersible solar pump inthat pool Wow, solar pump,
(42:43):
little screens on top.
That was pumping water up thehill to that tank and every one
of those families put togethertheir.
There was a partnership with alocal foundation.
They paid for the galvanizedpipes coming off the hill and
then every family tapped intothat water pipe and brought
(43:04):
water into their house.
And I sat there and I said whoorganized this?
Well, y'all did, and theseseven church leaders.
I said said you all workedtogether before.
No, never worked together.
Do you, do you hang out?
No, no, everyone just had theirown church.
(43:26):
You know, they were competingwith one another, of course, but
they weren't hanging out, theyweren't working together.
So why are you working togethernow?
Well, because we could affectchange in our people's lives.
And they all paid a small fee.
Right, I think they were payinglike $120 a year to keep all
(43:47):
the maintenance working, versus$2,000 a year.
Now imagine that $1,880 goinginto education, going into food,
improved food.
I was blown away.
And our parts are relativelysmall because the resources are
(44:07):
there.
It's just working together andhaving a local church presence
that can compel the community,encourage the community, sustain
the community.
Lives are changed Wow.
Speaker 1 (44:19):
Praise the Lord, I'm coining this.
I like it.
Bueno, bonito, maravilloso.
No, that's beautiful, that'sawesome.
Well, mike Mantel, presidentand CEO of Living Water
International, we are Aquaman,I'm claiming it.
(44:39):
Dc Comics can come after me,but I'm claiming it.
We've had just an amazing timeas we commemorate World Water
Day with you.
But if you're a fan of Beyondthe Plate and our second season,
you will know that we alwaysend on a positive note.
Speaker 3 (44:59):
Second season did you practice?
You're a bass tenor now, aren'tyou?
Yes, I think I'm a bass tenor.
All right, good stuff.
So is frank sinatra just alittle quick note is sharing
with your partners.
Uh, so this positive note isfrom a pioneer and a subject
matter expert in water.
So he says, quote we forgetthat water cycle and the life
(45:24):
cycle are one.
Say it again we forget that thewater cycle and the life cycle
are one.
And he reminds us of thereliance on water and the need
to respect its role insustaining life.
And that person is Chakusto.
Wow, knew a lot about water.
Yeah, he did.
You are the land, chakusto.
Speaker 1 (45:46):
Outside.
Well, Mike Mantell, thank youfor being a part of Beyond the
Plate.
God bless you and we definitelylook forward to hearing more of
some of those Max Kellermanstories.
Speaker 2 (46:01):
Thank you, Paul.
Danny, what a joy.
Thanks for what you're doingChanging the world, letting
people know what's important andyou do it so well.
This has been fun.
Speaker 1 (46:10):
Team Fistbump, team Fistbump, team Park yeah, thanks
, mike.
Speaker 3 (46:19):
You bar.
Yeah, thanks, you just wentbeyond the plate.
Don't miss out on a chance tomake a real difference.
Folks follow us on instagramand tiktok at beyond the plate
podcast and subscribe to ouryoutube channel.
Speaker 1 (46:25):
Stay connected by texting best bite to 51555
you're gonna get a cool link andwe look forward to having you
with us on the next episode ofbeyond the plate.
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