From Christ’s fullness we have received grace upon grace – John 1:16

Since its inception in 1991, the Lord has bestowed “grace upon grace” on Rain Forest International School (RFIS) as it has endeavored to provide a quality Christian education for missionary children and future leaders in Cameroon and the Central Africa region.

As the only Christian school in Cameroon offering an internationally recognized curriculum and diploma, RFIS has a unique mission in the Central African region. It equips students from diverse economic, cultural, and religious backgrounds with the knowledge of God's saving grace, while preparing them to go out to study and work around the globe. Through the provision of education for their children, RFIS also supports the work of Cameroonians and missionaries involved in Bible Translation, Literacy, Pastoral Training, Church Planting, Trauma Healing and more.

At RFIS hundreds of missionary, Cameroonian and expatriate students have experienced the goodness and love of Christ while studying, playing and worshipping together.

About half of our students in a given year are Cameroonian and the other half are expatriates from a variety of countries including the US, Korea, Canada, Ghana, India and more. The students’ parents work for national and international mission agencies, NGOs, the American embassy, the Cameroonian government, Cameroonian churches and international businesses. 

RFIS has prepared students to attend university, serve in the military and pursue careers or other opportunities in their passport countries or countries of choice including North America, Europe, Australia, Ghana, Kenya and of course Cameroon.

Our alumni have gone on to work as doctors, dentists, teachers, engineers, musicians and pilots all over the world. Others have earned PhD’s in history, physics and Biblical studies. One alumnus is testing flying car models and another has opened up an art collective with a gallery in Cameroon to help build awareness of Cameroonian artists.

Whatever field they choose, two themes we see in our graduates are an ability to work in culturally diverse environments and a desire to serve. Many alumni have gone on to serve with mission organizations or NGO’s in Bible Translation, Trauma Healing, OM ships, Sports ministry, Aviation and Medical missions.  And four members of the current RFIS staff are alumni, giving back to the next generation. 

Finally, our alumni have founded a number of nonprofits. Some notable examples include Empower Cameroon, which works to provide education for some of the poorest children in Cameroon, PETRICHOR, which works with La Liga (Spanish Football) and FIFA to better the lives of girls and young women in Cameroon through soccer/football and Grasslands Cameroon, which trains local farmers in asset-based financing and market access to increase their efficiencies and profits and won the prestigious Cartier Women’s Initiative Award in 2019. 

Our alumni inspire us as we see them impacting their communities and nations around the globe for the good of their neighbor and the glory of God.

As we celebrate what God is doing through our alumni, RFIS seeks to continue to prepare our current and future students to proclaim the Good News of Jesus Christ “… so that as grace extends to more and more people it may increase thanksgiving, to the glory of God” (2 Cor. 4:15). However, RFIS is facing some strong obstacles, which are putting this mission in jeopardy.  

First, although there are still many missionaries who depend on RFIS to stay on the field, changes in mission strategies as well as conflicts in the region have shrunk the historic pool of missionary students. COVID restrictions and online learning put a temporary halt on new admissions for Cameroonian students and caused a loss of momentum in recruiting. Additionally, the dramatic inflation in Cameroon has put the cost of tuition out of reach for many local families who would like to send their children to RFIS. Finally, would be missionary teachers are also facing increasing debt and other financial difficulties, and are looking for schools that can offer them financial assistance, which is something RFIS cannot currently offer.

Yet “we do not lose heart” for we know that these “momentary troubles are achieving for us (our students, families, staff) an eternal glory that far outweighs them all” (2 Cor. 4:17). Furthermore, in the last year, we have seen God continue to bestow his grace on RFIS as he has opened up new doors for teacher recruitment through Teach Beyond and answered a long-time prayer that our graduation diploma would be recognized by the Cameroonian government, allowing our graduates to enroll at public universities in Cameroon, enabling us to serve a wider range of Cameroonian students.

God’s continued grace has made clear that he still has great things to do through RFIS, as we carry out our unique mission in the Central African region. Yet we cannot ignore the obstacles we face.

We believe that God’s purpose in bringing these obstacles has been to show us his expanded vision for who RFIS is called to serve. RFIS’ historical mission was to serve missionary kids and children of economic and political leaders in order to impact the future leaders of Cameroon and the broader central Africa region. We continue to have a deep passion to serve these populations, but with the government’s recent recognition of our diploma, God has opened the door for RFIS to serve new populations of students, including children of Cameroonian missionaries and pastors, whose families cannot afford to send them to international universities. With this expanded mission, RFIS will have the opportunity to impact the lives of students from a greater variety of economic and cultural backgrounds, who can influence Cameroonian churches and society for the glory of God. Concurrently, these obstacles have shown us that in order to meet this expanded mission, and for the school to have long term health, RFIS must become more resilient in operations, security, finances, and recruitment of students and staff.

Thus, in the spirit of Psalm 145 – one generation commending God’s mighty works of grace to the next as they look to God with anticipation for his continued provision - we introduce the G2G Campaign – a tool for increasing RFIS’ resiliency and long-term health in order to carry out God’s expanded mission for the school to serve new populations of students. 

The G2G Campaign goal is to raise $1.2 million over the next four years to help strengthen RFIS's resiliency and create long term health for the school. To achieve this, the G2G Campaign has two main foci: A scholarship endowment called the Golden Cat Fund, and physical plant improvements that will create a more efficient and safer learning environment. Combined, these efforts would generate at least $45,000 per year in reallocated or new funds. These funds would be used for need-based student scholarships, making RFIS accessible to more families, and staff stipends, improving teacher recruitment and retention, thereby stabilizing the school's educational offerings and ensuring its continued vitality.

RFIS faces a number of obstacles, yet Christ out of his abundant generosity is still bestowing “grace upon grace” on RFIS. We continue to see his grace achieve its purpose as students encounter Christ and grow in faith and families are able to continue their ministry in Cameroon. One parent shared:

“My kids are thriving at the school. If it were to close, we would have to leave the mission field.”

Through the G2G Campaign RFIS will be positioned with greater resiliency and empowered to invite new populations of students to also experience God’s grace and thrive as part of the RFIS family.

As this generation of RFIS students and staff look expectantly to the Lord and await his good provision, we invite you, your church, mission, or organization to consider partnering with RFIS financially through the G2G Campaign. Your partnership will help RFIS move forward with greater resiliency, so that God’s grace may extend to future generations of RFIS students, families and the many ministries RFIS supports, increasing thanksgiving to the glory of God.

Would you prayerfully consider partnering with RFIS through the G2G Campaign?