Blum August 2026

“Sing to the Lord, bless his name; tell of his salvation from day to day. Declare his glory among the nations, his marvelous works among all the peoples!” (Psalm 96:2-3).

Hello from Africa!

So much has happened since our July newsletter. The Lord has done an amazing work in our sight! In January, we began conversations with Rafiki about the possibility of serving in Africa. We found out there was a need in the Rafiki Village Rwanda for two more missionaries, one with management/leadership experience to lead the Village, and one with teaching experience to lead the Rafiki Teachers College. We were so blessed to learn that there was this opportunity with Rafiki that the Lord had been preparing us for with our experiences and our skills.

Many of you have heard about the amazing turn around when we agreed to go to Rwanda with Rafiki. The setbacks we had endured included Steve getting laid off in May 2025 and not being able to find a new job even after months of trying. Sliding into debt while we tried to live on unemployment and Lorri’s salary. A condo in Florida that we bought in 2022 that was supposed to make income but was losing money every month. Washington state demanding I pay back $14,000 in unemployment. Our insurance company refusing to pay for damage to our wood floor that happened suddenly in August 2025 due to a water leak, which prevented us from putting the house on the market while we fought with them.

In February, right after we committed to go to Africa long-term, we had an amazing week. We got a letter from Washington state that our $14k debt was forgiven. We got a check from our insurance company that provided the money to fix our floors. We got two cash offers in the same day on our rental property in Florida.

At the same time, we began to pray that we could sell our house on Bainbridge and raise our support to be in Rwanda by the start of the school year in August. It was very aggressive and we knew that we may not make it, but we wanted to come as close as we could, so that we could be there as soon as possible to help with the work. I spent February emptying our house into our garage and shed preparing it to sell.

In March we went to Eustis, Florida for training at the Rafiki Home Office. While we were there, Enrichment week took place. That is a yearly time where the Rafiki Missionaries from all ten African countries come to Eustis for training, fellowship, and a two-day “Enrichment” event where Rafiki brings in guest speakers. While we were there, our real estate agent and her husband were applying finishing touches to our house and getting it staged. Four days after it went live on a housing market that has been, and still is somewhat shaky, we got two offers the same day. After some bidding up, we went under contract for well over our asking price. We were once again amazed at the provision of the Lord!

Throughout April and May we were moving our stuff to storage so we could clear out in time for closing. We also started fundraising. We continued to pray for an early August arrival to the mission field. By July, we had spoken to many people, and presented at our church, Calvary Chapel, in Poulsbo, Washington, and our previous church, Aspen Ridge church in Evergreen, Colorado. Both churches agreed to support us, as did many of our friends at each church, and family and friends beyond. By mid-July, we were up to forty percent in monthly support and over sixty percent for our first-year overall goal. We were told to pack our bags and buy our tickets!

Lorri’s books heading to Africa

So, after months of praying to be here by the beginning of August, the Lord said yes! We landed in Rwanda on August 2. We got to do safety training with many other missionaries, from Rafiki and other ministries, in Nairobi, from August 6-8. As I write this, we have just gotten back home on August 10, and school started today. We are here, and ready to get to work. God is good!

Visiting a local Outreach Program partner, the Africa College of Theology

Praise God with us

We got everything packed and arrived here in time for training and for the start of school.
A successful security/safety training to help prepare us for life in Africa.

Security training

Pray to God with us

For the transition to go well as we learn our positions
For the work visa applications to go quickly
For the rest of our monthly support to come in; we are currently at 55%

If you wish to support us either monthly or a one-time gift, you can do so online by visiting https://RafikiFoundation.org/missionary-detail/stephen-and-lorri-blum-263. Or you can send a check to Rafiki Foundation, PO Box 1988, Eustis, FL 32727 and put our missionary number (263) in the memo line.

Without all the love, blessings, and support, from so many of you, we could not be here. We thank you!

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.