CHILDREN, CHILDREN EVERYWHERE....

THESE CHILDREN ARE HAPPY! When I look at a photo like this I find myself automatically smiling, and even laughing out loud. They all look so saucy and cheeky - but intrinsically HAPPY. I feel so glad for them, glad that they can be free enough of all worry and anxiety to be ABLE to look and be so fun loving. And then I am glad that Testimony Faith Homes is here. ALL of this little group were stranded and without shelter just a few months ago. No family, no friend, and shunned by the people around them. BUT, unknown to them, God had promised to take care of them. In Psalms 27v10 it is clearly written -

Although my father and my mother have forsaken me

yet the LORD will take me up

will (adopt me as His child).

A Wonderful verse of Scripture, and one that came to mean a great deal to ME as well in my teenage, when I suddenly began to discover my own past. A verse closely linked with another in Psalm 22v10 -

I was cast upon You from my very birth;

from my mother's womb You have been my God.

Of course these words were quite hidden and unknown by me when I was a child, even as they are unknown to all those others who find themselves cast out into the world uncared for. I was more fortunate than some since I was adopted, and well cared for to some extent, though not without a great deal of sorrow of heart at times, and certainly in the midst of family conflict. If I did not have a considerate or loving father I did have an affectionate and loving mother. But I often had feeling of desolation, as if somehow I was in the wrong place with the wrong people. I had no idea till I was 18 that I had been adopted, but when I DID discover this fact it was not a great surprise. But it then intensified a sense of loneliness. If I had not by then come to have also discovered that God was there for me, I may well not have survived. Indeed God had watched out for me, and always has. I owe my LIFE to Him in every way, and can see that he has turned all my sorrow into profit by bringing me here to Kenya and to show the Love of God to other unwanted children. God works in very mysterious ways, but makes no mistakes, and in allowing the good AND the bad leads and guides into all truth and under-standing. These children above are part of the Family opposite and their Dad and Mum are seen top left - Steve and Emily Situma. They have 32 in their family including their very own little son. They have been with us eight years already. Steve was himself left to roam the streets alone as an orphan child, and eventually came to stay with me and Esther in Testimony House when he was 9. WE were Mum and Dad to 45 in those days, and now we have three more homes, and 142 children in care. And our Testimony has ever continued to be founded on God's assurance that He will take care of the orphan and give him a home and family. For 42 years this Testimony has been demonstrated and proved. IT'S THE SCHOOL SPORTS DAY today, and I can hear the cheers and shouts from here, as they all compete excitedly in the School Field. The parents always support their children to the limit, and the number of cars parked here is unbelievable. Right up the front door of our house, and every scrap of spare place. The School has done well and grown into a very important part of all the ministry here. Some 600 or more children attend from the locality, and so OUR children are able to mix socially and academically with a very broad spectrum of the community around them. They also have every opportunity to expand and develop their academic ability competitively. This year we have THREE in University and 20 in Senior Colleges who have all attended our School. We expect to add at least three more to University before the year is done. Our Revenue People have targeted the School as a High Cost School and Business, refusing to see it as part of our charitable work, even though it provides FREE places for ALL our Homes children, and additionally offers up to 30 FREE places to poor students from the Municipality who have done well in public examinations. AND even though it makes no financial gain either for itself or anyone. Extraordinary, the ways of man. I have to end here this week. A lot of work to do still for me today. But next week I will have some surprise pictures for you. Keep praying for us as the Tax people continue to harass us, and as the Enemy also is busy unleashing a new barrage of fiery darts at the work as a whole. Prayer IS needed urgently so please do remember us. Our Love in the Lord our God John and Esther

FROM DUST TO MUD!

YES THE RAIN HAS COME! It has started gently, but persistently, slowly and surely saturating the hardened, sun baked ground. Already a green hue has begun to creep into the crisped brown blades of grass. And already it has touched our smallest and youngest with the magic and mischief that attends its playful opportunities. Ah, the sheer JOY of the fragrance of it.............BUTtttt!

