2019 | A Year In Review
2019 | A Year In Review
This year is the first full year that I have been on staff, dedicated to ATTA full-time. I want to share with you the different experiences, snapshots of places we visited and feelings that emerged along the way.
It has been a landmark year for ATTA in 2019, but when the sun rose on January 1st of 2019, the future was unknown.
I remember sitting there, early in the morning gazing off at the sunrise thinking…
“Can I sustain providing families access to clean water and also provide for my own family at the same time?”
“Is this going to stay alive?”
“Are you sure you can do this, Sean?”
Have you ever felt that way? You take a step of faith and all of the sudden you get flooded with questions of uncertainty?
Then I was bombarded with more questions… Not questions of whether or not this would work but rather, questions about my worth…
With my full-time commitment, would that me enough to get these things done?
Will there be a difference?
Is paying me full time worth it?
Am I a worthy investment and will ATTA benefit with the ROI needed?
Side note: me typing these questions right now is making me feel embarrassed and that I don’t want to share it. But you know what, screw that. This is how I felt, insecure in my own worth and uncertain about the future. Maybe you can relate?
Wait… lets look at that last question…
“Am I a worthy investment and will ATTA benefit with the ROI needed?”
Welcome to my inner critic…
It’s harsh, sometimes uses some pretty nasty words, and can easily leave me feeling deflated and frustrated.
Which is partly why I go to Therapy.
To be reminded who I really am…
Now, I still struggle with my inner critic but I am getting better. If you’re like me and have one of those nasty little voices in your head, speaking shitty things over you, then I recommend getting Therapy, one of the best things I did this past year.
The beginning of 2019 was that for me… A flooding of emotions, questions, uncertainty… and ultimately me realizing that all of THIS is totally worth the journey…
You see the crazy thing for me was that even though I was being flooded with all of these types of questions and emotions I still had this confidence deep within me that this IS going to work and that I am the right person for the job.
Maybe because I’ve always felt that this was God’s deal to begin with or maybe it’s because what we do works and is making a massive impact in the lives of others. Or maybe because I was the man for the task at hand.
Or maybe it’s a bit of all of that…
Either way, the beginning of 2019 was a huge step of faith for me and I was feeling all those things…
I was feeling a lot…
More importantly, I was feeling excited… Excited to see what would happen in 2019.
Living a life like this is a bit wild and I love it. I can’t do the 9-5 deal. Some of you can, and I applaud you, but for me… now way. But for me… can’t do it. I’m glad I didn’t settle. I’m glad that I ultimately chose to say Yes to this risk.
And as a result:
Thousands more families have gained access to clean drinking water and hundreds more people are engaged with volunteering and donating.
More people are uniting together to bring clean water to those who are in need around the Globe.
THAT, is exciting.
Here’s a little snapshot of my experiences this past year abroad:
El Salvador: We have been seeing so much depth come to fruition in this country with efforts from our local (in country) team. It has been really neat to see. New places, locations we never thought we would be able to gain access to and new partners. We now have a volunteer local staff with one paid director who organizes everything. It is locals helping locals--people helping people with ATTA as their tool in taking clean water to places we had never dreamed of being able to go.
Undisclosed Location in the Caribbean: Just to be able to take part in helping the people of a fascist country and see our massive impact has been fascinating. We saw first hand the impact the filters have made and are still getting reports back about how massive of an impact it’s making. Amazes me to see how simple a solution can make such a huge difference. Water is essential to the existence of life, what better way to help someone then giving them the very essence they need to live. I’m excited for the future, we expect to be able to do more, help more families and bring more clean water to the people of this underprivileged area of the world.
Vietnam: Incredible. There is so much work we were doing there. Large part of it is because of the staff at Giving It Back To Kids. They are are incredible and I am so thankful for their partnership. As a result we were able to help thousands of people all over the country. Vietnam is also special because my family tags along with us. The kids are incredible when they travel and so is my wife. Truly grateful for them to be able to experience a part of what we do around the globe. On top of that we were able to host one of the Staff members from Sawyer (the manufacturer of the filter) in which He was able to give us great insight as it pertains to the filter and distribution of the filter. On top of that we have really appreciated their friendship and partnership with us. Sawyer is an incredible company who truly wants to help the world at large. We are so thankful for them and the quality products they produce. We were also able to host a Church in Denver and man what an amazing group of people they are. So cool for me to watch them come a long and join us on this journey of bringing clean water to families in Vietnam.
Colombia: Thanks to Connor Van Orden we were able to put together a little mini-documentary of the work we are doing in Colombia and to Shannon Rurup who took incredible photos. The trip was a wild 9 days of traveling all over Colombia We saw so many different perspectives in Colombia, from North where families have been displaced due to the civil war to the southeast corner helping the indigenous people have been such an inspiring experience. Our leaders really get it. There’s one leader who took just one filter, attached it to his scooter and drove for hours to give it to one specific family because he knew that they needed it the most. The willingness to help in Colombia is incredible and the leadership is top notch.
Colombia: Thanks to Connor Van Orden we were able to put together a little mini-documentary of the work we are doing in Colombia and to Shannon Rurup who took incredible photos. The trip was a wild 9 days of traveling all over Colombia We saw so many different perspectives in Colombia, from North where families have been displaced due to the civil war to the southeast corner helping the indigenous people have been such an inspiring experience. Our leaders really get it. There’s one leader who took just one filter, attached it to his scooter and drove for hours to give it to one specific family because he knew that they needed it the most. The willingness to help in Colombia is incredible and the leadership is top notch.
It was a beautiful night of coming together and raising money for those who need access to clean and safe drinking water. And all of this was was made possible by our incredible fundraising committee and so many incredible volunteers--tons of people came together to make this happen.
Lastly we ended this year with a massive Filter Day Event where the entire Crossing Church assembled 380 filters for families in El Salvador. This was a first ever event and we were all so amazed at how successful our first time around went. A huge thank you to Andrew Brownback and the staff at the Crossing for pulling off this amazing event.
In case you are wondering what a Filter Day Event is: It’s a hands on opportunity for people to experience assembling water filters and learning about the impact they make around the world.
If you’re interesting in more information on hosting a Filter Day feel free to email me here: seank@oneattatime.org
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As I look at the end of 2019, as I reflect back, I can see that this whole year was a massive success.
Where I was in January 2019 to where I am today, end of December 2019, is really cool for me to see/feel/experience.
The critic inside doesn’t have much weight.
My confidence has grown
My resilience has only gotten stronger.
My excitement for 2020 is almost uncontainable
What we are doing is working…
More families, people, children, will gain access to clean drinking water this coming year than ever before.
2020 will be another incredible year as we continue to unite together to bring clean water to the world, One ATTA Time.
Here’s to another year of taking risks and loving people well.
Happy New Year!
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