June 5, 2003

Dear praying friends,

Greetings from Kitale , Kenya . We are now in the month of June, and the time has passed so quickly since I left America to serve the Lord with my parents here in Kitale. I am pleased with the progress that I have seen in the ministries that God has called me to, and I am praying for God’s leading for other ministries in the future as well. The purpose of this letter is to inform you of the current progress of the ministry here in Kitale, share other ministries for the future, as well as share prayer requests.  

This past month, I was placed in the most challenging position as the leader of the ministry in Kitale, as my parents left for America for a month to visit family, present the ministry in various churches, and participate at a missions conference. I had no idea at how much work would be involved in their absence. After the first week of their absence, I realized very quickly how much I needed to depend on the Lord and His grace for their time away. I absorbed their responsibilities for the month, which included leading the visitation ministry, leading evangelism/discipleship, leading the deacon’s meetings, teaching in the Bible school, taking care of matters on the church compound, taking care of matters on the home compound, and supervising a building project at the church. Needless to say, it was a very overwhelming time, but also a great opportunity to grow and really expand, and challenge myself with my workload. The Lord was so faithful to help me, and many less important matters had to be set aside until the most urgent, pressing matters were accomplished. I am so thankful to the assistant pastor of our church that took part of my load and helped me greatly during this time. He truly is a blessing from the Lord, and a great partner in the ministry here in Kitale. 

As many of you know, one of my main ministries here in Kitale is the prison ministry. I continue to see the hand of the Lord working in the lives of the prisoners, and many prisoners making positive changes for Chris t in their daily lives and walk. One burden that I carry is a certain section of the prison that is only women prisoners. There are nearly 80 women prisoners, and the assistant pastor and myself have not yet gotten the opportunity to evangelize and share the gospel with these women prisoners. Later this month, we are planning to go specifically to that area of the prison and to reach these women for Chris t. I will never forget the day that we passed out our tracts, toiletries, etc. to the women at Chris tmastime, and their great attitude. The women formed a choir for us, and sang us a song of thanksgiving in the language of Swahili. It is an experience that I will never forget. Since that day, I have been challenged to go and reach them, teaching them the truths of Scripture, evangelizing, and helping them spiritually in any way that I can. Please pray for us as we attempt to reach this specific area later this month. All the other prisoners are men, but the women must be reached as well for Chris t. We must not forget about them, and their need to hear the gospel as well.  

Please also continue to pray for the evangelism ministry that meets on Sundays after church. I have been so blessed to be with faithful workers for the kingdom of God . Those who took the training have been so faithful to come and be used as they reach others with the gospel. I do have a burden to reach unreached areas of Kitale, even in the main town district, as we have not yet evangelized there. Please pray that God would give me and the other students wisdom as we decide on other unreached areas of Kitale, and how we can reach these people.  

That is all the current news from this side of the world. Thank you so much for your letters, encouragement, and prayers. May God richly bless you.

Mungu Akubariki, (God bless you – Swahili language)

Nathan Radford
John 3:3