Wilson September 2025

“So the wall was finished on the twenty-fifth day of the month Elul¹, in fifty-two days” (Nehemiah 6:15).

Greetings Rafiki friends and family!

We write this letter in the early days of September, the opening of the dry season in Kenya. The temperature is cool, and we have even spotted a few African White Caper butterflies. But the swarms of Belenois aurota that migrate across the sky will not arrive until late November. This is also the peak season for tourism in Kenya. Sightseers come from all over the world to experience safaris and Kenyan hospitality.

Here in Mwiki (the town outside Nairobi where the Rafiki Village is located), the student body returns for the final term of the school year. For us, it is the third term of our third year with Rafiki. It is hard to believe that we have been here 1,009 days! However, the last thirty days have been especially full of evaluations and preparations for the next year. While the days remaining in this school year are even less than fifty-two, we are confident that we will accomplish what God wills for us to do.

We have reached the Third Term of our Third Year with Rafiki!

In the first week of the new term, Joshua and Caleb from the Rafiki Classical Christian School (RCCS) were selected by the Maestro for a special assignment at the start of each school day. As the “official” RCCS bongo players, these boys will summon everyone to the morning assembly with their consistent, rhythmic beat that is loud enough to be heard throughout the Village. The boys consider this a high honor, and like their biblical namesakes, they have been faithful to their new duty. 

Our school bongo players rhythmically summon students to morning assembly.

Teachers from Tulip Christian Academy, a Rafiki Outreach school, arrived at the Village last week to benchmark at RCCS for three days. Their motorbus journey from Kimilili (in Western Kenya) began at 6:00 a.m. Sunday and they reached Rafiki just before dinner at about 5:15 p.m.! During their visit, they observed in preschool, Grammar, and Logic classes. They were amazed to see how even “the little ones” grappled with thought-provoking biblical themes. The miraculous thing about God’s Word is that it speaks to every age. The group returned to their school excited to share what they had learned and experienced here.

We welcomed teacher observers from Tulip Christian Academy.

Grade four students delivered some freshly made mandazi to the Headmaster.

Teachers presented their Term 3 content at the “Lesson Plan Fair.”

In 445 BC, the Jews who returned from exile dedicated the walls they had rebuilt and rededicated themselves to God (Nehemiah 12:27-43). On the morrow, our Village will finish the Rafiki Bible Study on Nehemiah and have our own celebratory walk. In 2025 AD, the school will travel from the assembly grounds to the highest point in the Village, Zion Cottage, with our choirs singing hymns along the way. The Village staff, teachers, and missionaries will also take part and upon reaching the summit, we will pray corporately over the students. A different place, a different language, a different view, but 2,470 years later, prayers and praises for God’s faithfulness, and blessings are still timely because God is the same yesterday, today, and forever.

Praises

• As the Songfest recital approaches, the enthusiastic leadership of the Grammar School choirs provided by the upper school music students has brought the two schools closer together.

Kirk, a Rhetoric student and senior class president, received his National Music Festival awards.

• The Parent-Teacher Fellowships have improved the lines of communication between the Rafiki School and parents this year.
• Recent visits by the Ministry of Education have affirmed that our Rafiki curriculum and school facilities can operate under their new educational structure.

Prayer Requests

• The Form Four students will be diligent through their final month of review before the national exams.
• God will provide more day student sponsors, so that Rafiki can bring Bible study and classical Christian education to more needy children in the surrounding community.
• More people will accept the call to the mission field—whether short-term or long-term to serve in one of Rafiki’s ten Villages in the next year.

Please share our newsletter with anyone who would like to be a part of impacting Africa with the Gospel and Christ-centered education. They can access our webpage for more information and easy online giving (one-time or recurring) here: https://RafikiFoundation.org/missionary-detail/theodore-and-crystal-wilson-ii-258. Donations can also be mailed to: Rafiki Foundation, Inc. PO Box 1988, Eustis, FL 32727-1988. Our Missionary #258 should be noted on the check’s subject line. All contributions are fully tax-deductible.

Our work in Kenya is made possible by your prayers and financial support. Your contributions go toward our basic needs, allowing Rafiki to direct their donations to orphan care, day student tuition, and other Village Programs. Thank you for your partnership.

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1 Elul: The sixth month of the Jewish ecclesiastical calendar, corresponding to the latter part of August and the beginning of September. The miraculous feat of rebuilding the wall in such a short time, underscores God’s faithfulness to his people and Nehemiah’s servant leadership.