NOTHING ever has remained as it was, and the world has continuously been changing since it began.
OOPS! our Electric power supply has just gone off! It was off yesterday as well for some hours. There is quite a lot of apprehension everywhere just now because of Al Shabaab and the fear that they may seek to cause disturbances here and there. Very much hyped up fears I think, and so far Eldoret has been quite untouched by any terrorist incidents. BUT it IS annoying to be without electricity. Hope it comes back in time for me to send this out today.......... (the unpredictability of life!). In case anyone is now feeling alarmed for us let me say that Kenya Power Authority goes off quite often in a week. Can be due to maintenance being carried out on the lines, or because a tree falls on a line, or because lizard gets short circuited in some local transformer.
For us this has been quite a year, and certainly there have been many challenges. We opened the year needing more than £5,000 to pay School fees, buy uniform and pay salaries to our workers. As usual we continued quietly in prayer, and on 5th January more than £7,000 arrived to provide for all this great need. Surely God hears and answers.
On January 3rd Manu, our youngest adopted son, working and living away from home, was suddenly rushed to hospital with appendicitis! The operation took place the next day, and was successful; he was sent home on the 7th, good as new!
EARLY FEBRUARY it became necessary for us to find ways and means to obtain Birth Certificates for ALL our children in the Homes. The majority did not have one, and to actually discover their early history and obtain needed documents to support an Application became VERY frustrating and time consuming. We managed..........! At the same time the Inland Revenue visited us and decided we needed to pay up about £100,000. Eventually with the help of our Auditors this was reduced to £30,000. We still felt this was unfair and without foundation, so we did not pay (could not pay) and the matter is currently in abeyance.
IT RAINED a little mid MARCH! Finance a bit wanting, but non the less we ate every day.
Our children in the UK - Steven, Michale and Elizabeth decided to pay for Esther and me to fly out to visit them all. Funds were at this time at their lowest. It did not seem an appropriate time to leave Kenya.
IAN AND DIANE HOGLEY visited shortly on the 5th April, with Pam Wilding. On the 11th Daryl, our son, was appointed Acting Director and General Secretary over all the Work.
On the 13th Esther and I flew to England. We were basically spoilt by our children there, who just wanted to be with us. We enjoyed ourselves. We did manage to visit just a few old friends, but on the whole entered into very little ministry.; But we did journey to Northern Ireland for the first time ever, and again were wonderfully blessed by the kind generosity of our friends Desmond and Virginia Hales of Port Stewart.
BUT on getting off the plane on the 14th April, my left foot erupted into terrible pain, and inflammation. It was to discomfort me for most of the trip, almost to the day I left England. My Diary was not written up whilst I was away from Kenya, and Daryl once again discovered that its not all 'Tea and Cake' being the one responsible for everyone's well being - especially when times are hard - which they were. Thank God for E-mail the the ability to be able to share and talk things through.
At the end of April, just before the Royal Wedding took place, Esther and I, plus our daughter Elizabeth and husband and two children, plus Steven our son, motored up to the Scottish Highlands to meet my long lost and quite unknown sister, Patricia and celebrate her 72nd Birthday. It was a very special and amazing occasion which of course was well covered in the Blog of the time. She, together with her son and his partner will be arriving HERE next Wednesday!!!! EXCITING. prospect.ARRIVING BACK in Kenya on 30th June we were met by Daryl and were soon wondering if we had ever been away!! The financial strictures had continued whilst we were absent, and Daryl had learnt a lot from the experience BUT we had both been in prayer regarding the future of the Work, and so we were soon exchanging notes. The main innovation which both of us had felt the Lord speaking to us about strongly was toward using some of our grounds to open up vegetable garden that would provide us with year round vegetables - AND a small Dairy to provide us with Milk, AND a Poultry Project to provide us with eggs and meat.!! This was soon embarked upon and has indeed been a tremendous boon with more than an acre of garden producing, three cows, two of which have already given birth to a bull calf each, and one still waiting, AND the chickens supplying beautiful eggs and broilers to eat. WOW.
