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.

May 5, 2015

Dear praying friends,

Another month has come and gone, and there is much to report about. The ministries are continuing along, and I will be sure to give you regular updates through the year, but I thought this month I would focus on things that have been happening in Kenya recently, as well as share family requests.

As many of you know, a few weeks ago, in a town called Garissa, a terrorist attack took place at the university. I am not familiar with this area of the country,
as it is on the other side of Kenya, but it was shocking to watch the events unfold and the news reports. Terrorists stormed into the university in the early hours, executing around 147 people total. The siege lasted for several hours before the attackers were subdued. I read stories of students who hid in closets, or wherever they could, until the attack was over. This attack follows the attack at Westgate Mall in Nairobi a few years ago. Please pray that these terrorists would be caught, brought to justice, and for the peace of Kenya. We know the Lord is in control, sovereign, and we trust Him through all situations. A verse that comes to mind is John 14:1, which says “Let not your heart be troubled: ye believe in God, believe also in me.” Please pray for all the families affected by this act.

Also, in Kitale town, as I mentioned recently, it has become much more difficult to drive. The main bus/van stage has moved from another part of town to an area close to downtown, right where all the traffic must pass. Of course, when this happened, there was a lot of frustration, as traffic is much more congested and it is more challenging to drive and pass. At one point, when this first happened, we stayed home for a day as they were sorting out the problems in town. There were trees cut down and laid in the road, some riots broke out and other things were going on. The situation was brought under control the next day or so and things seem to back to normal. My understanding is that the new stage will only be in this location for a year or so until a new stage is built. Please pray for the safety of the missionaries as they have to pass through this area, and also that there would be no more problems among the council people and van drivers. We trust the Lord for all these things.

In closing, it has been quite a last few weeks for our daughter Camille. What a blessing she
is to our family and she has been through it recently. She kept complaining of stomach aches and so we took her to two different medical offices about it here in Kitale. She was given medicine each time and the problem temporarily went away. However, the stomach pains would return after a few days, so it was very puzzling and frustrating as the doctors in Kitale were unable to find the root of the problem. Yesterday we felt it best to go to Mediheal Hospital in Eldoret, about an hour and a half from Kitale. The pediatrician there seemed very qualified and did a thorough examination. He explained that although some of the amoeba was gone from her previous infection, there were still cysts from the host that had not been removed. They had a very good lab and were able to discover this. We have started her on a different medicine and she seems to be improving. Praise the Lord! Medical care here is such a challenge and we would really appreciate your prayers for our health as a family, as it is so easy to get sick, and as in Cami’s case, it takes a while to get solid answers. Health here is a daily battle and we do our best to stay healthy, but sometimes these things happen and when they do, it can be difficult to find the root problem. A comforting verse through times like this is Psalm 46:1, which says
“God is our refuge and strength, a very present help in trouble.” What a great God
we serve.

We appreciate you each so much and will keep you updated.

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

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