Strategy says to throw out the highest and lowest bids and you’ll have some luck somewhere in the middle. Betenbough Homes’ Wolfforth community, Harvest, needed gas services and Harold Murray, Betenbough Homes land developer, needed to find a trade partner to tackle the project. Harold looked over the bids he’d collected and noticed one quite a bit lower than the others. He was ready to throw it out, but instead, after talking with West Texas Gas, Harold made a faith decision and gave the lowest bid – Ananda Habib’s bid – a shot.
Shortly after, Harold needed gas on more projects and Ananda was hired again. Harold noticed Ananda’s work ethic and asked him to take on more. “Out of the blue, I received a lot of confirmation from different people that Ananda’s the guy for the job,” Harold said.
He then asked Ananda to also provide water and sewer in addition to gas. Ananda found the perfect team and made it happen. Harold kept giving each phase of Harvest to Ananda’s team, then another community, then another, and now – Ananda’s team is completing entire developments for Betenbough Homes in Lubbock.
Ananda was overwhelmed by the trust Harold placed in his company. “These are not the kind of things that typical men do,” Ananda said. “I’m used to the oilfield world where they take, take, take from you and never invest in you and believe in you.”
Having worked in the oilfield prior to this, Ananda never expected to form a connection with Harold, but he knew this man was different the first day he met him. Ananda recalls the first time he visited the Betenbough Homes home office. “I had no idea about the history of Betenbough and the spiritual journey the company was on, but I walked in that building and just felt good,” said Ananda. He asked Harold, “Don’t you feel good?” Ananda noticed how rare a place like Betenbough Homes is and wanted to hold on tight to his partnership.
“In less than two years, my business went from just three guys to more than 45 employees and millions of dollars’ worth of equipment – doing entire developments from Betenbough Homes,” Ananda said.
With increased workloads come increased hours. Ananda was working his guys 7 days a week when Harold encouraged him to reevaluate. Ananda began to give his guys time off for their families on weekends and holidays and saw that everything could still be accomplished. “My team went from being extremely stressed to being excited to come to work every day,” said Ananda.
Harold noticed how much Ananda’s business, Maega Energy, had grown. He made the generous decision to personally pay for Ananda to attend a Kingdom at Work 3-day workshop in October 2023, where Ananda heard from Kingdom leaders as they shared how to advance the Kingdom in the marketplace.
Ananda was deeply moved by Harold’s investment in him. “There are great people in your life who have done something for you that offers no credit or glory for them but the investment is so profound and so deep that it changes your life in a way that it empowers everyone around you,” Ananda said. “That’s the impact of the investment Harold had on me.”
Now, Ananda views his company as the Lord’s and is intentional to steward it all back to Him. His professional and personal life are seeing transformation. When a problem arises, it is no longer a burden Ananda feels like he must figure out on his own. He takes it immediately to the Lord. “I’ve never done this before, but now I’m asking God for insight every step of the way,” said Ananda. He makes sure to ask the Lord for help out loud and often. Ananda is sensitive to God’s voice and direction for his life, including his employees and now, his partners. “This company is not my company; this is God’s company. We are ALL its stewards,” Ananda said. “I want to build something that can change people’s lives the way [Harold and Betenbough Homes] has changed mine.”
And so a ripple begins. Harold Murray made a Kingdom investment into Ananda Hadid. And now, Ananda is sending three of his partners to the next Kingdom at Work workshop in February 2024 – expectant for renewed perspective and divine transformation.
