MAKING ROOM

LAST WEEK I PROMISED to include pictures and tell the story of Victor Omondi, aged 4, and his sister Mischell Atieno, aged 6. They are the latest to join the Testimony Faith Homes Family, and are both living now in Jacaranda Cottage with Edward and Esther KILAREGI.
BOTH children were brought to our attention by their paternal grandmother, Hellen Ayieko, who at sixty one and a widow, has had the job of trying to succour them. It has not been easy for her. She has had four children herself, none of whom seem to have made it in life. TWO daughters have died already, and another, plus two sons seem to have lived loose lives - all of them succumbed to HIV and AIDS! All the family have squatted on waste land in a makeshift timber hut in West Eldoret, in a satellite cum slum known as Huruma. To-day the owner of this dubious piece of land has evicted them all - with nowhere to go. Shall we shed a tear for them? There are hundreds more here in similar and worse situations..............All living in sunny Kenya, one of the most desirable East African Countries, potentially a rich Nation. All living with millions more, landless and beneath the bread line, destitute of all earthly good, barely noticed by the government, without hope, and exposed to every ill; many also sinking into a morass of crime and perversion whilst the middle and upper classes take their ease.
In 2004 Hellen Ayieko took the only child of her deceased daughter Grace in desperation to the Eldoret Rescue Centre, itself a stagnant slum nowadays, and full of moribund street children.
Grace had died of AIDS, unmarried, leaving her 5 year old son Michael Odhiambo for her destitute mother to take care of. A few days later, as I was myself making a visit to the Rescue Centre, I found Michael forlorn and dirty standing alone in a corner of the compound. I brought him home with me to Testimony Faith Homes. He had not confided about his background and no one knew even the name of the woman who had left him at the Rescue Centre. If we had known THEN about his family we might have stumbled across Victor and Mischell earlier.

MICHAEL joined the Tyndale Cottage Family with Micah and Catherine YEGO. He joined Testimony School, and now, at 11 and in the 4th Grade of Primary School, he is achieving straight 'A's in every subject. Very active and enthusiastic. However, he has always been occupied by thoughts about his 'father' being certain he must still be alive ' out there '. and from time to time has spent time 'looking' for him. Some weeks ago he skipped morning school, and was later discovered in Eldoret in a small cafe where, he said, his father cooked! Well that was quite a surprise and of course we had to go and confirm it. We discovered a man there called 'Sammy'. He denied emphatically that he was Michael's father, but admitted that he WAS living together with the daughter of Michael's grandmother's SISTER, Florence. There was therefore a family connection. THE NEXT DAY, Hellen Ayieko, the grandmother, visited us at the Homes, and thus we obtained, for the first time, the whole story. Michael accepted what the grandmother recited, and with the ultimate news that we would now step in and help his cousins, he seemed to relax and accept his situation for what it is.

Victor and his sister Mischell are the children of one of Hellen Ayieko's sons - TOM - and his wife. Both parents contracted HIV and then later AIDS. Their mother died, and Tom has run off drunkenly into the underworld around them. The children (themselves both free of HIV)once again abandoned to the good will of the grandmother. She did the best she could, but without employment and although wiry and energetic, without a great deal of strength herself, she could do little. Both children are seriously malnourished, and we are unsure if this might not have affected the mental health of the youngest - Victor who has lived on very little since his birth four years ago.
Four months ago the second of Hellen Ayieko's daughters died of AIDS in the hospital during childbirth. The child, Esther Bahati, is still hospitalised but said to be improving from an infection (she shows no sign of herself having HIV!). Once again there is no father figure to be seen. We have let Hellen know that once the child is able to be released from hospital we are willing to also take her into care.! And what about Hellen Ayiko herself? Yes we have not forgotten her own need of care - pray with us that the Lord will help us to also assist her into a more secure and sustaining existence.

TWO DAYS AGO one of our grade 2 Primary children died in his mother's arms. He had gone home from school three days before with a stomach disorder. Doctors found nothing
wrong with him they said, doest him with an antibiotic which
seemed to help him, then suddenly he was gone. Just like that. Later we discovered that his mother has AIDS. The child is one of twins, the first having died at birth. Obviously his 7 year old brother is likely to have also died from complications aggravated by AIDS. The Government will say it is winning the battle, but the truth is opposite, and everywhere, everyday people, children and adults, are dying from this scourge. Many of our parents have been taken from the school because of it.

Pray with us that Victor and Mischell will now recover their loses and grow to love the God of LIFE and LOVE.

This must be all for this week. No diversions into personal views and thoughts. Very busy and still trying to get to grips with letters . God Bless you and be with you to encourage and uplift you day by day.

Lovingly - John and Esther

LOOKING BACK INTO HISTORY

SOME MAY HAVE RECEIVED THESE PICTURES BEFORE, perhaps in a personal letter. But it is good in our 40th Year to remember where we have come from. This 20'x40' mud house in Maseno ACK Mission Compound was where Testimony Faith Homes actually began. A simple house without any modern conveniences such as running water, electricity or sewage! It sported a sitting room cum dining room, three small bedrooms with outside kitchen and pit latrine. No glass in the windows, no ceiling, no inside doors.
The FIRST four boys came to live there with me in August 1969.
We moved into quite a few different properties after that. Two larger houses on the same Compound and then into the private home of the Anglican Archbishop of Kenya, The Rt. Rev. Festo Olang (he was then living in the bishop's palace in Nairobi). Then for some weeks in 1971 we were camped out in the Sports Pavilion of Maseno School, and then until 1972 we moved to a place called Ramula in Siaya District, about 15 kilometres from Maseno. This was a large compound previously used as a colonial administration, Chief's Compound. It had been empty, unused, and derilect for ten years! It comprised a semi open air Magistrate's Court building (which we used as dining/kitchen) and some six small cottages similar to the one we started out in. It had a few local shops adjacent, but otherwise was quite far from anything, almost on top of a windswept hill, water a quarter of a mile away, no power, no sewerage; quite basic. It was to Ramula that I took Esther my Bride in August 1971, transplanting her from an orderly, fairly well appointed High School where she had primly taught English and Home Science to demure high school girls, back to what must have seemed almost primitive circumstances amongst an instant family of sons aged 12 to 18; most of them rough and unruly!

