THEWHOLETRUTH 65
Heartbroken, BishopMelvin contactedCOGIC
WorldMissions President, BishopVincentMathews,
to ask for aid to help his people.Acting quickly, a
meetingwas setupwith theCWMAppropriations
Committee during the 109thHolyConvocation. As
the committee listened toBishopMelvin’s plea for
help, a sense of urgency came over the room.Mother
MaddalineNorfleet andDr. JuneRivers beganmak-
ingphone calls immediately to address the problem.
MotherNorfleet stated, “Giving beans and ricewould
do little good if therewas nowater to prepare it.” It
was assessed that granting funds for rice, beans and
bottledwaterwas afirst stepmeasure, but amore
permanent solutionwas needed.Awaterwellwould
beneeded in that location.
Acallwas placed toDeaconWalterChandler,
amember ofOklahoma’s Southeast Jurisdiction serv-
ingunderBishopMalcolmCoby. DeaconChandler is
the project director for the jurisdiction’s FaithFor 500
project, the visionofBishopMalcolmCoby to dig
much neededwaterwells throughout the continent of
Africa. Under the supervision ofDeaconChandler, a
partnershipwith theWater4Company (aUSA faith-
based organization specializing in themanufactur-
ing and drilling ofwaterwells)was formed. Deacon
Chandler contacted the executives ofWater4 and
shared thewater dilemma inRwanda and from there,
thewheels of progress began to turn in our favor.
The plans to dig traditional, shallowwater
wells (30 to 40 ft. deep) began. After surveying sev-
eral locations forwater at a cost of $350.00 per sur-
vey, however, itwas determined that thewater table
was insufficient to support this type ofwell. Later, in
a phonemeetingwithWater4 representatives, Dea-
conChandler andSupervisorMaddalineNorfleet
discussed the possibility of drilling a ‘deepwater
well system’. Thewaterwellwould be drilled 250 to
500 feet deep to tap directly into the aquifer. Itwould
be equippedwith a state of the art filtration system
capable of filtering 98.5% of all harmful contaminates
from thewater. Itwould be connected underground to
five off site kiosk stationswith the capacity of pro-
viding pure drinkingwater to over 4,000 people per
day.Acomplexwaterwell system like thiswould be
thefirst of its kind in the nation ofRwanda. Mother
Norfleet andDeaconChandlerwere convinced itwas
God’swill that the deepwaterwell be drilled at the
COGIC property inMurambi.
However, therewas one obvious obstacle
to overcome – the cost of the initialwaterwellwas
estimated at $1,500 to $3,000. The price tag of the
proposed deepwaterwell systemwas $55,000 to
$62,000.At the end of the conversation, theWater4
rep askedMotherNorfleet to close themeetingwith
prayer. She gave thanks toGod and prayed as if
He had already provided every resource and dollar
needed to complete the project. Everyone on the call
wasmoved to giveGod thanks for favor to drill the
well. A short time later,Water4 committed tomatch
the funds raised by donating $30,000 towards the
well.When the deep-water surveywas conducted, the
aquiferwas found to be 250 feet beneath the church,
ONCOGICPROPERTY.
BishopMelvin, DeaconChandler andMother
Norfleetwasted no time and began seeking donors for
thefilteredwaterwell system. COGIC bishops, such
asNathielD.Wells ofTexas, General BoardMember
DarrellHines, andMichael Cole of SouthDakota,
were of the largest contributors. A large contribu-
tion came from amember ofWestAngelesCOGIC,
andmany others sowed into the project allowing the
dream to become a reality.
OnOctober 11, 2017, less than one year af-
ter receiving news of the severe drought inRwanda,
BishopMelvin and 7 others left theU.S. in route to
Rwanda, EastAfrica to dedicate the new deepwater
