Mitchell August 2024

I pray this letter finds you and your family well. This summer has been a landmark season for the Mitchell family as one sister married the most wonderful, godly man; we celebrated a year with our precious niece; and I began preparations to move to Ghana, West Africa, to serve at the Rafiki Foundation’s classical Christian school there.

Family wedding

Most of you know that over the past several years, half of my heart has remained in Africa, and I have kept the door cracked to see what opportunities God might have for me to call this beautiful continent home again, leaning into the confirmation He gave me years ago that He has wired my heart for teacher mentorship in Africa. Over the past several years of waiting for God to open just the right door, He prepared me in ways that I am just beginning to glimpse. Through a recent season of teaching at a Central Florida Christian classical school, I learned about the Rafiki Foundation’s commitment to operating classical Christian schools and teacher training colleges in ten countries throughout sub-Saharan Africa. I wondered if God might open a door for me to return to Malawi through Rafiki. I was soon reminded, though, that God’s adventures rarely lead us into our comfort zones. Instead of opening a door to Malawi, God made it clear that He was opening a door to Ghana. Instead of giving me an extended timeline to prepare, He made it clear that He was leading me to move this fall. In His perfect faithfulness, as I have said yes and taken steps forward, He has continued to confirm this path in the most beautiful ways.

Visiting a school in Malawi

I am excited about serving with the Rafiki Foundation because of the place of integrity out of which this organization operates. Formed in 1985 by the then director of Bible Study Fellowship (BSF), the Rafiki Foundation began as a missionary-sending arm of BSF. Since then, Rafiki has remained true to its mission of coupling solid Bible teaching with serving people in their areas of practical need. Today, Rafiki lives out this mission through its partnerships with 26 African church partners and a Rafiki Village in each of the ten countries. Through its church denomination partnerships, Rafiki provides African pastors and churches with Bible study resources that are not readily available locally, and it provides Bible study materials and a reliable income to widows’ groups. In the Rafiki Villages, the organization operates classical Christian schools and teacher training colleges. In addition to providing an excellent education for both the children in Rafiki’s full-time care and children from the surrounding communities, the Rafiki Village schools serve as practicum sites for Rafiki’s teacher training colleges and as models for other schools adopting Rafiki’s curriculum. Rafiki chose a classical education model in order to give the children in their care the best possible education rooted in a Christian worldview. The quality of this education has been proven again and again in Rafiki graduates’ reputation for earning outstanding results on the high-stakes national exams that ordinarily drive curriculum and instruction in the countries where Rafiki serves. Over the next three years, I will serve in the Rafiki Ghana Village as headmistress of Rafiki Classical Christian School, which serves 300 pre-K through ninth grade students. I am filled with gratitude as I see God fulfilling the desire He placed in my heart years ago, and I am also acutely aware that He is giving me a task that is far beyond my own abilities—one that will remind me daily of my need for Him.

Rafiki Ghana School children on the way to class

Rafiki Village Ghana where I will soon be serving

You are receiving this letter because you are someone who has played an important role in my life. Likely, you have watched me live with half my heart in Africa, and you have seen me waiting for God to open the right door. It is an honor to share the next part of this journey with you. I am humbled by each of you who has already offered to follow and support my journey through prayer commitment or a financial gift. In the boldness to which God calls us, I am asking others of you to prayerfully consider partnering with me through prayer and financial gifts. Gifts made to my missionary support through Rafiki are tax-deductible, and Rafiki does not take an administrative fee for my missionary support. My goal is to have my support raised in time to move to Ghana by October, when the school year begins. Would you join me in boldly asking our gracious, generous God to pave the way for my departure? You can give financially and/or receive updates of my newsletters and prayer requests through my missionary page: https://RafikiFoundation.org/missionary/mollie-mitchell-261

Thank you for being someone with whom I want to share this journey, and thank you for the ways you are already a part of my journey.

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