Students Taking the Gospel to the Masai People on Break

November 9, 2023
Greetings in the name of Jesus Christ,
In addition to all the additional responsibilities and tasks I have this month, I was also privileged by being asked by a group of students to conduct an evangelism seminar for their missions group. There is a missions club at the school called Antioch. They get their name from the first city and church in the New Testament that purposefully sent out foreign and cross-cultural missionaries. The church in Antioch on the Orontes, or Antioch Syria, commissioned and sent out Barnabas and Paul to take the gospel to the Roman empire and the Gentiles nations. It was a great, mission-minded church and second in importance in the New Testament only to the church in Jerusalem. But even the church in Jerusalem didn’t accomplish what the church in Antioch did, in sending out the first cross-cultural, foreign missionaries.
Anyway, the group gets its name from this great church. What impresses me about the Antioch group is their own mission-minded attitudes. This is a group of eighteen students who have a focus on missions, on sharing the gospel with people who have not heard it or are resistant to it. On November 24th all the students in the school will complete their last final exam for the term. Most of them will take their break from school and go home to rest and be with their families until January. But these eighteen students of Antioch will not be going home right away. They have decided instead to spend ten days of their break going to Samburu in central Kenya. They want to minister to a large group of Masai people that live in that area. They will be going door-to-door (or more likely, boma-to-boma – translated hut-to-hut), holding an evangelistic crusade, and hoping to share the gospel with many of the Masai living in this area. (What do you do when you are going door-to-door and the house doesn’t have a door, only a sheet hanging over the doorway? You can’t knock, you have to call out “Hodi” – translated “hello, I’m here”). And get this: This is not a vacation for these students – they actually have to pay money to be in this group. I’ve heard of Kenyan missionaries being willing to go preach the gospel when they are being paid by western missionaries to do it. But to hear of a group of students who are willing to pay to be members of a missions club so that they can be involved with missions work in Kenya is rare indeed. I am so impressed with this group of students.
In the seminar, my main goal was to encourage them. Going to unfamiliar places and preaching the gospel to unfamiliar faces with unfamiliar cultures can be a frightening endeavor (this is something I know). I wanted to encourage them that God is with them, and His Word will not return to Him void but will accomplish what He sends it out to do. I also gave them some general tips to remember when going out to do this work: Pray, genuinely love and care for the people you will be ministering to, make your goal their good and not a conversion notch on your belt, be willing to listen as much as you are to talk, don’t argue and debate, depend upon the Holy Spirit who will do the work, remember that all you really have to offer them is Jesus, and pray. I taught them some simple methods of presenting the gospel and then gave them some time to practice and get familiar with sharing it. Did I mention how impressed I am with this group of students?
Lord, God, I pray and ask that You would bless this group of students in the Antioch club. They are giving up part of their term break and expending their time, energy, and money to bring the gospel to a group of Masai living in Samburu land. I ask that You bless them and their efforts. I ask that You empower them with Your Spirit and that Your Word would proceed from them with power and effectiveness. I ask that through them You would bless the Masai people they are going to minister to. I pray that many of the Masai people would hear the gospel message of Jesus and some of them would believe. I ask that as a result of these students’ ministry that Your Kingdom would grow and expand and that Your name would be glorified and Jesus exalted. Amen.
Blessings to all,
Roger, Julie & Chloe
CONTACT INFO
Roger & Julie Tate
Moffat Bible College
P.O. Box 70
Kijabe, Kenya 00220
rojuta@gmail.com
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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Lack of Faith

