Exciting things are taking place as Vapor continues to grow and expand its activities around the globe. In 2012, we have plans to initiate two new centers in Ethiopia and Haiti, to complete our newest center in Dilaire, Haiti, and to continue improving our three operating centers in Africa.

Upcoming Centers

Addis Ababa, Ethiopia
Vapor is working to establish its next African center in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia’s capital city. We are hoping to work in Korah slum, where many people have leprosy or are related to someone who has leprosy. Vapor is honored to serve people in Korah who not only live in poverty, but who are also stigmatized by this disease.

Ouanaminthe, Haiti
In addition to completing our newest center in Dilaire, Haiti, Vapor’s field representatives on the ground are making encouraging progress toward securing property for a center in nearby Ouanaminthe. This bustling commercial center is located on Haiti’s border with the Dominican Republic.

Under Construction

Dilaire Center – Haiti
Vapor’s newest center continues to take shape in Dilaire, a rural village in northeastern Haiti. At the center site, the land has been cleared and roadways have been completed. Construction of soccer fields, buildings and a master water project has begun. Vapor representatives Christian and Celine Nkulikiye are continuing to disciple men and women within the community, identifying leaders and equipping them to run the center upon its completion.

Improvements to Operating Centers

Gichagi Center – Kenya
Planned improvements to Vapor’s center in Gichagi, Kenya, this year include the installation of a pavilion. This covered area, from which spectators can watch soccer matches and races, will also provide a venue for discipleship sessions and for renting out to the community for weddings and other events. Improvements to the running track are also planned for 2012.

Kawangware Center – Kenya
Many things are taking place at the center in Nairobi’s Kawangware slum this year, beginning with an overhaul of the center’s master water project (the Ruth Well). Aboveground storage tanks will be replaced by a water tower that will provide more water pressure. These improvements will increase the center’s ability to generate self-sustaining revenue through wholesale water sales to commercial distributors in the community. Improving the fields and carrying out minor alterations to the center’s facilities are also among the goals for Vapor’s Kawangware center this year.

Togoville Center – Togo
A priority for 2012 at the Togoville center is to complete the translation of the new children’s discipleship curriculum into the local language, French. The curriculum consists of studies specifically designed to teach Biblical principles to children in Vapor’s leagues during the discipleship sessions that follow practices and games.

Vapor’s indigenous staff in Togoville learned much during their visit from International Plant Nutrition Institute (IPNI) representative Dr. Steve Phillips. Dr. Phillips, IPNI’s U.S. director for the Southeast, volunteered his time last month to teach and train Vapor’s Togoville staff in sustainable farming techniques, with the hope of increasing crop yields and boosting the financial sustainability of the center. Vapor staff members also plan to build an additional poultry house for their egg-laying operation in order to increase production. By improving these two microbusinesses in 2012, the center will be on its way to financial independence.

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

Life is a vapor,

Micah McElveen
www.vaporsports.org

Bro. Juan, who is our national pastor in Pavas church, had his right foot amputated due to his diabetes illness.  The surgery went well and he started receiving therapy. The

orthopedist is working  on his operated leg to give it shape for a prosthesis.  Bro. Juan has gone through hard times but his spirit has always been high trusting the Lord in all his ordeal.  On the first Sunday of March he preached from his wheelchair an inspired

Gospel message and at the time of his invitation two men came forward to trust the Lord as Savior. Others came for prayers and rededications.

Pastor Juan has continued preaching the Word from his wheelchair.  But he needs a prosthesis.

Thank you for your interest in our lives and ministry. We feel very blessed to be a part of your missionary family.    Appreciate your faithful prayers and financial support, without either our work would not be possible.

Your missionaries,  Ramon and Annette Perez

Deaf Community in Leveque

It is with great sadness that we are writing to inform you that we will be resigning as Baptist Bible Fellowship missionaries to Ethiopia. Some of you may already be aware of the circumstances that have led to this but to those of you are not we would like to share with you what led us to this decision.

Upon our arrival in Ethiopia our son Benjamin seemed to be on the right track developmentally speaking. We began to notice around age 2 1/2 that there might be an issue we needed to deal with because he was not speaking. We thought that living in a bilingual culture and environment had merely confused him. We were sure that he would just “pick up” English as soon as we returned home for furlough, but that has not proven to be the case. We quickly began working with a speech therapist and had Ben evaluated by our local children’s hospital. We have been referred to this same hospital’s developmental clinic to see if there may be something else going on that we are not aware of. Regardless of what diagnosis we receive it has been made clear to us that Ben is in need of long term therapy. Several months home on furlough will not be enough help him to reach his full potential.

As parents this has been an incredibly difficult decision to make. The work in Ethiopia is progressing and our support has been constant and dependable. However, as parents, we are forced to choose between a work that has been eight years in the making and our son. Right now, we do not know how long we will need to be in the States. We feel it is in our and our supporting churches’ best interest to remain State-side and get our son the help he needs.