BOXING DAY 1972 we moved 130 kilometers north east to Eldoret, to a 5 acre plot on the outskirts of the town, to a seven bedroomed mansion (built of mud brick and wattle) some 70 years earlier. This was to be and remains the NEW Testimony House. We had just arrived back from a trip to UK where our first son Steve was born. The Lord had raised up the money to purchase outright, and so it was ours, and we no longer needed to hop from rented property to rented property. We have slowly acquired adjoining plots of land, on which we have built and developed Jacaranda Cottage, the School, and the two new Homes - Drakeley and Tyndale.
It has taken time. But it has happened, and continues to GROW. We now own some TEN acres on which the Nursery/Primary & Secondary School, and the FOUR Homes stand. The School offers tuition to about 650 local children on a fee paying, daily, basis, plus our own 14o needy children resident in our Homes. We hope we are still developing and we believe the Lord our God will yet find ways and means to enlarge us, and to provide for all the ongoing costs of keeping it going. It is good to look back though, and recently the first boy that we helped, Wilson Swayi, visited (September 2008) the FIRST little house in which we began. Wilson was travelling at the time with his now five year old son, and could not resist walking to Maseno Hospital to see if our first home still existed. It did, but has suffered some dilapidation over the intervening years and looks definitely the worse for wear. It has gone from care to ruin. I felt rather sad to see it so, and wondered if one day even all of Testimony Faith Homes might suffer a similar fate! Not, perhaps, a happy or FAITH FILLED thought! But it is a fact that the care and maintenance of property is not something one notices in Kenya. There seems little national determination to preserve anything. But that is in the Hands of God.

THERE ARE STILL displaced adults and children camping in Eldoret Show Ground. There are MORE children on our streets in the Town, and generally the situation as related to homeless children is increasing and expanding on every hand. Our District Commissioner has evinced concern about this, and yesterday I received a visit from the District Children's Officer who had been instructed by the DC to contact various Charitable Children's Homes with a view to getting them (us) to DO MORE to help - or rather CONTRIBUTE financially to assist. I pointed out that in 40 years I had not seen much encouragement or thanksgiving from Government either Central or Local in respect of the many hundreds and thousands of children already helped freely by the private sector. Today we still assisted - all together working - many hundreds and thousands of children unable to be assisted by Government, and still without much Thanks or Appreciation shown either in word or deed. We had a long discussion. Don't miss-understand me, it was not an antagonistic exchange; we both saw the need and the problems, and both were concerned as to what to do....... but we also realised there was need for Government to come in and back up what the CCIs are actually doing. For example all of us are heavily charged for RATES, and WATER. Could we not be exempted from such charges be? All of us are taxed, and charged for every little thing, and receive not the slightest relief or financial aid. It was agreed that a Meeting be laid on between the District Commissioner and all the Managers of CCIs as soon as possible to discuss the way forward. I shall look forward to it actually happening!
Yesterday we took in TWO more children aged 3 and 5. I will tell their story next week and add a photo. Wish we could take in more.!
We have had two days of LIGHT rain here in Eldoret. Refreshing but in no way alleviating the dire state of drought that the entire Nation is experiencing. People and cattle are dying whilst the unscrupulous amongst us sell Relief Aid to other countries, distribute highly toxic cheap maize, and spend endless days and hours TALKING and COMPLAINING about corruption without actually DOING anything about it.
Perhaps we hope Mr. OBAMA will be the one to straighten it all out and feed the Nation! No one seems to be looking or applying to GOD for the Answer.

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Last week I commenced an article on Cosmetics, and so now I will try to conclude.....

'I AM NOT AT ALL FOR 'MAKE UP'! I am not for 'make-believe', but for the truth. Jesus came to lead each one of us into TRUTH - and into personal honesty in front of God and each other......Of course the argument is always that we should try to look our BEST, and to make ourselves as attractive as we can. I am not merely speaking about women, by the way.
MEN are more and more into the use of creams, oils, and cosmetics generally - even in some church circles. I wonder, though, if in trying to improve ourselves we sometimes achieve the opposite effect? After all painted nails often look like the talons of some animal that has been tearing up flesh.....the glistening of skin and lips suggests a stickiness, a sweetness, that repulses more than attracts. Have you ever read Proverbs 5v3 in the Bible?

'The lips of a loose (immoral) woman drip as a honeycomb,
and her mouth is smoother than oil.'

