Missionary Update: The Radfords in Kenya [April 2015]
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.
April 1, 2015
Dear praying friends,
We hope this update finds you all doing well. We hope you all have a great upcoming Easter. May we never forget the significance of this time and celebration, where we remember our Lord raised triumphantly from the grave. We serve a living Savior! Some verses that come
to mind are 1 Corinthians 15:3-4, which state, “For I delivered unto you first of all
that which I also received, how that Christ died for our sins according to the scriptures; And that he was buried, and that he rose again the third day according to the scriptures.” Also, 1 Corinthians 15:14, which says “And if Christ be not risen, then is our preaching vain, and your faith is also vain.” What encouraging words from the Scriptures.
Please keep the hospital ministry in your prayers. My wife has been faithful to this ministry and the Lord has blessed. We praise the Lord that many needy babies and mothers have been assisted through your generous giving and heart for these people. We are now also trying to get baby blankets to the babies, so please pray that these will be a blessing. We thank the Lord for a man in Nairobi who assists us with getting these supplies, as well as shipping them to Kitale for us.
The prison ministry is continuing along well. I praise the Lord for the desire I see in these men to know, study, believe, and follow the Word of God. A verse that comes to mind is 2 Timothy 2:15, which says “Study to shew thyself approved unto God, a workman that needeth not to be ashamed, rightly dividing the word of truth.” We are getting ready to enter into the teachings of the life of Joseph. The men can really identify with many things from his life, such as being thrown into prison, etc. Please pray that these teachings are received well and the men will apply them to their lives and situations.
As I have stated before, my partner Roger Tate and I are trying different ways of doing church planting here, both with training nationals and also going into the Kenyan homes of “men of peace” who welcome us to come and start churches. Both ways are challenging and we are praying over these ways of doing churches here. One of the main challenges is the dependency. We desire the churches to be independent, self-supporting, self-governing, etc. To rely on the Lord wholly. That is a major challenge here, and we need patience as we work with the people and teach them from the Word. We are thankful for a man named Kefa who was welcomed us into his home to come and teach the Word of God to him, his family, and those in the surrounding area called Robinson. Please pray the people would come faithfully, and desire to grow in their faith. We will keep you updated.
I had mentioned the challenges of driving here recently. Believe it or not, a major market area and matatu (van) station moved from an outer area of town to the road that goes right through the heart of Kitale town. This has brought much congestion in this area of town and it is even more challenging to drive. We are so thankful the Lord has protected us as we travel, and we trust Him. Please pray not only for us, but all the missionaries as they travel within the country.
That is the main news for now. We appreciate each of you so much and thank you so much
for your heart for missions in East Africa. You are such blessing and thanks for all you do.
Serving in Kitale,
Nathan and Carrie Radford
P.O. Box 4150
Kitale, Kenya
East Africa, 30200
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Missionary Update: The Tates in Kenya [March 2015]
The Tate Family has served the Lord in Kitale, Kenya since January 2008. Their main ministry is indigenous church planting.
Dear Brothers and Sisters in Christ,
I want to send a special thank you to all those who have helped with the adoption process for Chloe. Julie and I appreciate so much that so many would want to assist us in bringing Chloe into our family. We are currently grieved at the moratorium the Kenyan government has placed on foreign adoptions. This decision by the current cabinet is NOT taking into consideration the needs and welfare of the Kenyan children. We are praying the Kenyan government will quickly lift this moratorium and allow us to continue on with the adoption process. Please also be in much prayer for this as we truly believe God has led us to this decision in our lives and in our family. Chloe is thriving and doing so well physically and mentally. Her rapid physical development has amazed me and we thank God for taking such good care of her.
I thank God for my other children as well. They are all such a blessing to me. Emily is currently in Michigan where she would like to gain residency and continue her education. The state of Michigan is being somewhat difficult and this has caused her some delay. Amy is continuing at Rift Valley Academy where she is taking her eighth grade year. It is difficult having to hear of her drama that she deals with on a day by day basis. It seems all eighth grade girls have a lot of drama in their lives. Josiah is our only other child at home besides Chloe. He is still home schooled and will continue to be home schooled until September when he will also attend Rift Valley Academy as a boarding student. He is growing fast (he is second tallest in the family now, behind only me) and his voice is growing deeper. We don’t have a little boy in the family any more.
