Missionary Update: The Radfords in Kenya [March 2016]
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 1, 2016
Dear praying friends,
Greetings from warm and sunny Kitale. As I (Nathan) see photos of parts of America with great levels of snow, here in Kitale, it is consistently around 85 degrees. It definitely makes me miss the snow and seasons in America. I always enjoy the snow and seasons while we are home on furlough. There is never snow here in Kitale, so it is an adjustment when we return to visit churches, friends, and family. We are now approaching rainy season in the next few weeks, so that will be a blessing as well.
This past month, we celebrated the birthday of our daughter Camille. She is such a blessing in our family and it was nice to have some friends over to celebrate. She is now five years old, which is hard to believe. McKenna will soon be eight years old, Lord willing. Please pray for us as we raise our daughters and for wisdom from God in our parenting. I love Proverbs 22:6, which says “Train up a child in the way he should go: and when he is old, he will not depart from it.”
Please pray for the national that Roger and I are training. His name is Christopher, and he lives in a large village area called Kibomet. We train him in town and he has been coming faithfully to be taught the Word of God. We are now at a very important part of our training, where we are allowing him to teach us the Word of God. We are doing this so we can see how he will do before he would go to start a Bible study group. Lord willing, the ultimate goal would be for the group to become a church. He has shown much improvement in his teaching, for which we are thankful. Please pray for Roger and I as we continue to train him, model for him the teachings, and trust the Lord with the results. We are thankful for Christopher and his willingness to serve the Lord. He has shown a sincere desire to study and obey the Scriptures. Psalm 119:105 says “Thy word is a lamp unto my feet, and a light unto my path.”
We are now nearing the end of the teachings at the Annex prison called Firm Foundations. We have been studying and learning about the life of our Lord Jesus Christ. We recently studied when the disciples and the Lord were caught in a fierce storm. The disciples feared, then the Lord arose, rebuked the wind and the waves, and there was a great calm. This proves the authority of our Lord and shows that we can trust Him during the storms of life as well. Mark 4:39 says “And he arose, and rebuked the wind, and said unto the sea, Peace, be still. And the wind ceased, and there was a great calm.” Please pray for the prisoners as they faithfully study the Word of God. What a blessing it is to be able to teach them the Scriptures, by the grace of God. Please also pray for my prison permit to be renewed so I can continue with this ministry, Lord willing.
We are so thankful that our daughters have friends now. There is now a family that lives in Kitale on an internship with four daughters. They are from America and it is great for our daughters to have some friends to play with. This will help them to get along with other kids their age, develop social skills, and have some close friends. We are also praying for other children for our daughters to play with, as this is a much needed area of interaction on the mission field. We know the Lord is in control of this and we trust Him.
May the Lord bless each of you who give sacrificially, pray for us, or send emails or letters of encouragement. It means so much to us and we really appreciate it. Thank you for your faithfulness and encouragement to us. God bless each of you so much.
P.O. Box 4150
Kitale, Kenya
East Africa, 30200
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Missionary Update: The Tates in Kenya [March 2016]
The Tate Family has served the Lord in Kitale, Kenya since January 2008. Their main ministry is indigenous church planting.
February 27, 2016
Dear Brothers and Sisters in Christ,
Greetings from beautiful Kitale, Kenya (even though the grass has turned brown and dust covers everything). We praise God for the blessings of His mercy, grace, forgiveness and love.
All of our older children are now out of the house for most of the year. Emily is living in Michigan, Amy is in her second year of boarding school at Rift Valley Academy and Josiah has begun his first term there too. He was not able to get in for the first term (which began in September 2015) because there was no space in the dorms and we thought he would not be attending until next year. So we started Josiah on online school and we were all satisfied with that option but when one of the RVA 8th grade boys could not return for the rest of the year, it opened up a spot for Josiah and, well, off he went. If it were not for Chloe then Julie and I would be empty-nesters for nine months out of the year.
This has been a different, yet good, month of ministry for me here in Kitale. I was asked to teach a class in Old Testament History at a local Bible college. I wasn’t too excited about teaching the class at first but became much more excited about it as I prepared to teach it. The format of each class at this college is a week-long, intensive “crash course” on the subject. Instruction goes from 8am-4pm each day. Whew, I’m just not used to talking that much each day. I had to drink hot tea throughout the day to keep my voice working.
