Mission Makers
While clean water provision is not the lone focus of Vapor Ministries’ outreach initiatives, it is a key pillar in helping transform impoverished communities. All three countries where the nonprofit currently serves rank among the most marginalized when it comes to securing adequate water. In Togo, for example, less than 20 percent of the population has safely managed water, and two million people still can’t access it from a quality source. More than six percent of all deaths there are attributed to unsafe water – nearly three times the global average.
Unsafe water-related deaths run twice the norm in Kenya, where improved water sources elude more than 15 million residents, and nearly 23 percent of Haitians struggle with this same problem. Even in larger cities like Nairobi, Kenya, where water-related infrastructure is more prevalent, shortages remain common, particularly during droughts. In addition, poor urban planning and construction techniques have left many communities with an insufficient supply or no water at all. Other building projects and manufacturing practices have contaminated natural waterways, further exasperating the crisis. Seasonal changes wreak similar havoc throughout Haiti as well. While the government has partnered with multiple NGOs to provide boreholes in some communities, many of them fail to produce water during dry spells. As a result, thousands of people resort to utilizing surface water which increases the prevalence of disease. Togo, on the other hand, doesn’t suffer from droughts or shortages nearly as often, but a lack of filtration systems and storage facilities plagues much of the country. Water salinity is particularly challenging, especially in the southern areas, making retrievable water difficult to consume.
Water quality and access are only part of the crisis. People routinely haul between 40 and 100 pounds of water many miles daily. Imagine carrying out this labor-intensive process for a contaminated resource. This is the reality millions of people face every day. Vapor Ministries exists to alleviate poverty and multiply disciples for Christ in the poorest places on earth. And caring for the physical needs of individuals begins with water. Vapor center wells provide clean water to communities across Africa and Haiti. The organization also routinely hires tankers to carry water to more remote locations when individuals face extreme crises. In 2024 alone, Vapor provided more than 88 million cups of clean drinking water to the areas it serves. Hundreds of thousands of lives are impacted each year because this life-sustaining resource ensures sufficient hydration, improved hygiene and sanitation, safe cooking practices, and much more. Water is life, and every drop provided is FREE. †
Resources: Institute for Health Metrics and Evaluation’s Global Burden of Disease study, World Bank Poverty and Inequality Platform