We pray that God will continue to bless the ministries in Kitale. We have started a new home group that is progressing well. Each week we have a good number of people who gather for worship, prayer and Bible study. The host family is so faithful and generous in opening their home and in showing us love, kindness and hospitality. We are trying to share the love of Christ with all who come. You all can pray that we would have people who faithfully come each week to worship God and hear the teaching from His Word. We do have some that come every week but many of the others are very sporadic. We would like to see God capture the hearts of these people that they might know Him, love Him and serve Him with all their hearts. What a blessing it is for us to be able to minister to these beloved Kenyan people and to teach them how to know Him and serve Him. Thank you, Lord, for these new people to minister to and, Lord, we pray that many more would come to know you as their Savior and Lord and that your kingdom would spread in this world and especially in Kitale, Kenya.
Until next month, beloved.
May God’s peace and joy be with you.
For the glory of God in East Africa,
Roger & Julie Tate (and Emily, Amy, Josiah & Chloe)
rojuta[at]gmail.com
Visit their blog!
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Missionary Update: The Radfords in Kenya [March 2015]
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.
March 3, 2015
Dear praying friends,
We are now into the month of March, which is hard to believe. Here in Kenya, it is regularly around 70-90 degrees at this time of year. I know this is hard to believe, as there is so much snow right now all over the United States. These are times of the year that we miss, as when we are on furlough, we take our daughters outside to build snowmen, play in the snow, and have a good time. Soon, it will be rainy season here, where the rains come down regularly and heavily at times. I remember a few years ago when it rained so hard that even taxis and minivans were getting stuck in the mud on the road where we live. We hope each of you are enjoying this year of 2015.
As I mentioned before, my partner Roger Tate and I are starting a new group in an area of Kitale called Robinson. Robinson is a big area, and there are many to be reached. We have had many children coming to the meetings, as well as adults. One of the challenges we have had is how to minister to the children also, as we want them to receive Biblical teaching also. We have been using a book in Swahili to teach the kids the Bible, as we just finished on Noah and the flood. It has been encouraging to watch the children respond to the questions and see how they are learning the Word of God.
We praise the Lord for the faithful adults that have been coming also, and ask you to pray for them. At this point it is a Bible study group, where we are doing our best to teach them each week in Swahili many teachings from the Bible. We pray that if it would be the Lord’s will, that this group would be organized into a church at a later point. Swahili three times a week in the various ministries is exhausting and time consuming, so I would ask you to pray for me also as I prepare to attempt to teach weekly in the language.
The annex prison ministry is continuing along well. We just finished in the teachings of Noah and the ark. I did my best to teach the men that the vast majority in the days of Noah did not care about living for the Lord, pleasing Him, and how they ignored the warnings of God, which ultimately resulted in their death and punishment. Matthew 24:38 says “For as in the days that were before the flood they were eating and drinking, marrying and giving in marriage, until the day that Noah entered into the ark.” They were doing their own thing, ignoring God’s warnings. The thing I like about the Firm Foundations course are the visuals that come with many of the lessons. It is exciting to watch the men as they look at the Biblical photos during the lessons, and apply the truths to their lives.
Our children are continuing along well. McKenna is such a good student in school and learning many things. Camille will be starting school soon, so please pray for her as well. Please also pray for me as a father, as I try to teach them about the many truths of the Bible in an understandable way. I am responsible before God for the Biblical training of my family, so please pray for me as I desire to lead my family to follow the Lord and teach them from the Word of God.
In closing, please pray for safety while traveling. The traffic in Kitale has gotten significantly worse over the years. There are so many motorcycles everywhere, minivans that are impatient and overtaking when they should not be, people not paying attention as they walk through the roads, etc. It is a major challenge to drive here, but we thank the Lord for His protection as we travel. The roads are congested, but we thank the Lord each day for His watch care over us. This is simply to request your prayers for us as we travel here, knowing the Lord will help us. He has been so faithful.
