Lubbock contractor uses business to provide water for the needy

LUBBOCK—When Casey Sherwood builds a house in West Texas, he might build a couple of wells in Sudan or Tanzania, too.

The contractor and owner of Sherwood Construction in Lubbock recently began giving a portion of the money he makes building houses to Baptist Global Response water projects.

“It helps focus and point my business toward God,” Sherwood said. “And if people ask, ‘Why are you doing it?’ it gives me a window to say … how we’re all called to live outside ourselves and help other people, and this is a great way to do it.”

Sherwood got the idea after attending a class called “Perspectives on the World Christian Movement” at Redeemer Church in Lubbock. The 15-week course explores biblical, historical, cultural and strategic “aspects of God’s global purpose,” according to the Perspectives website. 

As Sherwood sat through those classes and heard lessons about God’s will and desires, he felt inspired.

The class “just gears you toward thinking globally and thinking about the world as a whole and not just your own community—things you can do as a business owner and a Christian to try to help other people,” he said.

During the course, the contractor began contemplating what impoverished people around the world needed most and what kind of assistance could improve a population’s quality of life. In the end, he decided to help bring fresh, clean water to people who need it.

So, there’s now a new tab on his company’s website labeled “Providing Water,” and it links to a short blurb about the pure-water ministry.

“For every home we build, we will provide water in another country,” a portion of the blurb reads. “Our dream at Sherwood Construction is not only to raise awareness about the world’s access to clean water but to help solve the problem.”

Sherwood plans to donate about 10 percent of his personal earnings to provide people in need with potable water. He also wants to include his clients in this effort, so he asks them to choose where the funds go.

“The idea behind this is that it’s not just me, as the homebuilder, reaching out and trying to do this,” he says. “It’s me getting the people that are buying the house involved and getting them aware.”

Lahib Jaddo is the first Sherwood Construction customer offered the choice. An associate professor of architecture at Texas Tech University, she contracted the company to build her home in late 2015. Jaddo was born in Iraq but has lived in the United States since age 23. She selected a project in Sudan as the beneficiary of her building project.

Sherwood estimates he will build three to five houses per year, and each time, the homeowners will have the chance to send fresh water to a community. The contractor hopes his efforts not only will bless the people who receive wells, water filters and water systems, but also the clients who chose where to send the funds.