Doc Hendley, the founder of Wine to Water, a non-profit organization dedicated to solving the water crisis in third world countries, and author of “Wine to Water, How One Man Saved Himself While Trying to Save the World. Tuesday, Sept. 12, he spoke to students on his service work and topics discussed in his book in Roberts Chapel on Waynesburg’s campus.

Doc Hendley wasn’t a straight A student. He was not an exceptional athlete either. Doc Hendley isn’t perfect; he’s made his fair share of mistakes.

Growing up, his father was a pastor and he was raised in a highly conservative household. So, how could someone as ordinary as Doc Hendley make such an extraordinary difference in the lives of so many people?

“I was my own worst enemy, thinking a guy like me can’t do anything significant,” said Hendley.

Hendley went from being a simple bartender to a CNN Humanitarian Award winner for his work in helping people in third world countries gain access to clean water.

The drastic change came after a sleepless night in which Hendley could not get the phrase “wine to water” out of his head.

As a Christian, Hendley was highly familiar with the phrase “water to wine”, but could not understand why the phrase was backwards to him that night.

He spent the rest of that night researching water and decided that the water crisis was something he wanted to dedicate his life to improving. Six months later, Hendley was living in a third world country teaching people how to develop clean water and give them better access to it.

“We all have the ability to make a pretty massive impact on the world,” Hendley said of his work as a humanitarian.

There were multiple occasions where Hendley could have lost his life, serving in highly hostile environments, like the civil war zone of Darfur.

In one particular instance, Hendley’s convoy was attacked and he nearly lost his life. The event gave him a different outlook on life and he dedicated himself to helping people.

Three years after founding Wine to Water, Hendley was nominated by a friend for a CNN Humanitarian Award. His friend never mentioned doing so to him until Hendley received a phone call from CNN informing him he’d made the top ten.

“At first, I thought it was a joke, that one of my friends was just messing with me,” said Hendley. “But then they informed me that they were so-and-so from CNN and I was like, oh, this is really happening.”

Through the awards process, the small and humble organization was suddenly thrusted into a national spotlight. The platform CNN provided the organization with gave people a very intimate view of the work they were doing and showed them the validity of it.

Wine to Water was given a one-hour documentary featuring some of the most important and life changing work the foundation did to give and improve access to clean water to those without it.

After the documentary aired and Hendley received his award, Wine to Water’s support doubled and continues to grow at a steady rate today.

“What [CNN] did for us was priceless,” Hendley said.

Howeve r, Hendl e y thinks that the people of third world countries are often misrepresented to the people who want to help improve their living conditions. Often times, Hendley explained, these people are portrayed to be “absolutely miserable in their lives,” a portrayal that simply isn’t accurate.

“In a strange way, they are happier than we are,” said Hendley. “There is too much noise in our lives today for us to truly fathom their joy in the simple things.”

Hendley admitted to going into culture shock the first time he went to another country to help people.

“Sometimes, doing service in third world countries is more beneficial for the people doing the service than the local communities,” Hendley said.

Doc Hendley described that there is much to be learned from other people’s cultures. Even as an adult he considers himself to be a student. During his lecture, he offered a word of advice to students in attendance.

“Never stop being a student. Everyday there is something in the world to be learned and absorbed,” said Hendley.

Hendley’s book, Wine to Water: How One Man Saved Himself While Trying to Save the World, was chosen this year to be the book read and discussed in Waynesburg University’s Fiat Lux classes.

Much to the excitement and appreciation of Fiat Lux professors and mentors, students have been very engaged and interested in the reading. Assistant Provost Dr. Leichliter-Krause has seen a particularly good response from students about the text.

“The reception to Wine to Water has been tremendous,” said Leichliter- Krause. “It’s really exciting, for me, to have students who want to continue to read the book outside of class.”

There were several students who expressed their excitement to Leichliter- Krause, in the days prior to Doc Hendley’s lecture in Robert’s Chapel, to meet Hendley and ask him questions about some of the experiences he outlined in his book.

Through the platform provided by CNN, his book outlining his experiences and work, the lectures he gives and the stories on the organization’s webpage, Doc Hendley and Wine to Water have been able to reach out to and educate thousands of people on the world’s water crisis and ways they can help.

“We were created,” said Hendley, “made to love and help each other.”