How a Water Bottling Factory is Reaching Orphans

Bethany DuVal • Feb 13, 2017

“Why don’t you have HIV?”

“Why do we have HIV if we haven’t had sex?”

“Why don’t we see our parents on holidays?”

These aren’t questions a typical engineer deals with during work. But for Brett Richstone, a TEAM missionary and water bottling plant manager, nothing about the last few years has been typical.

He starts his day with factory maintenance, applying for licenses or filling orders for fresh spring water. But by the afternoon, he’s leading a Bible study, buying groceries for an entire village and having heart-to-heart conversations with children affected by HIV and AIDS.

It all began in 2013, when Brett and his wife, Kara, started praying about moving overseas.

An engineer and a marketer, respectively, they thought God would give them professional jobs abroad. But as they prayed, Kara kept thinking of Rehoboth Children’s Village in South Africa.

She had visited it on a mission trip in 2009 and was struck by the hope she saw there.

“Their whole goal is to give [HIV-affected children] a future, … to give them a proper education, to let them be leaders and thought-changers in society,” Kara says.

Four years later, she decided to look up Rehoboth and was stunned at what she saw:

They were opening a water-bottling plant to help the ministry support itself. They needed an engineer to run the plant and a marketer to sell its product.

They needed Brett and Kara.

A Spirit of Abandonment


rehoboth childrens village

Rehoboth strives to provide family-style homes for children orphaned by the HIV epidemic. Photo courtesy of Rehoboth Children’s Village


When the Richstones came to South Africa, they stepped into the biggest HIV epidemic in the world, with just over 2 million children orphaned by the virus. Others aren’t orphaned but are abandoned or given up because their parents can’t care for them.

Rehoboth’s goal is to give these kids a stable upbringing through family-style homes, personalized health and education plans, and spiritual guidance.

WATCH: Learn more about Brett and Kara’s journey to Rehoboth Children’s Village!

“Building relationships is one of the hardest things with our kids because they really have trouble with attachment. … They have that spirit of abandonment,” Kara says.

She saw this firsthand when she started a Bible study with the teenage girls.

For months, she got nothing but blank stares during discussion times. And when the girls did start opening up, Kara could see they were testing her.

“News in the village travels fast, so they would tell me things and see if they heard about it from someone else later. … I needed to prove myself to them, essentially, that I was trustworthy,” Kara says.

Each day, the Richstones split their time between factory duties and more relational activities that build up that trust, such as Bible studies, one-on-one counseling, homework help and organized sports.

reaching orphans in south africa soccer

In addition to his engineering work at the factory, Brett works to build trust with the kids through activities like soccer. Photo courtesy of Brett and Kara Richstone


So many people have come in and out of the children’s lives that they’ve learned to keep relationships on a surface level. But with persistent friendship-building, Kara and Brett have seen walls come down.

Some of the deepest moments for Brett come simply while driving boys to running club or doctor appointments.

That’s when boys feel safe to ask about HIV or why they never see their families.

“They’re hard questions I don’t have good answers to most of the time,” Brett says, “but it does make me glad I’m here, that I can at least help them talk through it. … Tell them that God loves them and I love them.”

As Brett and Kara watch the kids open up and mature, they hope the water bottling plant will also be a tool to help them grow even more.

A Hopeful Future


reaching orphans in south africa

Brett and Kara, posing in the water bottling plant, hope the project’s impact returns more than just funds. Photo courtesy of Brett and Kara Richstone


The water bottling plant is not just about money.

In South Africa’s economy, with a 27 percent unemployment rate, finding a job can be incredibly difficult for aged-out orphans. But if teenagers can work at the plant , they’ll enter adulthood with a resume.

“If they want to leave Rehoboth and go somewhere else to find a job, they can use that as a reference,” Brett says. “And that holds a lot of value in this economy.”

When the factory got its first big order for a Christmas market, Brett decided to ask the boys from his Bible study to help.

The boys started out hastily, trying to set records for how fast they could go. But as Brett taught them about quality control, the boys took ownership of the project.

“It was cool just to see the excitement grow, … like, ‘This is our business, and we’re gonna make this much money if we sell this many bottles,’” Brett says.

Each night, when Brett came back from the market, the boys would ask him about their profits.

“The best part of the experience was when the boys heard that over 900 bottles of water had been sold,” Brett says. “The joy they expressed knowing they had produced something others wanted to buy … was so exciting.”

As the factory continues, Brett and Kara hope many more orphans will experience that empowerment and see a hopeful path for their future. In the meantime, they’ll keep building trust and pointing kids to the same God who led them on this unexpected adventure.