Yes, well of course, there is and will increasingly for some be a down side. The temperature has already DROPPED about ten degrees from near 80f to about 65f this afternoon. I had forgotten I could feel COLD at this temperature as well! Had to search out a pullover AND put on a jacket! The canopy of blue above is also now converted to a gun metal grey rumpled and churned up with heavy, turbulent cloud. The summer lights are faded away and a chill sombreness quickens ones steps. The dry dusty places will soon be forever WET, the sticky clinging mud of the earthen roads and sidewalks unwilling to let each footstep free to go forward. YET still there will be laughter from children running off to school amidst the showers through every newly formed rivulet and water channel created daily en-route. Our own children do not have to run far, and not bare foot as these, but just as gaily and happily, to sit in the cold class rooms from 8am until 4 p.m. Every day it will rain for a while. Every day mud upon the shoe, left in the classroom and brought into the home. And soon we shall be crying out for summer sun and the drying, bone warming heat! AND WE are in a fairly clean and mud free environment, with tarmac drive and playgrounds, and cement pathways to walk upon. What about those that live beyond us in the still undeveloped areas of the slum and outer city estates? People will live as they must. They may not enjoy themselves, but they will not complain; life will go on even though the standard of living may deteriorate and become tiresome and difficult for a spell.

The roofs may leak, the walls become damp, the floors wet and the outside surroundings a flood, but life will go on. AND there will be water to drink! We are grateful LORD, grateful for your GREAT Mercies to us all, grateful for Your touch upon the Earth and upon each one of us. May we not forget You in the distress of our Times, as the elements are disturbed and our environment threatened, as the World's economy continues to fail, and human strife and lust for power increases.

INSIDE TESTIMONY FAITH HOMES life also goes on, regardless of our circumstances. With 150 odd growing children and young people to care for there is little choice. AND we look quite well manicured and comparatively comfortable in the eyes of those living around us. But things are not what they used to be. A Board Member, a Kenyan, once angrily commented that Homes children went to school better dressed than his own. He was quite a wealthy business man. "Why, they even have socks as well as shoes - and they are only orphans!" We were quite astonished by his tone and sentiment at the time. Well they still do have shoes AND socks, but they are having to last much longer than they did, and many of our kids are beginning to look a little shabbier than heretofore. Yet they are still much better clothed than those around them in the town. To the rich children attending our school they WILL look shabby, but to the poorer children attending the town and country schools barefoot and ragged they will still look healthy and materially well off. They certainly live in better accommodation than the average child, better cared for in most respects, and perhaps with better opportunities in life. Perhaps TOO MUCH SO to attract much sympathy or charitable concern!

Recently one was heard to say that the bottom drops out of charitable giving when the needy cease to look needy and become unable to be photographed in abject misery and material calamity. Is this true? Do people lose interest once a need has been attended to, and a calamity dealt with so that peace and prosperity are restored? INSIDE Testimony Faith Homes, viewed from the outside, there will seem to be NO need. The children we now shelter, who are fed and educated so well, who are clothed and shod with average care, were once FOUND naked and abandoned, in abject poverty; many of them despised and left to die! Truly hearts went out to them in THAT condition. But NOW, cleaned and fattened up; secured and looking lower middle class, they may hardly get a second look. WOW those Testimony children lack for nothing.....thus there is little reason to GIVE.. BUT even though that is WHAT many will think, the fact remains that they STILL do need help in order not to RETURN to the state they were in. If they are to succeed and prosper and rise above their origins, then they still do need the Charity that first of all recued them - it is ongoing. How strange that Man is SO quick to forget and pass on. Last week JAPAN was in the news - and yet even now with quakes still being recorded in their midst the heat of compassion is LESS - Sky news has moved on!~ No real constancy; no follow up, no commitment. Since 1969, when we began this Ministry in an outhouse made of mud, we have seen God inspire and motivate our growth through the interest and compassion of many who He moved to help... (the photo by the way is of the sitting room of Testimony House where we have a family of 35 children and young people, and where Esther and I were Mum and Dad for twenty six years)

Like one theory of the Expanding Universe we have gone on pushing outwards - but now we seem to have slowed to almost the point where we see a falling back. The thrust forward has gone. Will we now slowly fall back upon ourselves until we end up like a Black Hole? Purely metaphorically of course! Or is Jesus nearer than WE have supposed? The Time may have come - as the Wallrus said in Alice in Wonderland - to talk of 'other things'.