God’s blessings to you and have a wonderful month ahead.
Serving in Kitale,
Nathan and Carrie Radford
P.O. Box 4150
Kitale, Kenya
East Africa, 30200
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Missionary Update: The Tates in Kenya [February 2015]
The Tate Family has served the Lord in Kitale, Kenya since January 2008. Their main ministry is indigenous church planting.
February 5, 2015
Dear Brothers and Sisters in Christ,
Wow! What an exciting month we’ve had here in Kenya. It’s been exciting because it has revolved around the visit of Pastor Darrell Messer and his dear wife Shirley. Just in case you didn’t know, Pastor Messer is one of the directors of BFM, but he also just happens to be my own pastor from my own church back in Bellbrook, Ohio. When my family moved to Ohio and started attending Emmanuel Baptist Church in Bellbrook back in 1980, Pastor Messer was already the pastor there; he and Shirley have been there ever since then. So needless to say, these people are very dear to my heart. They have been trying to get here to Kenya for a few years, but their plans up to now have always been thwarted. But, they arrived here in Kenya two weeks ago, and now as I write this report we are on the eve of them returning to Nairobi to catch a flight to France where they will visit BFM missionary John Hatcher.
We’ve packed a lot into the past two weeks. After a couple of days in Nairobi allowing them to catch up from jet-lag and allowing us to worship on Sunday in English, we headed home to Kitale. Their first morning in Kitale gave them a rude welcome to missionary life in Kenya as I looked at the water tank and, behold, NO WATER! While Pastor and I scrambled around town trying to jimmy up some way of getting water, I had visions of severe water rationing and what it might look like to our guests if we couldn’t take showers or flush the toilet for two weeks. Welcome to Kenya, Pastor and Shirley! Fortunately by early in the afternoon the water supply was flowing again and I could put that worry behind us for a while. Although the morning plans got trashed because of the lack of water, we were able to tour Kitale in the afternoon – walking through the market with its mounds of second hand clothes, piles of stinking fish, blaring music and stares from the Kenyan people who were not used to seeing that many Americans in one place. In the days to come we visited some of our Kenyan friends in their homes, and spent a day at In-Step Children’s Home as well as getting to see the ministries we are involved in. Here are some of our activities for the week: On Thursday, Pastor and I did some evangelism in town and started up a new Basic Christianity class for which we did get one student to attend. On Friday we attended one of our classes which one of our students taught. We have been trying to teach him how to effectively teach the Word of God. On Saturday we went to a new group that Nathan and I started which meets in the home of Kefa and Matilda. We had 27 people attend the group that morning where we sang, worshipped God and studied God’s Word together. Saturday afternoon we went to the prison where Nathan ministers. We were able to meet his men and hear them sing to us, and then we watched as Nathan taught them from the Word of God. Sunday found us worshipping with Pastor Kirui at Bethel Baptist Church and then fellowshipping together with the other Kitale missionaries later in the afternoon. Throughout the week Pastor and I ate lunch at my favorite dive of a restaurant in town, Mama Chiku’s. I think Pastor has found a new favorite place to eat. I had a hard time convincing anyone else to join us there though.
Pastor Darrell Messer preaching out in the bush to the Pokot people to the “church under the tree”.
The highlight of the trip for me though, was when Pastor, Josiah and I were able to head up into the Kenyan bush and visit the Pokot people. The temperatures were oppressive, we slept in tents, ate rice and goat every day, and got filthy from the dust. But we preached a few times from the Word of God, encouraged the local ministers, met some new people, and showed the Jesus Film a couple of times – the result of which was that a number of people professed faith in Christ. Pastor was even asked to help a local pastor with some baptisms. We went to the river, dug out a shallow spot in which the baptisms could take place, and did the baptisms. Thirty feet away were two dead crocodiles floating in the water. They had been killed by the locals some time earlier. It made me keep looking around to see if there were any other critters swimming around that we needed to be aware of.
We love Pastor and Shirley and have thoroughly enjoyed their visit. We will be sorry to see them go. Blessings to you both, Pastor and Shirley!
