A medical mission to Togo earlier this month confirmed what we, at Vapor headquarters, have been hearing from Togoville center director Christian Nkulikiye – that great things are happening on the ground and in the hearts of the people there.

The mission was simple. A small group, including physicians Connie and Dave Stampfl and their three teenage children, all from Green Bay, Wis., would set up a medical clinic at the Togo center site and tend to the medical needs of anyone who came. Months in advance, we had filled out all the required paperwork and sent it to the government health ministry. Everything seemed to be in order.

The day before we arrived, the government informed Christian that the clinic could not take place. Christian and others in the community appealed to the authorities but the decision was firm. The next morning, people started appearing at the center for treatment and they had to be told of the government’s decision. “Their disappointment was heartbreaking when they realized they were not going to receive treatment,” Dr. Connie Stampfl said.

The team did some quick thinking, and although they could not examine patients or prescribe medication, they put together packages of vitamins, protein powder, non-prescription pain relievers and bandages and dispensed them to anyone who came to the makeshift clinic. Dr. Connie said, “It just speaks to the difficulty of life for these people. They have nothing and their government is indifferent to their needs.”

The next day, the team ran with the idea of putting together medical care packages and took it one step further. Along with some 50 local people that have been involved in Vapor’s discipleship program in Togoville, the group put together packets of medical supplies, food and water and set out in all directions on motorbikes, riding narrow trails to the many small villages in the surrounding bush. According to Dr. Connie, “We met with village elders to explain our presence. We told them we do these things because of Jesus and His love for us.”

Wherever the team went, villagers gathered. By the end of the day, some 300 people had been given the health packets, heard the Gospel and been given Gospel tracts written in French. Dr. Connie said, “God was working in and through that. It makes me realize the level of difficulty those people face every day. I have a heightened awareness of their struggle for just a cup of clean water or for a bite of food.” She went on to say, “There is incredible human need, but it is such a privilege to do anything, for God to use any of us.”

Togoville: Soccer Center Update

(Togo is a small, French-speaking country on the West African coast bordered by Ghana to the west and Benin to the east. Togo faces severe economic challenges and its 6.7 million people rely primarily on agriculture to survive.)

The Vapor regional center in Togo is being developed on 14 acres of land in Togoville, just 20 miles from the capital city of Lome. For those of us in the U.S., 20 miles is 20 minutes, but Togoville is separated from Lome by Lake Togo, so the shortest route from the village to the city requires crossing the lake by canoe. Imagine hauling building materials that way!

At the center site, three large grass soccer pitches (fields) are nearly complete. Each pitch can be converted into three smaller pitches for practices and league play, for a total of nine pitches. The pitches are surrounded by a chain link fence – all hauled from Lome by canoe – and are planted with Chinese grass, all harvested by hand miles away and transplanted. The pitches are all bordered with brick that was manufactured, again by hand, on the center site.

Construction of the center buildings, water tower, well and electrical service is in progress. The Vapor center at Togoville will be a regional center and will include an additional structure to be used for staff training and administration for future centers in West Africa.

Of all the progress happening in Togo, one of the most exciting developments is, quite literally, bearing much fruit. Several acres of land surrounding the soccer complex were planted in corn last spring and the crop has exceeded all expectations. In a recent e-mail report Bill Boycott, Vapor’s Executive Director of Operations said, “Praise God we have a bumper crop! Christian reports that people are coming from all around the area to see our corn. They are very excited and want to know what we have done. I asked Christian if he expected two times the yield of our neighbors and he said, ‘No, much higher!’ ”

Bill is an engineer and former corporate executive who now works as a business consultant. He also volunteers significant time to Vapor. He said using hybrid seed, tilling the soil properly and planting in raised rows were all it took to significantly improve the corn crop. Vapor plans to provide education and assistance to local growers in Togo to help them improve and diversify their crops. In turn, this will provide better nutrition and a more robust economy for the community.

Whether through vitamins and protein powder, soccer pitches, corn or Gospel tracts printed in French, God’s spirit is moving in His people to bring His message of love and redemption to the people of Togo and beyond. With the continued prayers and support of those of you who have a heart for the poor and a passion for bringing sustainable life change to the Third World, we humbly join you in service to the King of Kings!

Life is a vapor,

Micah McElveen