December 10, 2022
Greetings in the name of Jesus Christ,
Lack of faith.
Lack of faith is my trouble. When something terrible happens this week, my first reaction is “Why God?” Why did that horrible thing have to happen? Why, if you love me, did you allow that, when you could have changed it?
Lack of faith is my trouble. Why God, is my life like this? This is not what I designed for myself. I want my mind to think differently, and, God, I’ve asked you for help to trust. Why don’t you help me?
Lack of faith is my trouble. Why, God, does your Word not work for me the way that it works for others? Why do they find such comfort in it while I only struggle? Why do others find faith while I doubt?
Do you know what is interesting, though (for this newsletter)? I find the faith of Kenyan believers astounding.
Roger: “You have no money and no job. How are you going to provide for your family?”
Kenyan believer: “I don’t know. But God will feed us.”
Roger: “You have no income, no savings, and no friends with resources, and no plans. How are you going to pay your school fees?”
Kenyan believer: “I don’t know. But God wants me to go to this school and so he will provide my school fees.”
Roger: “Your husband has died after a long sickness. The hospital is demanding money. The mortuary won’t release his body until you pay. He was the only one with an income. What are you going to do?”
Kenyan believer: “I don’t know. I will trust in God.”
We are all in school together, my Kenyan students and me. We are all trying to learn God and learn God’s ways together. Our faith, theirs and mine, are constantly being stretched at the same time, but sometimes in different ways.
I have a lot of Biblical knowledge after years of study and I hopefully have a little wisdom from trying to apply that Biblical knowledge to everyday life for many years. I have a lot I can teach them. They have a simple faith (not a simplistic faith) that trusts God against reason, and joyfully. They have a lot they can teach me.
We are approaching the Christmas season. In Kenya, December is pretty much just like any other month of the year. Christmas consists of about three days for most Kenyans. Day 1: Travel back to your birthplace/homeplace. Day 2: Celebrate Christmas with your family by eating some roasted goat. Day 3: Travel back home. Whether we are rush-rush in the United States or eating goat in Kenya, may we all come and adore the King, our Savior, Jesus.
Joy to the world. Blessings to all,
Roger, Julie & Chloe
CONTACT INFO
Roger & Julie Tate
Moffat Bible College
P.O. Box 70
Kijabe, Kenya 00220
rojuta@gmail.com
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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Fine Tuning Presentation and Praying for Next Term

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 gone, and we are now into the month of March. Time passes so quickly and the weather of spring is already beginning to start in the state of West Virginia. We had a cold spell for several days this past month and our electricity even went out several times. We are thankful for the nice, sunny weather that is coming ahead.
I (Nathan) have been in the process of contacting churches to speak for furlough. I worked hard on my missions dvd this past month, got it finished, and am waiting for the final copies to arrive soon. I have also been working on my missions presentation, so it has been a busy past month. Our new prayer cards are also finished, so I am thankful for all the accomplishments of the past few weeks. Please pray for me as I am working on fine tuning my missions presentation, and that God would receive all the glory. Please also pray that churches will begin to open up and get back to some normalcy after all the challenging months of coronavirus. God is in control.
My wife Carrie has been busy with homeschooling our daughters. She is doing a great job, although it can be overwhelming at times. Education is no small matter, and she wants to ensure that she is doing her best and that our daughters are getting schooling materials that will prepare them well for high school and university. Please pray for her for strength, wisdom, and guidance as she prepares for each year.
Kenya is still getting hit with the coronavirus. I saw also that Tanzania, which is right next to Kenya, is also seeing a surge in its cases. They are many medical challenges all over Africa at the moment, so would you please pray for the continent of Africa in general? That the doctors, nurses, and medical facilities would not be overwhelmed, that a treatment/vaccine would come quickly, and that those who have contracted the virus would be recovering and healing. Hopefully things will start to get back to normal in the coming months.
Please also pray for the young men that I hope to train in our next term. Please pray that God would lead me to the right men for ministry, those that are hungry for the Word of God, have a servant spirit, and desire to see others discipled and churches started. Matthew 4:4 says But he answered and said, It is written, Man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word that proceedeth out of the mouth of God.” Amen. May we be hungry for the Word of God, and allow it to feed us each day spiritually. Also, consider Matthew 23:11 “But he that is greatest among you shall be your servant.” A servant spirit is something I desire in my students, and I am trusting God to lead me to these men in His plan.
We will be sure to keep you updated. Thanks so much for your prayer support, letters of encouragement, sacrificial giving, and interest in the work of God in Kitale, Kenya. You each are such a blessing.
Until next month,
Nathan & Carrie Radford
Contact Info:
Nathan and Carrie Radford
1126 Smith Street
Milton, WV 25541
naterad@yahoo.com
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.
Read more