Gozé August 2026

Whose agenda are you following?

I have recently been pondering this question after having finished the book Loneliness by Elisabeth Elliot. Elliot encourages her readers to shift their heart posture from relying first upon themselves to relying upon the Lord when deciding how each day should be lived out. This wonderfully concrete verbiage of agenda (“a list of things to be done”) comes from a conversation Elliot had while eating sandwiches with a single lady. Elliot asks her friend about whether she is ever lonely, and her friend responds with ‘“You see, I have a sense of expectancy every day. What does the Lord want to do with me today? I have no agenda of my own”’ (Elliot p. 131). Loneliness, therefore, consists of a desire to place one’s own plans before the Lord’s. It is a shame that this is my natural tendency. Practically speaking, a to-do list, with detailed tasks and small boxes to check off, centered upon the Lord is more ordered and well-intentioned than any I could ever write.

Recently, I have been humbled by how the Lord exposes my desire to be in control of planning my immediate future as fruitless. Life on the mission field, so far, is demanding and constantly presents last-minute tasks to be completed. As a missionary at Rafiki Village Liberia, I find myself desiring the certainty of a planned-out future: I want to know what new tasks I will complete in the coming months; I want to know if I will serve longer or if I will go home after this year comes to completion; I want to know if I will make an impact upon the students I greet each day; I want to know if I will be able to withstand the hot weather of the dry season when it comes. The Lord, however, does not let me look that far into my future, and why would He? I would be in control of my future if I could see all that He has planned for me. In response, instead of complaining and delving into loneliness, I will praise the Lord that He guides me towards relying upon Him by withholding complete knowledge of His plans for me.

In response to this understanding, each day I seek to rely upon Him by swapping my daily goals for His agenda. I focus then on persevering, continuing despite the daily difficulties, as I complete my course in Liberia, and my course within the greater scheme of God’s plan: “But I do not account my life of any value nor as precious to myself, if only I may finish my course and the ministry that I received from the Lord Jesus, to testify to the gospel of the grace of God” (Acts 20:24). My agenda is not my own but comes from the Lord’s plans to further His gospel.

Even when I forget the Lord’s agenda for me, the Lord extends His grace to me with the reminder in a simple image. This morning, the rain calmly strikes the Rafiki Village. Students and teachers hide under umbrellas as they walk to class. With their sight obstructed by the coverage from the umbrella, students and teachers shift their attention from anticipating their destination to focusing instead upon their individual steps. They center their stride under the umbrella to maximize coverage, and they avoid puddles on the sidewalk by carefully choosing their feet placement.

God’s gift of leaving me ignorant of my future, leaving my view of the future obstructed, places me in a position to rely upon Him more fully. This is what He has graciously shown me this last month.

As I continue in my service at Rafiki Liberia, please pray for me to steadfastly pursue the habit of quiet time and Scripture memorization. Pray that the Lord will continue to change my heart posture so that I might be quick to be content and faithful with His agenda rather than my own when I think of my day-to-day tasks. Pray also for the students, teachers, staff, and missionaries at Rafiki Liberia to delight in the chance to study Scripture independently and communally through Bible study. May the glory and goodness of the gospel present itself to us all in deeper ways as we study the book of Acts together.

The Rafiki choir sings during church service

Attending church with some short-term missionaries

All the residents crowd around to watch the World Cup final

The new teachers and training staff after completing a successful teacher training

Enjoying the beach with the residents

The residents enjoying the ocean waves

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.