Mitchell December 2025

Merry Christmas, friends, and family!

As we prepare to celebrate the birth of our Savior and I reflect on a year of making Ghana home, I find myself thankful for many things. I am particularly grateful for you all and how you faithfully hold in prayer both Rafiki’s ministry here and me personally.

One of the greatest encouragements in recent months was hosting our school’s first Parents’ Day. For this inaugural Parents’ Day, we invited the parents of our junior high school (grade 7-9) students to sit in Bible classes and then hear more about the vision of Rafiki’s classical Christian education. Since this student age group and their parents are looking toward the extremely high-stakes national exam that Ghanaian students take in their ninth-grade year, we spoke to some of the fears that we knew many parents would have about whether an education that looks different from a traditional Ghanaian school will adequately prepare their children for the national exam. 

Our students love to read good books! A covered student waiting area was one of the earliest additions to the school during my first year here. While on supervision duty at the waiting area, a teacher reads with a student who is waiting for her older siblings’ later dismissal.

While confidently assuring parents that Rafiki students are extremely well prepared for the national exam, I was also able to share the bigger picture of the purpose of a classical education: We are not just preparing students to pass an exam, be admitted to a reputable senior high school, and eventually have success in a job. Instead, a classical Christian education aims to form the character, affections, and worldview of students who will in turn become godly contributors to the world around them. I was able to emphasize one of my favorite things to tell parents—that they have much to give their children, that God has called them to be the first in this charge to disciple their children, and that it is our privilege as a Christian school to come alongside the discipleship work happening in their homes and churches. 

A second-grade classroom becomes a stained-glass art gallery. As they prepare to create their own “stained-glass window” art projects, these second graders learn how stained-glass windows were used to teach Bible stories.

I knew that all of this would be a mental shift because of the pressures for students to achieve particular exam scores. What I heard over and over, though, were parents gratefully expressing how they see their children exhibiting the character and biblical worldview formation on which our school is focused. The main complaint was that some of our newer families wished we had open spaces for more of their children. After the meeting concluded, greetings and gratitude were exchanged, and everyone went home, one of the parents sent a group text sharing with a wider group of our school’s parents why a Rafiki education matters. This is just one small portion of the parent’s message:

Rafiki is not just offering academics…It is shaping the heart, mind, and soul of our children. Rafiki equips our children with both academic excellence and timeless values. A classical education builds strong thinkers, confident communicators, and God-centered leaders. It builds young people who will not just succeed in life, but also transform the world around them.

What a privilege it is that our school staff and I get to play a part not only in shaping our students’ thinking and character but also in expanding their parents’ vision for Christian education. What an honor it is to partner with these brothers and sisters in Christ as they raise their children.

On a personal level, I know that many of you have been praying for me to find community in Ghana. Part of God’s answer to that prayer was to open the door for me to attend a church that is a farther drive. The longer trek on Ghana’s adventuresome roads means finding a driver to take me to church each Sunday, but the extra weekly planning and drive time has been worth it. Each week, I am welcomed with warm smiles and intentional conversations, and I get to join this community in bilingual worship—familiar English songs as well as songs in Twi, the region’s most common local language. Each Sunday, I hear Scripture taught in a way that points me back to the gospel, and I even get to participate in a small group Bible study as part of the Sunday service. I am eager to continue getting involved in my new church so I have started the process to begin serving in the children’s ministry. Those of you who know me from my Florida church—some of whom have children faithfully praying for me—know how much I love serving in children’s ministry. I will be excited to update you all as children’s ministry once again becomes a part of my regular church routines.

Each Sunday, I am welcomed to church with big smiles and warm greetings.

As we finish out this calendar year and look toward 2026, I value your continued prayers.

• Please join me in thanking God for the community He has given me at my new church, and please continue praying for me to establish strong community and friendship. Will you also join me in thanking God for how He has so far provided transportation to my new church each Sunday, and in praying and trusting that He will continue to provide a weekly means for transportation to church?
• As we praise God for how He used the recent Parents’ Day in our junior high school, please pray with us for more opportunities to share vision and partner well with our school’s parents.
• Please continue praying for God to guide me in my work here. I am continually reminded that being a head of school is no small task, and I am wholly reliant on God’s grace for a job that is bigger than what I can do on my own.

I cannot thank you enough for your faithful prayer and financial support, particularly as I mark the completion of my first year in Ghana and begin my next two years. It is an honor to serve with you as the Body of Christ. Merry Christmas and Happy New Year!

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