Kropf November 2025

“For the love of Christ controls us, because we have concluded this: that one has died for all, therefore all have died; and he died for all, that those who live might no longer live for themselves but for him who for their sake died and was raised” (2 Corinthians 5:14–15).

Hope you all are doing well.

I, Lisa, recently returned from a three week visit to six of our Villages in east Africa. I wanted to give you an update of the trip and tell you what a typical day looks like for me when I travel. On this trip we went to Kenya, Uganda, Malawi, Zambia, Ethiopia, and Tanzania. My title at Rafiki is ChildCare and Child Sponsorship coordinator. When we travel, I focus on the ChildCare aspect of my job. We are at an exciting time right now in the ChildCare Program. Our mission has been to rescue orphans to raise and educate them in ten Rafiki Villages as godly contributors who know the Lord. At one point we had 907 orphans living across these ten Villages. Today, we have transitioned with most of our orphans having finished high school and living outside the Villages attending tertiary schooling. In each country I meet with the missionary who is the ChildCare Administrator (CCA). Many of them have other responsibilities so I often spend time with their assistant who is a national. This has been a joy to get to know these ladies who have been raising our children. 

ChildCare team in Ethiopia

ChildCare Team in Kenya

I begin each day at the dining hall at 6:45 a.m., when the orphans come to eat breakfast. I usually sit at a table with them while they eat. After breakfast I like to follow a group of them that are in the same grade to morning school assembly, and then to their class Bible Study. This helps me get a sense of their schedule and how they are behaving at school. During the morning, I meet with the CCA, and I inspect the orphans’ cottages. I make sure everything is in good repair, that the children are making their beds, folding their clothes, and keeping their cottages clean and tidy. I keep notes and make recommendations at the end of our stay. For lunch I love to go back to the dining hall and find some day students to eat lunch with. They are always so welcoming and full of questions.

Preparing breakfast in Tanzania

Day students in Malawi lining up for breakfast

After lunch I will set out to find the children’s gardens and chickens that they are raising. We want our children to know how to keep a garden and raise chickens so they can provide for themselves and their families when they are adults. I will also have a meeting with the caregivers who raise our children. This is a sweet time where I can thank, encourage, and give instruction concerning raising children. The topic I covered on this trip was from Psalm 25:1-5, focusing on waiting on the Lord. The caregivers who have been raising these children for many years have prepared the soil of the children’s hearts through daily devotions, prayers, conversations, providing a family for them, disciplining them, and most importantly loving them. As the orphans are leaving the Village and going out into their next stage of life I encouraged them to trust God and wait for his timing to finish what he started in each child’s heart. 

Lunch preparations in Zambia

Eating lunch with day students in Kenya

For supper all the orphans, caregivers, and I go to the dining hall and sit at an assigned table. After supper I go back to the cottage of the family that I sat with for evening devotions. This is always a blessed time singing a hymn or two with them and then reading the Bible, discussing, and praying together.

Day 2 in the Village I go to the dining hall again in the morning. After greeting the orphans, I focus on the breakfast preparations for the day students. Our Villages typically provide 600-800 meals (breakfast and lunch) each day to our day students. I observe how food is being served and what they are serving, how the dining hall is being managed, and what the routine is. After breakfast I will accompany the students to assembly and then go to either one of the school Bible studies, or attend the National Worker Bible study. Sometime the caregivers attend this Bible study each day, so I like to be a part of that. The second day in the morning I will typically sit in classrooms and observe how the teacher is teaching and if the students are engaged. I will usually sit in five to six classes. At lunchtime, I go to the dining hall again and find some students to sit with. On this trip I also met with the head of the kitchen and did inspections. I inspected the storage areas, the dish washing procedures, and food preparation stations.

On this trip I also met with the graduate maintenance team in each Village. This is usually the CCA, her assistant, and the school guidance counselor. This group disciples and manages our orphans that have finished high school and are still receiving support as they pursue tertiary schooling. We currently have 350 orphans attending tertiary education across our ten countries. I found these meetings to be important as they had many questions and shared some of the problems they are having. They also shared some of the good things that are happening in the lives of our graduates. In the afternoon I meet with the CCA, giving her feedback from my observations, noting the good things I see happening, and also a couple areas that need some improvement. We discuss any ChildCare questions or concerns they might have. On each trip we have an evening meal in the Village with the heads of the different departments for a meal and time of sharing. The head of security, grounds keeping, head teachers, the Village Assistant, and a few more. During this time each of us from the Home Office gives a report/update on what is going on in that department. I give the report on ChildCare throughout the ten Villages in Africa. Afterwards we share prayer requests and have a time of prayer which is followed by a meal together. Depending on what time this gets done we try and catch devotions in a different orphan cottage than the night before. I try and go to evening devotions as much as I can as this is a time to connect and talk with the orphans. The next day, we usually travel to the next country and then we start over. We will typically spend two days in each Village and travel one day. 

National Worker Bible study in Zambia

A couple highlights from this trip were meeting with the graduate maintenance teams in each Village. They are people who love the Lord and love our children. They talk weekly with our graduates giving them counsel and staying connected with what is going on in their lives. They also travel and visit each graduate once a semester. These meetings were very encouraging and helpful for them. I was able to answer a lot of questions and thank them for all they are doing. 

Grade 11 Bible Class in Tanzania

Another highlight was in Tanzania. The ChildCare Assistant, the guidance counselor, and I visited some of our orphans who attend an A level university preparatory school. We all met in an empty classroom and talked about how school was going, what their next steps are, answered questions, and prayed together. They are holding weekly Bible studies with classmates, some of whom are Muslim.

Meal with the national workers in Ethiopia

Thank you for your generous support which makes trips like this possible, and enables Del and I to serve “the least of these” in Africa and witness the incredible work God is doing. We are seeing disciples being made across our ten Villages—among the orphans, national staff, school personnel, and day students. Your continued support plays a vital role in making this possible. As we enter a time of thanksgiving and come to the end of the year, we want to thank you all for how you continue to support us and pray for us. We hope you will commit to another year of support as we continue serving the Lord through the Rafiki Foundation. We would love for you to visit us and to give you a tour of the Rafiki Foundation Home Office. Thank you! 

Orphans and day students I visited at an A Level school in Tanzania

Praises

• Health and safety on the trip.
• Words to encourage the caregivers.
• The improvements that have been made in the ChildCare Programs in each Village since our last visit.

Prayer Requests

• Our graduate maintenance teams, that they would follow our recommendations, have unity, and meet regularly to discuss graduate concerns.
• That our ChildCare teams would stay faithful to the daily requirements as the orphans graduate and leave the Villages.
• Our graduates to stay strong in their faith and attend and serve in a church. This is part of their requirements to receive a scholarship for a tertiary education.

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