Bannan September 2026

Over two weeks in mid-August we attended “Survival Camp” training at the Home Office in Florida. This was our first time meeting the Home Office staff in person, and getting a full picture of how Rafiki operates, both day-to-day, and from a broader z point of view. What is rare for Rafiki is that we had our two children with us for survival camp. In an amazing work of God, the other family that was at survival camp with us also brought their children, including two girls close to our girls’ ages. The children all became amazing friends. Through a remarkable number of similarities and shared values, including time living in Alaska, they were the perfect family to be “survivors” with!

Rafiki Home Office front gate

Reviewing our time at Home Office, Survival Camp appeared to have four main purposes, all carefully designed by Home Office. First is giving the opportunity for prospective missionaries to meet Home Office staff and learn from them. This learning is primarily about Rafiki, its vision and operations, but it is also about advice, spiritual support, and community. The second major component is reviewing missionary assignments and providing deep training into how missionaries work to serve Africa, further Rafiki’s vision, and be obedient to God. In our case we solidified our assignment to Malawi, with Deborah as the Dean of the Rafiki Teachers College, and Stuart as Village Administrator and Headmaster of the K-12 school.

A third part of Survival Camp is getting in to the “missionary mindset” of service and hard work. In addition to the training, we “survivors” served twenty home-cooked meals to our families and Home Office staff, and worked on service projects around the Home Office campus. These tasks helped us learn to work as a team when we were tired, and helped us rest and rely on God just a bit more as we start on our missionary journey. The final element of Survival Camp is focused on spiritual support. As it does in every Rafiki Village, our day started with the Rafiki Bible Study and prayer, focused on the Foundation’s work around Africa and the U.S.A. We were struck repeatedly by the conviction of the staff, and the core belief of the organization, that God is constantly active in provision, and through the Spirit in guiding the work. As we continue down this path that seems at times daunting, this is an important lesson.

Now that Survival Camp has been survived, we are grateful for God’s provision through it all. We are thankful for the time and attention the Home Office staff spent on us through the two weeks. We would like to say a particular thanksgiving for the Rafiki Classical Academy that welcomed our girls into their classrooms for a week. They have wonderful memories that will endure.

Our family pictured here alonside our fellow “survivors,” the Home Office management team, and Rafiki Foundation Executive Director Karen Elliott after our Commissioning

As we move forward, we are asking for continued faith in God’s provision, and grace as we start in on vigorous support raising. This seems difficult but we know God provides. We also pray for wisdom and courage to overcome, through God’s strength and blessing, the challenges ahead .

If you would like to join us in this journey, you can visit https://RafikiFoundation.org/missionary-detail/deborah-and-stuart-bannan-264 to learn more.

Learn more about Rafiki’s expanding opportunities.

Visit our newly designed website RafikiFoundation.org to learn how to:

Purchase the Rafiki Bible Study for small groups for your church or neighborhood
Serve as a missionary with Rafiki
Sponsor a child with the Rafiki Foundation to bring God’s Word and the best education in the world to some of the neediest children in the world in Africa.

Explore the Rafiki Foundation YouTube channel.

Visit (youtube.com/@RafikiFoundation) for videos from Rafiki children, teaching at our annual Enrichment conferences, and the teaching at our African classical Christian conferences.