I spent a great deal of time preparing for teaching OT History – From Joshua through Esther. That’s about 1000 years of history and about 450 pages of text in my Bible. It was a challenging task and I finished the course just yesterday. I had 16 bright and exuberant Kenyan students who were all eager to learn about this subject. Some of them are already pastors and some want to be pastors when they graduate from the school. They came from all over Kenya. We had a lot of fun learning about OT history. I find this teaching very satisfying as I get an opportunity to shape and mold some of the leaders of the Kenyan churches. I was pleased to try and show them who God was through these OT history books and to give them a greater appreciation for God’s Word and how it can shape each of us. And, as some have said many times, there is no better way to learn a subject than to have to teach it. So, I learned a lot through the teaching of this class too. Bear with me as I share what was reinforced to ME by teaching these books:
- God is sovereign over history
- God is faithful to his people in spite of their sin and failure
- God has an overall plan of redemption that cannot and will not be thwarted
- History is moving ever forward to bring us to the coming of the Son of God
- God will put His King on the throne and redeem His people
- God works in His people’s lives and works through them to bring about His plans
- God loves His people and desires their good
- God is worthy of worship and adoration
I trust you see and believe all these things as well. God truly is good to His people.
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
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Mission Sheets: February 2016 [PDF Version]
Get your advanced PDF copy of the February 2016 Mission Sheets at the link below!
BFM Mission Sheets – February 2016
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Missionary Update: AJ & Barbara Hensley in Brazil [February 2016]
The Hensleys have spent nearly 15 years serving in Brazil. They run a vocational school and orphanage in Caraguatatuba and have also established a church and mission points throughout the city.
February 11, 2016
Friends and family,
Well, I am at a point that I don’t know where to start: so here goes. We were in the States for Christmas and we were traveling on a buddy pass and because of the weather in another location, we were bumped two days straight. But in the end we were able to get back to Brasil in time to pass the New Year with the Church.
Now I will digress to December 2015. One of the reasons we were in the States was because I had to have a biopsy on my prostate. My number was high and when I did the test it proved to be aggressive cancer. The doctor said that my body needed one month to recoup before he could do the surgery to remove the prostate. With this in mind we decided to return to Brasil to get the Church moved to the new building. What an AWESOME blessing!!! We were able to do 1000 little chores and with 1000 more, we moved. We are now in the new building and I preached Sunday before we returned to the States for my surgery. We were back in the States for the surgery on the 25th. The surgery was a success, but the cancer had bled through the prostate into the bladder and the urethra tube. So now I am recuperating for 6 months to be able to come back to begin 30 days of radiation treatment. So we will go back to Brasil for the 6 months and see what we can get into. The only thing is that the doctor says that I cannot do any work. So it looks like I am demoted to the supervisor role.
While we have been here doing all these doctor things, Barbara’s mom, Reba Baker, went home to see the Lord on February 5th. Barbara and I would like to THANK each and every one of you for your prayers and your love that has been shown to us during this time. The AWESOME part of this is that we are certain of where she is. She had such an AWESOME testimony of Christian faith and service. She will be greatly missed.
Because of the time we will have to spend in the States, I led the Church to call a Brasilian Pastor. This will allow me to do my treatment knowing that the Church will have good leadership. This also lets me be able to concentrate on the other ministries of the Church, such as visitation, small groups, discipleship, seminary and the others.
So as you can see, the next few months before I start the treatment, we will be very busy. God is so AWESOME—we know that He will take care of every aspect of our lives and the life of His Church.
So our request is that you keep in your prayers our Church in the transition of pastors, my treatment, the work that needs to be finished on the Church building, and our travels to the States and back to Brasil.
Our doors are still open for you to come see what God is doing here in Brasil. Give Barb a call and set up your visit.
In His service,
Aj and Barb
Aj and Barbara Hensley
ajcaragua[at]gmail.com
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Missionary Update: The Wacasers in Brazil [February 2016]
Bobby, Charlene, Jessie, and Brennen Wacaser have served the Lord as church planters in Curitiba, Parana, Brazil, since 1985.
