Traveling Begins
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.
Please pray for Kenya, as they have increased the restrictions due to coronavirus. From what we understand, international flights are still allowed in the country, but you must produce a negative covid test within 96 hours of arrival in the country. Also, there are five counties around Nairobi that have very tight restrictions. There are no public gatherings of any kind, you cannot leave those counties, etc. This is very similar to how it was last year. It seemed like the cases continued to climb last year and eventually all flights were cancelled.
These restrictions are in place indefinitely, and it could go on for months. Kenya has seen a 22% increase in cases over the past few weeks, so it is concerning. It can also affect government paperwork, as our work permit is in process, so please pray that our permit will be granted on time with no delays or setbacks. Of course, this is all in God’s plan and timing, and we trust Him with it all. I think of Psalm 46:1, which says “God is our refuge and strength, a very present help in trouble.” I find myself returning to the book of Psalms for strength and comfort during these challenging times. What a treasure the Word of God is.
I (Nathan) am in the process of contacting churches and beginning to share, preach, and present the ministries in Kitale, so if you are interested in a visit, please contact me at naterad@yahoo.com and I will see what can be worked out. Of course with all the corona cases and restrictions in the
United States, it is challenging, but I will do my best.
That is about it for now. Of course we remember each of you in your respective areas and all the challenges you must be facing as well. You are in our thoughts and prayers. Let’s pray and uplift each other during these challenging times. We appreciate each of you who pray for us, sacrificially give, or encourage us in any way. You are all such a blessing.
Nathan and Carrie Radford
Contact Info:
Nathan and Carrie Radford
1126 Smith Street
Milton, WV 25541
naterad@yahoo.com
For ministry donations:
Pastor George Sledd, Treasurer of BFM
P.O. Box 471280 | Lake Monroe, FL 32747-1280
or click here to donate to BFM online.
Read more
Preparing DVD on Furlough
January 1, 2021
Dear praying friends,
Happy 2021! Hard to believe that another year has passed so quickly. I (Nathan) am sure many of us are wanting to get 2020 over, as it was a very challenging year with the coronavirus. It was certainly an unprecedented year, and one of the most challenging in my lifetime. I am sure many of you can say the same. With all the restrictions, lockdowns, etc. it was difficult, but God saw us through, and He will see us through 2021 as well. He is so faithful. Psalm 33:4 says “For the word of the Lord is right; and all his works are done in truth.” Amen.
In all of the challenges of this past year, I am comforted by many passages of the Scriptures, and have found many encouraging verses we can cling to in Psalm 34. I will mention just a few. Psalm 34:4 says “I sought the Lord, and he heard me, and delivered me from all my fears.” What an encouraging verse, with all the fears and distresses we faced this past year.
Also, Psalm 34:19, which says “Many are the afflictions of the righteous: but the Lord delivereth him out of them all.” I could mention others, but these are a couple of my favorites. I would encourage you to read Psalm 34 completely through to find many promises from our faithful God in these challenging times. May we trust Him and His promises in the year ahead. D.L.Moody said “God never made a promise that was too good to be true.”
Our daughters are currently on break from their schooling and have worked hard in their studies. My wife has done a great job homeschooling them and they are really enjoying it. Of course, there are challenges with homeschooling, but my wife has done fine and has her degree in education, so she is well qualified. Please pray for her and our daughters, as they learn together. Life is truly all about learning. There are new things to be learned all the time, and we need His grace and help through it all.
Kenya has continued to get hit hard with the coronavirus. There are over 96,000 cases at the current time, so you can imagine that the health facilities, doctors, and nurses are getting overwhelmed. How they need us to remember them in prayer at this challenging time, as well as the missionaries that are currently serving in Kenya. Please pray for all involved in this difficult situation. Prayer changes things. Hopefully there will be a treatment in the near future, all over the world, so people get the help they need at this time.
I will very soon be working on my missions DVD, so I appreciate your prayers for that. There is always so much to do with it and it is a lot of work, but I am glad to be receiving help at this time with it. Please pray for me and the helpful man that I will be working with, that we will be efficient, get our work done in a timely manner, and develop a good missions DVD from our last term in Kenya.
