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41. Corona was very challenging in Kenya. You can imagine being in a third world culture and so many people, so many missionaries are saying, if we get the virus, where do we even get treated? And that was a good question, because Kitali doesn't necessarily have all the facilities that you would need. And from what I understand, you would either have to go to Nairobi or Mombasa, some of the bigger cities. But praise the Lord, we never got it. The Lord watched over us. But we did know people in our town who did get it. A whole Asian family got it. And he actually, excuse me, had to go to Nairobi to be treated about eight hours away. I just continue to pray for Kenya and for the virus. There's they've had a 22% increase in cases in the last month. Maybe it was a couple months ago, but anyway, the numbers are rising and they need prayer for that. But anyway, with Corona, this is a verse I claimed Isaiah 4110. Fear thou not, for I am with thee. Be not dismayed, for I am thy God. I will strengthen thee, yea, I will help thee, yea, I will uphold thee with the right hand of my righteousness. Isn't that a wonderful verse? We don't have to fear. He's with us. What's he going to do? He is going to help us, he's going to strengthen us, and he's going to uphold us. This verse meant a lot this past term. I also think of Proverbs 3, 5, and 6, just trusting the Lord with leading and guidance. Trust in the Lord with all thine heart and lean not unto thine own understanding. In all thy ways acknowledge him and he shall direct thy paths. Excellent verses. Jim Elliott, the famous missionary to Ecuador, said, God gives his best to those who leave the choice with him. Isn't that true? If we leave the choice with Him, He'll give us His best. And that's what I found. It's about surrendering. It's about sacrifice. It's about denying ourself, taking up our cross. And when we do that, He'll direct us. He'll direct our steps. Missions has many challenges, but it's also very rewarding. Listen to the following true story. It's entitled, Not Home Yet. An old missionary couple had been working in Africa for years and was returning to New York to retire. They had no pension. Their health was broken. They were defeated, discouraged, and afraid. They discovered they were booked on the same ship as President Teddy Roosevelt, who was returning from his hunting expeditions. No one paid any attention to them. They watched the fanfare that accompanied the president's entourage with passengers trying to catch a glimpse of the great man. As the ship moved across the ocean, the old missionary said to his wife, something is wrong. Why should we have given our lives in faithful service for God and Africa all these many years and have no one care a thing about us? Here this man comes from a hunting trip, and everybody makes so much over him, but nobody gives two hoots about us. Dear, you shouldn't feel that way, his wife said. Well, I can't help it. It just doesn't seem right. When the ship docked in New York, a band was waiting to greet the president, and the mayor and other dignitaries were there, and the papers were full of the president's arrival. Yet no one noticed the missionary couple. They slipped off the ship and found a cheap flat on the east side, hoping the next day to see what they could do to make a living in the city. That night, the man's spirit broke. He said to his wife, I can't take this. God is not treating us fairly. His wife replied, why don't you go in the bedroom and tell it to the Lord? A short time later, he came out from the bedroom, but now his face was completely different. His wife asked, Dear, what happened? Well, the Lord settled it with me, he said. I told him how bitter I was that the president should receive this tremendous homecoming when no one met us as we returned home. And when I finished, it seemed as though the Lord put his hand on my shoulder and simply said, but you're not home yet. Is that not true? We're not home yet. May we stay faithful all the way to the end. And it's very easy to get discouraged, but we're not home yet. Let's stay faithful till he calls us home. Many verses in the Bible show that our God is a missionary God. Listen to Psalm 96, verse 3. Declare his glory among the heathen, his wonders among all people, all people, everywhere around the world. Mark 16, 15, this is one of the main verses that challenged me to missions. Go ye into all the world and preach the gospel to every creature. Let's look in Isaiah 6. If you have your Bibles tonight, Isaiah 6, verse 8. A very famous passage. Again, this was used many times in missions conferences when I was in college. Many, many missionaries preached from this verse. Of course, it stirred my heart, really moved me. Isaiah 6-8, also I heard the voice of the Lord saying, whom shall I send and who will go for us? Then said I, here am I, send me. It's very easy to say there he is, send him, is it not? In fact, that's what I did for many years. I said, there he is. Send him. But may we personalize this. May we say, here am I, Lord. Send me. D.L. Moody said, let God have your life. He can do more with it than you can. Is