The Taste of Kindness
- 4 days ago
- 5 min read
Updated: 10 hours ago
A small cloud of fine white powder swirls delicately in a narrow shaft of sunlight just above the countertop. George sprinkles a little more flour on the surface before passing the wooden roller over the dough until the thickness and consistency are perfect. Then, with a single quick motion, he slides the soft circle across the counter, through the air, and onto a griddle sitting atop a propane burner a few feet away. George is crafting one of his specialties - chapati. His flat bread is available in a variety of flavors, but this batch is simple: flour, water, and salt. Delicious.
The 23-year-old cook mashes and rolls out another dough ball before flipping the first patty. There are 10 more chapatis to prepare. That’s plenty of time for him begin sharing about how a chance encounter with a Vapor Ministries team member 14 years ago helped lead him into the kitchen and onto the entrepreneurial path.
“My mother and stepfather both died from HIV within two months of each other when I was nine years old,” George said while pressing out another lump of dough. “Me and my three siblings moved in with my grandmother. Including my cousins, there were 18 children in the home.”
Growing up in Kenya’s Gichagi slum is incredibly challenging, but in a household that large, food and financial constraints can quickly become insurmountable obstacles.
The young man pulls the hot patty off the griddle, places it in a basket, then tosses another in its place. “Everyone in the community lives hand to mouth,” he adds while gesturing with flour-coated hands. “It is really a type of spiritual warfare because people are trapped in this cycle of poverty, and there is no escape. The children are then taught the same thing.”
George’s first encounter with Vapor came not long after losing his parents. He and his older sister were walking near the Gichagi center when a team member noticed he was traveling barefoot. “The center manager gave me some shoes,” he recalled with a smile. “From that, I learned that the people at Vapor were kindhearted, and I felt I could trust them.”
George and the other 17 children in his home soon joined the discipleship league at the center. There, they were introduced to Jesus through Scripture, prayer, and the steady presence of people who walked with them week after week.
“At Vapor, I was mentored by so many people who were many years older than me,” George noted. “Those interactions were important because I was able to learn from their mistakes and the challenges they went through.”
He went on to explain that these relationships and influence from his math teacher at school helped him cope with the trauma of losing his parents and transform what he recalls as his “depressive and withdrawn state into something positive and meaningful.”
Three years after joining the league, George became a sponsored child through Vapor’s Hasmin’s Friends program. This unique initiative connected a young boy full of potential with an American family committed to providing the resources necessary to supply critical food, health services, school fees, and ongoing discipleship. This incredible generosity dramatically reduced the burden on his large family and helped create opportunities for a brighter future.
In his mid-teens, George fell in love with cooking and serving others, more specifically. “People would smile and say ‘thank you’ when I prepared them food,” he said while rotating his bread. “In that time, I felt something like a veil lifted, and I knew that was what I wanted to do.”
Though George confessed that he suffered an “academic slowdown” following the death of his parents, he worked hard and by high school was named Head Boy. Just when everything seemed to be turning around, a complication at home forced him to move in with his older sister, ushering in additional complications that could easily have threatened his academic success.
“I was living with her, her husband, and their two children in a small single-room home,” he said. “It was some distance from my school, so I was walking over eight kilometers to and from school each day. And as Head Boy, I was required to be there early. It was very challenging for me.”
Two years later, as George was preparing for college, he had to move out and find his own place.
“I was studying cosmetology because I knew I could find some work with that skill to make ends meet,” he said. “It wasn’t much, but I was getting some money in my hands and that was fulfilling to me.”
George continued to find success in his work, but knew he wasn’t pursuing his passion. A year later, he met with a Vapor team member about transitioning his studies to the hospitality industry. This new path would allow him to learn about the restaurant and hotel environments where his love of cooking would flourish.
Today, George is cooking meals and filling chapati orders for people throughout his community. His services are also contracted for all Vapor trips to Kenya. The young talent offers up hearty dishes and puts a personal twist on national cuisine for visitors to enjoy as part of their week-long experience.
“It’s amazing to see that barefoot little boy now,” one team member said. “It’s a testament to what the love and generosity of people can really do in a person’s life. A boy who’d just lost his parents, and in many ways his direction, was seen, embraced, and encouraged. Now, the one who was served in the Gichagi center is serving those who help make it all possible.”
While George seems to have found his stride, he admits that there are bigger plans still ahead. Limited only by the size of his small kitchen, the Kingdom business-minded chef wants to fill more stomachs and inspire other futures.
“I’m building towards a catering company,” he shared with excitement. “I want to rent out the materials needed for larger events as well as increase my capacity to cook for bigger gatherings.”
“I also want to believe in others the way someone believed in me. My sponsors used their finances and partnered with God for me to become what I am today. I have a burden in my heart to help others. In the future, I want to open a restaurant with a culinary school so that I can invest in other people’s lives as well.”
Every day, hundreds of children and youth are provided opportunities that would otherwise be impossible. As a Hasmin’s Friends sponsor, your generosity will guarantee access to quality education, life-on-life mentoring, food provision, essential health services, and so much more.
To learn how you can help raise up the next story of hope, just like George’s, please click here.
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