UPDATE

SATURDAY, 30th AUGUST 2008 - a glimpse into Testimony Sch00l
In 1969 God communicated with me, and told me to provide for Kenyan Orphaned and Destitute children in small Cottage Homes, to also provide education, AND to establish a Christian Witness all on the same compound.
In recent weeks I have been writing about the FOUR Homes that have come into being as a result of that confrontation. But by 1980 we were still sending our children out to Government Schools, and the idea of having our own school had somehow been pushed out of sight. But in that year of 1980 we began to experience problems. Many of our children from the Homes began to be picked upon and highlighted as 'These Orphans' and this together with the fact that our local schools were vastly overcrowded with classrooms built for a population of 30 crammed with more than 70 or 80 students - often without chairs or desks or books!
AT the same time the number of infants in the Homes was increasing, and we were finding it almost impossible to find good pre-school opportunity for them. We enquired from the Municipal Council if we could get permission to start a Private Nursery School - and we got it immediately. SO in 1981 we opened Testimony Nursery School. We opened with just five of our own children but soon the public wanted us to let their kids in as well. Today we have an average 120 in pre school. They come in at 3 years old and remain until they are 5, by which time they can read and write three letter words, count to 100 and do simple addition and subtraction. THEN at 6 they enter the first Class of Primary School. Primary has 8 Grades or Classes, at the conclusion of which the Kenya Primary Certificate of Education is sat. This is the gateway to High School for a further four years. Our Pre-School has grown since 1981 until now we also have two streams of Primary and one of Secondary or High School. The public pay in order for their
children to attend, but the Homes children learn free. Otherwise there is no material profit from the School that Testimony Faith Homes reaps - and it is run purely and simply on a NO PROFIT basis. It is a popular School, places much sought after, and maintains a strong Christian, though non denominational, testimony in Jesus Christ. We have seen the Lord use this testimony and so many have come to know HIM as Lord and Saviour in the local multi-racial community because of its Witness. Today the School has a population (through Pre-School to the 4th Form of High School) of 800 students - which include the 14o or so children from the children's homes. It carries a paid teaching staff (all government trained nationals) of 47. Steven, Michael, Elisabeth, Daryl, Edward, Manu and Helen all attended this school together with the other children in the Homes - at least from 1981 when Nursery began!

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Thanks for prayers! I know - I feel it in my spirit - that many have had me in their prayers, and His Spirit has walked with me. I am into the sunlight once more! This is the week for Schools and Colleges to re-open in Kenya for the 3rd and final Term of the Year. Actually Colleges and Universities, which used to generally follow the same pattern as Schools, are now all opening and closing at different times, so that in the main SOME of our young people in the Homes are coming and going all the time - or so it seems! University is now costing up to £500 per semester, and the same for most other reputable professional Colleges. This is a hike of almost 40% since last year. But no doubt this is due to the general cost of basics which even these institutions must grapple with. Right now we have quite a few in Higher Education -
6 in University doing IT / Commerce / Civil Engineering.
4 in Teacher Training College.
2 in Accountancy Colleges.
1 in Beauty & Hair Styling Training College.
2 in Hotel Management & Catering Training College.
4 in Technical Training College doing Auto Mechanics, Welding, Electrical Engineering.

None of these obtain bursaries and thus are upon us when it comes to finance. All the Glory then must return to God who supplies and provides against such sudden star bursts of need. And it is a great JOY to see our sons and daughters going on and prospering in their lives. And this is partly what Testimony Faith Homes is all about - but it is not everything. The BEST JOY is in seeing one and another of the children realise the reality of God in their own personal lives, letting Him in to lead, guide and BUILD them.

NEXT week our little Helen now 18 will leave home to pursueTraining as a Nursery Teacher in the BIG City of Nairobi. It is hard to consider the passing of those eighteen years, and to remember the little baby of 10 months that first came to us from the Hospital where she had been abandoned. How quickly the years seem to have passed. We called her Tweetie-pie because she was so little and think, with an extra large head. A cartoon character! She has grown short and thickset, but her head is no longer out of tune with her body. A quiet, gentle, rather shy girl...................please spare her a little prayer as she leaves home; we hope this new chapter in her life will bring out hidden qualities, and strengthen her character. We also pray it will establish even more her faith in God. The RAIN seems to have left off a little and the temperature has been much warmer this week. Everyone well, and the smell of mown grass from the recently cut lawns is wafting in upon me as I write. Esther is at the Preliminary Staff Meeting preparing for School on Monday, and now I must turn to preparing something from the Lord for Sunday Morning Fellowship. There are still letters to write, and Minutes of Meetings to get out plus the end of the month Accounts to finalise, and so much else ...... the days seem hardly long enough! God Bless you and prove Himself close to you this coming week Sincerely in His Love

John and Esther