that not true? As we give him our life, he'll do much more than we can do on our own. David Livingston, the famous missionary to Africa, said God had only one son, and he made him a missionary. Hudson Taylor, another famous missionary, he said, the Great Commission is not an option to be considered, it is a command to be obeyed. Let's look at Revelation 22, end of the scriptures, Revelation 22, verse 12, and I hope this will encourage you tonight. It's very easy to get discouraged in ministry, but I hope this will be an encouragement to you. Revelation 22, 12. And behold, I come quickly, and my reward is with me, to give to every man according as his work shall be. He's coming quickly, and his reward is with him, is our desire tonight to hear, well done, good and faithful servant. I hope and pray so. What about the sacrifice of missions? Yes, there's a lot of sacrifice. In fact, sacrifice and success go hand in hand. Adoniram Judson said, there is no success without sacrifice. If you succeed without sacrifice, it's because someone has suffered before you. If you sacrifice without success, it's because someone will succeed after. There's always sacrifice with success, is there not? You know, I think of Luke 9, Luke 9, 62. The Word of God says, And Jesus said unto him, No man, having put his hand to the plow and looking back, is fit for the kingdom of God. It's easy to look back, is it not? It's easy to get distracted. In fact, that's what Satan would like, for us to get distracted, and to take our eyes off of the goal and to look back. But my challenge to you this evening is, stay focused, keep going ahead, moving forward, with what the Lord has you to do. Many people would like to know, how can we pray for you? And there is a lot of prayer requests, I'll just mention a few. One of my big prayer requests is Swahili, the language. Swahili is about 4,000 to 5,000 words. When I was in language school in Tanzania, we learned 30 words a day for four months. We had 16 exams. Our last project was our class had to do a Swahili service in front of our teachers. It was very challenging. I'm still learning Swahili. Daniel, who you saw in the video, he hands me the Swahili paper. A lot of words I don't recognize. Usually after I'm teaching in Swahili for an hour, my head is swimming, just trying to hear what they're saying and what I'm saying and trying to be communicative. It's an Arabic-rooted language. It has no similarities to English. Just listen to the differences. John 3, 16. For God so loved the world that he gave his only begotten son that whosoever believeth in him should not perish but have everlasting life. Now in Swahili. And that's just one verse, so you can think of the challenges of learning Swahili. And that is my goal, is to be fluent in the language, and so that I could really communicate with the people. I have a long way to go. I'm still working on it, if you could pray for that. Homesickness is another big prayer request. The Lord has provided grace and strength. Different families struggle with it at different times, but it really hits the missionary community at different times of the year. You think of being thousands of miles away from your culture and your family, if you could pray for that. Friends, the Lord really provided this past term There was a family from Washington who has a daughter our daughter's age. They've been there now for about two years and they're very good friends with their daughter and that has made a huge difference. Our daughters are much happier having friends so please pray that this family would stay long term and that they would also have other friends. Another prayer request is cultural fatigue, driving on the roads to potholes. The old joke is, how do you know a drunk driver in Africa? Well, he drives straight, because you've got to dodge all the potholes. In fact, if you hit a pothole, you can literally split your tire. I've had a friend who has split his tire on the potholes very deep. Potholes, the challenges of driving, we keep our guardian angel busy. I don't even drive the main roads. I drive back roads. But even back roads are challenging. So prayers for that. You saw in the video, education, schooling for our daughters. For Carrie, as she educates her daughters, Medical issues and facilities. I've had amoeba. I've had typhoid. I've had malaria. I've had all the fun things you can get in Africa. In fact, I had amoeba last year. I've had malaria twice. We sleep under mosquito nets. We boil our water. Just the challenges of staying healthy. Everything is much harder when you're not healthy. So prayers for that. I've already mentioned the traveling. Also the dependency. The dependency issue in the culture, this is one of the biggest frustrations of missionaries on our field, is the dependency. So many of the nationals want to depend on other areas rather than the Lord. And I'm teaching the men from the very beginning, look to the Lord. Don't look to me, look to the Lord. Because what happens if they're dependent on me? and I have to move or leave somewhere else, that work will collapse. They need to be looking to the Lord from day one. It reminds me of Psalm 118, verse 8. This is