Who we are

Several factors have contributed to the success of Agua Viva International:

Our work is guided by our sincere belief that we must do all we can, for as many people as we can, in as many places we can, for as long as we can (paraphrase John Wesley). Agua Viva believes that it is our moral responsibility to restore health through pure water along with promoting social justice. Our work has resulted in enumerable blessings during each of our projects.

Agua Viva work could not be realized without the “sweat equity” of our volunteers. Our volunteers give their vacation time and their hearts over to our mission work. With the confluence of a well-trained volunteer group along with identifying the needs of targeted communities, profound satisfaction is achieved, and hearts and minds are changed forever.

Our Water Team of over 50 of committed volunteers manage Agua Viva International without any US paid staff.

Founders

Jim Allen receiving a community service award from Greg Graves

James C. Allen | Chairman of the Board and President

James C. Allen (Jim) is the Chairman of Agua Viva International. He first visited Guatemala in 2005 where he learned about the lack of purified drinking water in developing countries. With his accountability group, Jim researched water purification methods for these remote rural communities and discovered the “Living Waters for the World” solution, which Agua Viva typically installs today “with improvements”. Jim has developed countless friendships serving these communities. In addition, with over 300 volunteers from the United States serving within our organization, Agua Viva has grown rapidly. Jim was honored recently with the Greg Graves Community Leadership Award 2020. This incredible honor was introduced “to honor an outstanding individual who goes above and beyond to volunteer time, donate funds and contribute in-kind gifts to support worthy causes in the communities in which we live and work”. Jim has been married more than 40 years to Nancy Allen (also serving in the organization), and they have two children and four grandchildren. Jim works full time at Burns & McDonnell where he is an Associate and Senior Mechanical Design Engineer, providing project management services for NASA, the U.S. Department of Energy, and other clients.

Gerald (Jerry) Johnson | Chief Executive Officer

Jerry Johnson is a retired professional engineer having been a Principal at the Consulting Firm of Shafer, Kline and Warren serving public and private clients throughout the Midwest. Jerry was both curious and envious of his colleagues and mountain hiking friends Daryl Taylor and Dale Bain for their trips with Agua Viva building purified water systems in Central and South America – but was always too busy to join them. Not having the time excuse changed with retirement in December, 2015 and in the summer of 2016 Jerry volunteered to join another engineering colleague, Curt Mader, one of the founders of Agua Viva, and his team for an installation in Pomachaca, Ecuador. This trip was a game changer – the fellowship of the Agua Viva team; the need for purified water to enhance the health of the community; the ability to deliver purified water at a cost that the community could afford; how the team was received in the community; the community efforts to be a partner with us on the installation and education; the happiness on the faces of students; and the scenery all made for a very rewarding trip. Since that first trip Jerry has been on seven other trips to Central and South America assisting on installation and education of systems; site investigations for future installations; and operating partner follow-up visits. Jerry attended the Living Waters for the World Clean Water U 103 for Water System Installation, Operation and Maintenance. Jerry resides in Lee’s Summit with his wife Barbara spending their “retirement” time with their two sons and daughter-in-laws and 5 grandchildren.

Curt H. Mader | CEO, Retired

He retired as the CEO of Agua Viva International at the end of 2019. In 2009 Mader visited Guatemala three times. Along with Jim Allen and the two volunteers (along with Jeff Rommel and Doris McAfee) traveled to Living Waters for the World’s “Clean Water University” for project administration, health & hygiene and system installation training in preparation for our first installation.

Board of Directors

David Brown | Board Member

David has always had a heart for others, but his compassion for people from other parts of the world really began to flourish in his late teens. It was the summer of 1976 when he was blessed to be part of a seven week mission trip to the vibrant island nation of Trinidad and Tobago in the southern Caribbean. It was a life changing experience. He discovered that our God is a Big God. A God who is less interested in how much we can build with our hands for others, and more interested in how much of ourselves we have to offer in order to build relationships with others.

Roy Loepp | Board Member

Roy first developed an appreciation for global food and agriculture growing up on the family farm near Inman, Kansas. He began his career working 6 years with Cargill and has spent the last 20 years with Seaboard Corporation where he has been exposed to businesses and organizations across six continents. Involvement with Seaboard affiliates in 13 sub-Saharan countries has enabled Roy to learn many roles including project management, procurement, engineering, finance, operations, and sales. His professional leadership culminated with his recent election as president of the International Association of Operative Millers.

Jared Riegle | Board Member

Jared first traveled overseas in 2006 to Ghana to work with a catholic priest and family friend in a remote village in the Ashanti Region. This trip would be a turning point in his life and completely change his world view. After exposure to such endemic poverty he felt lead to make a change. Upon returning from West Africa and through the prayers and support of those around him he founded OEDI (Overseas Economic Development Initiatives) whose main focus is economic and education development in rural communities in Ghana and India. He has a strong passion for helping those less fortunate than him and strongly supports the mission of Agua Viva International.

Jim Burger | Board Member

Jim (and Paula) began supporting clean water projects in third world countries in the 1980’s with an organization now known nationwide as Water.Org. Jim actively volunteers at the St. James Food Kitchen and for Project Uplift (providing food and clothing to homeless in Kansas City). He continues to use his God given skills on a weekly basis at Bishop Sullivan Center in the Job Placement Program.

