Allinder November 2022

“For the righteous will never be moved… He has distributed freely; he has given to the poor; his righteousness endures forever…” (Psalms 112:6,9).

As we enter the gift-giving season, I begin this newsletter by thanking you for your gifts to me—gifts of prayer, of financial support, of encouragement. I am deeply grateful because your gifts have made it possible for me to continue working with the Rafiki Foundation here in Zambia.

Many of you have also been giving the gift of financial and prayer support to the resident orphan children of our Rafiki Village. Many of these children are no longer children—they are off at college and university and our Rafiki Village is increasingly full of day students.

Some of our almost 300 day students walk from nearby homes, others take transport like a van or bus from as far as ten miles away. To illustrate why parents are opting for the Rafiki School over the free education available at government schools, I will share about two students.

The first one is currently in grade level 1. She joined our school last year in early childhood 3 (kindergarten). Her mother had died and a relative who lives near our school took her in.

Day student with her Grade 1 teacher

This little one begins her day with the Rafiki Bible Study (currently in Leviticus) and every week learns a hymn (this week Jesus, Thy Blood and Righteousness), a memory verse, and a catechism question. Now in grade level 1, she has developed very good English speaking and reading skills. She is learning cursive writing and her local language. She gets to eat breakfast and lunch at our school which runs from 8:00 a.m. to 3:00 p.m.. She takes art, music, and PE with her nineteen classmates. She says her favorite thing at Rafiki School is math.

At her previous government school (which is about five miles from us), this little one would not have attended kindergarten (it isn’t offered there) and this year would be in a class of 70 students whose school day is from 7:00 a.m. to 10:00 a.m.. She would not have been introduced to English until grade level 5. She is a happy child with many friends here and her guardian is very pleased with her progress and all she is learning.

On the other side of our school campus is another student who joined us last year. He joined grade level 10 and is now doing great in grade level 11. His parents are in Lusaka and he moved in with his sister and brother-in-law who were living near our school so he could attend our school here.

Grade 11 day student

Helping to prepare breakfast for fellow 290 day students

He also begins his day with the Rafiki Bible Study along with his seventeen classmates. He joins them for breakfast and lunch and, like them, is provided with all the textbooks, lab equipment, and school supplies he needs. In addition to the usual Zambian secondary subjects of English, mathematics, biology, science, civic education, and religious education, he has been learning theology (in grade level 10), literature, history, art, and rhetoric.

At his previous government school, his class had 35 students and he attended from 7:00 a.m. to 1:00 p.m.. At that school, only the teachers had textbooks and students had to copy notes the teachers wrote on the board. He liked the environment of the Rafiki School where he felt welcomed when he first arrived. He says, “I love how we learn more than the Zambian subjects.” An example of this, he says, is how the Rafiki curriculum in secondary history explains how God moves throughout history but the Zambian curriculum only focuses on the political side of things.

Last month, this young man had come on Saturday to Rafiki to watch a soccer match between our younger boys and another team. The Rafiki boys lost by one goal and I commented that winning is good, but sometimes you learn more from losing. This young man’s eyes lit up and he said, “Like we learned in rhetoric class.” He was referring to a rhetoric lesson that presented Socrates’ belief that if he didn’t win a debate, he did not lose either because he had gained more knowledge. I wondered in how many other schools students were learning about Socrates. Not many is my guess.

These students are only two of the almost 300 day students at our school. Their parents and guardians provide for their school fees every term, but the part they pay is only a fraction of what is needed to provide the education Rafiki School offers.

As you think about gift giving this season, please consider giving the gift of education to a day student at our school or a gift to the Rafiki Education Fund. It would be greatly appreciated! Please pray that the Lord will provide more Rafiki Missionaries and more day student sponsors so that we can bring Bible study and classical Christian education to more needy children . Perhaps He is calling you to be the answer to one of those prayers? Visit www.RafikiFoundation.org to learn more.

Thank you in advance for your continual generous gifts. May God richly bless you.

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