I have often wondered if one kissed some women's lips that look so full of lipstick, whether one might not stick to them like a fly to a fly-paper. Of course I an not saying that a woman who wears lipstick is in any way a prostitute, but it can often make person LOOK like one! And we are exhorted to abstain from all appearance of evil. Many men and women today, using varied products to sell their 'looks', do end up looking 'sticky'. sweaty, and somehow, over ripe. Oh dear, perhaps I am coming on too hard......yes of course I do know that if one has dry lips that crack, or skin suffering from acne, body odour that is not pleasant, or hair that is unruly, then there is a case for finding a remedy and a help. We should not be careless about our personal hygiene or appearance. BUT we should take care not to over-do it.
In recent years is has been disclosed that many of the skin products on sale promote skin cancers and other related ailments, endangering our health. In (2001) many of the well known creams were actually been withdrawn from the consumer market. Not only that, but many face creams are made from ingredients obtained from the aborted fetuses of unwanted children. Do we really need to be covered in such rottenness and shame. Should we we truly expose our bodies - that we know are the 'Temples of God' - to sickness and disease purely from a sense of carnal vanity? Surely not! We know that God designed us even before we were conceived in the womb. He lovingly and carefully planned everything about us. He did not make a mistake, but permitted us to be just as we are for good reasons of His Own. Colour, skin texture, hair, EVERYTHING about us was just as He wanted it to be. And Remember He made us for Himself, to serve, please, and give Him PLEASURE. It is not for us to change it. IF change is suggested for some reason, then we should always ask Him first BEFORE doing something ourselves about it.
Iaiah 3v16-24 in the Bible sounds a warning to the overdressed, over adorned, and over made up woman in particular. He says - 'Because the daughters of Zion are proud and walk with outstretched necks, and with undisciplined (flirtatious and alluring) eyes, tripping along with mincing and affected gait, and making a tinkling noise with their bracelets and anklets; BECAUSE of this, the Lord will smite them with a scab upon the crown of their heads to make them bald. He will by force take away their finery, their bracelets, the headbands, the sashes, the perfumes, the rings....and instead of the sweet odour of spices there shall be the stench of rottenness!'
And in the First Letter of Peter 3v1-6 in the Bible we can also read - 'Let not yours be the merely EXTERNAL adorning with elaborate interweaving and knotting of the hair (hairstyles, and Hair pieces), the wearing of jewelry, or changes of clothes, but let it be the INWARD adorning and beauty of the hidden person of the heart, with incorruptible and unfading charm of a gentle and peaceful spirit.....for it was thus that the pious women of old who hoped in God were accustomed to beautify themselves and were submissive to their husbands..'
We can put on face creams and lipsticks; we can put on deodorant and perfume. We can plait, and put on hairpieces and style to our hair, we can bejewel and adorn ourselves with the latest fashion - BUT WE NEED INSTEAD TO PUT ON CHRIST! We should all seek to make Him Who is the REAL Beauty, to be our Adornment and Beauty.
In Ezekiel 16v14 in the Bible The Lord God says to those that are truly HIS Children -

'Your fame went out amongst the Nations
because of your beauty,
for it was perfect through MY Majesty and Splendour
which I had put upon you says the Lord...'

And finally look at Job 11v15 in the Bible, where it is written -

'You will lift up your face without a spot.......
You age shall be clearer than the noonday;
Thou shalt shine forth, thou shalt be as the morning!'

IF we would only put off our old man (nature) and put on Christ Jesus (His Nature) then we would scrape off the world's MAKEUP and put on GOD'S TRUTH, and we would find ourselves with the best of complexions year after year. HE is our medicine and health.

EXPERIMENT AND SEE IF IT WILL NOT WORK FOR YOU.'

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Joshua Mbithi is still suffering from a trapped nerve. He has not had much encouragement from the medics he has seen so far, and may finally have to have an operation. He need prayer very much.

Desmond and Virginia HALES arrived as hoped and expected and are settling in. Des is already well into investigating our School Accounting System which has been giving us a bit of a headache. They will be hear till about the 26th March. We have been wonderfully blessed to have their fellowship, and they brought with them a Gift from their Church which delivered us yet again from a pressing and urgent needs. Such an unlooked for direction for salvation to come from - We are ALWAYS surprised by His Loving Care.

THIS is all for this week - probably too much.! Steven has been trying to improve our Website. If you go to www.testimonyfaithhomes.org look at the top right of the page and press LINK. You will then go to a page inviting you to look at the NEW page. Press there and then you will be able to see how things are coming on. Lots more photos, and the latest BLOG will also be there. God Bless and Keep you sane and well.


John and Esther

MISCELLANEOUS

NO APOLOGIES for two more pictures of ourselves taken just a year ago - I really think I probably am as disagreeable as I look - not nearly as pretty as my dear Esther! This week has not seen a great deal happening that we can talk about, so it seemed a good idea to push in a few more views of the ravages of AGE, as we move up the ladder.
I am sitting in our sitting room at Green Cottage typing this today. I can see blue sky on the horizon, through the window. But over our compound there is a kind of perpetual cloud layer that keeps us in a dull shade - a howling gusty wind moving around the house and compound. Quite cool. The Meteorological Office says it is the prelude to a FEW days of RAIN. It would be good since water is short nation wide just now, and we could do with more than a drop to come down and top up our depleted reservoirs. According to our papers Kenya is now confronted by an increasingly present Famine, as well as Drought, and also this week a Fuel Crisis!! Wow, come to sunny, warm, and scenically beautiful Kenya - and maybe starve, get thirsty and find increasing black outs and dry petrol pumps!! Water IS being rationed in fact. BUT on the other hand this IS the right time for dry weather and heat. The Weather-men never seem to remember the seasons, and always evince alarmed surprise whenever any kind of weather takes place.
ESTHER is with me here in the sitting room. She is busy 'quilting' which is a hobby she very much enjoys, and it is good to be together in the same place for once - SHE is usually imprisoned in the School, and I am either busy in MY office or about town. TONIGHT she is taking ME and Manu out for a Chinese meal - she got a small prize from her School yesterday, and so decided to share it with us!
YESTERDAY we received an invitation to visit AUSTRALIA for three weeks, in October! It had in fact been suggested before, but we had held back a bit due to me being uncertain as to whether I would cope with the travel or not. And of course we had still not finalised our thoughts as to how to fill the place of my Deputy. This is in fact still in question. BUT we did both feel that we should accept and GO! So this looks like being an eventful year what with the 40th Anniversary of the Ministry, AND Michael's Wedding which looks like it will take place in Eldoret in July/August.......... Well I had felt it would be a very special and eventfull year as well as a challenging one. Seems I was right.