THE TAX men have not come back yet. On our side we have gone through the Accounts they themselves have gone through, and have discovered that the majority of their findings are themselves faulty and based on bad and careless figure work. We look forward to their next visit. However, we have now heard that generally there is concern amongst those engaged in Charity in Kenya, that the Government seems very careless of just how much Charities contribute to the general good. There is now a movement to somehow confront the Government with this, with a will to change the Tax Laws. We shall see. I personally feel that there is so much avarice in Government circles that their main focus is on how to get as much money out of Charities as is possible, instead of how to show appreciation and support for what those Chairities are providing for the Nation already. We have also heard that many Missions and Organisations engaged in Social Welfare are in fact leaving Kenya, finding it just too expensive to remain. So far the Government seems quite unmoved by such consideations.

Continue to remember us in prayer. Our hearts are MERRY, and there is a song on our lips! We KNOW in Whom we have believed, AND we KNOW that He is able to KEEP us from falling, and to make safe ALL that we have put trustingly into His Hands. This is true also for ALL those who have done the same.

God Bless you always and for ever

John and Esther

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THE DAY AFTER!

OUR GRIEF AND SYMPATHY goes out to the People of Japan as they grapple with the awful results and aftermath of the massive Earthquake and Tsunami of yesterday. Looking at the TV coverage it is hard for those of us living far away from such elemental forces to truly appreciate the situation, or the feelings of those caught up in it. As with CHRISTCHURCH, New Zealand, the sense of despair and desperation upon those who have suffered the loss of loved ones, and of their personal possessions and sometimes EVERYTHING upon which they have trusted in for life must be overwhelming. I know that many have given up even contemplating remaining in Christ Church, including my niece, Amanda, and are leaving that quake torn city for more stable ground. Looking at to-days photos from Japan I can believe that many more there will also want to find safer landfall - but WHERE? In Japan there may be nowhere to run to..................The actual horror and terror of it is hard to conceive. We are being told it is 'because of the MOON'! Well, I do not think it is the Moon that is behind this. It IS an event that is sure to increase financial pressure on the world though, and to generally hamper any return to a hoped for prosperity. As the Bible says - Things will wax worse and worse. AGAIN are we prepared to witness it, and not to lose our steadfast faith in God? We must all increasingly be on the WATCH, praying, and READY - for truly we face great and unprecedented Events.

FRIDAY THIS WEEK the Kenya Revenue Authority men (The TAX men) finally appeared with the result of their seven and a half week investigation of our Accounts, going back to 2007. They were very civil all the days they were with us and in no way discourteous.
They are demanding payment of some Ksh.6 million. This is approximately at to-days exchange rates about 46 thousand pounds sterling, or US$75,000! We are now the THIRD Charity to be confronted in this District.
Joshua and Miriam Mbithi are being asked for 12 million Kenya Shillings on foreign donations over the last three years. A Danish mission not far from us which provides aid in erecting and delivering Church Buildings throughout east Africa is being asked for even more.


WE seem to have got off lightly. They have not seemed to be taxing us on donations received however, but on what they have stated as ,understated income, (as if we have somehow 'hidden' income so as not be taxed on it) as shown in our Books. NONE of what they have put on paper has proved to be either correct or able to stand up as a hard and fast accusation. We are to see them again on TUESDAY next week and we expect to be able to dismantle ALL their current arguments with physical and legal proofs from our Bank Statement and Books of Account.


It is interesting that the basis for their demands is different in respect of each one of us that they have investigated, and their direction varies all the time. So far the other two have not co-operated or paid out any monies to the Revenue Authority. Just another irritable 'fiery dart' of the Enemy? We believe that is just what it is, and that the Lord will deflect it finally.


