Okoth October 2022

Praise be to God for the many things He has done throughout this year here at Rafiki Village Kenya.

Paul – Outreach, RICE, and Discipleship

I have been busy with Outreach and RICE (teachers college) since being commissioned as a Rafiki Missionary. I go out to schools who have adopted our curriculum, observe, and provide feedback and recommendations for best practices for Rafiki Curriculum implementation in their setting. To aid with teacher training, I have been capturing and editing videos of current Rafiki teachers teaching as a model for other teachers in training.

Outreach school Paul is observing

Filming Teacher Loise’s class

I assist students through the RICE Program. Currently there are five students; three are finishing their first year and two are on their third term. These students are hardworking, diligent, eager to learn, and maturing in their faith through the daily Rafiki Bible Study. I have been taking time weekly to disciple a few young men in the RICE Program as well as our Rafiki resident students. It is truly a joy to be able to speak into the lives of these boys and men who want to know more about Christ and how to live a godly life.

Paul with RICE young men he is discipling

Amber – School, Teacher Training, and Baseball5

It has been a tough but rewarding year. The Lord has requested much of me. I am training teachers to see more of the Lord in every lesson they teach. To wonder and consider how this academic content displays God’s attributes, creation, purpose, moral order, or the nature of mankind. Our desire is to help them make biblical connections with their students in every lesson in the classroom. Teachers have really wrestled with this and desired to be able to communicate biblical truths in their classrooms. It has been fun to watch and see them grow in this area.

Teachers group photo after training

The school continues to grow. We added a second stream in grade four this year increasing the school student body to 371 students from preschool to secondary school. We added a few more teachers too. The Rafiki School now has forty-eight teachers. Next year we will increase, adding eighteen students and several more teachers. As we grow, may the Lord continue to provide and improve operations of the school.

Over the last month, the Lord has granted our boys, girls, and mixed choirs to compete at Nationals where they finished in the top four and the boys choir finished number one in all of Kenya!

Choirs with trophy

In girls basketball we were blessed to place first in our county and compete at the regional level to finish fifth in Nairobi.

I had the opportunity to start Baseball5 (a new version of baseball played in countries where baseball equipment is not easily accessible). We started with a group of resident students who have been practicing and doing clinics with the Kenyan National Baseball5 team. Our students competed against the Kenyan University team and lost game one by one point and won game two by six points. It was an impromptu friendly game and the kids really stepped up. It has been a joy to watch them compete and learn a variation of a sport I love. They will compete in a tournament next weekend against several formal teams around the greater Nairobi area, most of which are university students. This is a new sport in Kenya, and most people start playing in university. Our students will be the youngest competing in the tournament.

Residents with Kenya Baseball5 National team

We moved back to the Rafiki Village in June. It is nice living back at the Village where we are able to enjoy beautiful sunrises and engage with the children more. Our work here continues to challenge and stretch us for God’s glory, our good, and for the good of others. We thank you for your continued love and support in the work.

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.

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