I will be scheduling churches in the near future, so please be in prayer for this as well. I know there will be different challenges with coronavirus this furlough, so I am trusting the Lord for this. We are pleased with our housing situation in Milton, WV and God truly provided this for us. We have never lived in Milton, so pray for us with our adjustments to the area. We will trust God day by day, as you all do as well.
We will be sure to keep you updated on our furlough. We appreciate each of you so much for your letters, emails of encouragement, prayer support, and sacrificial giving. We could not do this without you. You are each a great blessing to us. Please note our new mailing address below.
Blessings,
Nathan and Carrie Radford
Contact Info:
Nathan and Carrie Radford
1126 Smith Street
Milton, WV 25541
naterad@yahoo.com
For ministry donations:
Pastor George Sledd, Treasurer of BFM
P.O. Box 471280 | Lake Monroe, FL 32747-1280
or click here to donate to BFM online.
Read more
Coronavirus Update from Kenya
August 5, 2020
Dear praying friends,
It is hard to believe we are already in the month of August for 2020. Where has the time gone? Normally there would be so many summer activities, yet with coronavirus, so many things have been postponed or cancelled completely. I don’t think any of us have seen such an unstable time in years, if even in our lifetimes. God has been faithful through all the challenges and changes. This update will share current prayer requests as well as an update on the coronavirus in Kenya.
I (Nathan) need to give a little background on the decisions made on the coronavirus in the past few weeks. Last month, after a lockdown period of three months, the President of Kenya made the decision to reopen the country for a three week period, with the idea of assessment at the end of July to see what needed to be done, if anything. This was a welcome change, as we have been on lockdown since the month of March. So many things were different, with everyone wearing masks in town, having to sanitize all the time, getting your temperature taken, having limitations of passengers while traveling, etc. Nairobi, the capital city, was also on lockdown, and flights, both domestic and international, were cancelled. It was quite a challenging time, to say the least.
After the government decided to reopen the country, with fewer restrictions, the cases have increased dramatically. Some days there are nearly 700 cases just in a single day, and the total tally of cases as of the date of this letter is over 23,000 countrywide. Most of the cases are in Nairobi, as there are slum areas where people live so close together and it is difficult to social distance. Kitale has been spared the brunt of the cases, with just a few reported. We are so thankful for this, but we take nothing for granted, and are taking all necessary precautions, with keeping the family out of town as much as possible and away from crowded areas. We know you all are taking the same precautions in America.
The concern is that the cases will overwhelm the healthcare system and there will not be enough beds in the hospital wards to take care of the sick. This is a valid concern, especially in a third-world country with lower healthcare options in the best of times. Please pray for the doctors and the nurses as they are dealing with this new virus, and for the sick that need medical care.
Given all the current circumstances with the virus, we feel led to begin closing down for this term and begin planning for our upcoming furlough. We will have been here three years next month, so we feel our time has come. Please pray for us as we are in the process of closing down, as there is so much to do. Any missionary who is closing down for a term understands how overwhelming it can be and the need to make a large “to do” list to check things off. We are trusting God to keep us safe and in His care as we are in the process of closing down.
I will share more next month about some of the things the Lord taught us this term, and for the ministry progress that was made. I have been pleased and feel God has definitely led us this past three years. In regards to the global pandemic, may we take comfort in some verses from the Scriptures. I think of Psalm 57:1b, which says “Be merciful unto me, O God, be merciful unto me: for my soul trusteth in Thee: yea, in the shadow of Thy wings will I make my refuge, until these calamities be overpast.” Also Psalm 119:114, which says “Thou art my hiding place and my shield: I hope in Thy word.” May we trust God always, not just in times of a global pandemic. We will find that He is faithful each step of the way.
We appreciate each of you so much and will keep you updated.
Blessings,
Nathan and Carrie Radford
Contact Info:
Nathan and Carrie Radford
P.O. Box 4150
Kitale, Kenya
East Africa 30200
naterad@yahoo.com
For ministry donations:
Pastor George Sledd, Treasurer of BFM
P.O. Box 471280 | Lake Monroe, FL 32747-1280
or click here to donate to BFM online.
Read more
With Bad News All Around, the Good News Still Stands
June 19, 2020
Greetings in the name of Jesus Christ,
Unfortunately, this month’s newsletter is mostly just bad news. I wish I could say otherwise but the truth is the truth – Corona is wreaking havoc on our ministries here. Churches, schools and government offices are all closed so you can imagine what effects that is having on us.