I DID ask the Representatives that came to make us aware of our shortcomings whether they thought, after having carefully appraised our accounts, that we would be able to PAY such a Demand? They said that this was not their concern; if cash was not available then our material assets could be liquidated! The challenge to us all though this year, since it began, has been the Threat of having to Close the Ministry. So far we have ignored the 'threat' and stood our ground. After all this is what our Lord tells us to do when under attack - 'When you have done all STAND' - just STAND. I will be with you.
HERE IS A PHOTO of a few of Testimony School SCOUT Troupe. They have just raised the National Flag on Parade. Smart boys, all a credit to the fundamental beliefs and traditions of their Founder, Baden Powell. Remember I mentioned him briefly last week. The final 'proof of a pudding is in the eating' and boys like these, committed and dedicated to the finer things of life are a good sample 'spoonful' of a very good pudding.
To allay any fears that the school is chauvinistic, I can happily share that we also have girl scouts. Regretfully they ARE now called Scouts instead of Brownies and Guides in order to draw no undue attention to gender!!! What nonsense all of it is.
I prefer still to think of BOYS as scouts, and Girls as GUIDES. I will publish a photo of some girls soon!!

The DRY weather continues. Some clouds about but it still seems that we must wait a little more for RAIN to fall upon us.
ELECTRICITY is off on Tuesday and Thursday evenings from 7-9p.m. and this week we seem to be commencing WATER rationing as well. Not so good, and of course the COST of both commodities is said to be having an increase as well. BUT it is an annual event after all, just as the availability of fruit and vegetables is predictable at this time of year. It IS hotter than usual. Rainfall, (when it comes) is usually later and less than before.
There IS the prospect of an annual worsening of our climate. We live with it. We are grateful that as yet we in Eldoret are not suffering as others further north are doing within our national frontier - where there is NO water and NO food, only starvation and death.

We Greet you ALL and convey to you our Love and Thanksgiving in Jesus Name. We are comforted in the knowledge that you are there praying for us - a great encouragement for us to continue to GO ON! Sincerely

John and Esther

HAS GOD SAID?

SAINT EDWARD'S CROWN, worn by Kings and Queens of England at their Coronation. Worn by our own Queen Elizabeth the Second at her Coronation in 1952. Like her predecessors she made an Oath during the Ceremony. In front of GOD, laying her hand on the Holy Bible, at the High Altar, she promised to -

'maintain the Laws of God,

and the true profession of the Gospel'

BUT recently a Judge of the British High Court, Mr Justice Beatson of the Queen's Bench, is quoted as stating that -

'There is no place in British law

for Christian beliefs,

despite this country's long history of religious
observance, and the traditions of the

Established Church.'

If this is considered to be a TRUE statement of fact, then it must surely suggest that the Oath taken by the Sovereign at his/her Coronation is of no effect and even hypochritical. These same High Court Judges have also declared that 'This (The United Kingdom) is a secular state.' THUS it seems that the Monarch has now given up, together with almost everything else connected with Government, the right to protect the Faith for which she and her forbears promised to maintain in the Kingdom. One then wonders if the LAW of the land is in fact the Queen's Justice in any way. It seems she has little or NO say in it, its substance or enforcement. Of course this is, politically, exactly the way it is, and the way it has been slowly developing since the 18th century. But it is sad to see our Head of State unable to fulfil her pledge to God; a pledge made null and void by her secular Government! It is in fact total infidelity to the spiritual foundation on which her Kingdom has been built since the days of Alfred the Great.
The High Court made its remarks by way of refusing to uphold the rights of Mr. and Mrs. Johns to advise their foster children against following a gay lifestyle. Owen and Eunice Johns, with a 'proved track record' in caring for children as foster parents, had shared that as Christians they were unable to encourage the view that a gay lifestyle was acceptable, and would be unable to say otherwise when advising children in their care.. The High Court is now suggesting, by its comments, that 'Christian beliefs on sexual ethics may be 'inimical' (unfriendly, hostile, unfavourable) to children. This has left the Johns unable to continue fostering children without compromising their faith. Even to privately hold their personal view based on what they believe is the clear teaching of the Bible, now makes them a potential enemy of the Secular State - which not long ago was considered to be ' Christian' from the Crown downwards. This may be seen as an initial attack on Christian Ethics generally - and the terrible thing is that it has been mounted within what has been seen as a 'Christian Nation', yet is now so weakened and apostate, that there was little or no defence; indeed the attack succeeded! And if it has begun with Gay Rights, do not think it will end or is ending there. Things are now moving worldwide. WAKE UP CHURCH! '

Sound the Battle Cry!

SEE! the foe is nigh!

