Faithwire
  • Watch
  • Go!
  • Podcasts
  • Newsletter
  • Contact Us
  • Facebook
  • Twitter
  • YouTube
  • Instagram
  • SCOTUS
  • Life
  • Religious Liberty
  • News
  • Politics
  • Faith
  • Opinion

Man Floating on Barge in Texas to Raise Money for Clean Water in Liberia

Photo provided by The Last Well
Photo provided by The Last Well
Share Tweet
By Tré Goins-Phillips
Editor

October 26, 2018

As intense rain crashed down onto the barge fashioned just for him, forcing him to lay flat on the raft’s surface for nearly 40 hours, Todd Phillips found solace in the mission behind his bold decision.

Phillips is the founder and director of The Last Well, a faith-based nonprofit dedicated to bringing clean water to Liberia, one of the world’s poorest countries, by 2020. But water is just “a tool.”

“We tell people we’re an evangelistic organization that uses water as a tool to share the Gospel,” Phillips told Faithwire during a phone interview Thursday from his barge. “We see water as a tool. So the place is Liberia, the tool is water, but the goal, of course, is the Gospel.”

What Benjamin Bull Can Teach You And Your Children

The mission to bring water — and the Gospel — to Liberia was birthed in 2008, when Phillips was leading a church in Washington, D.C. The young congregants, Phillips said, wanted to have a “first man on the moon”-type moment for their generation.

At the time, they decided the audacious goal should be accomplished Dec. 31, 2020. It took the group 10 years to reach about two million people and now they have roughly 27 months left to reach the final million.

Photo provided by The Last Well

Phillips stressed that any money donated to The Last Well goes 100 percent toward bringing water to the people of Liberia, noting his salary and the overhead costs are covered by private donors.

So in the push to meet the goal, the modest team at the Christian nonprofit decided to make a splash, literally.

“We decided to put me on a barge on Lake Ray Hubbard, which is the source of drinking water for East Dallas,” Phillips explained. “So I’m floating on the drinking water source of a massive city here in America to raise awareness for the need for clean water in Liberia.”

Phillips started living on the barge on Oct. 10, right before one of the worst rain storms of the season came through the area, and plans to remain on the lake until The Last Well has raised enough money to reach half a million people in Liberia with clean drinking water.

The storm Phillips weathered lasted four days. The rain and wind was so severe, he recalled, “the banners on our barge were ripped off completely from the commercial-grade trussing,” the raft was shifting “six to eight feet backwards and forwards,” and water was cascading into his battered tent, where he had been laying for nearly 40 hours.

“At one point, I went to the port-a-potty — I crawled into the port-a-potty in the middle of the storm and got inside of it just to stand up and brace myself, just so I could be physically upright after those 40 hours,” he remembered. “It was very intense.”

But all of it has been worth it, because it’s “created a lot of awareness for the story,” the mission to bring clean water to Liberia. The “suffering” he has endured during his weeks on the barge, Phillips said, “is nothing compared to what the people of Liberia deal with on a daily basis.”

Every night, at 7:30 p.m. CST, Phillips goes on Facebook Live to give an update about how much money has been raised and what life is like on the barge. On Thursday, Texas state Rep. Justin Holland (R) joined The Last Well founder out on the lake.

You can track Phillips’ fundraising progress or set up your own fundraiser on The Last Well’s Facebook page. For more information about the charity, visit thelastwell.org.

Latest

  • Entertainment

    ‘The Chosen’ Begins Filming Season 4, Series to Be Translated into 600 Languages: ‘We’re Back’

  • Faith

    Weatherman Reveals Why He Prayed to Jesus On-Air as Deadly Tornado Hit: ‘God Helps People’

  • News

    ‘I Am Beyond Grateful’: Liberty University Names New President in Wake of Jerry Falwell Scandal

  • Faith

    EXCLUSIVE: Famous Activist Prays For Mass ‘Exodus’ of Clinic Workers With Launch of Powerful Good Friday Campaign

  • News

    Actor Mark Wahlberg Reveals Why He Moved Family Out of Hollywood: ‘It’s Really Giving the Kids a Chance to Thrive’


Sponsored
Sponsored

Newsletter
Signup

Sidebar

Recent Posts

  • ‘The Chosen’ Begins Filming Season 4, Series to Be Translated into 600 Languages: ‘We’re Back’
  • Weatherman Reveals Why He Prayed to Jesus On-Air as Deadly Tornado Hit: ‘God Helps People’
  • ‘I Am Beyond Grateful’: Liberty University Names New President in Wake of Jerry Falwell Scandal
  • EXCLUSIVE: Famous Activist Prays For Mass ‘Exodus’ of Clinic Workers With Launch of Powerful Good Friday Campaign
  • Actor Mark Wahlberg Reveals Why He Moved Family Out of Hollywood: ‘It’s Really Giving the Kids a Chance to Thrive’

Archives

  • March 2023
  • February 2023
  • January 2023
  • December 2022
  • November 2022
  • October 2022
  • September 2022
  • August 2022
  • July 2022
  • June 2022
  • May 2022
  • April 2022
  • March 2022
  • February 2022
  • January 2022
  • December 2021
  • November 2021
  • October 2021
  • September 2021
  • August 2021
  • July 2021
  • June 2021
  • May 2021
  • April 2021
  • March 2021
  • February 2021
  • January 2021
  • December 2020
  • November 2020
  • October 2020
  • September 2020
  • August 2020
  • July 2020
  • June 2020
  • May 2020
  • April 2020
  • March 2020
  • February 2020
  • January 2020
  • December 2019
  • November 2019
  • October 2019
  • September 2019
  • August 2019
  • July 2019
  • June 2019
  • May 2019
  • April 2019
  • March 2019
  • February 2019
  • January 2019
  • December 2018
  • November 2018
  • October 2018
  • September 2018
  • August 2018
  • July 2018
  • June 2018
  • May 2018
  • April 2018
  • March 2018
  • February 2018
  • January 2018
  • December 2017
  • November 2017
  • October 2017
  • September 2017
  • August 2017
  • July 2017
  • June 2017
  • May 2017
  • April 2017
  • March 2017
  • February 2017
  • January 2017
  • December 2016
  • November 2016
  • October 2016
  • September 2016
  • July 2016
  • June 2016
  • May 2016

Categories

  • Christian Persecution
  • Coronavirus
  • culture
  • Culture
  • Entertainment
  • Faith
  • Faith
  • Family
  • George Floyd
  • Go!
  • Israel
  • Life
  • Life
  • Lifestyle
  • Media
  • Men
  • Mission Haiti
  • News
  • News
  • Opinion
  • P.O.V
  • Politics
  • Politics
  • Roe
  • Sponsored
  • Sports
  • Virtue
  • Women

Meta

  • Log in
  • Entries feed
  • Comments feed
  • WordPress.org

Navigation

  • Watch
  • Go!
  • Podcasts
  • Newsletter
  • Contact Us
  • Staff
  • Privacy Policy
  • Terms of Service

Follow Us

  • Facebook
  • Twitter
  • YouTube
  • Instagram

Subscribe to the Newsletter

Sign up to get our newsletter your inbox every day.

Newsletter Signup

Do you want to read
more articles like this?