Until next month, beloved.
May God’s peace and joy be with you.
For the glory of God in East Africa,
Roger & Julie Tate (and Emily, Amy, Josiah & Chloe)
rojuta[at]gmail.com
Visit their blog!
Read more
Missionary Update: The Radfords in Kenya [February 2015]
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.
February 3, 2015
Dear praying friends,
We thank the Lord that He has brought us through another month, as He has watched over us, and been so faithful. We hope each of you are doing well as you follow and serve the Lord in the United States. This update will give a current report on the ministries here.
Currently, we have visitors from America here. Pastor Darrell Messer and his wife, Mrs. Shirley Messer, from Emmanuel Baptist Church in Bellbrook, Ohio have come to visit here in Kenya and see what the Lord is doing. Pastor Messer has served faithfully as a Baptist Faith Missions board member for many years. They have come to visit the Tate family and also to see some of our ministries, such as the church planting, prison ministry, and hospital ministry. This is their first time in Africa, and we pray that this trip will be informative about the challenges that we face on the mission field, and how to pray for us and the people of Kenya. It has been a joy to have them and please pray for their trip back to America in a few days.
The prison ministry is continuing along well. I just finished teaching on Adam and Eve, and the entrance of sin into the world. I did my best to show the results of sin and how sin separates us from God. We saw through the lesson that we are all sinners, and in need of a Savior. Romans 3:23 says “For all have sinned, and come short of the glory of God.” This is foundation teaching for the men to learn and please pray that the Lord would work in their hearts as the Gospel message is presented to them. It has been exciting to see the
men coming faithfully and learning much from the Word of God.
My partner Roger Tate and I have been praying about another area to reach in Kitale with church planting. We both agreed after prayer that a good area to start is called Robinson. There are many people in this area who need to be reached with the Gospel and taught how to follow the Lord. We just started last week with our first lesson, so please pray that the people would continue to come faithfully, and if it would be the Lord’s will, that a church could be started in that area later. We trust the Lord with all these plans and lay them before Him. We can do nothing without Him. Psalm 37:5 says “Commit thy way unto the LORD; trust also in Him; and he shall bring it to pass.” We are following by faith and trusting the Lord to work in His time and plan.
In family news, the girls are continuing along well. We appreciate your prayers for them for friends their age to play with. This is one of the major challenges here. Also, our daughter Camille has been complaining of stomach aches for several weeks. We went to a good doctor here in Kitale and got her good medicine. I just found out about this doctor a few weeks ago, as he is located in an area that I rarely go to. It is a blessing to know that a good doctor is nearby and able to diagnose well. Anyway, she finished with the medicine and we got her tested at a lab, and her tests came back negative for any parasites or other things. It is challenging here as the medical care is always a challenge, especially with little ones. A fever and chills here could mean different things, and sometimes you have to do your best to look up the symptoms online and try to diagnose yourself. These are just some of the challenges with living here, but we praise the Lord that Camille is doing well now.
That is the current report. Please keep us in your prayers, and thanks again for your cards,
letters, emails, or other forms of encouragement. We love and appreciate all of you.
Serving in Kitale,
Nathan and Carrie Radford
P.O. Box 4150
Kitale, Kenya
East Africa, 30200
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Missionary Update: The Tates in Kenya [January 2015]
The Tate Family has served the Lord in Kitale, Kenya since January 2008. Their main ministry is indigenous church planting.
January 6, 2015
Dear Brothers and Sisters in Christ,
Ministry here is always three steps forward, two and nine tenths steps backwards. It is constantly up and then down, encouraging and then discouraging. I keep asking myself, “Are we doing things the right way? What are we doing wrong? What do we need to do differently?”. When something positive seems to happen, if we give it enough time it will all seem to fall apart. So, I take my cup of tea out to the stable out back of the house (it is literally a stable) and pray, asking God to show me what he wants me to do differently, asking him to give me wisdom and to guide my ministry here. I want only to do what he wants me to do and say what he wants me to say.
