Life is a vapor. Don't spend yours on the sidelines.

Over the course of our next few e-newsletters, we want to take you on a tour of Vapor’s three operating centers in Africa. We will be providing an overview of each spotlighted center, a key story from each center, and a link to a picture gallery specific to each center. Stay tuned as we take a GLOBAL GLANCE.

Kawangware slum is home to around 300,000 people. The majority of its residents are trying to survive on less than $1 per day, caught in what the United Nations calls “extreme poverty.” Vapor’s center in Kawangware slum was established in 2006, and its success continues to amaze us. We praise God for the work He is accomplishing.

Local Faith Communities: Vapor’s center in Kawangware works in tandem with a number of partners, but primarily with World Hope and Hope Church. Our partnership structure allows us to expand the Kingdom in a mutually beneficial way, as we serve the greater community together.

 

Poverty Alleviation: Just last year, Vapor’s Ruth Well distributed over 2 million liters of clean drinking water to the people living in the slum of Kawangware. By connecting sponsors from the U.S. with desperately impoverished children within the area, 70 children in Kawangware now have access to an education. These sponsorships pay for the child’s full tuition, school uniforms, supplies, books, and daily meal stipends—even when school is not in session. Last year, 900 young people received basic disease-awareness education and disease-prevention training. Through Vapor’s emergency assistance fund, we’ve been able to assist a multitude of special needs cases, ranging from deworming procedures to funding critical surgical operations. When the above efforts are combined with the ongoing, organic, staff-led initiatives, thousands of poverty stricken people are impacted weekly.

Sustainable Operations: Vapor’s daily outreach in Kawangware is led by John Amboko, along with Vapor’s indigenous staff comprised of 29 local employees and 18 local volunteers. Christian and Celine Nkulikiye, Vapor’s current field representatives in Haiti, were originally trained at our Kawangware center. Vapor has several operating micro-businesses, including a car wash, a rug/carpet wash, field-letting services, and a household water sales business. Great strides have been made, and the Kawangware center is progressively moving towards complete sustainability.

Sports Utilization: The appetite for soccer in this slum is tremendous. Vapor currently has around 900 young people ranging from 6-year-olds to 30-year-olds involved in the life-on-life discipleship leagues. Hundreds of people in the community are finding the hope of Christ as Vapor’s indigenous staff multiplies disciples.

Jesslyn (better known as Jesse), a young boy at Vapor’s center in Kawangware, was one of the hundreds of precious children that our local staff tends to on a weekly basis. When we took a team from the U.S. to visit Kawangware less than a year ago, this little one had a special impact on us. Jesse would cling, with a relentless grip, to my wife and several other team members. Whenever they would put him down, Jesse would weep. Soon, we noticed that some special issues existed with this child. We asked Vapor’s health administrator in Kawangware to have a doctor check his medical condition. A few weeks later, we received a concerning report, wherein doctors advised us to move quickly on a few distinct and desperately needed operations. By God’s grace, through your contributions, Vapor was able to provide for Jesse’s medical care. Today, Jesse can see clearly, walk better, and is no longer in chronic pain. Through special contributions from Vapor supporters, we were also able to enroll him in a school that is capable of providing the unique support Jesse needs. We praise God for the ways He is caring for Jesse and others through the Kawangware center.

 

Thank you again for your prayers and support. They are truly making a difference. 40 centers, in 40 third-world environments, by 2017.