We cannot even begin to express how thankful we are for the support both prayerfully and financially we have received from you for almost five years now. Many of you have been there with us from the very beginning believing in us and what God could do through us! We have never taken that for granted for one second! Take a look at what God has done through our partnership over the past two years:

• • Ben’s nanny came to know the Lord, was baptized, and is now attending Bible college.
  • Our language teacher was discipled.
  • 2 Bible studies have been started.

God has done some amazing things through our partnership, please don’t ever lose sight of that!

As of March 1, 2012 we will be joining the staff of our sending church. The Missions Offcie will continue to process our support through April in order to help us make the transition back to the United States.We want to be as fair and “up front” with our churches as possible so that you can begin supporting another missionary as soon as possible.

We are about to enter a new chapter in life. We are excited and yet sad at the same time. We never expected to have to make a decision like this so quickly in our missionary career. We love and appreciate you all SO VERY MUCH! If you have any questions for us or would like to discuss this further you can reach us as at (816) 898-2758. Thank you for allowing us to have served as your missionaries to Ethiopia!

For HIS Glory,

Missionaries to the Deaf

Hello, this is our first time to post here. We are Ray and Kathryn Montoya, missionaries to the deaf. We work with the deaf in the US as well as many other countries. You can see our website at www.cbdeafministry.org
Next week, March 8-16 we will be heading to Haiti to work with the deaf community there. You can see more at http://vimeo.com/33230475

The earthquake that struck Haiti in January of 2010 left nearly 1.5 million people homeless. Among those left without a home was a group of deaf individuals and their families. Somehow in the midst of the chaos following the earthquake over 400 deaf, and family members of the deaf, settled together on a small temporary piece of land in the heart of Port-au-Prince. These deaf individuals and their families lived in tents and struggled to find enough food and water to simply survive. As they began to settle into their temporary homes, they formed relationships, leaders emerged, and a community was created. In 2011 the Red Cross replaced their tents with temporary homes and The 410 Bridge began to work with the leaders to create a permanent community.
These individuals desire to work hard, further their education, have a place to worship, and become productive members of society.
In addition to housing, the community members will have access to safe drinking water, a quality school, and a local church.

We will be joining with the 410 Bridge in this project. Please pray for the deaf, their spiritual growth and God’s leading in all the work we will be doing in Haiti.
Blessings,
Ray and Kathryn Montoya
Missionaries to the deaf

We are preparing for a spring outreach and ask you to pray with us in our continued outreach to Brussels.

Chris and Becky Taylor

Souls Saved!

During this past year, we have seen 190 people saved – 61 in church services and 129 at the Guard on drill weekends! God is blessing and we have been able to reach several new Guard families. Pray for us as we disciple these dear people and train them to reach their extended family and friends with the Gospel.

Building Plans!!

As you may remember, we recently added on to our church building with a welcome center slash overflow room.  Our main auditorium is upstairs and it’s impossible for people with wheelchairs or walkers to get up the steep stairway.  We equipped our welcome center with a TV screen and speaker system so that they can sit there and see and hear the service.  However, we are still pretty consistently filling the auditorium, so we see the need to expand our space further.  We have an already existing pavilion with a concrete floor. God placed key people in our church this past year – the CO of a construction company, a master electrician, and people who know how to do concrete work.  So we have decided to turn the pavilion into a new church auditorium that will double our seating capacity.  Everyone is very excited about it! We plan to do this in stages, so that we can hopefully do it on our own.  Pray for us about this exciting project!

IN HIS SERVICE,

Rick and Joy Kelley

For many years our home Church (IBB Miami) has had a 5:30 am prayer meeting for people who are going to work. They prayed for a neighborhood family whose 7 year old son has leukemia. The mother had to quit her job to take care of the son and the father’s hours had been cut back at work, making a big hardship on the family.

The pastor sent an email to the entire church asking for help for this need, even though they had never been to any services. They brought groceries, laundry and cleaning supplies, gift cards and cash on the 23rd, which is when they had the Children’s Christmas Program.

The little boy got out of the hospital on the 22nd for Christmas and someone suggested that they bring him to see the Children’s program. They came, not knowing anything about what the Church was doing.

After the program, when the pastor heard who they were, he went to them and told them (in private) what the Church had done. They loaded their car completely full of groceries and supplies, plus over $1000 in cash and gift cards. Here it is several days later and money is still coming in for the family. This is what Christmas should be all about, SHOWING LOVE TO OTHERS.

Please pray with us that through the out-pouring of love and generosity by our Church people that the family may be saved.

Rudy has an appointment with the Eye Dr. next week. We pray that he can have his eye surgery so that we can return to Peru. Also Lorraine is having special treatments for her back. Please be praying for this also.

May you all have a Happy New Year.

Rudy & Lorraine Johnson

Email Address: rudy@cuscoperu.org