Kumpe Jul 2018

“Therefore, my beloved brothers, be steadfast, immovable, always abounding in the work of the Lord, knowing that in the Lord your labor is not in vain” (1 Corinthians 15:58)

Dear friends and family,

This year has been a year of changes and transitions for us. David retired, we moved out of our home in San Antonio, purchased a sailing catamaran to pursue our retirement plan of living aboard and cruising. We ended up in Savannah, GA, sold the boat, and are currently anticipating a move to Africa. Moving to Africa? In the last three months we believe God has been directing us to serve Him with The Rafiki Foundation in Africa.

Although The Rafiki Foundation may be new to you, we have been familiar with it for most of its 30 plus years existence. “Rafiki” means “friend” in Swahili. Rafiki’s goals are to help Africans know God and raise their standard of living, and this is accomplished by Rafiki’s mission: to train Africans to transform Africa for Christ. The Rafiki Bible Study is the foundation of all that they do in Rafiki—to help people know God. Christian education is the means by which they help Africans raise their standard of living. Rafiki is accomplishing this mission through ten Ra ki Villages in the countries of Ethiopia, Ghana, Kenya, Liberia, Malawi, Nigeria, Rwanda, Tanzania, Uganda, and Zambia.

Rafiki Villages provide living and educational facilities through ChildCare, Education, the Rafiki Bible Study, the Rafiki Advanced Learning Institute, and the Widows Program. The Villages, constructed on 26-73 acres of donated land, contain residential cottages, school buildings, playing elds, and vegetable gardens. An African Rafiki Mother lives in a cottage with up to ten orphan children. Up to 100 children live in each Village. These children, together with some children from the surrounding area (day students), receive excellent PreK-12th grade education at the on-site Rafiki School. The school features Christian classical curriculum written by Rafiki speci cally developed for use in Africa. The hope is that these students will grow into godly leaders in theircommunities and countries.

The Rafiki Advanced Learning Institute includes the Rafiki Institute of Classical Education (RICE) to train high school graduates to become excellent, godly teachers to use Christian classical curriculum. Providing a good Christian education is arguably the best way to effect long lasting change to address the physical and spiritual needs of Africa.

After we sold the boat, we attended a Rafiki short-term missions training at The Rafiki Foundation’s Home Office in Eustis, FL. At the short-term missions training in May, we were asked to consider a two-year assignment to serve as Co-deans of the RICE Program at the Ra ki Village Uganda. RICE is a three year teacher training course of study that equips high school graduates to teach PreK-12th grade using Christian classical curriculum. Our role as Co-deans would be to supervise, facilitate, and mentor these aspiring teachers.

We just completed long-term missions training, called Survival Camp (July 6-July 20 at the Rafiki Home Office). During these two intense weeks, we were able to interact with Home Office staff, current and retired Rafiki missionaries, other Rafiki missionaries in training, and guest speakers. We also were assigned service projects, and had curriculum, policy, and procedure training. After receiving much encouragement, and a lot of prayer, we accepted this opportunity to serve in Uganda with Rafiki and were commissioned on July 20. In addition to Survival Camp, we will also take part in an eight-week on-line course. Following this additional training and lots of preparation work, we plan to depart for Uganda by the end of December 2018.

We have been sharing our excitement about serving with Rafiki. A lady at our church in Savannah, who hails from South Africa, said that she wished she could go with us. To which we said, “You can—in a number of ways!” We were happy to invite her and you to partner with the Rafiki Foundation and us. Our greatest need is your prayers. In addition, you can support us with nancial donations/pledges and/or coming along side us through a Rafiki MiniMission (short-term mission). For more information about any of these opportunities please visit www.rafikifoundation.org or contact us directly.

We will be happy to provide more information, visit your church or small group and share the vision and work of The Rafiki Foundation. You can expect regular updates from us as we make nal preparations during the balance of 2018 and as we begin this ministry. Thank you in advance for considering the ways that you can partner with us.

God has certainly surprised us with this opportunity to serve Him in missions at this stage of our lives. We ask for your prayers as we begin the work that He has prepared for us.

“For we are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand, that we should walk in them” (Ephesians 2:10).