Ricky Ogden | Board Member

Mr. Ricky Ogden received his Doctorate of Pharmacy from the University of Missouri-Kansas City School of Pharmacy. He completed a PGY-1 residency with an emphasis in pediatrics at Children’s Mercy Hospital. Following his residency, Mr. Ogden practiced in the Emergency Department until 2011 when he assumed the role of Manager for Pharmacy Critical Care Services. He held this role until August 2014 when he became the Assistant Director of Pharmacy with responsibilities for Pharmacy Clinical Services. He completed an MBA from the University of Missouri-Kanas City Bloch School of Management. Mr. Ogden is a Board-Certified Pharmacotherapy Specialist. He has been a member of the Section Advisory Group for Pharmacy Practice Managers since 2015. He has also been an active member of the American College for Healthcare Executives since 2015 as part of the Membership Committee. He recently concluded a two-year term as Director of Education for the Kansas Council of Health-System Pharmacy. He also is the Residency Program Director for the PGY-1 program at Children’s Mercy. Mr. Ogden’s professional interests are multidisciplinary collaborative quality improvement initiatives.

Julie Nauser | Board Member

Ms. Julie Nauser is the Dean at Research College of Nursing in Kansas City. She has been privileged to travel to Honduras on medical mission trips and she has been touched by the extraordinary gratitude the Hondurans feel for the basic health care provided by their medical team. As a nurse, Ms. Nauser has been deeply touched to see “firsthand” the health consequences caused by the lack of clean drinking water. Nearly all of the inhabitants of these small villages are infected with various parasites. “Firsthand”, Ms. Nauser has heard their stories of infection, school absenteeism, medical bills, missed work and missed opportunities; especially for the women in these remote areas. “I am honored to be affiliated with Agua Viva International whose mission closely aligns with my own personal values – working closely with communities to meet their number one daily need for clean drinking water”…Ms. Nauser.

Chet Stumpf | Board Treasurer

Mr. Stumpf has recently retired from a forty-three-year structural engineering career with Burns & McDonnell Engineering Company in Kansas City, Missouri. He was a licensed professional engineer and he held numerous job titles over his career which included; Staff & Senior Structural Engineer, Lead Project Structural Engineer, Structural Department Manager, Project Manager, Resident Civil Engineer, and Chief Resident Engineer. He obtained both his BSCE degree (1974) and MSCE degree (1981) from the University of Missouri. Mr. Stumpf became aware of the Agua Viva mission while attending the organization’s annual fund raiser several years ago and he signed up to be a volunteer at that time. Agua Viva asked him to help with some of the organization’s bookkeeping and documentation knowing his computer experience and his attention to details from his engineering career would be helpful. Mr. Stumpf accepted the challenge to tackle Agua Viva’s finances and quickly immersed our organization into a Quick Books environment. Soon after, Mr. Stumpf gladly accepted the position of Corporate Treasurer and has become an invaluable member of the organization, attending all of the meetings of the Board of Administration and the Board of Directors.

Rev. Colby Kinser | Board Member

Colby Kinser serves as the superintendent of the Midwest District of the EFCA. He is also the New Testament editor of The Readable Bible. Prior to serving in churches in Kansas, Georgia, Italy, and California, Colby led teams and developed data communications software in Washington State and Texas. Colby served for ten years as president of Hungry4Him, Inc., a ministry that supports orphan ministries in Kenya, one of which is the site of a potential future installation for Agua Viva. Locally, he serves on the Community Development Block Grant Advisory Committee for the city of Overland Park and on the Advisory Team for Bridge of Hope Community Church in the urban core of Kansas City, Kansas. He has taught a number of times at the Ahero Evangelical School of Theology, preparing pastors and church leaders to serve the church in Western Kenya. Colby spends his fun time cycling and doing his best to learn Italian. He and his wife Lynne have one host daughter from Kenya.

Mark Zastrow | Board Member

Mark Zastrow joins Agua Viva International with great enthusiasm and a wealth of friends and influence in the Greater Kansas City area. In 1995, Mark started his Edward Jones career as a financial advisor in Kansas City ensuring that his clients had personalized strategies in place to help reach their financial goals, whether those goals included insurance needs, wealth strategies, paying for a child's education, retirement or estate considerations. Mark earned a Bachelor of Science from Missouri State University and continues to hold the AAMS® professional designation. Mark’s family includes his wife, Emily, and they are both proud parents of three beautiful daughters: Lauren (22), Hannah (20) and Ashley (13). They are active members of their community and Mark is involved in St. Ann's Catholic Church, Kansas City Corporate Challenge, MS150, Parkinson's Foundation, Alzheimer's Association, and now Agua Viva International.

Ryan Schweiger | Board of Director

Ryan was born and raised in Olathe and still lives there today. Ryan started volunteer work in middle school and has worked with various charitable organization throughout most of his life. Active in Boy Scouts and 4H in his youth, Ryan also became an Eagle Scout and a 4-H Ambassador in high school, and he has also volunteered with the local Rotary clubs. Throughout his college years, Ryan continued his volunteer work with Boy Scouts and helped start a troop for under- resourced youth in Manhattan, Kansas. He was also active with Big Brother Big Sister program, volunteered to tutor Math and Chess Club at Eisenhower Elementary, was active in the Combative Arts club and was the head Judo coach at Kansas State for the last two years of his time there. He graduated from Kansas State University and went into law enforcement after college. As a Deputy Sheriff, Ryan fulfilled many roles. He initially worked in the jail and helped to develop a team of officers to work with high security inmates in maximum custody, administrative segregation and disciplinary segregation. He served on the Policy Review Committee and as a Training Officer. Next, he went to the Communications division working with multiple agencies to help correspond their responses to emergency situations of all types. There he helped with negotiations and community safety. Ryan retired from the Johnson County Sheriff’s office as a Class A Master Deputy. Ryan, always interested in the stock market, went to work for a large financial institution where he currently works as a supervisor for a team of Retirement Consultants and Brokers. He also has a wonderful wife who works as a teacher and they have two fantastic sons in elementary school.