Harbick December 2024

“These things I have spoken to you, that my joy may be in you, and that your joy may be full” (John 15:11).

Greetings from Nigeria!

Where has the year gone? It is hard to believe that when I wrote this newsletter, 2024 had just twenty days left in it. God has been so faithful to us here at Rafiki in these last few months, and His joy is overflowing to others. So let me recap some of the highlights!

Everything here in Jos built up to the first West Africa Conference on classical Christian education. (East Africa has had three conferences in the past five years.) The conference held in late October was titled The New Old Way and featured speakers from the United States and Kenya.

In preparation for the conference, we called on the leadership of our partner denominations, two of whom were appointed in the last few months. The picture to the right is the new Anglican Bishop of Jos at our first meeting and presentation of the Reformation Study Bible from Ligonier.

Those outside of Nigeria kept saying there would only be a few hundred at most, but we here said, “You do not know Nigerians!” We bought food for 500 plus. God was faithful, and we had over 550 in attendance. One of the pictures below is the queue for the tea break.

The speakers and the packed break-out sessions were wonderful. Our cooks did a fantastic job serving those 550 meals in less than an hour. Our security handled the parking. An exciting bonus was having one of our resident young men play the keyboard for the hymns and different interludes. The attendees left asking when will be the next one and we will see how God provides.

Line at the tea break

Attendees of the conference

Another fun part of the conference was hearing from the Home Office and visitors alike how beautiful the grounds were and how well maintained the buildings are. Well done to maintenance and grounds personnel.

Resident musician playing for the conference

There is growing interest in Rafiki School curriculum, Bible studies, and Sunday School lessons. Following the conference, we held a training for schools who purchased the Rafiki School Curriculum. Fourteen men and women were on site for five days of CORE training. They left excited about the implementation of the materials in their schools. Several more trainings as well as visits to the schools to verify implementation of the curriculum will be conducted next year.

November also brought the convocation for one of our graduates who completed Law at Bingham University. He is currently doing the last year of his law studies with his practicum here in Jos. Here he is looking very professional!

Praises

• God honoring conference with great attendance!
• Term one of the new school year is nearing completion with the forty new three-year-olds indistinguishable from older students!
• God’s continued provision for the needs of the Village and our Rafiki employees during this continued time of economic instability.

Prayer Requests

• Pray for the meetings with the University of Mkar as they review RICE as the site for the degree program in Classical Christian Education.
• Glorious celebration of our Lord’s incarnation with friends and family.

Thank you for your prayers and support!

Please click here for a printer friendly version of this newsletter.