Water is Life.
Business Empowers.
Love Works.
about us
This is the mission that drives us daily. Discover more about who we are at Water4.
Our Story
Water4 started out of an awareness and discontent with the water crisis and a willingness to answer God’s call to get up and do something about it with whatever knowledge and resolve we had. Our founders, Dick and Terri Greenly, never wanted to start a non-profit because … they like profit. As owners of a successful Oklahoma pump distributor, they value how businesses can create more - more value, more margin, more flourishing. So when Dick found himself trying to accept a $100,000 check to drill wells around the world, his church community convinced him to start Water4 as a non-profit. Then he developed it into the least non-profit non-profit he could think of, building for-profit businesses across Africa. Water4’s undergone many iterations, but we’ve always known that charity alone can’t solve problems of poverty. Charity and government combined have only 25% of the resources needed to provide safe water to the developing world. And charity and government cannot create, they can only redistribute - taking what’s been given and allocating it elsewhere. But business creates. With every transaction, businesses generate value out of thin air and reinvest it into accomplishing their vision - in our case, of seeing safe water piped to every home, school, community - everywhere. Now, we have done what many said was impossible: created profitable water markets with customers on an average $2/day income. While we have already helped millions of people through safe water access, there are hundreds of millions more. We’re pursuing a world in which there is abundance and Water4’s no longer needed. We want to put ourselves as a non-profit out of business. Join us on the journey and generate good.
Our Approach
Our Mission
Water is Life.
Water is beyond health, it’s more encompassing, it’s life. When we provide safe water access to people are customers find new life in reclaimed time, new opportunities, and improved health.
Business Empowers.
With business, value is created in every purchase. Every business exists to serve the customer, meaning the customer is the one empowered with the choice and the opportunity to participate in their own solution. Business generates a better future for all.
Love Works.
Love acts out of compassion and wisdom, eschewing pity and thoughtfully considering someone’s best and walking alongside them to help them reach it. We exist to share this love in the form of a hand-up, not a handout.
Our Vision:
Safe water piped to every home and community. Always.
Faith is the Foundation
Water4 is committed to upholding the foundational truths of the Christian faith as articulated in the Apostles' Creed and upholding historically orthodox positions of Christian belief, identity, and conduct.
Core Christian Beliefs
We affirm our belief in the essentials of the Christian faith:
- God the Father Almighty, creator of heaven and earth (Apostles' Creed).
- Jesus Christ, His only Son, our Lord, who was conceived by the Holy Spirit, born of the Virgin Mary, suffered under Pontius Pilate, was crucified, died, and was buried. He descended into hell; on the third day, He rose again from the dead; He ascended into heaven and is seated at the right hand of God the Father Almighty; from there, He will come to judge the living and the dead (Apostles' Creed).
- The Holy Spirit, active in the world today, guides and empowers believers (Apostles' Creed).
- The Church, as the community of believers, the communion of saints, and the fellowship of those who share in Christ's work and mission (Apostles' Creed).
- The forgiveness of sins, the resurrection of the body, and life everlasting (Apostles' Creed)
Our Faith Statement:
We answer God's call to share and act out the love of Jesus: serving, empowering, and providing opportunities for everyone to live in dignity.
God’s will is for human flourishing. God made all people in his image and desires them to flourish in mind, body, strength, and spirit.
In providing safe water, we answer God’s call to restore health, opportunity, and abundance to his people, and we’re afforded the opportunity to show and share Jesus with our customers. In pairing safe water with the Living Water, we can impact lives for generations.
Meet our team
We’re lifelong learners who reject the status quo in favor of finding actual solutions to problems. We see potential, optimize it, and always work to restore the world to God’s intentions. We believe in the power of ordinary individuals making small, heroic choices to change the world and we pursue this aim every single day.
View Our Full Team
