In 2015, Larry Smith’s life made sense. He was president of Tokyo Electron America, a semiconductor company with 18 sites, nearly 3,000 employees and multi-billion-dollar revenue. He and his wife, Wendy, lived in a gated community in a 3,900-square-foot home.

For years, they had served at Mobile Loaves & Fishes, providing meals to the homeless population of Austin, Texas. When the ministry’s founder, Alan Graham, proposed a tiny home village where the chronically homeless and “missional neighbors” would live side by side, Larry was supportive — up to a point.

“I said, Alan, ‘I’ll give you my time, talents and treasures — but I'm not going to live there.’”

At the same meeting, another attendee said, “We really should live our lives so they don't make sense without the gospel of Jesus Christ.”  

Larry went home, pondering the fact that, as it was, his life made perfect sense. He began to believe that God might be calling him to do something that many would consider both reckless and crazy.  

“I told Wendy, ‘I think we're supposed to go live in that community.’ She said, ‘It's about time.’”

The very next weekend, they bought an RV. They eventually gave away everything they owned — and sold their large house to a local pastor.

Larry and Wendy lived in Community First! Village in Austin for five and a half years. The village, now home to 470 formerly homeless neighbors, is built on the belief that the root cause of homelessness is a catastrophic loss of family. Building community, therefore, must be central to any response.  

Larry and Wendy built deep relationships with their neighbors. One neighbor was a felon and heroin addict whom Larry drove to the methadone clinic every other Tuesday for seven years. Two of their neighbors even came to their daughter’s wedding. Larry would help neighbors learn money management, and Wendy would paint portraits of her neighbors who passed on — a way of honoring those who without the community might have been alone at the end.

“And I’ve got to tell you, my life no longer makes sense,” Larry says.  

He didn’t advertise his change in lifestyle. It took him a year to tell his boss, whose first response was, “Are you [expletive] crazy?” Rumors spread around the workplace that their CEO had given away everything he owned and was living in an RV in a community for the homeless.  

In one-on-one meetings, colleagues would ask, “Is it true you actually live there? Why?” Larry would share that it all came back to his faith. At a time when many CEOs made headlines for moral failures, Larry’s integrity deepened the trust of those he led.

Larry had been investing for decades in building his leadership capacity by attending the Global Leadership Summit. At the Summit, he’d learned about the importance of mentorship, building trust and integrating faith into the workplace.  

During COVID, Larry and Wendy moved out of Community First! Village, and now he serves as board chair. Using his strength in strategy, his goal is to scale the community, while helping churches around the country implement community-focused ministries to their homeless neighbors. They’ve trained 800 people from 44 states to replicate the model, and fourteen “advanced replicator” villages have already launched across the country.

Because Larry knows firsthand the challenges of being a missional neighbor — and how easy it is to fall into “compassion fatigue” — this year he hosted the Global Leadership Summit at the village to encourage and bless those who serve there. Next year, he hopes to invite even more leaders from Austin so that he can continue reaching out to his community with their model of service to the formerly homeless.

Now, more than 10 years later, Larry’s life still doesn’t make sense.  

Retired, he serves as a member of the Texas Semiconductor Innovation Consortium Executive Committee. One day, he might be at the White House advising top government officials. The next, he’s guiding churches on how to be salt and light to some of the most marginalized people in their communities.

What’s your surprising leadership story? How is God calling you to lead in ways that don’t make sense without the gospel of Jesus Christ? Share your story with us at Story@GlobalLeadership.org