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.

June 1, 2016
Dear praying friends,

We hope this update finds each of you doing well. Thanks again so much to each one who prays for us, gives sacrificially, or writes a note of encouragement. You are each such a blessing to us.

We’ve needed to make the sudden decision to return to the States early for our furlough. For the past many weeks there have been incidents of robberies/thefts, etc. in the Kitale area. This is not unusual for this time of year as food from the previous harvest becomes lacking and people lack income. Unfortunately, this causes many people to turn to stealing and other forms of crime. This usually lasts for a very short period of time and then things return to normal.  However, this year has been different. The thieves are now scheming and planning. For instance, they are stealing fuses out of electricity boxes so that people will be without power in the evenings so that they can break into homes and steal.  Also, we have been told that some are posing as employees of the power company to gain access to people’s homes.  So, as I said, this year is different and heightened than in previous years.

My wife and I knew this stuff was going on, but until recently it hadn’t really affected us. As I reported in a previous letter, a group of guys came in the morning a few weeks ago, armed with machete type weapons, threatened our day guard, and shook the gate so hard it nearly came off the hinges. This was obviously concerning, not the least of which was the fact that it occurred during the morning, which is extremely unusual. The thugs mentioned the name of a tenant who lived in our house about 8 years ago. The thugs said they were coming to collect their things from him. We contacted the previous tenant and he said he has no idea what these thugs were talking about as he had never worked with them before.

Now rumors are circulating that this tenant buried money on our compound and the thugs are trying to get it. Since the first attack on our compound, there have been multiple other attempts, such as breaking through the wood fence and hedges that surround our compound, using floodlights to shine light into our compound to see where things are located and what the security is, meeting in groups outside our gate and taking the fuse from our transformer multiple times so that our power would be out. We have 2 excellent guard dogs and we have obviously taken extra security measures so I feel we have done all we can to protect ourselves. We have been targeted over the past few weeks and we are struggling with the reason why. We have lived in our house for 3 years without any problems so we don’t understand what has happened recently to trigger all this unrest.

When we contacted our mission in America, we all agreed that my family is not safe at this time and that we need to begin closing down and come home earlier than planned for furlough. As such, my family has already left. I am now staying in a different, secure location for a few weeks to shut down. Closing down for furlough is a very big job and there is much to do. Please pray for me, that I would be able to close down quickly and rejoin my family. My wife and I believe this is very unusual for Kitale and that things will settle. Kitale is generally very quiet and peaceful. There are security companies in town that are very aware of the situation and police are patrolling in the night. I am sure the thugs’ luck will run out and they will be caught. There is a proverb in Swahili, “Siku za mwizi ni arobaini.” “The days of a thief are forty.” Meaning, their time will end and they will be caught.

We know the Lord has called us to Kenya, and we desire to serve Him faithfully in Kitale. Please pray that these thieves will be caught soon and things will go back to normal. I have every expectation that this will be so. I have a good Kenyan friend who also believes this will calm and things will go back to normal. I plan to return to the States later in June, Lord willing. Our current needs would be for housing in West Virginia. Anything in the Charleston/Saint Albans/Teays Valley area would be very helpful. We would need the housing starting from early September. Also, if anyone has a minivan they are interested in selling, or knows of one for sale, we would appreciate any leads. We truly need a minivan, considering our family and all that is needed to transport. These are all our needs that we are trusting God with at this time. He is so faithful and we know He will provide. Please email me if you are able to assist with any of these current needs we have.

Please pray for the country of Kenya, and also for Kitale, that things will settle soon. We trust God with all these things and by faith, we believe He will work out all things for His good and glory. Our God is sovereign, reigns above all, and nothing takes Him by surprise. Nothing is too hard for Him. We trust Him completely, and we know that He is working even in the situations that are going on now all around us. Jeremiah 32:27 “Behold, I am the Lord, the God of all flesh: is there any thing too hard for Me?”

Serving in Kenya,
Nathan & Carrie Radford

Nathan and Carrie Radford
P.O. Box 4150
Kitale, Kenya
East Africa, 30200

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