Allinder November 2024

“Let the word of Christ dwell in you richly, teaching and admonishing one another in all wisdom, singing psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, with thankfulness in your hearts to God” (Colossians 3:16).

Like the early church, we at Rafiki Village Zambia sing hymns, as do the other nine Rafiki Villages across Africa.

Each class sings hymns as part of the daily Bible lesson. The future teachers at the Rafiki Institute of Classical Education (RICE, our teacher college) sing hymns, the national staff sing hymns at staff devotions, the day students who take the Home Devotion Page to their families sing the hymns, the resident children of the Village sing hymns as part of their family devotion time, and the teachers sing hymns each morning at devotions. At the Friday assembly, students sing the first verse of that week’s hymn from memory.

Future classical teachers at RICE devotions

Why hymns? Sometimes I am asked that. When visitors hear our Early Childhood classes learning “Great is Thy Faithfulness” or “Lead On, Oh King Eternal,” we explain about the value of the deep truths learned in hymns and how this lays a foundation for the children.

A few day students going home with their Home Devotion Page packed in their bookbags

The hymns for the Rafiki Bible Study lessons are carefully selected to reinforce that lesson’s teaching. For example, when studying 1 Samuel recently, the students learned that the prophet Samuel set up an Ebenezer, literally “a stone of help”, to help the Israelites remember how God had helped them at that time. The hymn for that lesson was “Come, Thou Fount of Every Blessing,” which includes the line “here I raise my Ebenezer.” Students collected stones to make their own “Ebenezer” and write how God has been faithful to them.

Class 8’s “Ebenezer”

We also use hymns to highlight attributes of God throughout the day. For example, when the classes sang “For the Beauty of the Earth,” we encouraged the children to appreciate the beauty God has blessed our Rafiki Village with.

This year we have added another hymn to the students’ repertoire, “Lord and Saviour, True and Kind.” The primary classes sing it at their afternoon assembly and it is the prayer we have for all our students. It was written by Handley C.G. Moule and I’m including it here.

Lord and Saviour, true and kind,
Be the Master of my mind;
Bless, and guide, and strengthen still
All my powers of thought and will.

Let Thy gracious presence rule
All I think and speak at school;
Keep me faithful, prompt, and keen,
At Thy side, my King unseen.

Here I train for life’s swift race;
Let me do it in Thy grace;
Here I arm me for life’s fight;
Let me do it in Thy might.

Thou hast made me mind and soul;
I for Thee would use the whole;
Thou hast died that I might live;
All my powers to Thee I give.

Beauty in our Rafiki Village

Please join us in praying that God will answer the prayer in this hymn for each student.

The reason our current students (all 396 of them) can benefit from the riches of hymns is because of generous donors. We are very grateful for those whose financial gifts subsidize the fees parents are able to pay. Would you consider making it possible for more children to benefit from this rich educational approach? This can be done through sponsoring an individual day student or contributing to the Rafiki Education Program. For more information, please visit the Rafiki Foundation website at www.RafikiFoundation.org.

As you receive this newsletter, it will almost be Thanksgiving in the U.S. You all are one of the things I thank God for continually!

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