Blum February 2026

Communities and countries are transformed when God’s Word is lived out through God’s people, in all aspects of society. The hope of any community or country lies in godly men and women, boys and girls, contributing to the flourishing of their neighborhood, village, city, and country. These individuals do not appear in a vacuum; they are intentionally nurtured in the context of a loving, supportive environment and educated in the context of a biblical world view.

For forty years, the Rafiki Foundation has pursued this task of raising up godly contributors throughout Africa. Focused in ten of the English-language oriented countries (Ethiopia, Ghana, Kenya, Liberia, Malawi, Nigeria, Rwanda, Tanzania, Uganda, and Zambia), the Rafiki Foundation has established a Rafiki Training Village in each country. These Villages include residential, educational, and other facilities that serve as centers for ministering through six areas of focus: Bible Study, Education, Teacher Training, Orphan Care, Widows, and Outreach.

Rafiki Rwanda morning assembly

Lorri and I were introduced to the Rafiki ministry a few years ago and started sponsoring a high school student. When he graduated, we felt called to begin sponsoring three students in various Rafiki schools. As some of you know, in 2025 I was laid off from my IT position, and when a new position was not forthcoming, we began to pray about what was next for us. During the summer of 2025 we heard a missionary couple speak in Tacoma who have served with Rafiki for many years. We began to prayerfully consider serving with Rafiki in Africa.

We have considered overseas missions to always be on the horizon ahead of us. Would this finally be the time? We have also spent a lifetime ministering to children, through the various ways the Lord has called us to service within our family and at church. We began working with the staff at Rafiki discussing Lorri’s thirty plus years of teaching and her Master’s degree in Elementary Education, as well as her heart for special needs students who struggle with reading. Her training and experience with Brain Integration Therapy to overcome these reading impediments has helped many children over the years, including some of our own, to go from struggling to proficient readers.

For my part, I have been in IT for thirty-seven years, of which the last fourteen has been in leadership. I have a very collaborative leadership style and seek to build relationships with my employees. We have been asked to take on roles at the Rafiki Village in Kigali Rwanda, Lorri overseeing teacher training, and me as the Village Administrator. 

A grounds team member tending to the vegetable garden at the Village

We feel deeply the Lord’s call to spend this phase of our lives contributing to the ministry of Rafiki in Rwanda. Rafiki is anchored in the study of God’s Word. Lorri’s role will be to take young college graduates who are believers, and spend a year discipling them in Christian doctrine and worldview. She will also teach them how to use the classical Christian education model to help students achieve all they can while seeking after the Lord. It will be a great way to multiply Lorri’s skills across many teachers who will launch out in Rwanda and beyond in service of the Lord.

Rwanda School students

The Village Administrator role will allow me to disciple the local Rwandans who work at the school, to liaise with local pastors and Christian school leadership, to oversee the missionaries and Rwandans who serve at the Village, and to keep things running smoothly with the school and teacher college.

Our priority tasks right now are developing teams of prayer and financial supporters. We need prayer as we go through the training and all of the preparations and logistics of moving to another continent. We also need prayer for our spiritual growth and well-being, specifically that we will grow in our dependence on God, personally, relationally, and in all things pertaining to the ministry. Our required monthly support to be raised is around $5,700. Please prayerfully consider how you might be involved with us, in this transformative work that God is accomplishing in African lives and communities.

Looking forward to sharing more with you in the future.

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