a great verse to memorize. Psalm 118, 8. It is better to trust in the Lord than to put confidence in man. And even verse 9. It is better to trust in the Lord than to put confidence in princes. These are the verses. Get your eyes off of me. Look to the Lord from day one. Become self-supporting, independent. That's the goal. So if you could pray for me in that regard as well. One thing that Daniel on the video has been emphasizing is training use. use the younger generation between 20 and 30 years old and last term things went much better. The dependency minimized. They weren't asking like before. It went better. It was more smooth. So that's really my goal from now on is to be training the use and not just use, but use who are employed, who are working with their own hands. You think of Paul, who was a tent maker. They need to be employed and working with their own hands because if they're employed and working with their own hands, they're already having an independent mindset. So that's the focus, is young men who are employed. So if you could pray for that as well. I'd like to briefly share about the ministries. The prison ministry. The annex prison that you saw in the video has 150 inmates. The chaplains have allowed me to start showing evangelistic films. And the prison, usually when I show the films, they have their own TV. I bring my DVD player. We see many evangelistic Bible films. Usually when I show the films, that's a treat. We usually have about 50 to 60 inmates packed into the building, and that's a great outreach opportunity. Also, I've been able to do Christmas projects with Lord's help and also teach the discipleship course. So many men in the prison say, I feel forgotten. My family doesn't visit me. Nobody cares. In fact, they go months without visits from their family, if you can imagine. I'm just reminded of Hebrews 13. Hebrews 13, 3 says, remember them that are in bonds. Key word, remember them that are in bonds, that's bound with them, and them which suffer adversity as being yourselves also in the body. Remember them, show them the love of Christ. You know, this morning as I was going to the church in West Virginia, there was a huge women's prison, hundreds of inmates, a big one, and you had so many people. It's just kind of tossed aside, and it's, of course, the side ministry, it's not the main ministry, but I try to go weekly. to show them the love of Christ. The hospital ministry that you saw, my wife has been involved in this ministry for years now. Sometimes she'll go some weeks and there's 30 babies and she just doesn't even have the supplies for all the babies that are there. But we do our best to reach them physically and spiritually. We get them John and Romans and Swahili. We get them the mother's gospel tracts. That's the outreach that my wife has been involved in so I think of Psalm 82 Psalm 82 3 to 4 says defend the poor and fatherless Do justice to the afflicted and needy. Deliver the poor and needy. Rid them out of the hand of the wicked. There's a lot of injustice. Do justice to the afflicted and needy. Please pray for my wife that the Lord would continue to provide. Anyone that sends money or sends supplies, we do our best. We actually have a man in Nairobi who helps us with supplies for the babies, so if you could keep that in your prayers. The last ministry I'll spend a little time on is the Church Planning Discipleship Ministry. Daniel has allowed me to meet in his compound He actually has several rooms on his compound and he's donated one of his rooms for me to be able to train them in He's also helping to recruit them in to help me weed out the men who maybe would not have the right Mindset or in other words trying to help me to find the young men who are employed and are who are looking to the Lord And that's gone much better much smoother. I'm very thankful that he's helping me to weed out the men to train also Just a few things I'm looking for in the students that I'm discipling who, Lord willing, will go to their villages and start churches. First is the desire for the word of God. I want them to have a hunger and a desire for the word. You think of 1 Peter 2.2, as newborn babes desire the sincere milk of the word that ye may grow thereby. Second, I would like them to come hungry, have a hunger for the word of God. Isn't that a great prayer request? Come hungry, not to hear from me, but to hear from him. from the Lord. Matthew 4.4, but he answered and said, it is written, man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word that proceeded out of the mouth of God. Come hungry, come with a desire and come hungry to learn what the word has to say to you. Third, a sincere desire to follow Jesus. John 8, 12 says, then spake Jesus again unto them, saying, I am the light of the world. He that followeth me shall not walk in darkness, but shall have the light of life. It's a very dark world, is it not? As we step out of these doors, there's a lot of darkness. And may we point others to the light, to the light of the world. Fourth is a servant spirit, a servant spirit. Matthew 23, 11 says, but he that is greatest among you shall be your servant. The world gets that backwards, does it