Our little daughter HELEN(19) is back in Nairobi commencing her 2nd year in Pre-School Teacher Training. She seems to enjoy it, though does not like Nairobi too much.
Manu still currently at home, but due to be thrown out quite soon if he does not quickly find a job! Well he has been trying locally but it looks impossible so he will have to go soon to Nairobi as well to try his luck there. Unemployment is climbing here as in many other parts of the world, and of course competition is also increasing, and especially in his own discipline.

Desmond and Virgina Hales from Northern Ireland should be arriving in Nairobi today, and will be with us God Willing on Tuesday next week completely eclipsing the Inauguration of Mr. Obama as President of the United States! We are really looking forward to having them with us.

HALF of the Homes children attending Higher Educational Institutions have returned to continue their Courses. The other Half are still waiting for finance from the Lord, and some other 8 are waiting to COMMENCE for the first time. Otherwise all our Primary and Secondary children are back on track in Testimony School.

Sad news! One of our senior girls from Jacaranda Cottage, currently studying to be a Primary Teacher, has become pregnant. She is continuing pro-tem with her Course, but she may be prevented from Graduating this year as planned. She is about 4 months on, and quite distressed. She loves the Lord, and this has made her even more upset and ashamed. She has always been a devoted child, and we shall of course stand by and with her, and trust the Lord will lead and guide us all.
There is hope that the young man responsible (from the same town in which she is studying, and not near us here in Eldoret) will seek to marry her once he has concluded his own studies!
As if this was not enough the brother (aged 21) of this same girl, ran off last week from his College and has not been seen since. He had apparently planned to do so, but it is not known why. So this has been a double blow, and something we have not had to grapple with before. We feel that since both the girl and the boy have spent their time with us in Jacaranda Cottage, that our previous houseparents there have somehow missed out on vigilance and care. Whatever the reasons may be it is a very unhappy occurrence, and we would ask you to pray for the Family in Jacaranda, and for Damaris, and for Festus her brother. We will keep you posted as time goes by. God loves them both, and we know He will not give them up or cease to pursue after them.

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COME! LOOK AT THESE FACES!
Just two of our girls from Drakeley Cottage. Lovely, aren't they? Just as God painted them.

In 1969 I walked into a Chemist in Kisumu. I had not been in Kenya very long. I found a little booth inside the chemist with the a banner over it reading ' GET A LITTLE LIGHTER THE AMBI WAY '. A young brown lady was sitting under the banner at a small counter piled with tubes of AMBI CREAM. I could not resist, as a joke, going to her and innocently asking - 'Do you think that will help me?' She looked quite shocked and quickly said -' Oh NO sir, you are already quite light enough!' But of course the 'white man' is always trying to get darker, laying out in the sun to obtain a TAN, and even buying special creams that will assist him to turn browner and browner in the sun. WE human beings all seem to think we are not attractive enough just the way in which we were created; we must make some adjustment, some improvement. This is so much the case today that the COSMETIC industry has become one of the most lucrative in the world. soaps, perfumes, deodorants, creams of every description, eye shadow, lipsticks, nail polish and more recently even plastic surgery.....fortunes are spent attending to our FLESH.
Have you ever wondered what Adam and Eve did about making themselves more attractive? Well friends all they had was WATER to wash in. My Mother used to say that all a person needed to keep clean was soap and water applied frequently. She never used any kind of 'make-up' but was in a fact a very good looking woman.
Adam and Eve did not even have SOAP! But I guess it did not matter to them for they were made just as the Creator desired them to be, and when they met and saw each other they accepted and loved each other just as they found each other to be.
When I first saw the young lady who was to be my wife - my Esther - I thought she was the prettiest girl I had ever met. She was not wearing make-up either, and after 38 years she still doesn't use it - and she is still, as far as I am concerned, one of the prettiest women I know. From the first I found her to be honest about herself, and about her looks, and I fell in love with that unpretentious reality. So good to have found a woman to have and to hold who is not a painted doll, or a 'made-up' model that can be spoiled or smudged out of shape or beauty..............

(to be continued next week......)

The blue sky seen earlier has disappeared, replaced by grey cloud, the wind still huffing and puffing around the house and amongst the trees outside. Still chilly too.

Well dear ones, God be with you through the week ahead, and BLESS you

John and Esther

THERE'S PROBABLY NO GOD....

IN TODAY'S DAILY NATION, here in Kenya, and on page 16 inside the paper is a small article entitled 'Pluralism in the Religious Sector'. The writer refers to an atheistic advertising campaign using 800 buses in England on which is postered the words

'THERE'S PROBABLY NO GOD.

NOW STOP WORRYING AND ENJOY YOUR LIFE.'

