TIME NO LONGER......

BUT CERTAINLY IT IS TIME TO WAKE UP!! And I especially like this cartoon because it has EVERYTHING.

I mean the cockerel is the symbol of a Waker Upper - Early, LOUD, irritatingly continuous. Yet this one is standing on an Alarm Clock which does not appear to have gone off - it has a very obsolete look about it, almost as if it no longer works; DEAD. Perhaps a comparison of a Believer and the Church

Friends Esther and I are poised, God being Gracious to us, to return to our appointed place in Kenya, Africa. We have a ministry there amongst needy children. BUT more than that we have a ministry to EVERYONE we meet - it is to Tell what we have come personally to KNOW about Jesus - about the LIGHT that God Almighty has given to mankind to lead him through and out of the Darkness of this world. And we had better believe that this IS a darkening world. Esther and I have realised, in these two months of travel and visitation through two thirds of the UK, that we had ceased to CROW - the 'alarm' mechanism within us was somehow on 'sleep' mode. We DID witness to our own opinion that

the Last Days were upon us in extremis.....BUT we were not SHINING BRIGHT to show the way of Salvation to the whosoever. We must have spent hundreds of hours greeting people, passing the time of day, sharing family matters, telling about our children in Eldoret! BUT we had left JESUS out of the most of it! I mean we did not take the opportunity of sharing, on a very personal note, what HE is to us. The Light in us had dimmed, did not catch the eye or brighten a heart for Jesus. Our light was enclosed in a 'shuttered lantern' - enclosed by the business and the worries of our world. Suddenly we were no longer the EXCITED Bearer of Good News - THAT WONDERFUL NEWS - that God SO LOVED me that he found a way to SAVE me out of all my distress, and that BECAUSE He did this for me He can do it for YOU too. COME and SEE Jesus whom I have just MET. We have ALL been BORN to do this - to proclaim and shout out about the Love, the Wonderful LOVE of God. The FIRST thing Phillip did on coming to know Jesus was to go tell his brother Nathaniel - The Gospel of John 1v43-46. He just HAD to tell someone. The DAY I myself came to realise Jesus was alive I just HAD to tell someone, and I went on telling URGENTLY what I had come to know about HIM, and how it had changed my life. WHY do we cool down on this activity? Somehow we shy more and more away from being the Evangelist we were meant to be - nay even commanded to be! GO! said Jesus - And TELL others about Me. Yes GO, and tell about it everywhere. If we do not WAKE UP to the fact that we are NOT DOING it we may find ourselves left behind when the Trumpet sounds, or at best be amongst those who will suffer LOSS when it comes to Rewards for well doing.

You may say to me - "I am not a missionary, a pastor, a Bible teacher! I am just an ordinary person trying to live a quiet, Christian life in an ungodly world. Isn't that 'Light' enough?"

NO it isn't. We are all CALLED of God to get up out of darkness, and go forth in and with the LIGHT into this dark world to Proclaim the Salvation of God to everyone - regardless of whether they will listen or not. We are ALL Evangels of God's Message of Love. We are all full time TELLERS of whatever He has SHOWN to us who know Him. Lose sight of this truth and you lose sight of a NECESSITY without which all other service becomes worthless. NO, Go into all the world; Tell about Me in the valley, on the mountain, EVERYWHERE - to EVERYONE you meet, or who meets you! There is not much time left. Your opportunity to snatch your neighbour out of the 'Fire of Hell' may soon be gone.

BE READY

at every opportunity

to give the reason for the Hope that is within YOU!

++++++++++++++

AS WE RETURN TO KENYA, we return with this RENEWAL within us, and with the resolve to TELL others about our personal experience wherever we go with power, and with signs confirming. Hallelujah. This is our avowed intent - as volcanoes erupt, as the earth splits asunder in diverse places, as war and revolution, famine and pestilence increase, and as the gloom and despondency of these dark times engulf the whole world. We are LIGHT BRINGERS. LET THERE BE LIGHT .......... Who knows what might happen if WE all - ALL those who KNOW they are Redeemed should begin to say so, LOUDLY, to all they meet. It is what we OUGHT to be doing. Psalm 107v2

God Willing this is our last week-end in the United Kingdom. Sunday we shall have our last Church Meeting in an Anglican Church - Christ Church Barnston. Then a day in London with our son Michael and his wife Janet, and then (provided Virgin Atlantic Airline is not on strike) we shall fly to Kenya late on Tuesday evening. We know we are coming to even greater challenge within our ministry than when we left. But we come with Confidence in the Author of our Faith. We come with renewed Vision and Vigour. We come with JOY.

