June 5, 2007

Dear praying friends,

Another month has come and passed so quickly, and we have many exciting aspects of our ministry to report this month. We praise the Lord for good health, ministry opportunities, and for those in the States who pray for us and give so that the ministry here in Kenya can continue. This update will share current progress of the ministry, as well as prayer items.

Lord willing, a team will be coming later this month with my uncle and aunt, Mr. and. Mrs. Randy Jones. This team has many exciting ministry opportunities for their trip, including visiting the hospital ministry and providing a building for the women’s ministry, which my wife, Carrie, leads. They will also be assisting my parents with their various ministries. We thank the Lord for this team and are praying for their arrival, along with the many ways that the Lord will use them while they are here. We hope to soon provide a photo of the new building of the women’s prison, which my wife will use as her place of holding her weekly Bible studies with the women prisoners. How we thank the Lord for the generosity of donors in the States, both in prayer and finances. We appreciate their spirit of servant hood, and know the Lord will use them greatly while they are here. (Matthew 16:25)

This past month, the Lord brought an exciting opportunity our way to care for an abandoned baby. As you know, my wife recently began a ministry at the district hospital, which cares not only for babies with mothers, but also babies that have been abandoned. This past week, a baby boy four months old was left along the railroad tracks, without any food or clothing, very early in the morning. The night he was left on the tracks, it rained very hard, so he was out in the pouring rain the entire night. The next morning, people who were on their way to work discovered the child on the tracks and brought him to the district hospital to be cared for. My wife was burdened to help this child, as the nurses were so busy with all the other babies they had to care for. To our surprise, we received permission from the hospital to take the child in our home for a period of fostering until a good home for him can be found. We were so excited to have this opportunity, to gain valuable experience to care for a Kenyan child in our home who was abandoned. We named him Isaiah, and he has truly been a blessing to us while he is with us.

By Kenyan law, we must return him to the Children’s Welfare Office when a good home is found, but it has been a joy to care for him during this intermediate time. We thank the Lord for the donors who give to this ministry and allow us to minister to abandoned babies such as these, and also babies at the hospital who have very limited and basic care. We are praying that the Lord would provide more funds so that we can do even more to help these very needy children. A photo of Isaiah is attached to this prayer letter, so you can personally see him.

The Lord has truly burdened us to provide and care for children in these very harsh circumstances. In Deuteronomy 10:18, we see God’s care for orphans: "He doth execute the judgment of the fatherless and widow, and loves the stranger, in giving him food and clothing." Psalms 68:5 states "A father of the fatherless, and a judge of the widows, is God in His holy habitation." What is our responsibility for babies such as these? Isaiah 1:17 states clearly "Learn to do well: seek judgment, relieve the oppressed, judge the fatherless, plead for the widow." In these verses, we see not only God’s care for children facing perilous circumstances, but also our responsibility to them. My wife and I believe strongly that it is our responsibility to provide what we can for children in dire circumstances such as the one we have chosen to foster presently.

We would like to do even more, based on the funding that we receive, in order to help many more children like Isaiah to have a future. Would you pray, and honestly ask the Lord what role He would have you serve in to assist these children? If anyone receiving this letter would like to join with this ministry fund so we can do more, please contact us by email at: naterad@yahoo.com or send financial support to the address listed below. May God bless you and we hope you are busy serving the Lord in the States as we serve here.

In Kenya,

Nathan and Carrie Radford

Isaiah, four-month-old found abandoned in the railyard