Not a very inspiring suggestion! But not in any way unexpected. This kind of thing will only increase, and more and more psychological attack on faith in general is going to be put in place and utilised in order that mankind may be totally delivered and set free from all moral order and integrity. The TRUTH is, of course, that if there IS no God, then we will find ourselves with even more to worry about and less to enjoy. God is the only SECURITY any one of us actually has in this world - yea in the entire Universe.
It is sad, though, that in any Country like Great Britain, which has had a Christian and spiritual awareness of GOD for thousands of years, should now be so willing to let any Tom Dick or Harry
publicly do their best to erode, erase, and DESTROY that which has held the Nation together. It seems that the United Kingdom has no one to speak for it's Heritage, or Character. Is the Government also Atheist? Are their no God Fearing individuals in its midst? Have they all died or been silenced by 'political correctness'? The Article infers also to the United States a similar connection. Is it only the Christian World that is being attacked, and so unwilling to take up arms to defend itself and the God it has so long attested to? Would Islam permit this to happen in their own world? Would the Hindu World? Only, it seems, in the Christian World is there FREEDOM to get rid of God. Very SAD. We who testify to Faith in God are indeed shamed by our silence and lack of determination to stand and be counted!

WELL WE ARE INTO THE NEW YEAR, and this week, for me, has been one of mundane and administrative activity. I have in fact been almost marooned in my Office dealing with problems of finding School Fees, and much more. This week we sadly discovered that one of our girls who is studying to be a Teacher is now with child, and thus may not be able to complete her Course. The 'father' of the expected child is not one of our boys. But he HAS offered to stand by the girl. But both 'parents to be' are mere students. Only the first time this has happened in our history. Wisdom, Mercy and Justice are needed here, and one cannot talk about transgression without the Love and Mercy that tempers and forgives. She is about 4 months on, and will probably give birth, God Willing, in May. This means she may not be able to graduate this year as hoped, and thus her life may be put on hold in some aspects. Her name is Damaris; please remember to pray for her - she is repentant, and seeking after God.
Apart from this I have also been endeavouring to find funds to pack off some of our College young people. One of these is in his 2nd Semester at Mombasa Polytechnic where he is studdying for a Diploma in Civil engineering. He needed to find £600 for the 1st Semester of the year; this otherwise represents almost one week's total upkeep for all four of our Homes and the 140 kids living in them! Quite amazing, and staggering. Paying out the money this morning was the result of answered prayer. On Thursday one of our old boys who left us twenty or so years ago arrived at Green Cottage to introduce us to his wife and two children and to show them where, at least in part, he had grown up. Henry now lives in Denver, Colorado! As he left later that same afternoon he had put a cheque into my hand that made it entirely possible for Ignatius needing to return to his Civil Engineering Course to actually GO! Thank you Henry, but Thanks also be to a very real GOD who put it into your heart and mind to give us that gift on that day. Four others have also been packed off today. I have at times to FORCE my hand to write the cheques! So Glad GOD is here for us; without HIM in our daily life and experience we would all be filled with anxiety and even despair. So GLAD that we know by EXPERIENCE that GOD does exist and is able and willing to to interact with our lives.

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During 1999 and 2000 I gave a number of ten minute motivational talks on Radio Sayare, our local Christian Radio Station. From time to time I will include the text one or another....... The series was entitle THOUGHT FOR THE WEEK.

'All we like sheep have gone astray;
We have turned, everyone of us, to his own way.' - The Bible (Isaiah 53v6)

I read in the newspaper the other day the story of little MARIKUA, an eight year old girl who became lost in the Savanna for eight days. This little girl had been sent just a short distance - less than a kilometer - from her family home to collect some sugar from a neighbour. On the way there she was frightened by some dogs, and ran off the track into the tall grass, until suddenly she found herself running into a herd of Zebra. She changed direction again to avoid them and skirt round them, but after a while, standing to catch her breath and look around her, she found herself in unfamiliar territory. She had come panting out into a small open space in the expanse of tall grass she had taken refuge in. The grass was on all sides of her now, and only the slight sound of the breeze rustling the grasses could be heard. She had no idea where she was or in what direction she should now go. She was LOST!
THE BIBLE says we have ALL gone astray, and followed our own path, and in doing so have become lost. As lost as little Marikua. She was so close to home, but she did not find her way back on her own.....she tried to do so. But she wandered further and further afield until, after eight long days she was almost 80 kilometres away from home.
A massive search was mounted to find her; a search involving the immediate community, and even the Army from the local Barracks. Every effort was made to find her, and many sacrificed time and comfort in leaving their own homes and families to be part of the Search party. Day after day they searched...finding nothing! They almost gave up, but on the seventh morning one of the Party found the child curled up asleep in the tall grass, just a few metres from where they had all camped for the night. She was very weak, and unable to speak or move, helpless and close to death!
In God's eyes we are ALL like lost children, away from the safety and the love of home and family. God worries and grieves over each and every one of us, and actually sent His own Son down from Heaven to seek and find all those who are lost.

Jesus Christ once told a story about a shepherd who lost one of his sheep - just one. He had ninety-nine more still safely with him, but he was so concerned for the ONE, that he risked life and limb to find it. I have a picture in my home of just such a shepherd. In the picture he has found this lost and away sheep. It had fallen down a cliff-side and was lying hurt on a ledge. The shepherd is reaching down precariously, putting himself in jeopardy, in order to try and reach the sheep. There is another picture painted by the same painter. In that one the shepherd is seen to have secured the sheep, and is carrying it tenderly around his shoulders, back to the fold.