not? We kind of see that backwards in our world today, but the scriptures teach us, the greatest shall be your servant. D.L. Moody said, the measure of a man is not how many servants he has, but how many men he serves. I think there's a lot of truth to that. Lastly, is a great love for people. John 13, 34 to 35. A new commandment I give unto you, that ye love one another as I have loved you, that ye also love one another. By this shall all men know that ye are my disciples, if ye have love one to another. just loving each other, helping each other, encouraging each other, bearing each other's burdens, this great love for each other. This love for a heart in the disciple will motivate him to reach others for Christ. His desire will be for others to be saved, to grow spiritually, and eventually to be added to the church. And for the disciples, one thing Daniel has been advising me is once they're through the discipleship course, they go to their home areas with familiar people, their family, their friends, their neighbors. In other words, they're not feeling like they're kind of dumped in a strange area, and that's also, I believe, why it's counsel. They go to their home village areas to start with their family. The man starts with his wife. The man starts with his neighbors, the ones he knows. And then from there, they can get a good foundation to build on a church. So I've learned a lot just talking to Daniel and learning about the culture. So if you could pray for that as well. Prayer is so foundational to all of this. We can have all these plans, but it has to be bathed in prayer. D.L. Moody said, every great movement of God can be traced to a kneeling figure. Isn't that a great statement? Every great movement of God can be traced to a kneeling figure. May we pray in faith. Spurgeon said, if you believe in prayer at all, expect God to hear you. If you do not expect, you will not have. God will not hear you unless you believe he will hear you, but if you believe he will, he will be as good as your faith. I think that's an excellent statement. Pray in faith, trusting the Lord. I'm praying in faith that the Lord will bring the young men that are employed, that are hungry, that want to be discipled. Then I'll take those teachings, go to their home areas, their home villages, disciple others, and then, Lord willing, a church will be started up. The man who gifted me with the discipleship course had used this course, another Baptist missionary, for 30 years with the men that he's trained, so it's been a proven course, and I was very blessed that he gifted me with this. In fact, it's the ABCs, the basics. We would consider this very basic, but so many of the men that I'm training say, I've never heard this teaching, and yet it's so basic to us. I'm almost thinking I'm not taking anything for granted. I'm going back to the basics from the very beginning. So if you could pray for the men and just pray for their spiritual growth and that they'll want to take these teachings and not only disciple, but Lord willing to start churches in their village areas. So many things in closing to pray for. I'll just mention a few things. Health, a fever in Africa can be so many things. So many times my wife is on the internet. If our daughter has a fever, it can be 30 different things in Africa. You kind of have to be your own doctor. You can imagine that. It's very stressful just staying healthy. So please pray for her. Relational friends, just that we would have friends and also that the Lord would provide other families with daughters our age. I've already mentioned homesickness. One of my big prayer requests is for fruit, but not just fruit, but fruit that would remain. Fruit that would multiply. Fruit that would take the teachings and multiply to the areas that these men are sent to. This is all God who brings the increase. 1 Corinthians 3, if you'd like to turn there in closing. This is a great verse to memorize. It's a great reminder to us. 1 Corinthians 3, verse 6. It reminds me that the harvest is His, amen, from start to finish. We can have all these plans and all these things that we would like to do, but at the end, we gotta recognize the harvest is His, start to finish. And we just try to find where God is working and join Him where He's working. 1 Corinthians 3, 6, Paul says, I have planted, Apollos watered, but God gave the increase. Is that not true still today? We can plant and we can water, but it's God who gives the increase, and may we trust him for the increase. How can you pray for us? Pray for Daniel as he's helping me to recruit men, for the men that I am training, for spiritual fruit that remains. For my wife and all the challenges she faces on the mission field, loneliness, isolation, homesickness, we all go through those things. For safety, both at our compound and as we travel, there was actually a break-in at our compound a couple of months ago. Some items were taken in the middle of the night, and we actually moved. If you don't remember, we lived at another house several years ago, and there were several break-in attempts at this other house. We're actually in a compound now that has six houses all together, and there