A small team, a big idea about generosity.
The Waterjars was founded in 2015 by friends who believed that giving works best when it's relational — when stories travel both directions, and donors meet the people their generosity is reaching.
Why “The Waterjars”?
In John 2, Jesus' first miracle happens through six ordinary stone water jars at a wedding in Cana. Nothing about the jars was special — until they were filled, and what came out brought joy to a celebration that had run dry.
That's our picture of this work. We're not the source. We're the vessels — ordinary people carrying what we have to where it's needed, and trusting God to do something extraordinary with it.
Behind The Waterjars
A small team of friends, in Australia and Indonesia, who carry the stories.
Jim Tirtha
Jim co-founded The Waterjars in 2015. He brings a heart for community, faithful presence, and the long view — the conviction that real change is built on relationships, return visits, and patient listening.
Natalia Teguhputri
Natalia grew up watching her father give generously, and she brings that wisdom to every project. She is the bridge between donors in Australia and partners in Indonesia — with a gift for listening, translating, and connecting.
Storytelling, not transactions
We fund and support trusted partners on the ground — and we travel to be with them in person whenever we can. We come home with stories: of villagers who built their own toilets, of mothers who fed their neighbourhoods through lockdown, of the choir that sang their grief into hope. Then we tell those stories, in the hope that the people around us will give, pray, and walk with these communities too.
Three things that shape our work
Faith
Rooted in Christian conviction, hospitable across faith traditions. Our work flows from a belief that we are loved, and called to love our neighbours.
Stories
The way we honour communities is by telling their stories truthfully — carrying their voices home so generosity has a face and a name.
Generosity
Giving freely — time, talent, and treasure — because we have been freely given to. Generosity is the lifeblood of this work.