There was great rejoicing over Marikua's rescue. She had been snatched from the jaws of death. Yes indeed, it even made the National Press, but what about the sinner, that lost soul, still out and away right now, life ebbing away....? What of that life? Is anyone seeking and looking - does anyone care about that life? Yes, GOD cares! Jesus Christ CARES about us all. But do you and I care?
If we believe that we are Christians, then this means that we believe that Jesus - all that he is in nature and character and spirit - lives in us. And if this is true, then as He lives in us, He should be seeking those that are lost through us.
He says to all of us who trust in and believe in Him

'As my Father sent me, so send I you.'
The Bible - John 21v21

He says GO into all the world and tell them all about Me, and how I have come to bring then home to God and LIFE

MARIKUA'S situation and rescue really spoke to me. Her loss caused such consternation and concern. How concerned was I for others, for those now dying in their sins? How much effort was I putting in to finding them, and in bringing them to God? This IS our father's work. And a good son or daughter will not make their Father ashamed - they will stand for what HE stands for, support Him in what He does. Yes, and the Bible says again - ' He that winneth souls is wise '
YET so often we do not get up to look; we do not bestir ourselves to go....Why? Because we are more concerned for our own comfort and safety. Because we are SLFISH. How can we say, having believed in our own Salvation, and the way in which it was brought to us, that we will not also rescue our fellow creatures still in danger and need.

Since you were found by the Lord, and brought into Salvation, have you reached out to another who, like you, is lost and away from God If you and I are not willing to join God's Search Party, then we may discover one day that even though we SAY we are a child of God, that God Himself will turn upon us and say 'I never knew you!'

In the week ahead let us bestir ourselves, and adventure ourselves, to reach a soul for God. Will you join me in that? Will each one of you listening to this agree with me to win a soul this week for Christ and for the Kingdom of God? Make up your mind to WITNESS to what YOU know of God through Jesus Christ. Do it because Jesus did it for you - HE left everything else to come looking for US. There will be GREAT JOY in Heaven, and in all the Family of God on Earth, for every ONE that is found.

Rescue the Perishing
Throw out the lifeline across the dark wave.
There is a brother who someone should save;
Somebody's brother! Oh, who then will dare
To throw out the life line, his peril to share?

Have an adventurous and exciting week.

Love from us all here, amidst oncoming droubt and famine! He will be in it with us.

John and Esther

CROSSING THE LINE

HULLO EVERYONE! We are into the New Year of 2009. In a matter of seconds we left the old year behind and crossed the line into the New. TODAY the Daily Nation has announced that President Kibake has Assented to the passing of an Act that seriously controls the Press. It is not a popular act. Neither the Press, the public nor international opinion have greeted it with much happiness or goodwill, and certainly it is unlikely to encourage national security. It will not encourage confidence in the current government. It will in fact take the Country back into the time when freedom of speech did not exist. Pray for Kenya.
THIS YEAR I shall be commenting on various topics, subjects and ideas as we jog along from week to week. However, I will always start with an update on news concerning Testimony Faith Homes as a whole, and then add my comment. Will still endeavour to write something each Saturday as before. Please feel very free to share your thoughts on how I can improve or make the Blog more interesting, acceptable or whatever.
JACARANDA COTTAGE, to the left remains a vibrant home and house under new parents. Edward and Esther are currently acting as Dad and Mum, and the children seem to have taken to them both well. They have both worked with Diguna; Ed is a motor mechanic, and Esther is a Secretary / Receptionist. They have not been married long, but are a serious and mature couple. We have great hopes for them that they will successfully complete their orientation and carry on. They also have a new Assistant helping them in the home. He is a single young man called Benson Koech. So now life can continue. Fortunately all three were able to be in place before Christmas arrived so there was a good spirit and sense of warmth that was able to fill the gap left by the departure of Mr. and Mrs. Nzomo.
The weather is dry, warm and beautiful, with cloudless skies, and gentle breezes.
School will not open here until the 12th, but other schools, Colleges and Universities are opening today, and so there are quite a few leaving us to start a new Term. For the rest there is still time to play and enjoy outdoor games.
Some few weeks ago our Press were sounding an alarm about an increase in the incidence of homosexual activity in our boarding schools. However, although it may well be that this is true, the actual fact of such activity has been with Kenya for many decades, and probably was introduced by the colonialists. If there is an escalation in this it may have some relationship to more and more media occupation with such matters, and also the fact that in the midst of stark poverty, prostitution of any kind can be means of making money! Even in Eldoret Town children are into prostitution. We are a world staggering drunkenly...!

A GAY WORLD

RECENTLY I discovered that Sir Ian McKlellen was created a Companion of Honour by Her Majesty the Queen, for his contribution to the Entertainment world and also the Gay Community. He has been in the forefront of the Gay Movement for some time. He confessed himself to be Gay when he was 49, and has since said that he wishes he had done so earlier. As an actor he has my admiration and respect, and in some respects this carries itself over to much more in regard to his character and manhood. He is open and honest, forthright and willing to fight for his own convictions. It is very easy (for those acquainted with Tolkien's 'Lord of the Rings' trilogy) to identify him with his own role, in the films. of Gandalf the Grey, the chief proponent of righteousness. One can see him as a Companion of Honour just as he was one of the Companions of the Fellowship of the Ring. Should he be judged in any way inferior just because he is Gay? Is it right for any one of us to set aside his many excellent qualities just because he does not conform to our moral code?

