Graves April 2023

Have you ever wondered what our typical day is like?

The sounds of the neighborhood waking up each day start at 5:30 a.m. with preaching, music, and calls to prayer drifting through our open windows. The missionaries’ houses and guest quarters are on the grounds of the compound, which is surrounded by wire fencing. Our guards keep watch night and day over the school, college, dining, office, and residential buildings.

A School Day at Rafiki Village Uganda

6:00 a.m. Resident children wake up and dress; kitchen staff arrives and begins preparing breakfast

6:20 Quiet time in the residents’ halls with Bible reading from Psalms or Proverbs

6:40 Resident children report to the dining hall for morning devotions led by youth

7:00 Breakfast for residents

7:20 Day students arrive for breakfast

7:30 Bible study for guards, kitchen staff, and groundskeepers led by Village Administrator David Graves and Outreach Coordinator Paul Okoth
Bible study for teachers led by Headmaster Amber Okoth

7:50 Morning Assembly led by Mrs. Okoth and head teachers

8:00 Bible study for Teachers’ College (RICE) students led by Michelle Graves
Bible study for students led by classroom teachers
Then work and school continue until lunch time

Noon Nursery school children go home after lunch

2-3 p.m. The school day ends

2:45 Caregivers’ Bible study Mondays and Training on Tuesdays, led by Mrs. Graves; Teacher Training on Wednesdays led by Mrs. Okoth

3-5 Students participate in sports, music lessons, vocational training, practice exams, and clubs

5:30 Residents eat dinner with their caregivers and clean up afterwards or play sports

7:00 Resident halls locked

7:30 Evening devotions on Psalms or Proverbs

10:00 Bedtime

Special Schedule for Weekends

Friday

7:00 p.m. Movie Night

Saturday

8:30 a.m. Pancake breakfast cooked by caregivers and children
Gardening, chores, swimming, and rest after breakfast and lunch

4:00 p.m. Watching football

Sunday

8:45 a.m. Children depart by taxi for Sunday services at one of three partner churches

1:00 p.m. Lunch at the dining hall prepared by caregivers and children

4:00 p.m. Student led fellowship with worship music and activities

We missionaries walk to work and prepare all our meals at home with modern appliances. We have cars for going into town, which takes about an hour, usually just on weekends. We usually drive to church, eat at a restaurant in town, and buy groceries for the week. Our water is good to drink and our houses are outfitted comfortably. The electricity goes out regularly, but we have two diesel generators. We have fairly reliable, but not fast, internet service. Everyone uses mobile phones.

The climate is a lovely 70 degrees F plus or minus 10 degrees year round, with a dry and rainy season. The nationals feel cold much more than we do, wearing parkas when the temperature edges into the low sixties. We love the fresh air.

Prayer Requests

• God to continue to provide generous donors, allowing us to provide university scholarships for all of our resident graduates who have qualified.
• Guidance as we seek local printers who can help fulfill some of our printing needs in country at a reasonable cost — including printing 4,500 sets of the Matthew Sunday School Study and 4,500 sets of the Acts Study for the Church of Uganda.
• 20 new missionaries this year to go and serve.
• Growth in wisdom and fear of the Lord for our children and caregivers through Bible reading, prayer, and study.
• A clear path for our completed Teachers’ College degree plans to be approved.
• Twenty students to join the Teachers’ College (RICE) in our next intake in April.
• The Lord to continue to sustain the widows when there are not many Rafiki orders.
• For the widows’ groups to be strengthened and encouraged by the Word.
• Full financial support for the Graves to continue serving in Uganda.

We thank the Lord for all these blessings, and especially for the brothers and sisters with whom we share them.

Please enjoy the pictures below of life here in the Village.

March 2023 Rafiki Preschool class photos

Day student enjoying a nutritious lunch

Studying in secondary school library

Piano lessons after school

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