Missionary Update: The Radfords in Kenya [July 2013]
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.
Dear praying friends,
Another month has come and passed, and we are now over halfway through the year of 2013. We thank the Lord that He has given us another month to serve Him, follow Him, and also for health and strength to do His work here in Kenya. The Lord gives us so many blessings, and many times I forget to thank Him and praise Him for His faithfulness. Even though there are many trials throughout life, may we take the time to thank the Lord for all He does for us. As the old saying goes, “Don’t get so busy adding up your troubles, that you forget to count your blessings.” This prayer letter will give a current update, as well as prayer requests.
We thank the Lord for the progress that we have been seeing here in Kitale in church planting. It has been exciting to hear the reports that are coming from the national that my good friend Roger Tate and I have been training. God has really blessed his efforts, and several churches have been started in differing areas of Kitale. With the help of the Lord, not only has he begun a church, but he has been training other faithful men to go and do the same in their respective villages. I feel that this is a fulfillment of 2 Timothy 2:2, which states “And the things that thou hast heard of me among many witnesses, the same commit thou to faithful men, who shall be able to teach others also.” We praise the Lord for this, and this can only be done with the Lord’s help. How we need to rely on Him each day, for strength, guidance, and wisdom as we do His work here. We are also continuing with the church in Shangalamwe, and giving the church elder more and more responsibility to lead as we gradually pull away. Please keep all of these ministries in your prayers.
Since I have not reported on the hospital in a while, I thought I would write some about it also. We thank each of you for your sacrificial giving and prayers with this ministry. You are such a blessing. Recently, my wife went to the Kitale district hospital and there were three abandoned babies. This of course, is difficult to see these babies in this condition, so she does her best to get them placed in good children’s homes in the Kitale area. The Lord has blessed with this, and she has been able to assist many of them with getting placed after their stay at the hospital. The needs here are so great, and we ask you to please keep praying for this ministry and also for my wife, as she is faithful to go and assist as she can and the Lord provides. Isaiah 1:17 states “Learn to do well; seek judgment, relieve the oppressed, judge the fatherless, plead for the widow.” We will keep you updated of this ministry.
Our children are continuing to progress well. McKenna is now five years old and will be starting kindergarten soon. That is so hard to believe. I can remember like it was just yesterday that she was crawling, learning to talk, etc. Life passes by so fast. She is developing into a wonderful daughter. Camille is now two years old. She is walking well now, slurring words that she tries to put together, and also is doing well. How we thank the Lord for the two daughters that He has blessed us with. Please continue to pray for them, and as before, we ask you to pray that the Lord would provide other children their age here in Kitale to play with. We trust the Lord with this.
In closing, we would like to briefly share our current needs. We are planning to return to the States in just a few months, and our current needs now are for housing and for a good, reliable vehicle to use while on furlough. We would prefer housing in the Charleston/Huntington WV area, if possible. Also, we really need a minivan to be able to have the room for our family and travels. We would be interested if anyone is interested in donating the minivan or selling it so us at a reasonable price. Furlough is very expensive, as we have to pay not only our expenses here in Kenya while away, but also expenses while we are in America.
If anyone would like to assist, we would be very grateful. We are just praying and waiting on the Lord for these needs. Psalm 33:20 says “Our soul waiteth for the LORD: he is our help and our shield.” You can email me at: naterad[at]yahoo.com if you are interested in assisting. Thank you for allowing us to share.
May God bless each of you for your prayers, interest in missions, and sacrificial giving. I wish each of you a wonderful celebration tomorrow for the fourth of July. We will keep you updated.
