Steve Wood

The concept of the ministry started back in 2014. My dad, my best friend, was slowly losing his battle with cancer, after 4 years. When I arrived at my father’s home, my father was sitting up in bed. I ran to him and wrapped my arms around him and cried like a baby. I was so afraid I was going to get there and he was going to be gone. You have to understand that while most people have fathers that work and keep them away from home, my father, Franklin Wayne Wood, was hit by a drunk driver in the line of duty, with the Georgia State Patrol, when I was only a year old. Therefore, he was always home, all the time, everyday, with me growing up. He was my best friend. Everything I did, everything I was involved in, my dad was there. 
 
As I wrapped my arms around my dad, everyone left the room. We had an hour to speak and just spend time together. He could have imparted any wisdom to me that day. Maybe a… Be the best husband you can be, be a wonderful father to those boys, be as successful in life and your career as you can be. But he didn’t say those things. The whole hour we spoke was spent pointing to the glory of God and in seeking Jesus in all things. My father passed away a week later, never speaking again with the exception of waking up once and calling out “Daddy”. Upon his death I looked at my life and asked, “Can I say that 100% of my life is given to the Lord?” Sure I attended church, I read my Bible, and led a group of students, but if I had to be honest with myself, I was more geared to myself and things of this world. Again, I asked myself, “If I had last words to speak truth to my boys, what would they be?” This was the point that I committed to giving all that I had to the Lord regardless of cost.
 
I began to work with a local brother who was a missions pastor at my church and he offered an opportunity to take an exploratory trip to the Near East to discover ways which we could serve.  Today there is no looking back. I spend once a quarter in the Near East and other unreached regions working with local pastors, serving them and seeking to show a family in Christ. 
 
In August 2017, even though I began to orient my life focused on my walk in Christ and was participating in many mission trips, I was still working in a corporate setting. Until the company I worked for made layoffs and shifts to their business. Not knowing what my next steps would be, I knew I needed to take advantage of insurance and scheduled a routine physical. When I visited the doctor, he asked me if I smoked or not. I kindly replied, “No”, he then let me know that I would be needing to get my heart checked out with an echocardiogram. I soon learned that despite my young age, that I would be needing to have an open heart surgery to replace my aortic valve as I was born with a defect which was causing an aneurysm. 
 
While facing the struggle of not knowing what this would entail for the future and not being able to get a job with a major surgery looming in less than two months, some dear friends of ours  spoke to my wife and I saying they felt led to tell me that it was time for me to take the work that I had been doing and create a ministry. This ministry would only enhance the amount of time I spent pouring into the youth and leading them in a walk with Jesus. Discipleship with Global Impact. I went to speak with the attorney to look into securing our 501(c)(3) and he let me know what the cost associated with this would be. Again, thinking into the future and not knowing what I needed  I kindly replied, one day. He then explained to me that it had already been covered by the friends who had led me there. WIth the surgery coming we began the paperwork with the final IRS paperwork being sent after the surgery, the week before Christmas. With an expectation that this could take up to 9 months or longer, I began to prepare the next steps as I recovered. To all of our surprises, the paperwork came back to us a week after New Years, with the attorney acknowledging that this had to be a record. But I knew it was more than just blind luck, it was the hand of a Heavenly Father confirming the decision to start this ministry.
 
The Living Water Ministry was established with the goal of “discipleship with global impact.” We have been on multiple mission trips, led college and high students in small discipleship groups, planted multiple churches, established a community school, fresh water well and a farm in Matpwilli, Tanzania.  In 2020 we started building the Potter’s Center to push back the darkness and impact lives in the town of Visiga, the country of Tanzania, and throughout the continent of Africa . This Potter’s Center mission is to “Equip students with Biblical knowledge and skills to be competent in the Gospel message and effectively plant churches in unreached communities.