One of my geekier hobbies is discovering the birthplace of an idea. I don’t know why it gives me such thrills to discover that the concept of the Slinky was a byproduct of research for an anti-vibration device used to stabilize sensitive equipment aboard ships in rough seas. But it does. I think it has to do with the thought that most ideas in their infancy are largely considered crazy. Think about all the “genius” ideas that wake you up in the middle of the night that actually sound downright insane once morning rolls around. I know I’ve had my share. But ideas, the real groundbreaking ones, are supposed to sound crazy, if not insane. Because if you’re going to break ground with a new thought, it can’t be some limping, half-hearted moment of ureka-ness. It has to be something that evokes passion and intrigue. It’s gotta be something so good that your conscience double dog dares you to go forward with it.

And so it was with Advent Conspiracy. I remember when my pastor told me that he and his buddies were looking to start a revolution of sorts. It was four and a half years ago and we were on a friend’s ski boat on a lake in Missouri. When he was finished telling me about the idea I nodded my head and said, “Huh. Well, that’s going to be interesting.” What I really meant was ARE YOU CRAZY?  Now I know that term “revolution” has been batted around social justice groups a lot, but when he rolled out the idea I had to agree. This was going to be a revolution. To buck the system and actually avoid buying into the rabid frenzy of shopping at Christmas is one of those “sounds good on paper” ideas. But to live it out? Crazy.

Fast forward four and a half years. I just got off the phone with Stan Patyrak from Living Water International. I always know when Stan has big news for me because he get this real heavy tone, like the words themselves weigh 50 pounds and he can barely spit them out. He says to me, “Bro, I have some news. Because of Advent Conspiracy, about 340 wells have been drilled. Do you know what that means? That’s 200,000 people. It’s probably more than that, but, man, that’s 200,000 people!” My jaw dropped...those words did weigh 50 pounds. After a few tearful words, I hung up and thanked God. I thanked God for letting us play a role in serving those who Jesus would call “the least of these”. I thanked Him for my pastor and the other two pastors who started this movement for their wisdom and passion. I thanked God for allowing me to be alive and witness something this powerful. I thanked Him for showing me how good it can feel to give relationally. And finally, I thanked him for crazy. For crazy ideas that give people clean water and for crazy people like you who get behind these ideas. Thank God for crazy. Let the Christmas season begin.

To read more about these wells, please click here.