Missionary Update: The Radfords in Kenya [July 2013]

Nathan and Carrie Radford serve the Lord in Kitale, Kenya. Their main ministries include indigenous church planting, a prison ministry, and a hospital ministry for mothers with premature babies.

Dear praying friends,

Another month has come and passed, and we are now over halfway through the year of 2013. We thank the Lord that He has given us another month to serve Him, follow Him, and also for health and strength to do His work here in Kenya. The Lord gives us so many blessings, and many times I forget to thank Him and praise Him for His faithfulness. Even though there are many trials throughout life, may we take the time to thank the Lord for all He does for us. As the old saying goes, “Don’t get so busy adding up your troubles, that you forget to count your blessings.” This prayer letter will give a current update, as well as prayer requests.

We thank the Lord for the progress that we have been seeing here in Kitale in church planting. It has been exciting to hear the reports that are coming from the national that my good friend Roger Tate and I have been training. God has really blessed his efforts, and several churches have been started in differing areas of Kitale. With the help of the Lord, not only has he begun a church, but he has been training other faithful men to go and do the same in their respective villages. I feel that this is a fulfillment of 2 Timothy 2:2, which states “And the things that thou hast heard of me among many witnesses, the same commit thou to faithful men, who shall be able to teach others also.” We praise the Lord for this, and this can only be done with the Lord’s help. How we need to rely on Him each day, for strength, guidance, and wisdom as we do His work here. We are also continuing with the church in Shangalamwe, and giving the church elder more and more responsibility to lead as we gradually pull away. Please keep all of these ministries in your prayers.

Since I have not reported on the hospital in a while, I thought I would write some about it also. We thank each of you for your sacrificial giving and prayers with this ministry. You are such a blessing. Recently, my wife went to the Kitale district hospital and there were three abandoned babies. This of course, is difficult to see these babies in this condition, so she does her best to get them placed in good children’s homes in the Kitale area. The Lord has blessed with this, and she has been able to assist many of them with getting placed after their stay at the hospital. The needs here are so great, and we ask you to please keep praying for this ministry and also for my wife, as she is faithful to go and assist as she can and the Lord provides. Isaiah 1:17 states “Learn to do well; seek judgment, relieve the oppressed, judge the fatherless, plead for the widow.” We will keep you updated of this ministry.

Our children are continuing to progress well. McKenna is now five years old and will be starting kindergarten soon. That is so hard to believe. I can remember like it was just yesterday that she was crawling, learning to talk, etc. Life passes by so fast. She is developing into a wonderful daughter. Camille is now two years old. She is walking well now, slurring words that she tries to put together, and also is doing well. How we thank the Lord for the two daughters that He has blessed us with. Please continue to pray for them, and as before, we ask you to pray that the Lord would provide other children their age here in Kitale to play with. We trust the Lord with this.

In closing, we would like to briefly share our current needs. We are planning to return to the States in just a few months, and our current needs now are for housing and for a good, reliable vehicle to use while on furlough. We would prefer housing in the Charleston/Huntington WV area, if possible. Also, we really need a minivan to be able to have the room for our family and travels. We would be interested if anyone is interested in donating the minivan or selling it so us at a reasonable price. Furlough is very expensive, as we have to pay not only our expenses here in Kenya while away, but also expenses while we are in America.

If anyone would like to assist, we would be very grateful. We are just praying and waiting on the Lord for these needs. Psalm 33:20 says “Our soul waiteth for the LORD: he is our help and our shield.” You can email me at: naterad[at]yahoo.com if you are interested in assisting. Thank you for allowing us to share.

May God bless each of you for your prayers, interest in missions, and sacrificial giving. I wish each of you a wonderful celebration tomorrow for the fourth of July. We will keep you updated.

Nathan and Carrie Radford
P.O. Box 4150
Kitale, Kenya
East Africa 30200

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