By Suzanne Pearson 19 Mar, 2024
Previously on the TEAM blog, we sat down with Justin Burkholder (pictured above at left, with TEAM's Executive Director of Communications, Aaron Catlin). Justin will become TEAM’s next International Director on July 1, 2024. Justin shared about his background, family, and the journey that led him to TEAM. Check out that interview here . Today, we pick up the conversation as Justin shares how God called him to the role of International Director, and what he sees for the next chapter in TEAM’s work in the global Church. Q: How and when did you first consider applying for the position of International Director? How did the Lord reveal Himself to you as this opportunity presented itself? A: For some time, I have been evaluating how God wants me to use the gifts He has given me. Jenny and I have had a fruitful ministry in church planting in Guatemala and would happily continue doing so as God leads. However, as God blessed my efforts in TEAM leadership, there were friends and family who expressed that I should consider using my gifts in the International Director role. I don’t believe that everything necessarily rises and falls on leadership, but I do believe that it is a core component in the body of Christ. Using the gifts God has given me is a way that I want to bless the body of Christ in TEAM, making my contribution to the global purposes of God’s mission. Jenny and I spent a lot of time praying about this and decided that I should put my name in for consideration, trusting God’s guidance. We had a tremendous amount of peace throughout the entire process and were blessed by the prayer-filled process that the board undertook. Q: This is a key role in a large and complex organization, and I’m sure this was a big decision for you and your family. What were your fears or concerns? Why did you ultimately decide to accept the position? A: You say “were” like the fears have passed! I still am quite aware of my youth and inexperience - of the responsibility and weight of this role. Mostly, I’m afraid of leading an organization like TEAM in the flesh. Many of the fears that I have faced have been fears rooted in fleshly desires and concerns. I have no desire to succeed in the world’s eyes and fail in the Kingdom of Jesus. Why did I ultimately decide to accept the position? I’m convinced that the Good News about Jesus is true. The tomb is empty, Jesus is King, and the world needs to know, because Jesus is coming back. He will put things in order. He will establish righteousness, peace, and justice for all mankind, and He has commissioned His Church to proclaim and demonstrate His rule and reign. I want to use my gifts to do whatever I can to amplify the proclamation of this message and the multiplication of His Church around the world. Q: What are your goals and vision for the future of TEAM? A: This is something that I’ve spent a lot of time thinking about. I’m certainly not ready to present a fully-shaped vision and goals for TEAM’s future without the input of other people in different contexts in TEAM. But, I will share a few things that I think are important: First, we need to model God-Dependence . I am hopeful that as leaders in TEAM, we can continue to model God-Dependence. As Hudson Taylor said years ago “…God’s work, done in God’s way, will never lack God’s supplies.” I am hopeful that we can increase our sense of faith in God, prayer, and seeking direction from the Spirit. Secondly, we must strengthen our relational fabric . Due to the changes that we have experienced by decentralizing our home office functions, and the challenges from the pandemic, we have experienced a loss of relationships. It is imperative that we intentionally prioritize the building of relationships with one another. I plan to visit our workers and staff, and I am expectant that other key leaders and staff will be doing the same. Third, we must pursue the greater presence of the global Church. The Kingdom of Jesus Christ doesn’t look like any single geopolitical, ethnic, or racial culture. If we want to truly see the Kingdom of Jesus come on earth as it is in heaven, then we as citizens of this Kingdom must learn from one another, submit to one another, and grow with one another. The missional potential of the global Church has been unleashed by God’s Spirit since Acts 1, and we have an opportunity to learn from many brothers and sisters in Christ who can help us to better model and proclaim the Kingdom of Jesus to those who have yet to believe. Lastly, we must increase our Gospel boldness . There are still many places of great spiritual blindness and spiritual brokenness around the world. The apostolic impulse of cross-cultural organizations should call us to the to the edges of where the Kingdom of Jesus is not penetrating. Whether spiritual blindness and brokenness exists because of lack of access, idolatry, injustice, or any other myriad of reasons, I prayerfully hope to see more and more TEAM workers continue to move into spaces of great Gospel need.
By Suzanne Pearson 08 Mar, 2024
Through God-ordained partnerships and creative connections, TEAM worker Keith Moore sees the global Church advancing in amazing ways. In the global missions landscape, a phrase that comes up often is “from everywhere, to everywhere.” God is calling His global Church in literal new directions, as He raises up cross-cultural workers to be sent from places that were once on the receiving end of missions work. We call this movement “polycentric sending.” TEAM workers Dawn and Keith Moore have seen first-hand this transition taking place. Their story involves the unlikely but beautiful intersection of Charlotte, North Carolina; Tegucigalpa, Honduras; and Memphis, Tennessee...and beyond. The Path to Honduras Keith and Dawn joined TEAM in 1991 and served as church planters for nine years in Bogota, Colombia. After safety concerns precipitated their return to the States in 1999, they knew they wanted to continue serving in Latin America. The Moores felt called to Honduras but wanted to connect with a strong missional church to help send them. The Lord orchestrated a collaboration with Bellevue Baptist Church in Memphis, Tennessee. “Some people asked, ‘Why Honduras? Missionaries have been there for 100 years. It’s already reached,’” Keith says. “But there’s a whole section of Latin America that had not been reached - the upper crust.” Keith goes on to explain that he and Dawn felt called to reach college-educated professionals in Honduras – a ministry vision that resonated with the missional goals of Bellevue Baptist. Impact and Growth With the support of this new church partnership as well as another sending church in Birmingham, Alabama, the Moores embarked on their next adventure. Keith and Dawn started Impacto Honduras Church from scratch, and in less than 20 years, the church grew into four locations with 1600 total members. The Moores and other TEAM workers also created a “Bible school” type training program to help professionals who feel a call to ministry to make that transition. Throughout this period of explosive growth, church partnerships played an integral role. “It’s such a different vision when you have a church that says, ‘OK, this is our deal, we want to make this happen,’” Keith explains. “They helped us with everything. They took away every single obstacle to growth. Every time we needed something, they were there.” In 2017, the Moores once again found themselves on the verge of another decision. Was it time to leave Honduras? “I had no desire to leave,” Keith recalls. “People were coming to Christ every week! It was just so amazing.” However, back in the U.S., Keith and Dawn’s parents were in their 80s and would soon be in need of more care. “We realized that either we would leave in a crisis, or we would leave strategically,” says Keith. The couple began to implement a careful succession plan. By the time they left, the four churches were established with strong, Honduran leadership ready to carry on the work of the Gospel.
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