I look around at other missionaries’ ministries here in Kenya and I ask, “Why is their ministry doing so well? Why are so many people working with them, clamoring for their teaching and following all that they say? Then I look closely and I know the answer: It’s because those missionaries are paying rent for their pastors, giving away motorcycles, throwing big parties and goat roasts or other similar things. I suppose I could also have a big, thriving ministry if I allowed myself to go that route too. It’s just hard when I compare my own ministry with theirs, when I see my group of students start at a meager six and dwindle down to one after a few weeks. Or, when starting up a new group with the promise of six to ten new students and none of them show up. Why do men plead with me that they want to be trained, set up a date and a time to start, and then never show up? Wouldn’t it be easier to just say you are not interested? I guess you all probably face some very similar problems back in the States, don’t you? I remember doing ministry back in Ohio (seems like forever ago). I would receive many promises from people that they would come to church. I think I remember about 1 in 20 ever showing up (and that statistic is probably on the generous side). Back here in Kenya I have been trying to reach out evangelistically to some of the motorcycle taxi drivers. I drive up on my own motorcycle to a group of 8 to 10 drivers sitting around waiting for work and engage them in conversation. I invite them to an informal Basic Christianity course at our training center. I say, “Come at 3:00. That’s 20 minutes from now. Will you be coming”? All of them promise me they will come. Back at the training center I wait for them to show up. Can you guess how many come? If you guessed ZERO you would be correct. After waiting until 4:00 for anyone to arrive I leave and return to the group that promised they would come. I ask them why they didn’t come. They all stare off into the sky, cough and laugh, and say, “We’ll come tomorrow”.
Is my soul cast down? NO, NO, NO! We serve a great and mighty God. I am so thankful that He promises that His Word will not return to Him empty. Praise God that he loves me, that he loves you and that he loves the Kenyan people. We will keep trudging along, looking for the called and faithful, until God tells us to something different. Maybe next time one or two of those motorcycle taxi drivers will show up and learn about Jesus, their Lord and Savior.
In other news, Chloe is doing fantastically well. She is over ten pounds now and is healthy (except for some moderate to serious acid reflux). She is a joy to our hearts and lives. Thanks to all of you who have assisted us with your prayers on her behalf and your financial assistance in support of her adoption process. Blessings to you all.
Until next month, beloved.
May God’s peace and joy be with you.
For the glory of God in East Africa,
Roger & Julie Tate (and Emily, Amy, & Josiah)
rojuta[at]gmail.com
Visit their blog!
Read more
Missionary Update: The Radfords in Kenya [January 2015]
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.
January 2, 2015
Dear praying friends,
Happy New Year! It is hard to believe that we are into the year 2015. I look back on this past year, and it seemed to fly by. Each year seems to pass faster than the one before. I am sure many of you can identify with this, as it just seems a fact of life. We hope you all had a great Christmas of celebrating the birth of our Lord and Savior, and we also wish you all a happy 2015.
This past year was a good one for our family and our time together. My wife and I have done our best to assist and help our daughters in any way we can, as there are many challenges on the mission field. Both girls love animals, and over the past few months, we got them a puppy and a kitten. This gives them responsibilities of taking care of the animals, feeding them, playing with them, and growing up with them. McKenna is doing well in school and seems to be picking up the concepts that my wife teaches. Before you know it, Camille will also be starting school in the Radford household. How thankful I am to have a wife who has a degree in education and does such a great job. McKenna has also indicated interest in learning Swahili, the language of Kenya, so we would appreciate prayers that the Lord would assist us with this also. All of these plans we lay before the Lord and trust in His timing and will for our lives. Psalm 37:5 says “Commit thy way unto the LORD; trust also in Him; and He shall bring it to pass.”
Speaking of laying our plans before the Lord, we really need wisdom as my partner, Roger Tate and I, are proceeding in church planting. We have done church planting in different ways, such as starting a church in a Kenyan home, or training qualified men to go out and start churches in their respective villages. Both ways are challenging and have their difficulties. We are praying and asking the Lord for wisdom for the best way to proceed in these ministries. We know the Lord is sovereign, in total control, and will work in His time and plan. We also must trust Him for the results, and remain faithful to teach, instruct, assist, and equip the Kenyan men in any way we can. Prayer is central for seeking and knowing the Lord’s will, and we would greatly appreciate your prayers for us.
