Allinder June 2020

“The Lord reigns, he is robed in majesty… the world is firmly established; it cannot be moved” (Psalm 93:1).

Greetings from Rafiki Village Zambia!

During this very unusual time, it is good to remember the psalmist’s words—despite all that is going on, God is in charge and has firmly established His world.

Like you, we are living in the “new normal.” When we ended term one of our school year on March 20, our Rafiki Village went into lockdown. That same week throughout Zambia, all schools and colleges closed, church services moved to homes, restaurants stopped seating people, and face masks became required—all things you have been experiencing.

During the Village lockdown, cooks, groundskeepers, and other workers did not report for work. In their place, the Rafiki mothers and resident kids took over these jobs and learned valuable lessons.

The high school girls baking meat pies

Like you, we have been having home church. In our case that means each cottage takes the responsibility of planning, preparing, and presenting a service to the rest of the Village in the dining hall. This gave the kids a great opportunity to organize choirs, Scripture reading, and sharing of the Word (and, for some of them, to use their PowerPoint skills learned in computer studies classes at school).

Church in the dining hall

We had planned to resume school April 14, but of course that did not happen. During this time, our resident kids have taken advantage of alternative education methods provided by the Zambia Ministry of General Education (televised lessons, e-learning) and have completed assignments written by, and corrected by their not-at-school teachers. These assignments were shared with day students also.

In mid-May we were thrilled to hear the Zambian president announce that examination classes will resume June 1. In Zambia, students in Grades 7, 9, and 12 take national exams late in the year. Every school had to be approved by education and health inspectors. Rafiki School passed with glowing comments by all inspectors.

Grade nine students painting circles to help practice social distancing in the dining hall

We are very grateful for the chance to resume classes and look forward to when all students can return.

Day student preparing to enter Rafiki Village the first day we resumed school

Grade seven class with teacher, masked and social distancing while learning

As we do so, please join in praying for the following:

• That Zambia continues to have small number of COVID-19, 1200 cases as of June 8.

• That students and teachers can adjust to the new requirements—face masks, social distancing, and frequent hand washing.

• That as we resume the Rafiki Bible Study in James, each of us are changed to really be “doers of the Word, not just hearers.”

• That God will continue to provide for all the needs of Rafiki Foundation, including financial supporters and more long-term Missionaries.

And to end—my deep thanks for your continued prayer, support, and encouragement during these unusual times.

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