Allinder August 2024

“I will praise the name of God with a song; I will magnify him with thanksgiving” (Psalm 69:30).

Greetings from Zambia!

The Rafiki School in Zambia, like the other nine Rafiki Schools across Africa, serves both resident orphans and day students. The majority of the school population is day students. In Zambia 357 of the 391 students are day students. A few of these are fully sponsored and the others are heavily subsidized so the families can afford the cost of our classical Christian school. In this newsletter, I would like to tell you about one of these students.

On the Rafiki website he is known by his alias, Lazarus. He lived about one mile from our school with his mother who is a subsistence farmer. Lazarus is the fourth-born in the family and the first to finish secondary school.

Lazarus attended a local government school through grade nine where he took his national exam to qualify for secondary school. That school has seriously over-crowded classrooms (fifty or more pupils per class) and a depressing failure rate on the national exams. Lazarus, however, did quite well on the exam and some of the Rafiki teachers from that community advocated for him to join the Rafiki School in grade ten.

He struggled a bit at first in his classes here because the level of English is much higher than in the local, rural schools near us. But he persevered and tried his best. He turned in every assignment to the best of his ability, participated in co-curricular activities like clubs and sports, and was never a discipline problem.

In grade twelve, Lazarus developed a strong work ethic. He took every opportunity for extra tuition lessons and remained after school most days to study. He was gifted with a solar light to help him study at home after 6:30 p.m. which is when it gets dark here (his home does not have electricity). He would join in study groups on Saturdays and often would remain in the afternoon to take advantage of the quiet, uninterrupted time.

The grade twelve national exam was given last November and Lazarus participated in our school graduation in early December. The results of the exam were expected in January. During the waiting time, Lazarus worked part-time as a groundskeeper and opened a small shop in his rural community where he sold candies and other small items which he had purchased in the nearby town. The money he was able to make he used to buy food for his family.

The day the results of the national exam were released Lazarus was at the Rafiki School. I was able to get the results via text message from the Exam Council. When I read Lazarus his results, he dropped to his knees and lifted his hands in prayer. Lazarus not only passed the exam, but did extremely well.

Lazarus is third from the left, second row

The next day, Lazarus wrote me this message, “Thank you Lord for making it possible for me to make it. Thank you, Lord, for the excellent school like Rafiki Classical Christian School. Madam, this is unbelievable!”

How well did Lazarus do on the exam? Students take eight subjects which are graded from 1 (Distinction) to 9 (Fail). The best six subjects (including math and English) comprise a student’s final score. The best possible score is six. Lazarus’ final score was ten.

Students who score as well as Lazarus did have the opportunity to apply for a full scholarship at Cavendish University, one of the best private universities in Zambia. With the help of the school guidance counselor, Lazarus applied, took an entrance exam, and was accepted into a program there. He is now a grateful and humble student in Business Administration at Cavendish.

How did all this happen? Lazarus would say it was all of the Lord, and he is right. But he was greatly helped by his strong work ethic, his humble spirit, and the support of the Rafiki School. That support was possible because of the sponsors of day students. On his behalf, I say “thank you” to all the sponsors.

Please join in praying for the success of Lazarus and other Rafiki graduates as they transition to adulthood, especially that he is able to maintain the high grade point average needed to keep his scholarship, and that all the graduates find good Christian friends and solid churches. Also please pray for more sponsors for day students who will make a difference in the lives of students like Lazarus. Visit https://RafikiFoundation.org/child-pages/child-summary to find out more about sponsoring and orphan or a day student.

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