Raise the standard high for the LORD;

Gird your armour on,

Stand firm ev'ry one;

Rest your cause upon

His Holy Word

Further comment may be found at Christian Concern info@christianconcern.com and I am recommending you to view a Video on the same matter ''John's Judgment'' at http://www.youtube.com/

There is also a link on our Face Book page.

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HAVE I SPOKEN WITH MY SISTER PAT YET? Why yes I have! Last Saturday evening in fact. She has a beautiful voice ( or am I biased ) and it was indeed a very emotional moment. Esther also spoke with her, and we both also talked a little with my nephew Harvey and his wife Marion. It was quite a 'supercharged' occasion. Pat's Birthday is coming up in April as well!

It seems that we BOTH take after our mother in looks! Pat has shared photos of he father as well, but it is difficult to SEE a likeness between him and me. Still a number of things to sort out and understand, but still JOY to find my beginnings, and to be able to identify a little.

Our daughter ELIZABETH is unwell, and in fact in hospital. We trust it is nothing very serious, but she has been pursued by recurring 'boils' over the years, and none of the doctors that have treated her have so far discovered WHY. This time round she has felt really drained of energy and been quite depressed. Being a working woman, with a husband and two young kids this has not been very easy. She sounded bright on the phone though, last night, and we are trusting that the awaited Tests will reveal more, and set her on the road to recovery. Please do pray for her.

Our daughter in law, Janet, married to Michael in the UK, is also unwell, and she will be arriving in Kenya on the 11th of this month to seek medical advice. Esther and I are quite astounded that in the view of our THREE children in England the Medical Services there seem totally under par. I find it personally very hard to believe that our National Health Service has decayed so badly that we have so few competent doctors available. On the other hand I have been glad of the care I have been given here!

THE WEATHER REMAINS DRY and arid. I love the sunshine. BUT it is too hot for ME. I have always been a cold climate person. 80f at night is not my idea of comfort. BUT we thank God for continuing drinking water, and intermittent electric light.

The High School National Results were the best ever for our School, and there has been great rejoicing. The school was 66th in the Nation. It will attract a whole lot of interested parents. BUT financially it will not affect the Homes side of our ministry. The School will be more financially stable but the Homes continue on a downward curve. This week the first of what may be many more Creditors was loudly seeking payment in our Office - for the first time ever!

He went away calm, and without anger - but empty-handed!!

Electricity cost is to increase shortly. Petrol is also increasing in cost - some predict an increase of almost double again in the near future. Food prices rising in advance! All this in the shadow of crop failure, famine and drought.

AND the TAX men have begun to reveal their demands. They have asked more than Ksh.9 million from the School with the promise of much more from the Children's Homes. As I have said we cannot pay them, and thus there will be a long and drawn out argument between us.

Are we perplexed? Are we heavy laden with worries? We take it all to JESUS and leave it there with him.

The FIGHT, the BATTLE, the ATTACK on the Christian, and the Kingdom of God, is obviously not confined to Gay Rights! The Enemy has marshaled ALL his forces, and has opened his Gates to all of them to come forth upon the earth. ''BE PREPARED'' was the Motto of Baden Powell and the Scouts Movement. It used to be very much God and Nation centred, but I am not sure how much it STANDS to day. The School has a Scouts Group, and every year there is an enormous Jamboree here in Kenya to commemorate Baden Powell which takes place near the site of his burial. AND even he is not left alone from the Enemy's attention, and his character and life is besmirched by modern historians and sociologists who now suggest that Baden Powell was himself an undeclared homosexual! We need to be careful - all of us!~ For we are ALL sinners, and have all sinned in one way or another. No doubt all of us have some 'skeleton in the cupboard' - but the fact is we do not have to fear that ''skeleton' if we have declared it and put it away under the Blood of Christ. The devil can accuse all he wants, but if the subject of his accusation is UNDER THE BLOOD, he will draw a blank, and stub more than his toe against the ROCK of our Salvation. Hallelujah.

WE ARE PRESSING ON THE UPWARD WAY! We have influenza and tonsillitis amongst us, but the majority are all well. We trust in your prayers for us always, and constantly give Thanks for you at the Throne of Grace.

John and Esther