BUFFETS AND BLOWS!!

ONE SUNDAY AFTERNOON, 25 YEARS AGO to the week-end, Esther and I were visited by a Christian couple who had been close friends of more than a decade. They came to confide in us that the Lord had shown them that I was POSSESSED and needed Ministry to be set free. They said that they were not alone in this opinion, and that many other brethren in the Pentecostal Fellowship that we then attended felt that I brought 'a coldness' into the Meetings when I attended, and that I suppressed the Holy Spirit.

They shared this is we sat together taking tea in Testimony House garden during the afternoon. We were both very much alarmed. These were friends of many years! Were they right? Was I indeed possessed without being aware of it? I said 'And if you are right - and if I do not seek for 'Ministry' as you suggest - what will happen?' My brother quietly replied -' you will destroy the work of Testimony Faith Homes! Esther and I looked at each other, and she said how shocked she felt. 'We need time to seek the Lord about this, since we ourselves seem quite unaware of the truth of what you say.' Our friends got up and left us to consider the matter.

We were then, at that time, quite without funds to carry the work forward. Not even a shilling in the Bank. I was also at the time unwell and over-tired. Esther and I had no assistant in those days, and were quite unable to leave the Homes even for a day. If this Statement had come from just another brother or acquaintance it would have been easier - but from long time, trusted and respected friends! - We felt - I personally felt - as if the GROUND on which I stood had been taken away - could it really be possible - was I possessed? I had been feeling low, and weary. The Lord had kept us more than a week without funds or any word to comfort us..........

It was a most horrible and paralysing occasion. It would take serious heart searching. But we took ourselves to prayer and sought the Lord through the Word, and as the days of the ensuing week passed, we were given confidence and proof that though we might indeed have been oppressed by the Enemy, yet I was NOT possessed. And progressively as days turned into years, and years into a quarter of a century we have felt assured that if CHRIST indeed be IN you then no Devil can have possession of you. Looking back on this incident today we remember the force behind that thrust against our individual and united Faith; against our moment by moment Salvation. It almost threw us off our feet - almost but not quite. How Mighty is the Hand of our God. We did not see our friends again for TEN years. they actually left the Country for a time. Then we met again, and all was forgiven and put right. God IS Good.

AND HERE WE STILL ARE 25 years LATER. Alive and Well, and still in the midst of a growing and prospering ministry. Life has not always been plain sailing, funds have not always been plentiful, BUT clearly GOD has been very present with us, to keep us, and to build us up.

He does not CHANGE.

He IS the same TODAY as He was Yesterday, and will be Tomorrow!

Last week finances had been slowly getting lower, until this week the Bank was with a balance of ten Kenya shillings. BUT we had food on hand, if only basically, and so no one has hungered. And NOW we have heard from friends that further help is on the way - We are constantly watched and cared for, and He UNDERTAKES for us - even before we have asked. In this connection there is a verse, very special to me in the Bible, which enshrines a very great Truth.

I came upon it in 1987 when I was being medically examined in Nairobi Hospital. I had been sent to a Cardiologist - Dr. Silverstien - and he concluded his Examination by telling me that I had heart damage, and would, in his estimation, need by-pass heart surgery! He said, 'Mr. Green I want to see you again in three days, and in the meantime do not exert yourself at all - no do even pick up a pin!' THIS TIME it was not the 'ground' but my legs that seemed to have been taken away from me. I do not know how I actually WALKED out of Silverstien Office. That night in bed in Nairobi, with Esther next to me, I could not sleep, listening to every heart beat and wondering what would happen to her, the children and the work if I were to suddenly konk out! The bedside light was still on, and I reached for my Bible. I opened it apparently randomly and found myself in the 2nd Letter to the Corinthians chapter 1 verse 9-11

'We had the sentence of death in ourselves,

that we should not trust in ourselves,

but in God, which raiseth the dead.

Who delivered us from so great a death,

and doth deliver;

in whom we trust that He will yet deliver us.

YE ALSO helping together by prayer for us

that for the gift bestowed upon us by the means of many persons,

thanks may be given by many on our behalf.

THESE verses immediately set me free from all anxiety about my health, and when I next met Dr. Silverstien it was for him to stand back amazed at seeing nothing untoward in regard to my heart which before had seriously alarmed him and prepared him for surgery. Even the NEW set of X-rays which he ordered showed NOTHING wrong at all!! BUT this was not all, but also the realisation of how we are all to some extent joined to each other and are part of each other's prosperity, health, and general welfare, as God the Holy Spirit communicates, inspires and involves us in one another's lives as He directs. This is a great mystery, but a greater privilege and spur to faith. Truly we are members of Such a Family!

And how wonderful to know that HE is seeing us through every unforeseeable happening along the way. No matter the waves, the wind, and the storm suddenly breaking all around us - HE is with us in the ship; with us wherever and however we are AND prepared to bring us through. What a Saviour! What a Friend!

TODAY we are happy to see one of our oldest girls with us for the week-end she is now 48 and a widowed mother of 7 children. She is also sister to Johanna who we once took to England with us in 1972. Grace lives 130 kilometres away near to Maseno, where we began this work. She has been through a lot of rough times, but her Testimony is that Jesus was WITH her throughout, and brought her through. What a GREAT joy to hear this from her lips, and from her experience of life. How wonderful that the Lord has spared US to have her in our own little Green Cottage - a daughter kept by the grace of God. Thank you Jesus.

Lovingly to you all

John and Esther