February 5, 2016
Dear Friends,
Charlene and I truly appreciate you who have kept us in your prayers as we continue to care for my ailing father. It is evident that God has answered many of those prayers because he is not in any pain. Also, the time that he and I spend together is very precious as we reflect on the Lord’s blessings to us and how we may best serve Him while on this earth. Thank you for those prayers.
I continue to have opportunities to share the Word of God with some of the Hospice care personnel. Just yesterday I was asked several questions about how to have the assurance of one’s salvation. I shared several Scriptural references and their application and the young lady seemed to understand and accept that teaching.
The Winter Missions Conference at the Park Ridge Baptist Church last month was a true joy as we got to fellowship with several of our dear friends of Baptist Faith Missions. Pastor Benton Glover and the church members hosted us very graciously. It was also a tremendous joy to get to visit with our fellow missionaries to Brazil, John and Alta Hatcher and Paul and Wanda Hatcher.
Our evangelistic outreach teams in Brazil, Projeto Vida, have returned to their activities after the holiday break. Besides having Christmas and New Year’s Day during this period, it is also summertime in southern Brazil and the schools let out for summer break. The public schools are our main venues for taking the gospel to unreached cities and their being closed doesn’t provide the teams with many available audiences. We will shortly resume our travels to many new cities since the students are back to school. In fact, Charlene and I will be traveling down to Brazil early next month to host a team of 40 youth from the Tampa, Florida area. I have already been resolving logistical details for their lodging, meals, and travel inside the country and will arrive a few days ahead of them to prepare our translator teams and tie up any loose ends.
Charlene and I thank you so much for your prayers for us. May the Lord richly bless you and your families and churches.
In Christ’s love,
Bobby and Charlene Wacaser
Bobby and Charlene Wacaser
Furlough Address:
3912 Casaba Loop
Valrico, FL 33596
Field Address:
Rua Laudelino Ferreira Lopes, 279-1
Sobrado 1, Bairro Novo Mundo
81050-310 Curitiba, PR Brasil
Phone: (813) 481-7007
Cell Phone: (813) 727-6405
Email: bobbymichael_1@hotmail.com
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Missionary Update: Mike & Beverly Creiglow in Brazil [February 2016]
Mike and Beverly Creiglow have served the Lord in Cruzeiro do Sul, Acre, Brazil together since 1971. In addition to pastoring First Baptist of Cruzeiro do Sul, Mike builds his own boats and frequently travels up and down rivers to share the Gospel with those who have never heard.
February 4, 2016
Dear Brethren,
Bev and I have visited a few of our congregations and churches in this first month of the new year. We visited Assis, Brasil again. We were with the new congregation at Colônia for the first time ever since they started.
This work is one of those things that happen to Baptists that isn’t really ideal, but has to be. We already have a church at Colônia; however, starting in 2011, the longtime pastor, who is getting up in age, started to treat the church as his own personal piece of property. He sold the corner lot to a bar, for starters. Then he told all the musicians that the church is his and they could only practice and play if he said so. I tried to help them through this, but to no avail. While I was on furlough in 2011 they called me a few times to get my input. At that time 50 members left and became members of one of our other local churches. A few months later they bought property and started a new work a couple of miles down the main street of town. They now have a beautiful big building and are growing leaps and bounds. Bev and I were with them on a Thursday night. There were about 100 present. Their average attendance on Sunday is 150.
The new work at Colônia.
We also visited our congregation at São Pedro. It rained all night and all day before and during our visit. Needless to say, there weren’t many people present. When I started preaching that morning my mind “glitched” on me. It was just a momentary skip, but very disconcerting. I had to ask somebody to take care of the rest of the service. Bev drove us home. The next day the doctor had me put through one of those tunnel machines (don’t know what it is called in English) to scan my brain. No brain was found, so I guess all is normal… for me. She is trying to get me set up with a specialist (neurologist?) to see where to go from here. Physically, I feel fine. For a few days I had been feeling sluggish and low on motivation. The doctor asked me to slow down. Since I am already slow by nature, I guess she wanted me to stop.
Bro. Mike with their new grandson, Brenden, named in honor of the first missionary in Cruzeiro do Sul – Joseph Brandon.