RISE AND SHINE dear friends. Let us all stand together, shoulder to shoulder with our Lord and King.

Lovingly in His Name

John and Esther

ALMOST HOMEWARD BOUND

MY FATHERS' HOUSE? This is a photo of St. Alban's Cathedral & Abbey built more than a thousand years ago, and here being restored in the 1800s. Largely a NORMAN building by way of architecture. Set in beautiful grounds. Our son Michael and his wife Janet took us to see it just a week or so ago. I did not like it much as a building; it seemed too stark, rough hewn and unfinished still. In fact it had been been utterly ruined at one time and rebuilt. But what really reduced whatever beauty or sense of God's Presence it may once have had, was the heavy secular atmosphere within it.

Quite a lot of TRADE was going on in the various areas given to selling Christian books and Nick-knacks. And a number of sight seeing and 'educational' tours were noisily touring the interior. It lacked any sense of a place for God to be honoured or reverenced. Of course most of the huge buildings given to worship hundreds of years ago are now badly attended and ill funded so that it is hard to pay for their upkeep. Thus the idea of 'selling' space for commerce and tourism. But this must be at the expense of the sense of God remaining tangible.

There will be, and are, exceptions to some extent, but generally I think this will hold good. One has to be reminded of our Lord's rebuke when He found such a situation in the Temple in Jerusalem -

Mark 11v15-17

...And Jesus went into the Temple,

and began to cast out those that sold and bought in the Temple,

and overthrew the tables of the

moneychangers, and the seats of them that sold doves.

And would not suffer that any man

should carry any vessel through the Temple.

And He Taught saying -

"is it not written

'My house shall be called of all nations the house of prayer?

But you have made it a den of thieves.'"

What would he say of to-day's practice and attitude. Again, recently, in a less grand Church, I attended Sunday Service in which it was impossible to pray or even concentrate on the exposition of the Word of God because of the total freedom of infant children attending with their parents to run about the building, even up to the alter, screaming and shouting. None stopped them, their parents even at times encouraging them to enjoy themselves as if they were in Play School! No sense of 'place', no discipline and no respect for the House of God. BUT the pastor clearly saw nothing untoward with this, and indeed emphasised that the Church was a Family, and that we should BE family when we attended it - taking advantage to be free and informal, and even apparently without understanding. To-day is Father's Day in England.

But I did not feel our Heavenly Father was properly evaluated by His children. Am I being TOO old fashioned? NO! I am just not being conformed to the world around me. When we read that at the Great Wedding feast a man found without the right dress code was thrown OUT

of the wedding we should surely wonder - when we attend Church in front of God Almighty - just how we should present ourselves, and how we should demonstrate our understanding of WHO our Father is. We have become careless, slovenly, and even irreverent in our approach. Some now call HIM 'Daddy' - but we must remember that 'familiarity breeds contempt'. We should be watchful and careful that we do not take liberties. Jesus never did.

In perhaps singular and sad conrast Esther and I visited a midweek Meeting of a United Reformed Church built in the 1600s, and continuously used for prayer and worship ever since.

But today not more than maybe 20 members - all over 60 - but all quietly demonstrating their awareness of God in the way they entered His Presence, without taking it for granted - with an Awe that was without dread, but also without disrespect. Just small but precious memory of the past. Will we come out of this ignorant spin away from the 'fear' of God? If not then it might seem we are headed for greater foolishness still.

