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
Visit their blog!
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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: The Tates in Kenya [February 2016]
The Tate Family has served the Lord in Kitale, Kenya since January 2008. Their main ministry is indigenous church planting.
January 28, 2016
Dear Brothers and Sisters in Christ,
Sometimes you encounter things that really make you sit back and think. And some of those things hit you really hard. I had one of those encounters this month while just going around doing “business as usual”.
I’ve lived in Africa for eight years as of this month. So, needless to say I’ve come across poverty and seen sickness. It’s never easy to see these things and there is always a desire that I could help the people I see in these situations. But this time hit me differently for some reason. Nathan and I have been working with Kefa and Matilda in a village called Robinson trying to ultimately get a church started there in their house. Kefa and Matilda are not wealthy (if you saw their house you would probably think they are very poor), but they are doing well compared to some who live around them who really do live in utter poverty. They are good Christian people who desire to start up a church in their home and to minister to the people around them. So, in trying to start up a church here, Nathan, Kefa and I make visits to the neighbors and surrounding areas to meet the people, share the gospel with them, pray for their needs and invite them to our worship/Bible study meetings in Kefa’s house.
The door to the old man’s room.
On one of these visits this month Kefa took us to a line of “apartments” to visit the people who live there. These apartments are just a string of one room, mud wall, dirt floor houses. The people who live there live in poverty. We walked into one of these rooms and even after eight years here I was still amazed. The room was dark—nighttime dark. The window was boarded up and the only light came through the now opened door. The smell was terrible, the air hardly breathable. The dimensions of the room were about 8 feet by 8 feet. The walls were mud and stick and the floor was packed dirt. Trash was piled up in one corner. Besides the trash the only other thing in the room was an old man lying on a filthy, disintegrating mattress which was on top of a wood slated bed. He was not able to get up to leave the bed. When he had to spit (which was often) he would simply spit on the floor or on the wall. He could not get up to use the communal pit latrine (so you can only imagine). When I saw his feet I could see why he could not walk. His feet were eaten up and mangled by jiggers. Jiggers are the smallest form of flea, hardly visible by the human eye. They burrow into human flesh where they live, feed and lay their eggs. They have to be dug out with a razor and treated with a medicine difficult to obtain. He had obviously been in this state for a long time as he was not able to walk, his legs had become emaciated and he looked to be near starvation. As we stood there talking to and praying for the man I could not help but think what it would be like to lie in this dark, filthy, stench-filled room day after day, not able to get up, not able to leave, with absolutely nothing to do but lie there until I died. Can you imagine?
Caring for the old man’s feet.
When we eventually left the man I told Kefa that we would need to help this man. I told him it was one of the reasons for the existence of a church and was the ministry of Christ. I told him we couldn’t just leave the man in that room to die like that. Kefa was in complete agreement with me. When we returned to Kefa’s house we decided to take the money we had collected for offerings (which they had originally wanted to use to start a building fund) and use it help the man. We have been trying to teach them the Biblical way of using these offerings and now they were going to use them in a God-honoring, Christ-exalting way. Kefa and Matilda then took charge of the man’s care. That week they took him fresh fruits and vegetables to eat and cooked him food. They contacted a friend who had been trained in treating jiggers and was licensed to obtain the medicine (the medicine is restricted because it can be used in making bombs). When the friend was prepared he came with the medicines and he, Kefa, Matilda, Nathan and I went back to the man’s house to see that he was treated for the jiggers and was being cared for. My heart rejoiced to see Kefa on his knees in the dirt, gingerly holding the old man’s feet in his hands as he carefully cleaned them, cut his toenails, cut out the jiggers and treated the man’s feet. It was a beautiful picture of Christian service and of showing the love of Christ. Our small group is now caring for the man physically and spiritually. Please pray with us that he not have to die alone in that dark room, that he would regain his health and most of all that he would know Jesus Christ as his Lord and Savior so that one day, when his suffering here is over, he can rejoice in the presence of the One who took our suffering for us.