We are getting ready for the first big camp of the year. For the past couple of weeks I have been working on the new driveway and entrance at Camp Salem. There have been a lot of guys from church going up to help me. When the road was being paved they used our entrance a lot and the heavy machinery destroyed the part that we had paved with brick. The camp property is 400 acres 22 miles east of Cruzerio do Sul. This first camp is for youth. Right after this one will be the “tweens”. There will be a couple of camps every month for the rest of the year.
A picture of Bro. Creiglow 50 years ago when he first started seminary in Manaus.
On the 25th Dauro and Crissy had their fourth child. They named him Brendon Michael. Brendon in honor of the first missionary in Cruzeiro do Sul – Joseph Brandon. They settled on Brendon to trick our Brazilian friends into saying Brandon. Otherwise it would come out Brahndon. I don’t know where they came up with the Michael part. We are having fun!
On the 29th the church helped me celebrate my 50th year in the ministry. My surrender was on January 29, 1966.
A picture from Bro. Creiglow’s 50th year in ministry celebration. He writes, “By the way, I decided to dress just like a picture from 50 years ago when I first started seminary in Manaus. Believe it or not I still dress this way quite often. The oxford shirt and faded jeans are still the same size, too.”
My first sermon was 3 days later. We had over 400 present on Friday night. Plenty of great music, cake and soft drinks for all. It was a lot of fun.
Thanks for all of your prayers and support. God bless you as much as He has us.
In Christ,
Mike Creiglow
Mike and Beverly Creiglow
Caixa Postal 24
Cruzeiro do Sul, Acre, Brazil 69980
mdcreig [at] hotmail.com
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Missionary Update: John Mark & Judy Hatcher in France
Missionaries John Mark and Judy Hatcher have been serving the Lord in Tournefeuille, France since 1999. They define their ministry as “disciple-making.”
February 4, 2016
Dear Brothers and Sisters,
It seems impossible that another month has passed since I last wrote you. It has been a good month and we see God at work. There are also areas that we are concerned about and pray about.
Our new Bible studies and prayer meetings are going well. I will mention some of these new ones. This afternoon Judy and I will be meeting with a couple of ladies with whom we have started a weekly Bible study. Both of them are believers, but are married to unsaved men. We have a good relationship with both of these men. One of them comes to the Sunday meetings from time to time. Judy and I are very encouraged by the spiritual growth that we see in both of these ladies. One of them has become quite involved in visiting elderly people in her community. She does this by participating with a social organization that has as its primary focus the welfare of older citizens. This lady from our church has had a number of opportunities to witness to the people she visits and is very excited about it.
Amanda, our daughter-in-law and a wonderful partner in ministry here, is meeting with girls who are College students for Bible study. One of the three girls in this Bible study has trusted Christ but is not yet baptized. The other two have come to church and youth meetings but have never made a public confession of faith.
The men in the church are now meeting one Saturday morning each month to pray together. We are hoping that this will give us the opportunity to more effectively encourage and disciple these men.
Another lady has started a prayer meeting with ladies on Tuesday mornings and one couple is trying to get a Friday night Bible study going in their home.
Philip, Amanda, and their four daughters
One of our concerns is the children of families who come to church here. We would like to see the saved parents be more active in helping their children know the Bible. Nearly all the adults in our church besides Judy, me, Philip and Amanda were saved as adults or teenagers and come from families where no one else was saved. They did not have Christian parents to teach them or be examples for them. Since they were saved as adults they do not always understand a child’s capacity to know God. We are praying and planning on helping these families teach their children the Bible more effectively. Please pray with us and for these families.
Our regular and longer term Bible studies are going well.
I have asked Amanda, our daughter-in-law, to write the letter next month to give you a different perspective. Abigail, our oldest granddaughter publishes the monthly church bulletin and Nathalie the second in birth order designed and maintains the church’s website. They are involved in working with the children and all the girls are our main point of contact to get kids from the community to come to outreach activities. Philip, Amanda and the four girls are a major component in what God is doing here. We ask that you pray for them as you pray for us.