Thanks so much to each one who emailed us during the holiday season, sent cards, sent pictures, etc. The holiday season is always difficult here, being separated by thousands of miles from those we love. The Lord gave us grace and strength once again, and we appreciate each of you more than you know. Each thought or card was welcomed and greatly appreciated. We wish each of you a wonderful 2015 ahead. May the Lord richly bless you all.
Serving in Kitale,
Nathan and Carrie Radford
P.O. Box 4150
Kitale, Kenya
East Africa, 30200
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Missionary Update: The Radfords in Kenya [December 2014]
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.
December 3, 2014
Dear praying friends,
It is now the end of 2014 and we are rapidly approaching 2015. We hope and pray that each of you had a great 2014 and will have an upcoming year of 2015 that is filled with all the joys of serving the Lord and trusting in His promises each step of the way. The future can be somewhat of a challenge to us, as we live day by day, but what a joy to know that the Lord will not leave us, forsake us, and will be with us through all our challenges. I love the quote that says “I do not know what the future holds, but I know Who holds the future.”
As I reflect on this past year, it was certainly filled with challenges for our family. Our time of furlough in America was very nice, and as always, it was very busy and filled with much traveling. Upon our return back to Africa, Kenya specifically, there were other challenges, such as getting used to the way of life here, getting our family adjusted back, and getting our daughter McKenna started in homeschooling. These were just some of the changes from this past year.
The hospital ministry is continuing along well. My wife comes back after going and many weeks there are more babies and mothers than the supplies she took for the ministry! We have to regularly order supplies for this ministry as there are many mothers and needy babies. We need to remember to have a sensitive to heart to those who are in need. Psalm 41:1 says “Blessed is he that considereth the poor: the Lord will deliver him in time of trouble.” Please pray for my wife and all the babies there who are in need. Please pray also for the Gospel tracts that are given to the mothers, that the mothers would read them and be saved. We desire to be faithful and trust the Lord with the results.
The church planting ministry is continuing along, but there are definite challenges. One of the main challenges is to find men who will go out and be independent of us. Men that will rely wholly on the Lord and His provisions for them. Men that will be faithful to the Word and not change the truth of it. Men that will realize their responsibilities before God, their friends, and their families, and be faithful to them. These are the kind of men that we are looking for, and trusting God to provide in His time and plan. It is better to be patient and wait on the Lord than trying to rush ahead. Lamentations 3:25 says “The Lord is good unto them that wait for him, to the soul that seeketh him.” We trust the Lord through all of these challenges, and know He will be faithful through it all. We appreciate your prayers, that the Lord would bring the right men to train in His timing.
In family news, it has been a good year, and a year of growth for our two daughters, McKenna and Camille. They have had to learn to get along, apologize to each other, and love each other through all the challenges of growing up. They both have a sensitive spirit and it is a joy to be their parents. McKenna has started homeschooling this year, and seems to be enjoying it. It takes much preparation for my wife, but she is trained in education and is enjoying this new role as schoolteacher. We thank the Lord that there is a family nearby with children around the age of our daughters that they can play with. This is a big answer to prayer, but we continue to pray for other missionary families to come who would have children to play with our children. Believe it or not, this is a major challenge for missionaries, to have friends for their children to play with. It is easy for the needs of children to be overlooked and unchecked, and I am mentioning this to ask you to pray not only for our daughters, but the children of missionaries around the world, as they have needs as well. God has been answering prayer for this, and we continue to pray.
We wish each of you a great 2015. May we each be faithful to serve, wherever the Lord has us. May we be fervent in our service, and faithful in our lives. May we continue to seek His will, pray, and have the spirit of service, even when it is difficult or challenging. Have a great 2015 and we will keep you updated.
Thanks again so much for all you do and your heart for missions in East Africa.
Serving in Kenya,
P.O. Box 4150
Kitale, Kenya
East Africa, 30200
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