Daryl was appointed Chief Executive Officer; Director of the Work of testimony Faith Homes in total, with me given a watching brief as General Secretary for as long as the Lord might grant me strength. He continues to do well.
We had both also felt that we might do well to centralise cooking and laundry activities. The LAUNDRY seems to have really been a good idea, but over the period until this week we have felt that taking food preparation out of each individual Home has deprived each family of a fundamental element of homeliness and comfort - SO as from next week each Home will again be using its own kitchen to prepare food for the family. BUT we shall not employ cooks for each Home as we used to do. Instead the Houseparents will be responsible for cooking and preparing food with the children's occasional help.
IN LATE JULY our friends from Tyndale Christian School in South Australia again visited, and finding us in the midst of change, piled in to help, helping in particular with the conversion of vacant buildings to a Diary, and also putting up the Poultry Project houses. We expect another small group of EIGHT to visit this coming February and another larger contingent once again in July. REAL commitment, and hard work that has produced SO MUCH real support to us all - and ALSO to Joshua and Miriam Mbithi at NEEMA Children's Homes, just three Kilometres away.A SEASON of Death then began to disturb us. First, on July 25th Johanna Okombo one of the very first of our children who came to live with me in Maseno in 1969, died suddenly and unexpectedly from pneumonia. He was only 47.
On the 30th July two of our longest serving Primary Teachers Joseph and Rachel Ochieng) from Testimony School both died driving their car to Nakuru. They had been with us 22 years. The School and us as well were all plunged once more into mourning.
On 14th August Esther and I Celebrated our Ruby Wedding - well we would have done, but she was away at the time visiting a long time sister in Christ who was her close friend recovering from Cancer.
The days passed quickly and we had almost managed to forge the double sorrow of those deaths in July, when again, suddenly, on 18th October, another of our children passed away. This was Paul NGUGI who had been with us since 1974. He was only 4 years when he arrived. He developed a disease known as Hurlers Syndrome, which blinded and crippled him progressively over the next 36 years of his stay with us. Doctors had only given him a life expectancy of SIX years when he was Admitted. He was 40 on his eventual death. He spent his entire life in TESTIMONY HOUSE. He left a great gap. Hundreds of Old Boys and Girls attended his funeral, revealing to us not just how HE had influenced so many lives by his own Christian Testimony and attitude, but also the 'Family Feeling' that there is amongst them all. Out of this has been born a Family Association.
In November Esther and I have both been wrestling with various challenges to our health, but currently we are both feeling well and strong. Esther had been having unexplained palpitations, and my Blood Pressure and Sugar had been rising too high. Both our doctors are now apparently happy and satisfied with us, and we ourselves, as I have said, feel fine now. We do thank God for His Health and Strength.
AND SO CHRISTMAS came and went, leaving us ALL very happy and contented. It has been a very Wonderful Family Time for all the children and for us. His Spirit Blessed us throughout, and whatever need we were confronted with HE provided for it. Thus we had no anxiety, and were free to enjoy HIM, and each other. All the predicted activities and events I described last week, too place and were enhanced by perfect weather. MANY guests and visitors spent time with us too, contributing to our joy, including Dr. Paul Mbugua, his dear wife Elizabeth and two fine sons, David and Samson. Paul is now an Associate Professor at Kenyatta University and we have been family friends for me than thirty years.
AND SO HERE WE ARE ON NEW YEAR'S EVE! We feel, even more than usual, on the brink of momentous events. We also feel the comfort of His Presence with us. We wish you ALL a very Happy New Year, but more than this! We wish you the power and strength to face whatever may be coming upon us all; we wish you the wonderful knowledge of His Fellowship in and with you day by day.
Let us remember one another, praying for one another, and encouraging one another till He COMES.
Sincerely in His Great Love
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