Farrand May 2019
“I lift up my eyes to the hills. From where does my help come? My help comes from the Lord, who made heaven and earth. He will not let your foot be moved; he who keeps you will not slumber. Behold, he who keeps Israel will neither slumber nor sleep. The Lord is your keeper; the Lord is your shade on your right hand. The sun shall not strike you by day nor the moon by night. The Lord will keep you from all evil; he will keep your life. The Lord will keep your going out and your coming in from this time forth and forevermore” (Psalm 121).
Our help comes from the Lord
We can hardly believe that it has been three months since we wrote our last newsletter—so much has happened!
First, we are so thankful for the Lord’s faithfulness. We successfully completed our first term at RICE (Rafiki Institute of Classical Education) with thirty-nine students. With God’s provision, we have six new graduates spread over Zambia who are ready to be teachers of grades 1-7. And all other students from our first term are now in the next term, learning and studying and applying new truths in their lives.
RICE graduates celebrate with cake
Second, we so appreciate the Lord’s guidance and direction with our brand new 1A cohort of fifteen students who are just beginning their education at RICE. God led us to have open enrollment for a new class the end of March. We had dozens of applicants and the day they all came for interviews and testing was truly an experience. Fifty plus shining faces of recent high school graduates from every part of Zambia descended upon our campus. We interviewed each one, examined them for their math ability, reading comprehension, and writing skills. Then with much prayer we chose fifteen applicants to join us at RICE. And one month later, ALL FIFTEEN STUDENTS SHOWED UP!!!
Third, our words are not adequate to express our gratitude to God for watching over our families back in the States. Our daughter-in-law was diagnosed with stage two cancer in her nose. She has undergone very serious surgery and is recovering with much pain and challenges. However, the medical team believes they did get all the cancer! How good is our God! Now, she faces six weeks of radiation and an anticipated year for full recovery. And our daughter has been facing many challenges as well. She has decided to home school her three daughters for the year beginning this summer. Again, we see the faithfulness of God as He continues to give her direction and vision.
The Lord neither slumbers nor sleeps
We are now well into our second term at RICE with forty-eight students, including the brand new 1A students who are learning how to operate the computer, write papers, present Bible lessons, be exposed to art taught by Richard, and music taught by Karen. What full days we have traveling among our five different cohorts explaining fractions and algebra problems, appreciating William Shakespeare’s A Midsummer Night’s Dream, memorizing a Bible verse for every letter of the alphabet, presenting daily devotionals, and watching all our students grow in the grace of God as they struggle yet succeed in preparing teaching lessons, writing and re-writing English essays, doing physical education exercises in our gym, and still finding the time to study and maintain their own housing and food requirements.
RICE student studying
RICE students
The Lord is our keeper
Through all our four months we have not been sick, we have not missed one day of class, and we still are laughing and smiling. That is the power of God working in and through us as we have the joy of being parents, teachers, friends, encouragers, confidants, disciplinarians, and all around helpers to forty-eight wonderful “kids” (they range from nineteen to thirty-five and one is the mother of five children!) Every day as we travel up the hill from our house to the RICE campus, we marvel at God’s goodness to us. The weather has gone from December-February rainy season with very hot days to now the dry season with mornings in the 60’s and days in the 80’s—beautiful weather with gorgeous sunsets and magnificent Southern Hemisphere stars at night.
The Lord will keep us safe
Truly we can say we have never been busier in our lives keeping up with all the coursework and the students. Yet, we have seen the Lord work in such marvelous ways. To give us renewal we were able to enjoy five days at Victoria Falls during the break between our first and second terms. How magnificent is God’s creation with over 1 1/2 miles of continuous falls on the border of Zambia and Zimbabwe! We were able to walk the entire length of the falls in both countries and then just before we returned to our home at Rafiki we were absolutely thrilled with a helicopter ride OVER the falls. WOW! God again proves to us repeatedly how He keeps us safe in His loving arms.
We are depending on His faithfulness to persevere well to the end of this term AND to start another brand new 1A cohort in mid-July. We will be coming home for medical appointments and family reunions the end of June.
The Lord has provided YOU
None of this would be possible without your generous support and continuous prayers, especially during this past month with Brenda’s health situation. We love you and so appreciate all you are doing for us in this ministry.
More up-to-date prayer requests and needs are available through our prayer captain Bob Bourgeois (bob@computerbobs.net). And please know that we are in prayer for you back home, as you pray for us.
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