Nealey February 2026
Every day I have had to trust in the Lord because all the plans we have had for the Rafiki Institute of Classical Education Teachers College (RICE) just did not happen as we visualized. In spite of that, we are in a very good position. We at Rafiki know that we have a tried-and-true teacher training program. However, that did not translate into everyone else’s knowing. Because of that we have had trouble getting started on our newly accredited government approved diploma and bachelor’s programs. We had to start our first semester in March 2025, instead of the traditional January beginning. When we finally started the new cohort, everything went perfectly. Our students were excited. They loved the classical method of education and they were very successful. We wanted to add a new cohort in September, but we were unable to. But our students completed another semester, so we were happy.
We were determined to start a new cohort this January 2026. We did a lot of praying and visiting schools and churches to promote our programs. At first, we despaired because we were still getting very few applications. We really wanted to start the new cohort so we decided to give a few student discounts to get everything started. That is when the change happened. We started getting many applications and we started a new cohort. We are so happy that the Lord answered our prayers and we have 13 new students. It was also made clear to us that it was not name recognition that we lacked. Students wanted to come but they just did not have the funds.
2026 RICE cohort
We met so many eager excited students who were ready to start our program, but unfortunately, we could not help them all. Friends and family, that is where you can come in. Our vision here at RICE is to provide excellent classical Christian educators. Our aim is to provide primary teachers who are Christ centered in their beliefs. Our mission is that every person who graduates from RICE with a degree or diploma will be prepared to teach and lead with biblical fidelity, personal humility, intellectual curiosity, and moral integrity. They will teach their students what is true, good, and beautiful along with instilling in them the core values of Christianity.
Friends and family, you know what it costs in the U.S. to get a good education. In Malawi, we educate excellent teachers for a mere fraction of that. Here in our Rafiki Village, our Rafiki Christian Classical School has a waiting list because of the excellent education we offer to prek through twelve students. One reason the Rafiki School’s quality is so high is because many of our elementary teachers were trained right here in RICE. It only takes 300USD per semester for a student to graduate with a diploma. That is a grand total of 1500USD for all five semesters to be fully prepared to teach in an elementary school. To receive a bachelor’s degree in the same field it takes 400USD per semester or 3200USD total for the four-year program. It is my hope that some of you will be inspired to take on the task of sponsoring a RICE student. Our program is a rigorous one where we start out each day with the Rafiki Bible Study.
Our prayers were answered and we were able to add a cohort January of 2026, but a little late. Our standards are high because we require our students to be committed Christians. Thank you to all my sponsors and prayer partners. Will you share this newsletter with other family members and friends? If you would want to donate to my missionary account, please visit https://RafikiFoundation.org/ and click on the three lines in the upper right corner, select—Meet Our Missionaries, put my name in the search line, and you can enter an amount and then donate through your bank or credit card. You can also send donations by mail to May Nealey, C/O Rafiki Foundation, PO Box 1988, Eustis, FL 32727. Checks should be made payable to Rafiki Foundation, Inc. with my name and missionary number (259) in the memo line. And please continue to pray for us. Your prayers work!
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