May 4, 2003

Dear praying friends,

Greetings from Kitale , Kenya . We are now into the fifth month of 2003, which does not seem possible. The time goes so quickly, and I have now been ministering in Kenya for a year and two months. I feel so blessed by God to have the opportunity to work and serve the beautiful people of Kenya in ministry. I will use this letter to give you a report on the current ministries as well as prayer requests for the future.  

The evangelism ministry continues to go well. I have completely finished the evangelistic teaching and we have now been visiting those in Kitale for nearly a month. We have seen many decisions made for Chris t, and many new believers have been coming to church faithfully. It is truly exciting to see what God is doing in their lives. We faithfully average between 11 to 15 people that go out to evangelize, so God has been faithful to bless me with faithful laborers for Him who take evangelism seriously and want to see others reached for the kingdom. I am now in the second week of a seven week discipleship program, a program that we will use to teach the new believers and to help them grow in their faith in Chris t. We are making appointments during the week with the new believers where we can meet with them and show them from the Word of God how to grow and live for Chris t. It is exciting to be able to see the growth not only in the lives of new believers, but also in the lives of those from the church that are faithfully evangelizing.  

The prison ministry also continues to go well. The assistant pastor and I go twice a week to evangelize and to teach Bible doctrine to the prisoners. We have seen much growth in the lives of the prisoners, and many changes for the Lord in their lives. Last week, we had a time of testimony where we allowed several prisoners to share how the Lord is working in them and challenging them to change. It was so exciting to see and hear how God is accomplishing His work there. We are now working with a group of about 17 new believers, so it is a large group, and we are providing them weekly with materials to help them grow spiritually. Many have enjoyed the teachings and have requested us to bring other books/materials in the future to assist them. There is also an interest in perhaps starting a branch of our Bible school there in the future. It is truly exciting what God is accomplishing at Kitale main prison. Please keep this ministry in your prayers.  

I had an interesting experience this past month which I would like to share. I was visiting a new believer of the church, and had the opportunity to witness/share with the wife of the new believer. She prayed to receive Chris t, and was expecting a child very soon. A couple of weeks later, she gave birth to a little boy. We visited the family a couple of weeks ago, and to my surprise, I discovered that they named him “Nathan!” I was very surprised, and I was told that it is a great honor in this culture for a child to be named after you. I was humbled at this, and am so grateful that I have had the opportunity to minister to this family. Please pray for this family and for the spiritual growth of both parents, as they are both new believers.  

Concerning prayer requests, please pray for my health during this time. It is now the rainy season, and there are many changes in the weather, and it is very easy to become sick. Please pray that I will continue to stay healthy so that I can continue with the ministries that God has called me to here in Kitale. Also, please pray for a continued growth in the language of Swahili, so that I will be able to communicate andunderstand well the official language of Kenya.  

I hope this update finds each of you doing well. Thank you so much for your letters, prayers, and encouragement. May God richly bless you.  

Sincerely,

Nathan Radford
John 3:3

Nathan and men of the Sambaru tribe. The man beside Nathan with the feather in his cap is the chief of the tribe, and Nathan is holding his sceptre.