Nathan and Carrie Radford
P.O. Box 4150
Kitale, Kenya
East Africa 30200
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Missionary Update: The Tates in Kenya [July 2013]
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,
Usually in my newsletters I speak mostly of the progress or needs of the ministry, or I speak to matters of the culture, or I give you general updates on how I think things are going. This month I feel compelled to take a slightly different turn and speak of things that touch me much more personally, both as a missionary and as a father. What has spawned this thinking and caused me to write as I am this month is that my oldest child, Emily, will graduate from high school in 10 days. It would be extremely difficult to explain the mixture of joy and sadness I feel just thinking about that fact. Joy, because of the great accomplishment she has achieved by graduating from a boarding school in Kenya. Sadness, because after I take her back to the States, in a couple of months I know I will leave her there, 8000 miles away, and return to Africa without the knowledge of when I will see her again. But this letter is not about me, it’s about her.
Emily is a very strong person. She draws strength from deep reserves that I cannot see. I am enormously proud of her. I believe that when I leave her in the States, her heart is prepared to fly straight and strong. But I want you to explore with me the tremendous amount of change this young lady will be going through over the next few months. 1. In 10 days she will graduate from Rift Valley Academy. She will leave all her friends as they scatter around the world, and it is likely she will never see any of them ever again. She will leave the campus where she has lived for most of the last four years and most likely never see it again. 2. In August she will leave the continent of Africa. She will leave her home, pets, and things behind with no knowledge of whether she will see these things again. She will leave the country and culture that has become familiar to her over the past 5 years. 3. She will enter into a culture which has become foreign to her, one in which she has not spent many of her formative years – Namely, the American culture. She is what is called a Third-Culture Kid. A Third Culture Kid is a child who was taken from their original culture (the American culture, to which they no longer relate) and moved to a new culture (the Kenyan culture, to which they never have related). Thus, because they no longer fit in to either culture, the original one or the new one, they form their own culture, a third one, which is different from all others. Third Culture Kids can find it very difficult to assimilate into either their original or host countries’ cultures, and they often find it difficult to adjust and get close to others. They can often seem emotionally aloof, though they don’t mean to. 4. She will probably have to find a job to help pay for college without any knowledge of American work culture. 5. She will have to learn to drive again (she obtained her driving license just a few days before we left to return to Kenya). 6. In January she will begin college in the States, breaking into that new university culture half way into the college year. Most of the incoming freshman will have already acclimated and formed new friendships by then. 7. A couple of months after starting college, her parents and siblings will leave her by herself and return to ministry in Africa, 8000 miles away (she may be looking forward to this but it will rip my own heart out).
I am writing this to help you contemplate the tremendous amount of change and challenges that a missionary kid, and in this case, my kid, Emily, faces. I’m not saying she feels this way, but I would be scared out of my skin to be facing these same challenges. I implore you, enter into prayer with me for Emily as she commences upon these new challenges and opportunities. Pray that God would shower her with His grace, that He would be with her every step of the way, that He would strengthen her with His love and faithfulness, and that she would thrive as she looks to Him in all things. And while you are praying for her, remember the other missionary kids that you know. I have two others (Amy and Josiah) and you probably know other MK’s as well. I can tell you from experience that the issue of their children is probably what worries missionaries on the field more than anything else in their lives. Pray with us, won’t you?
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)
P.O. Box 96
Kitale, Kenya 30200
rojuta[at]gmail.com
Visit their blog!
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Missionary Update: John & Alta Hatcher [July 2013]
Missionaries John and Alta Hatcher have served the Lord in Brazil since 1955, planting over 70 churches that are still in existence.
Dear Brethren and Friends,
First of all, let me say a word to our wonderful missionary wives. I have read or am reading your wonderful letters of testimony as faithful partners with your husbands on the mission field. I am so touched by each one that I cannot read more than one at a time. Your dedication to your husbands and families cannot be fully understood except by those who have gone through a similar experience.
Dear Missionary friends and fellow-helpers, please pray faithfully for these missionary wives. On them depends the faithfulness of their missionary husbands, the spiritual development of their children, and the acceptance of the family among the people with whom they work to present the Gospel of Jesus Christ. God bless you, dear missionary wives.
