Pursuing a New Plan for Church Planting

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.

April 3, 2018

Dear praying friends,

Another month has come and gone, and there is much to update you on. We thank the Lord for each one of you, who either prays for us, sends us encouraging correspondence, or gives sacrificially to the work of the Lord here in Kenya. You are each a great blessing to us.

Our daughters (McKenna and Camille) are now on break from school in Kitale. God was so good to provide a good school for them to go to, where they can get much needed socialization, as well as try to develop some independence and make some decisions on their own. Now, they are on break and my wife has the opportunity to home school them on the side. Please pray for this time, as this is the time my wife wants to invest in and teach our daughters. They will be getting much needed teachings and we know the Lord will bless their time together.

The hospital ministry is continuing along well. We thank the Lord that He has kept the door of ministry open for my wife to reach the mothers and children with Biblical materials as well as much needed clothing supplies. Many of the mothers and children are very needy and we do our best to reach them and encourage them. We feel that these children are very near to the heart of God. Many of them come from very challenging situations and need to be shown care and love. Psalm 82:3 says “Defend the poor and fatherless: do justice to the afflicted and needy.” This is a very challenging verse and please pray for my wife as she continues in this ministry.

After much prayer and seeking the Lord’s will in regards to church planting here, I (Nathan) have decided on a way of pursuing this ministry. I am seeking to train qualified national men (preferably younger) in their homes, trusting God to raise these men up in His plan and timing, then teaching these men to go to their immediate village they live in and reach their neighbors with the Word and the Gospel message. The goal is for the men that are trained to start groups in their homes that would develop into churches over time.

I desire to go outside of town into remote village areas, teaching the men in the Swahili language. This is a big challenge for me, as Swahili is difficult, however, I feel as much as possible it is beneficial to get the teachings into the language of the people. I am in active pursuit of this at this time and would pray that you would pray for me, that God would raise up the right men who truly want to serve the Lord. There are many challenges here, as I have mentioned before, so it is not easy. I will probably go through several men before finding the right man to train. I also would ask you to pray that God would open and close the doors that He wants me to pursue. Matthew 10:14 says “And whosoever shall not receive you, nor hear your words, when ye depart out of that house or city, shake off the dust of your feet.” Please pray for me as I seek to be led by the Lord in these endeavors and trust Him each step of the way. Church planting is difficult here and there are many challenges, but God is able and I trust Him. I would greatly appreciate your prayers at this time for wisdom for who to work with, and where to pursue opportunities.

We appreciate each of you so much and thank the Lord for you. Please keep us in prayer as we remember you as well.

Blessings,
Nathan and Carrie Radford

 

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.


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