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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The Challenge of Missions (Part 4) by John A. Hatcher
THE CHALLENGE OF MISSIONS
John A. Hatcher
Chapter 4
[click here for previous chapters]
THE PERFECT MISSIONARY
Jesus is the Perfect Missionary. He is the example for every person dedicated to doing the Father’s will. Jesus is the example of obedience and courage. He is the source of power, wisdom, and faith to overcome for every missionary life. Jesus was given by the Father, yet He came in perfect willingness. He was born of and anointed by the Holy Spirit. His perfect missionary ministry is summarized by the prophet Isaiah: “The Spirit of the Lord is upon me; because the Lord has anointed me to preach the good tidings unto the meek; He hath sent me to bind up the broken hearted, to proclaim liberty to the captives, and the opening of the prison to them that are bound; to proclaim the acceptable year of the Lord and the day of vengeance of our God; to comfort them that mourn; to appoint unto them that mourn in Zion, to give them beauty for ashes, the oil of joy for mourning, the garment of praise for the spirit of heaviness; that they might be called trees of righteousness, the planting of the Lord, that He might be glorified.” Isaiah 61:1-3
Jesus was sent to make men free. Men can only be set at liberty through the hearing of faith, and faith comes by hearing the truth. Jesus said, “Ye shall know the truth and the truth shall set you free.” (John 8:32). Paul makes this clear to the Ephesian believers—“in whom ye also trusted after ye heard the word of truth, the gospel of your salvation.” Ephesians 1:13
The Perfect Missionary was a servant—not in theory, but in reality. He suffered though He was perfect goodness. He was rejected and forsaken by all though all were blessed and benefited by Him. Though He was reviled, His words were full of grace and mercy; few believed in Him though He manifested His divinity in power and wisdom. Men rejected His life even though they saw the dead raised by His word. But those who heard Him and believed the Father had sent Him inherited life eternal and Heaven. Lastly, Jesus gave His life for missions. He became the Founder and Leader of a race of men who would give their lives for others.
The Holy Spirit accompanied Jesus from His birth to the cross. He is the Spirit of Jesus and Missions. He is the Spirit of Jesus who guided the prophets of the Old Testament. 1 Peter 1:11—He makes the plans and purposes of God effective in the hearts of man. He brings men to understand Christ’s work of redemption and opens their hearts to receive it. Acts 16:14—He makes the eyes to see, the ears to hear, and inclines the heart to respond to the invitation of life eternal. When the sinner believes, the Holy Spirit indwells his life and tags him as God’s possession. In the life of the believer the Holy Spirit glorifies Christ, teaches truth, and gives resurrection power to overcome the forces of evil. He abides with us to comfort, to teach, to console, to chasten, to encourage, to weep with us, to rejoice with us, to groan for us, to seek the deep things of God for us, and to help us love and seek the lost.
Great wisdom will be gained by those who make a serious analysis of the Holy Spirit in the life of Jesus. As sons of God we need to learn to hear and to follow the still small voice of the Holy Spirit. Those who do will be saved from much error and heartache that comes by following the big noises. The Holy Spirit will take us to a Jacob’s well to win a Samaritan, to the border of Tyre and Sidon to benefit a poor a rejected Syrophenician woman full of pain for her little daughter, to seek lives of Mary Magdalenes, to wait for serious inquirers like Nicodemus. The Bible makes it clear–“As many as are led of the Spirit, they are the sons of God.” (Romans 8:14) He will be wise who fills his head and heart with the Word of God, and in constant submission learns to listen for the voice of God’s Spirit as He speaks through the Scriptures.
Sound waves and electromagnetic waves are used constantly for broadcasting and televising. They are in the atmosphere around us. A radio or television receiver can instantly receive these waves and reproduce their message. The Christian life is not too different. The Holy Spirit dwells in us. He has the power to receive, to understand, and reproduce in our lives the message that the Bible contains after we have read and studied the Scriptures. God’s children need to learn to tune in and hear.
J.A. Hatcher
[Click here to view all “The Challenge of Missions” posts by John A. Hatcher]
Missionaries John and Alta Hatcher have served the Lord in Brazil since 1955, planting over 70 churches that are still in existence. They now reside in Florida where they continue to share the Gospel with everyone they meet.
15905 Mercott Court
Clermont FL 34714
229-529-8497
jhatcher1925[at]gmail.com
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Mission Sheets: January 2016 [PDF Version]
Get your advanced PDF copy of the January 2016 Mission Sheets at the link below!
BFM Mission Sheets – January 2016
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