MONTHLY MEETING OF PASTORS AND WIVES – Several years ago Valdir dos Santos, pastor of the Tabernacle Baptist Church in Cornelio Procopio began having a meeting of all the pastors of our churches and missions on the first Monday of each Month. The pastors met in the church auditorium and the wives met in his home that was on the second floor of the building. He asked Alta to bring a Bible Study for the ladies. She continues to prepare and bring this study each month.
For the Pastors, it was and continues to be an informal and profitable meeting. Each tell about their services, blessings and disappointments, what they have tried that worked and what did not work. Each Bible texts are discussed as well as subjects where there are doubts or truths discovered. Finally, the meeting is closed with Prayers by each for the works, special needs and new outreach. It is a time that each looks forward to and benefits in their spiritual fellowship with our brethren.
Pray for these dear servants and their wives.
Sincerely, in the Name above every Name,
John A. and Alta Hatcher
Caixa Postal 112
Urai, PR, Brazil 86280-000
jhatcher[at]uol.com.br
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Missionary Update: John Mark & Judy Hatcher in France [July 2013]
Missionaries John Mark and Judy Hatcher have been serving the Lord in Tournefeuille, France since 1999. They define their ministry as “disciple-making.”
July 1, 2013
Dear Brothers and Sisters,
Cast your bread upon the waters,
For you will find it after many days.
In the morning sow your seed,
And in the evening do not withhold your hand;
For you do not know which will prosper,
Either this or that,
Or whether both alike will be good.
(Ecclesiastes 11:1,6)
The preceding passage in the concluding portion of Ecclesiastes has often been an encouragement to me. The value of this inspired advice was once again evident in some of the events that took place in June. I will share a bit that might also encourage you.
On Wednesday nights, I have Bible study with a young man named Samuel. We have studied through the Gospel according to John and are now in the letter to the Romans. This young engineer had not made a profession of faith though we have been studying the Bible together weekly for nearly a year. Because he comes straight from work we enjoy Judy’s good cooking each Wednesday evening before diving into the Bible. As we ate a couple of weeks ago, he mentioned how long we had been having the studies together and I did not quite see where the conversation was heading. However, at the end of our study that evening, he again said something similar and then added, “I was wondering when I could get baptized.” He then went on to share how he had always seen Christianity as do, do, do and that now he could see that it was a joy to live out what Christ has done for us. He has trusted Christ and will be baptized next Sunday.
In the middle of the month, the community choir that I sing in had a planned a retreat. I was not particularly interested in going because my worldview is so different from the other members of the choir. However, remembering that I joined this choir to make friends to whom I could witness of Christ, I signed up to go. Most of the members of this choir are atheists or agnostics. You could count on the fingers of one hand those who are religious and they know nothing about the Christ of the Scriptures. During this weekend, I was able to “sow the Good Seed” in several lengthy and in depth conversations. I do not know “which will prosper” but I will mention an event that happened the following week that underscores the importance of sowing.
As Judy and I were praying Wednesday morning following the above mentioned retreat, there was a knock at the front door. When I opened the front door a lady from the next block over was standing there with her two young boys. We met this lady at the annual neighborhood picnic a year ago. She immediately asked if we had Bible instruction for children. We had invited these two boys to our last “Vacation Bible Club” and they did not come. We often speak to this lady as we pass in front of her house walking. We pray for her and many of our other neighbors nearly every day by name. A school mate of the oldest boy informed him that God was still alive. He came home and told his mother who decided that they needed some instruction about God. However, she told us that she did not want them to be taught lies so she came to us. The two sons have been to Sunday school that last two weeks. Their mother told me that when they arrived home the first Sunday, they said, “We want to make sure and go back next Sunday.”
The mother expressed an interest in studying the Bible with Judy and I, along with her husband. Yesterday, we had this year’s neighborhood picnic and once again made new friends to whom we can witness. We had some good conversations about spiritual matters. One of the neighbors, who lives across the street from us, announced to several of us who were sitting together what a blessing it was to listen to our services from his house. He also mentioned how much better our Sunday School was than Catholic Catechism.