EIGHT MORE DAYS and we shall leave England - TEN days and we shall, God Willing, arrive again in ELDORET. We are looking forward to coming home. It has been a very full and wearing time, though with many moments of joy and happiness to weigh against definite disappointments and setbacks. Yet even these adverse moments God has used in forcing us to pray and to seek the more Blessing from HIM. All is still not well as far as our current situation with respect to the Ministry of TFH is concerned, but at the same time we are assured in our hearts that the Lord IS with us, and that the Battle is HIS, and not ours. We shall now look for the VICTORY that we have believed in and Trusted for. We know that you will also uphold us in this as you read, and that we TOGETHER will join forces in the heavenlies against the Spiritual Powers ranged against us. Esther and I have maintained fairly good health throughout, and Daryl and our staff and all the children also, seem to have been blessed with health and fortitude. God IS our ROCK..

I may - if possible - add a postscript to this next Saturday or just before we leave here. Thereafter I hope to get back to normal and more regular Updates to this Blog. Thank you for reading and praying as we have been away, both for us and for those left in Eldoret carrying on the work with the School and Children.....

God Bless and be with you

John and Esther

WHERE ARE WE GOING?

GOING BACK TO 1910 this is a photo of Salim Chapel, Devizes which is now being used by the Pentecostal Assemblies of God. Notice all the ladies in HATS!! AND everyone wearing their Sunday BEST! WE also were in Salim Chapel on the way down from the north of England and enjoyed an evening Fellowship with the current congregation led by Pastor David Fiddy. We had not visited them since 1983 but were very glad to still find old friends there.

At the time we were staying in Weston Super Mare with Phillip and Margaret Brayhshaw. Margaret spent almost two years with us in Testimony House in 1974.

She was a single young lady then, and keen to help. She WAS a help, and also took on 4 month old twin boys full time. Both of them grew up to love Jesus, and both now serving Him in full time ministry - how time flies. Big Thanks to Margaret for adventuring herself with us. WE were delighted to be able to spend some very happy days with them as we travelled south to Brixham. No more Church Meeting but we were able to visit old friends and also join in Fellowship with various prayer groups along the way. Some of that time we were Off Line and thus unable to put up a Blog. BUT, today we are back on line and with time to write at least a little something. We are staying with Allan and Margaret Nicholls our long time friends and helpers here in the UK. Allan runs the AENON Trust through which most of our support from UK is sent. He is in a way the Front Man for TFH since he usually is the one that answers questions, and receives gifts first hand for us and on our behalf. He then sends on to us. Thus many of you know him better than you may even know us! We have much to thank them both for.

Today they are hosting a Meeting here for some who may not have a chance to meet up with us as we have travelled around, and tomorrow we shall be ministering in their Fellowship here in Bexleyheath. THEN we shall be staying with Michael and Janet, and THEN back up to Rochdale to take our final leave of our family up there before finally flying home on the 28th June to Kenya. Our final Meeting is expected to be in Barnston, Wirral on Sunday 26th.

We hear from Kenya that food prices are spiraling upwards - maize flour for example has gone up 150% since we left in April. We hear that poverty is SO great that in fact people are taking their own lives in despair as they face starvation,. Yesterday the Catholic Bishop of Eldoret warned that things were also politically no better than they were in 2007 and that we may face yet further troubled times. Ah well! God is with us, and all those who trust in Him, and we are going to need to trust HIM more and more. However, we also see that we are responsible to pray and seek His Guidance for the future. Our time away has helped me and Esther to take a long look back at the whole ministry of TFH. We have noted that not only has the work grown over the 43 years, but the changing economy is also forcing the need to re-assess many matters. We have much to discuss when we get home. We would ask you all to pray with us that we find the perfect will of God. Our son Daryl is in line to take on the Administration when the time comes for me to finally step away from it. His own life and vision has grown and expanded, and it is good to know that the Lord is walking in and with him. He needs your prayers, but also I feel we all need to Thank God for all that He has done in his life over this many year.

Altogether we feel these last three months have become a learning curve for all of us in TFH and that it is is a preparation for what is yet to come - a new chapter, and perhaps a new vision too in many respects. More of this will begin to perculate as the weeks go by. We feel very optimistic that there is something MORE for us all, and that a Blessing on this work has been commanded from on High.

Bless you all for your prayer for us who are away, and for those who have remained waiting on God there in Eldoret. You are all the support of our arms, as we reach out to God for help and strength day by day.

Ever your brother and sister in His Love

John and Esther