July 2003

Dear Friends,

Rubate College, located in the foothills of Mt. Kenya, will soon celebrate its tenth anniversary as a teacher training college. The college was an idea of a group of devoted Christians in the Presbyterian Church of East Africa who saw the need to train Christian teachers. These good people believed that Kenya would be a better nation if future Kenyans had a strong and firm Christian educational foundation. They believed that the stability and strength of the future would have a strong foundation if built on biblical teachings and the example of Jesus Christ.

During the four years that I have served at Rubate and in the churches I continue to see the good and great things God is doing through the lives of these young adults. The living conditions at home and the Spartan life at school, compared to an American college, would perhaps deter American students from pursuing a college education. But education is very important to Kenyans, and they will sacrifice and endure any obstacles to get an education.

A fundraiser was held and money was raised to help meet the needy students’ debt to the school. The students decided that something was needed to ensure that a fund was in place to assist future students in need of financial aid and encourage them to become Christian teachers trained at Rubate College.

Thus a scholarship fund evolved from the caring and concern of a small group on student council who wanted to share what little they had with others. This is an example of the poor helping the poorer. The students who went to the dean and the deputy principal to share their concern do not realize the great gift they have left to the college. The deputy principal and the dean of students came to me for advice in establishing the scholarship fund.

The students brainstormed and took their idea to a staff advisory committee on which I sit with colleagues. They decided to raise pigs and sell them to a meat company in Nairobi, to raise chickens and sell the eggs locally, and to buy a cow and sell the milk. The profits will be put into a scholarship fund. The projects are now a reality: the piglets are growing, the chicken coop is built and ready for the chicks, and the cow is going to be delivered soon.

The monies are designated to help future students who can’t pay the full amount for the two-year teacher-training course. The scholarship fund will not benefit the present students, since they will graduate in August. But this demonstrates the care, concern and Christ-like attitude that is typical of many Rubate College students. Also demonstrates the sense of community in Kenyan culture.

Rubate College has made many strides in the ten years as a Christian teacher training college. Just in the last year we have obtained running water and electricity. But the most important achievement of the college in the last ten years is that it has produced many young Christian teachers who teach in primary schools throughout Kenya and in other African countries. Rubate has gained the respect of the Kenyan educational system and it has earned the reputation as the best private teacher training college in Kenya.

Marion Strain
Rubate College

The 2003 Mission Yearbook for Prayer & Study, p. 45