So, “let us not grow weary while doing good, for in due season we shall reap if we do not lose heart.” (Galatians 6:9)
Sowing in France with your help,
John and Judy Hatcher
4, rue d’Aspin
31170 Tournefeuille, France
JMHatcher[at]aol.com
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June 2013 Mission Sheets [PDF & Flip-Through]
Your June 2013 Mission Sheet is now available in PDF format. Follow the link below to view it!
You can also flip through the mission sheet at the link below. When flipping through, you can enlarge the pages by clicking the magnifying glass with the arrow in it. ( <–> ) Flip by clicking on the curled up page corner.
(Once you get there, click at the bottom of the page to flip through.)
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Missionary Update: The Creiglows in Brazil [June 2013]
Mike and Beverly Creiglow have served the Lord in Cruzeiro do Sul, Acre, Brazil together for 40 years. 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.
June 20, 2013
Dear Brethren,
A few weeks ago Zico (our missions coordinator) Thiago, Pastor Ezi and I went to a little remote town called Jordão. We chartered one of MAF’s planes. There is no road to Jordão and to make it there by river is a major challenge. We had very little time to get there and back. For years we have been working toward a goal of having sound and dynamic Baptists churches in all 22 cities of our state. Jordão is the next one where we hope to plant a church soon.
The population is only 8000. There is an Adventist church, four varieties of Pentecostals and, of course, the Catholic church. Zico and Thiago went to get things set up with the local authorities to bring in a major medical mission group early next year. Ezi and I walked every street in the town, stopping to talk and witness to some of the town folk. We even walked the mile long beach up the Tarauacá River to the mouth of the Jordão River!
Jordão, Acre
We are now praying and seeking the right missionary couple to send. It will add to our already overstretched financial commitments to missions, but our main concern is getting the right people to that remote field.
A few months back I appointed a group of men from our church to start looking seriously for property to eventually relocate First Baptist church. As many of you know, for the past 15 years we have been filling our auditorium every Sunday night. Six or seven years back we even went to an extra service on Sunday afternoon. That service now has an average of 400 and the evening is still packed to capacity. Last Sunday night there were 8 more professions of faith. One couple even came before the church for him to ask her to marry him! Their wedding is in August. So we have been living dangerously by not providing enough room for our growth. A long time ago I tried to get the church to move out of the center of town, but couldn’t budge them. That is no longer the case. Even if they had not become ready, we were going to have to move them or risk the very real possibility of lost attendance.
I gave the three men a list of properties and GPS coordinates and took them around to identify each. There were 12 in all. Most were not for sale. Those that were had price tags anywhere from $500,000.00 the 2 and a half million dollars. Can you believe such prices in a town of 100 thousand sitting out here in the middle of the vast Amazon jungle? There was one last place that we could not find even though we had heard about it. Pastor Benjamim finally found it while I was out of town for a couple of weeks. We went to check it out the day after I got home.
18 acres of nice flat land with gently sloping sides. No street yet, but the city is supposed to put in a major thoroughfare in soon. We don’t know yet exactly where, but it should be very close if not right along one side. The land is just 3 miles from our present location. Best of all, it “only” costs $250,000.00! There is a clear title and no back taxes, too. Yesterday I sat down with the owner to hammer out a deal. We came up with 3 different ways to move forward.
Last night we had over 600 present for my presentation of the plan to the church. Actually the church had no idea that I was going to spring this on them this soon. They were so ready that the vote was unanimous to buy and the crowd erupted in applause at the close of the business meeting. NOW…..Please help us with your prayers.
We are going to try to keep our property in town. It will continue to serve our seminary and other training programs even after we move, which won’t be soon. Just our 6 lots where our present buildings sit are worth 4 million dollars! If the Lord doesn’t hurry up and come back we are going to end up leaving 10 or 15 million worth of property for the cults to squabble over during the Great Tribulation. Exciting times, these! Pray real hard for us as we advance the Kingdom of our Lord.