was still a break-in. One of our neighbors was broken into, if you can believe that, so just pray for just for safety for friends for both for us and our daughters for cultural fatigue that we would be refreshed and not burned out coming on furlough certainly helps with this but it's very easy to get burned out we we have to take time to get away and take time for the family and we try to get away just at least for a day every several weeks just as a family because burnout is a very real thing. Lastly, in regards to financial support, we did have some donors who passed away. We never twist anyone's arm in regards to giving. We just trust the Lord. If the Lord would lead anyone to give in any way, our contact information is on our prayer card. I love this quote by Hudson Taylor. He said, God's work done in God's way will never lack God's supply. Isn't that wonderful? God's work done in God's way will never lack God's supply. As long as we do his work his way, it'll be supplied. He'll take care of all of our needs and he'll take care of your needs as well. Consider the following verses. I'll just read these in closing. Psalm 62, seven to eight. And God is my salvation and my glory. The rock of my strength and my refuge is in God. Trust in him at all times, ye people. Pour out your heart before him. God is a refuge for us all times. Even this craziness with coronavirus, all the challenges we've had this past year, trust in him at all times. Pour out your heart before him. I love First Thessalonians 524. This has been one of my key verses. Faithful is he that calleth you who also will do it. Isn't that wonderful? Not only will he call, but he'll do it. He'll perform it. He'll provide. Thank you for allowing me this time to share about God's work in Ketali. In closing, I just want to challenge us to be available to be used wherever that is and to use our time and opportunities wisely for the kingdom. If we could please turn to Ephesians 5, the last verse we'll look at tonight. This is very pertinent to our time in the days that we live in Ephesians 5 16 The days are evil are they not as we turn on the TV and we listen to the radio and so much discouragement and how much we need to be in the word and have a daily quiet time for the Lord to Speak to us and speak to our hearts and challenge us, but I think of Ephesians 5 16 redeeming the time because the days are evil, redeeming, making the best use of our time. It's very easy to waste time, is it not? I've wasted a lot of it. As I look back on years before, I had a lot of opportunities that I wasted, and I can't get that time back, and it's easy to waste time. Time is precious. It's a gift. The time we have today will never get back. It's gone forever. May we make the best use of the time that God gives us now and be a good steward of the time and opportunities that he gives us. May we schedule our day and prioritize that which is important for the kingdom of God. Someone has said wisely, either you run the day or the day runs you. Is that not true? How many times has the day run me? I didn't schedule and prioritize the way I should have, and so many opportunities I squandered and wasted that I could have used more wisely. I should have put God's kingdom first, and I didn't the way I should have. May we not do that in our time of service to God. Are we too busy to serve Him and others? Let us close and remember the famous saying this evening, Only one life will soon be passed. Only what's done for Christ will last. Let's close in prayer this evening. Lord, thank you for your word. Thank you for the verses we saw this evening, Isaiah 6, 8. Excuse me, here am I, send me. Mark 16 15 go into all the world preach the gospel to every creature I think of Ephesians 5 redeeming the time because the days are evil. That's certainly pertinent and important in our time May we not squander and waste opportunities? And I know I have and I've been guilty of that and I pray you would forgive me for that help me to do better in regards to putting your kingdom first I pray tonight, if there's someone here tonight who either doesn't know you as Savior, that they would come forward to know the Savior, or if they are saved, that as you speak to them in regards to the ministry in the church, or maybe even mission work in some form, whether praying, giving, or going, that we would just surrender ourselves to you, that we would say, here am I, send me. However you're working with it, pray that you would just bless this time of invitation in Jesus' name, amen. Thank you, Brother Nathan. It's truly a challenging ministry, being on a mission field in a third world country, and he has been faithful as far as the calling there, so do pray for him, his family, with the many different challenges. We're going to stand and sing a hymn of invitation. What we're going to sing is trust and obey.
Missionary Nathan Radford's Report
Série Missionary Visit
A report from Bro. Nathan Radford, missionary to Kenya.
Identifiant du sermon | 5321335146214 |
Durée | 25:01 |
Date | |
Catégorie | dimanche - après-midi |
Texte biblique | Esaïe 6:8; Esaïe 41:10 |
Langue | anglais |
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