Dean, and his friends, Matt, Dave and Jon, live on the same mission station. Together the four boys, who call themselves the Rugendo Rhinos, spend their afternoons and weekends exploring in the bush. When they stumble across two Kenyan boys, one dead and one very sick, they find themselves involved in a dangerous dispute. The father of the dead boy, certain his son died from a witch doctor’s curse, seeks a similar revenge. The boys, their families, and the African believers face the reality of spiritual forces, yet seek to distinguish what events are naturally v.s. supernaturally caused. The boys’ normal (but fun) activities at school balance the intensity of the spiritual warfare in the story. Still, this book might be too intense for younger kids.
The “Rugendo Rhino Tales” feature fourth-sixth grade boys, and are written for late elementary/ middle school boys. The original books are out of print (though still available on Amazon), but they were re-issued as Kindle books (with a few new additions to the series). In the Kindle series, Matt (a western MK in the original books) is replaced by Mato, a Kenyan boy, who also plays a more central role.