{"id":4221,"date":"2014-02-10T00:00:00","date_gmt":"2014-02-10T00:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.causevox.com\/?p=4221"},"modified":"2024-05-08T17:49:15","modified_gmt":"2024-05-08T17:49:15","slug":"neverthirst-iron-tribe-fitness","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.causevox.com\/blog\/neverthirst-iron-tribe-fitness\/","title":{"rendered":"Neverthirst & Iron Tribe Fitness Raise Over $200,000"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"photo<\/p>\n

The New American Dream<\/h2>\n

Mark Whitehead became a Christian when he was nine years old, but he considered himself more like a \u201cgood churchgoer\u201d than a genuine Christian. He had worked in industrial sales for almost thirty years, been married for twenty years, and been a father to two daughters in the Birmingham, Alabama.<\/p>\n

Mark was living the American dream. Then, in February 2006, he woke up.<\/p>\n

Mark had been attending The Church at Brook Hills, where a young pastor named David Platt preached a sermon entitled \u201cThe Ultimate Disconnect,\u201d which was based on Psalm 67:1-2.<\/p>\n

Those two verses are but a sentence long but the message \u201cshook us in our boots,\u201d said Mark. \u201cHave you disconnected God\u2019s blessings from his purposes?\u201d David asked the congregation.<\/p>\n

Exiting the Bubble<\/h2>\n

The question reverberated in Mark and forced him to reevaluate his life\u2019s priorities. He embarked on a series of trips to Mexico, Ukraine, and South Sudan in the following couple of years to discover how to reconnect his blessings with God\u2019s purposes. He sensed that he was supposed to start a ministry but the details were vague.<\/p>\n

\"Mark<\/p>\n

Mark was in South Sudan in April 2008 when his mission took shape: to meet material and spiritual needs in the developing world. The vision became clearer \u2013 provide access to \u201cclean water to advance the gospel.\u201d And that\u2019s how Neverthirst<\/a> was birthed.<\/p>\n

\u201cEverything\u2019s done through the local church,\u201d said Mark. Neverthirst has facilitated around 2,000 projects that provided roughly 300,000 people in the Central African Republic, India, South Sudan, and Cambodia.<\/p>\n

Mark explained that local pastors apply for water projects with buy-in from the village. \u201cWe help the community identify and meet their needs with their own resources,\u201d Mark said.<\/p>\n

\"Neverthirst<\/p>\n

The projects commence once the village has raised a repair fund that equals around $220 (US), which is put into a savings account designated for maintenance. This is how, Mark said, Neverthirst tries to \u201cbreak the dependency cycle that we exported many years ago.\u201d<\/p>\n

Breaking this cycle that\u2019s been set for years isn\u2019t easy though. \u201cIt might be months until they get the funds raised,\u201d said Mark.<\/p>\n

There\u2019s a bit of a \u201clearning curve,\u201d for the villagers, who live in mostly agrarian settings. \u201cThey have the means and ability,\u201d he said. \u201cThen once they realize they can do it, it\u2019s like their eyes are opened to new possibilities.\u201d<\/p>\n

In this way, Neverthirst serves as an intermediary between rural water departments, drilling companies, churches and businesses.<\/p>\n

Neverthirst transforms communities<\/h2>\n

Iron Tribe Fitness (ITF)<\/a>, a fitness franchise based in Birmingham, Alabama, has teamed up with Neverthirst. The quickly expanding franchise is just as mission-oriented about cultivating healthy and fit lifestyles as Neverthirst is about spreading the gospel through greater access to clean water.<\/p>\n