Was Lord Nelson, Victor of Trafalgar and the Nile, any less a man or a hero because he committed adultery with Lady Hamilton, the wife of a friend? The King and population seemed for the most part to ignore the matter, and instead reward and decorate him for his good and brave service to the Nation. Even the Church of the day had little to say about it.
Their view seemed to be that provided he did what was expected him as a public servant, then his private life was his own affair. Dr. Rowan Williams, Archbishop of Canterbury, also was once reported as saying that in his opinion an ordained priest who performed his office without fault, but who was privately a homosexual had a right to his private life. (see my blog for 31st May 2008).
Bishop Joseph Divine of the Scottish Roman Catholic Church seems not to agree with this opinion and more than I did. He recently (causing public outcry) pointed out that 100 years ago Oscar Wilde was thrown into prison for being found to practice homosexuality. It seems he may have been in favour of the same thing happening to Sir Ian McKlellen. It is surprising that he did not also remind us that in Old Testament times punishment for the same offence was death by stoning.
Both Archbishop Williams, and Sir Ian would probably agree that if the Bible were not there, then there would be no problem. The Archbishop feels that it is because the Bible is seen as the Authoritative Word of God by Christians, rather the question of our sexuality, that the whole question of homosexuality has become such a hot topic. Sir Ian, speaking of the Bible, has been quoted as saying that - '...it is great literature rather than great history; great imagination rather than reliable witness - it is not as a Law Book that I respect the Bible.' In saying this he appears to reject all 66 Books of the Bible as God's Word, and feels that it has no qualification as a Law Book, or even a social guidebook. He thus sweeps away the only foundation upon which we may safely and reliably build our lives. Nothing is left to stand upon; only our own individual inclination to do whatever we feel is or will be good for us. Sir Ian is further quoted as saying - 'I've often thought the bible should have a disclaimer at the front saying "This is Fiction". I mean, walking on water?..That takes an act of faith.' Faith that he obviously is not claiming to have for himself. And so he declares that he is personally unable to believe what the Bible says. He is now left to become a law to himself, and his own judge as to the right or wrong of his own opinion. In doing this he has effectively excused himself from all need to obey the Word of God or even to consider the good sense and reasonable advice and comment it contains in relation to the way our lives should be lived and conducted. Therefore, we might say that his a fairly normal human being from his own perspective. The normal human being goes astray to please himself from the womb, prone to sin.

Just now Sir Ian is visiting Schools in an apparently sincere effort to bring understanding, and an end of bullying and persecution, amongst children, due to minority discriminatary persecution. He is targeting 12-13 year olds and making good use of his image as Gandalf. He will be listened to; he will be respected and even revered by many. His influence should not be taken lightly. He is especially concerned to encourage tolerance and understanding towards those children who feel themselves to be 'gay'. He believes that the numbers out there orientated in this direction are many more than is believed. I might agree with him, even from where I live here in Kenya. Of course I am not in favour of bullying, oppression, witch hunting, or any kind of minority discrimination. From this point of view Sir Ian may have every reason to argue for compassion and tolerance - provided that in doing so he is not increasing interest, and encouraging practice of homosexuality - a practice which has since the world began been considered abnormal and thus undesirable.
God did not give a Man for Adam to cohabit with. He gave him a Woman. And likewise he did not present Eve to a woman but to a Man. Any other biological arrangement is abnormal and as such becomes an Offence and and an Abomination; which word the Archbishop of Canterbury has re-interpreted, but it remains what is means - ' An Offence which is at once Perverse, Unnatural, Abhorrent and Detestable.
Of course we have to have a proper conception of this matter. It is homosexuality which is to be condemned rather than the homosexual himself. God does not desire the death of anyone. He consistently seeks for the Life of the Lawbreaker, but at the same time cannot condone the breaking of the Law. We also cannot be seen to set the LAW on one side as if it has no consequence, but at the same we are not to needlessly victimise the lawbreaker without due regard to his value and worth as a human being. We are to seek for his LIFE, not his DEATH; for his repair and restoration rather than for his breakage and separation.
Probably none of this will cut much ice with an person who has no consciousness of God in his life.
We go through life often with little thought, and daily looking in the mirror see little affect our life style might be having on our inner self - upon our soul. I was talking on this line to a 35 year old not long ago, and the idea took him quite by surprise. He had not thought of such a thing. In fact he surprised me by actually taking me seriously and becoming sincerely troubled.

OSCAR WILD, (left), famous play-write, poet, novelist and theatre critic was a well known celebrity of his day. As Bishop Divine has told us, Wild was jailed for two years in Reading Goal for homosexuality, or indecent acts as they were called. He was gay. He was to write a short novel entitled 'The Picture of Dorian Grey', a story about a rich, handsome, socialite. Dorian as a young man had a well known and gifted artist paint his portrait. It was a masterpiece, and perfectly portrayed the beauty of the subject. Dorian bought it and hung it in his sitting room to be admired by all his friends and associates. But he lived a profligate and immoral life which only increased, financed as it was by his wealth and fueled by his lusts. After some time Dorian Grey began to think his portrait was changing. The strong, handsome, youthful face, began to lose its lustre and beauty. Little by little it aged, and the manly grandeur of the face began to show a dissolute expression. At last Dorian could not bare to look upon it longer, and he covered it with a cloth, and climbing the stair to the attic of his house, locked the picture there in darkness.

