Anica Pederson September 2023

It is my joy to look over the past few months with you and remember what the Lord has done!

Our ninth graders recently completed their national tests which we celebrated with a pizza party. They will be leaving at the end of this week for home-stays with their extended families outside of the Village. Please pray that they will be godly examples, stay safe, and that their national tests will be graded accurately.

Post-test relief

The basket weavers we are working with in the Bolgatanga region in northern Ghana sent us their first completed order! The Lord has graciously opened doors for these vulnerable women in the north of this country. I am currently working with four groups around the country which comprise close to 400 women, and I am looking to begin working with a fifth. All of these groups meet to make product and participate in the Rafiki Bible Study. Please join me in thanking God for His care for “the least of these,” and that He watches over the distribution of His Word. Please also pray that there will be excellent communication between myself and these groups.

At the beginning of this term we opened up our RICE (Rafiki Institute of Classical Education) building to our Early Childhood teachers. These teachers teach all morning and then come to study courses on Pilgrim’s Progress, Early Childhood Curriculum and Assessment, and Early Childhood Music Pedagogy, which I get to teach. I find great joy in instructing these teachers in their first music class ever—and encouraging them to think creatively about how they can best present it to their own students. We have already seen fruit borne as they connect Pilgrim’s journey to the Bible study and to their own Christian walks. Please pray that our students will trust God to be their strength. 

Playing with scarf flowers

At the Rafiki School, we start each day with assembly. Our smallest children love to present our weekly memory verse, catechism, and doctrine—often set to song—for their schoolmates. Next, we get to see little hands shoot up to be that day’s “prayer warrior.” How exciting to see little children foster a personal relationship with their Savior! Each class then splits up to have Bible study. This week our first graders were calculating how many chapters fit into each book of the Psalms. 

Learning about rhythm

Put on your Bible thinking caps!

Budding prayer warriors

Donations from the community

At the Rafiki Village Ghana, sometimes we get blessed by donations from community members. That may look like $15 given by a single woman, or provisions that fill up the trunk of the car brought by a family to celebrate one member’s birthday. I thank God for donors in the States and here as well that facilitate the running of these Villages.

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