Thanks for all of your prayers and support. God bless you as much as He has us.
In Christ,
Mike and Beverly Creiglow
Caixa Postal 24
Cruzeiro do Sul, Acre, Brazil 69980
mdcreig [at] hotmail.com
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Missionary Update: Jud & Raquel Hatcher in Brazil [June 2013]
Jud and Raquel Hatcher serve the Lord in Manaus, Brazil. They are part of the “SeedFactory” church planting initiative, which is a movement to plant churches in all 26 Brazilian capitals. Since 2006, 43 churches have been started in 5 states.
Dear friends,
I am grateful for every investment you make in missions, particularly as you pray to the Father on our behalf. In this letter, I want to share with you concerning our new cycling outreach, a challenge for you to participate in a successful church plant in America, our recent salvation decisions, the auditorium expansion, our children’s cookout and also want to share several pictures.
Cycling Evangelism
Since I was 16 years old, I always dreamed of cycling as an Evangelism strategy for making new friends and witnessing. I remember as if it were yesterday, writing in my prayer book what I imaged, including an artistic sketch of a big group of cyclers. Well, 20 years later, God decided it was time. A few weeks ago, two men in their late 20’s came to visit the main Sunday service. As we talked, they told me of how they cycle daily with groups of 20 to 30 people throughout the city. I told them I loved cycling and how I had been an avid cycler during my teens. They invited me to join them in cycling. I did not have a bike so they lent me one. God’s timing was perfect (always is), I was ready for this new challenge although I felt out of shape. I have met so many new people it is unbelievable! Raquel has since joined me in cycling as well. We do not have to invest energy in organizing cycling events; we just go along for the ride, meet new people and share Christ.
Church Planting
Church planting is such an uplifting opportunity and it is the best evangelism strategy developed by the Lord. Everyone should be a part of a successful church planting experience at least once in his or her lifetime. America is also in need of new solid churches. Consider following the Lord’s example in this way – we need more churches. I am grateful to have joined my grandfather, my father and uncles in church planting to during my formative years. Now, as I pass on to my children the experience in ministry through church planting I am grateful that they will have fond memories too. Every location has something unique. The Lord teaches us life-changing lessons through challenges in reaching people, lessons we might not learn otherwise.
Salvation Decisions and Expansion
Over the last month, 11 people have surrendered to the Lord. We continue with small group prayer meetings, home discipleship visits, breakfast, lunch and dinner meetings. Last week, the auditorium received a reorganization in its layout to accommodate more chairs. We now have room for 130 seats. Our main Sunday night service generally lasts 4 hours from start to finish. I generally preach for an hour, we sing, share and eat together. We have intense and sweep fellowship on Sundays.
Kid’s Club
Last month we reached 50 children, plus their parents through a children’s evangelism cookout and game day. It was a true success. As the children sang, heard a Bible lesson, played and competed, the adult members of the church plant made personal connections with the parents and witnessed. As a result, several families have visited during our Sunday services simply because the kids ask their parents to go to church. Most of the parents, who come from Catholic backgrounds, are not used to having a special focus on their children and they love it. One family has a 4 year old daughter who wakes up every day asking “Is today Sunday? Can I get dressed for church?”
Come and visit us anytime. If you want, give me a call. My phone number is (859) 544-9040. Yes, it is a Kentucky number and you can reach me in Brazil. Thanks again for all you do for the Gospel!
Grateful,
Jud & Raquel Hatcher
judsonhatcher@hotmail.com
Website | Twitter
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May 2013 Mission Sheet [PDF & Flip-Through]
Your May 2013 Mission Sheet is now available in PDF format. Follow the link below to view it! This month’s edition features letters from our Missionary Wives.
You can also flip through the mission sheet at the link below. When flipping through, you can enlarge the pages by clicking the magnifying glass with the arrow in it. ( <–> ) Flip by clicking on the curled up page corner.
(Once you get there, click at the bottom of the page to flip through.)
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