But he could not forget it, and as he continued to pursue his lifestyle there were times when he could not resist the temptation to climb the stair and lifting the cover gaze again upon the portrait. Finally one evening he once more ascended to the attic. He lifted the cloth that covered the picture, and raising the lantern that he had brought with him, he once more looked upon what was now a portrait of total depravity and ruin. He staggered back from it in horror, and grabbing a dagger that lay on a nearby table he slashed at the canvas until the face was obliterated, then turned the dagger upon himself, and so died. Not a very comforting tale.
Outwardly Dorian Grey was physically unchanged. As the years had passed he retained his handsome and attractive face and profile. He continued to be the rich, sought after socialite. Yet inwardly there was continuing and ruinous change upon his real self. His soul was marred by his lifestyle and habits.
Oscar Wild was not a religious man and had little respect for Christianity, but I do believe that he became aware of the fact that our external life has a very definite affect upon the soul. Scripture might be seen to support this idea. Consider Romans 1v27 which refers especially to the habitual relationships indulged in by homosexuals and lesbians. I have used the Amplified Bible Translation.

(they) suffer in their own bodies and PERSONALITIES,
the inevitable consequences and penalty of their wrong doing and going astray,
which was their fitting retribution.
And so, since they did not see fit to acknowledge God,
or approve of Him or consider Him worth the knowing,
God gave them over to a base and condemned mind to do things
not proper or decent, but loathsome.'

THE WORLD IS CHANGING on every front. The Authority of the Bible, and perhaps EVERY Holy or God focusing Book is more and more questioned and belittled. What are the Godly to believe. In Genesis 19v1-7 in the Bible we can read a truly terrible narrative.
'Lot was sitting at Sodom's Gate (two disguised angels arrived) and Lot seeing them rose up to meet them and bowed himself to the ground. And he said 'My lords, turn aside, I entreat you, into your servant's house and spend the night, and bathe your feet. Then you can arise early and go on your way.
But they said 'NO, we will spend the night in the Town Square.'
Lot entreated and urged them greatly, until they yielded, and with him entered his house. And he made then dinner...
BUT BEFORE THEY LAY DOWN TO SLEEP, the men of the city of Sodom, both young and old ALL the men from every quarter, surrounded the house. They called to Lot and said 'Where are the men who came to you tonight? Bring them out to us that we may know them (be intimate with them).
And Lot went out of the door to the men, and shut the door after him and said, 'I beg of you do not so wickedly.

This kind of society does not evolve overnight - it takes time. How did it come about that Sodom gave birth to Sodomy?
MARTIN LUTHER writing in 1539 puts it this way -
'The heinous conduct of the people of Sodom is extraordinary, inasmuch as they departed from the natural passion and longing of the male for the female (which was implanted by God into nature).
Whence cometh this perversity?
Undoubtedly from Satan, who after people have once turned away from God, so powerfully suppresses nature that he blots out the natural desire and stirs up a desire that is contrary to nature.'

Does the Bible support this understanding of the matter? Yes. Read ROMANS 1v21-22 in the Amplified Bible. To paraphrase it -

To reject God is to become Godless, foolish and lawless
THIS immediately leads to sexual corruption, and destruction of the concept of unity and oneness (in marriage).
BECAUSE of turning away from God, and making men to be gods instead.
THUS God let them miss the way of Oneness found in Marriage

THEY BECAME UNNATURAL, women living with women and men having sexual intercourse with men. This led to sickness of body and MIND.

BECAUSE WHEN THEY DID NOT WANT TO KNOW GOD,
they became sick in mind and began to degenerate and to fill their lives with evil.

This entire Narrative tells us plainly that the beginning of very wickedness is seen in sexual lawlessness, and that this has it's beginnings in a rejection of or departing away from the whole concept of GOD, and the knowledge and acceptance of His Word. Those who leave God OUT let evil and every sin IN. C.S.Lewis in his book 'The Problem of Pain', writes of them -

'They enjoy forever the horrible freedom they have demanded
and are therefore self enslaved.'

.................................

THE LAST TIMEI sallied forth on this subject I got quite a lot of unpleasant mail. But we all need to be LIGHT and not add to the darkness around us. It grieves me to consider how few people around us in our modern world are hearing TRUTH. They may not want to hear, and may not benefit from hearing it, but they NEED to have the opportunity to be saved from what is injurious to them. Sir Ian McKlellen needs to be warned from danger, not encouraged to continue blindly on in ignorance. I do not adhere to the doctrine of 'political correctness'. I am not one to sit on the fence. I an not afraid to CROSS THE LINE and make a positive stand. We are each one responsible to our neighbour to WARN clearly and plainly of what can injure him.
I am not concerned to judge Sir Ian McKlellen, or anyone. Only to warn them. I may not be able be without offence to some, but I may not help it either. I cannot say nothing, and I cannot say to the lawbreaker (whatever the law may be) 'OK - go ahead do what you want. Kill yourself if that's your choice.' I will have no choice but to say 'DON'T DO THAT! Its harmful, and dangerous to you'. You can hate ME all you desire for saying it, but I WILL say it because I am responsible for you to God and to myself. I know your worth. I cannot encourage any sin, including sodomy, on any grounds. I will never be able to argue that such liaisons should be legalised. I think Sodomy is an offence and an abomination because it endangers life and is opposite to God's Nature and Plan for Mankind. We need to oppose it, and consider how to rescue those embroiled in it. It should never be encouraged or rewarded. Some may say they have been born with this tendancy; they can do nothing about it. I will say some are born with a bad temper or short sight and that there is a whole lot they can do about it if they really want to. And GOD has offered even greater strength and power to change what is wrong with us, through the work achieved by Jesus Christ on Calvary's Cross. NO ONE has an excuse to remain the way they were born in relation to sin and unrighteousness.

THIS IS OF COURSE NOT THE WHOLE WORKS!!


God Bless, embolden you, and make you to be Faithful, Fearless, Spirit Filled Witnesses to the Word and to the revealed Truth of Christ our King.

John and Esther