May God’s richest blessings be evident to you,
John and Judy
John and Judy Hatcher
4, rue d’Aspin
31170 Tournefeuille, France
JMHatcher[at]aol.com
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Missionary Update: The Radfords in Kenya [February 2016]
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 1, 2016
Dear praying friends,
We hope this update finds each of you doing well. We are now in the year 2016. Hard to believe. Many times when I think that something is far away, before you know it, it is upon you, and then behind you. I cannot believe my daughter McKenna is already 7 and Camille will soon be 5 years old. And my age, well that is another matter. As the old saying goes “Age is mind over matter. If you don’t mind, it doesn’t matter.” I like that. Hoping each of you had a great Christmas holiday and New Year celebration with family and friends. We had a small celebration here with some missionary friends, had some time of fun and fellowship, played games, etc. It is always nice to be able to do these things sometimes.
One of the hardest parts of missions is missing family and being separated from them while on the mission field. From time to time, family comes to visit, and we have had two of my wife’s sisters visit with us. My wife has three sisters, and we are thankful that two of them were able to get some time off and come to visit with us here in Kitale. This is much needed, for it gives them the opportunity to see how life is on the mission field, some of the challenges, and to know better how to pray for us. Also, it gives them much needed time to spend with us as a family. We are so thankful that both Jenna and Joelle came out to visit with us. What a blessing they have been. Lord willing, my wife’s parents will visit later with us in the year, so we are looking forward to this as well. Family time is so important and we are thankful for any visits we get from family.
Please pray for my (Nathan) work permit, which expires in April this year. I have to have a permit to be able to legally stay and minister in Kenya, and it expires in April of this year. I have gone to Nairobi to meet with my government agent who handles these permits for us. My wife already has hers, so we are thankful for this. Now, we are waiting and praying for mine to be processed. We pray it will proceed with no problems, and we know that God is in complete control and has a plan for us. Jeremiah 29:11 says “For I know the thoughts that I think toward you, saith the LORD, thoughts of peace, and not of evil, to give you an expected end.” God has a purpose and plan for everything, thoughts of peace, not evil, to give us an expected end.
I also like Micah 7:7, which says “Therefore I will look unto the LORD; I will wait for the God of my salvation: my God will hear me.” We can look to the Lord in faith, waiting on Him, knowing He hears us. What great promises to cling and hold to.
My partner Roger Tate and I are still going faithfully to the village of Robinson to teach and preach the Word of God. We are currently in the book of Matthew, and there have been many good teachings. We have learned about not judging, how to give and pray in secret, being salt and light in a dark world, and other teachings. We are also continuing to visit people in the village and share the Gospel as God gives the opportunity. Many of those who were initially coming at the beginning have left, as they were searching for the loaves and fishes, and were not interested in the teachings and following Jesus. I am interested more in quality than quantity, and the Lord knows who will be there for the right reasons. God knows how it will all turn out in the end, and my partner Roger and I have been faithful. We need to continue to visit, share the Gospel, pray, and leave the results in God’s hands. Duties belong to us—results belong to God. In 1 Corinthians 3:6, Paul says “I have planted, Apollos watered; but God gave the increase.” It is still the same today. God gives the increase. We trust Him for the results, and would ask prayer as we continue to go and teach faithfully in the Robinson village. Our desire ultimately is to have a church there, but we will trust God with it, knowing He will lead and guide us.
In family news, my wife continues to go faithfully to the district hospital. She does her best to provide the women and babies there with much needed supplies, as well as sharing the Gospel with the mothers. This ministry has grown bigger, with more mothers and children than ever before. We are doing our best to assist them, and we thank each of you who faithfully give sacrificially or send supplies. Thanks for helping the poor and abandoned. God will richly bless you. McKenna and Camille continue to grow and develop. McKenna is learning to read well and quickly, and Camille will soon be starting kindergarten, which is hard to believe. My wife does a great job in teaching them faithfully here at home, so we are blessed to be able to help them with their education in this way.
Please keep us in your prayers, and we will remember you also. We appreciate so much each letter, email, family picture, or whatever you would like to send. Each act of kindness is highly regarded and appreciated. Thank you for your mindfulness of missions, your sacrificial spirit, and your faithful prayer support and sacrificial giving. You are each a great blessing to us. Happy 2016.
P.O. Box 4150
Kitale, Kenya
East Africa, 30200
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