Bad news #1: Government offices still closed. My work permit officially expired back in March. I had already filed to renew it and it was “accepted”. However, the offices closed before I could receive my paperwork. Where is my paperwork now? I don’t know. What does that mean for my status as a resident in Kenya? I don’t know that either.
Bad news #2: Schools are still closed. If you’ve been following our newsletters on a monthly basis you know that for the last two years Julie has been working diligently and feverishly as the Head Teacher of the newly started Milimani Christian Homeschooling Community (MCHC), a project started by some of our dear Kenyan friends here in Kitale. We didn’t start this school, nor does it belong to us, but Julie especially has been very instrumental in getting it off the ground and keeping it running. It obviously means a great deal to us. When Corona hit Kenya, this school was also shut down. The implications of this are grave. With no school fees coming in the teachers cannot be paid and the rent for the property has not been paid for months. While the directors of the school are trying to get extensions for the lease, the landlady has not been compliant and is demanding all back payments as well. I do not see how the school as a business survives this Corona Virus. There is simply no cash flow and the property almost certainly will be lost unless something miraculous happens. The imminent demise of the school is a source of much pain for Julie especially.
Bad news #3: Upper Room Baptist Chapel will lose its meeting place. Yes, you may have guessed it – URBC rents the facilities from MCHC and holds its weekly worship services there on that property. When and if MCHC loses its property then URBC loses its venue for worship and ministry. URBC cannot officially meet right now either (although I am in the process of getting special permission to do so) but when our services do start back up it looks like we will have to also start looking for a new location in which to meet. This is very depressing to me, as you might be able to imagine. I liked our current location very much as it was very conducive to the way we wanted the Chapel to run and operate. Now it looks as if we almost certainly will lose this venue as well.
Bad news #4: It just seems like Satan is against us at every turn. Our ministries are in disarray; Our main grocery store in town closed down; Our landlord will not allow any of our friends to come onto our compound; Josiah cannot get out of the country to get back to the U.S. and start college; I keep getting arrested by corrupt police officers who are not arresting me over legalities or infractions but simply to extort bribes from me because I have a target on my back. Ever feel like nothing is going right?
Good news: God is still on the throne; God is still in control; God still loves us; Jesus is still King; Jesus’ work on the cross still stands; Our salvation is sure; Jesus will come back and will triumph; God’s work will progress. In this we stand. In this we trust. In this we move forward.
Blessings to you all,
Roger, Julie, Amy, Josiah & Chloe
Contact Info:
Roger & Julie Tate
P.O. Box 96
Kitale, Kenya 30200
rojuta@gmail.com
For ministry donations:
Pastor George Sledd, Treasurer of BFM
P.O. Box 471280 | Lake Monroe, FL 32747-1280
or click here to donate to BFM online.
Read more
Challenging Times in Kenya
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.
June 5, 2020
Dear praying friends,
Another month has come and gone, and we are nearly halfway into 2020. Hard to believe.
What a year this has been, especially with the coronavirus. It has been challenging here the past few weeks, which I will explain shortly. May God bless each of you for your prayers, sacrificial giving, and interest in work here. We know it is truly sacrificially giving at this time and we appreciate it so much.
To say that things have been abnormal the last few weeks would be an understatement. There are many police at the entrance to town, and there is a 7 pm curfew. Also, Nairobi, the capital city, is locked down and has been for the past several weeks. It is difficult to get entry, and from my understanding, you have to have special permission. International flights have also been restricted and are much more expensive to purchase than previously. Schools, churches, and other public gatherings have also been locked down the past few weeks.
My wife continues to homeschool our daughters. She is enjoying it and the girls are doing well in their studies. This has been a challenging and anxious time for them, as we simply don’t have the answers at present and have to trust the Lord.
We are thinking of and praying for you all in America as well at this challenging time.
May we trust God each step of the way, as He is in control. We will keep you updated and appreciate each of you so much.
Nathan and Carrie Radford
Contact Info:
Nathan and Carrie Radford
P.O. Box 4150
Kitale, Kenya
East Africa 30200
For ministry donations:
Pastor George Sledd, Treasurer of BFM
P.O. Box 471280 | Lake Monroe, FL 32747-1280
or click here to donate to BFM online.
Read more
