HANDING OVER . a bit at a time.

Well this WAS Valentines Day last year!   AND it will be the same this year, and every year till we fly away higher up.      We shall have been together 43 years this coming August, and I never tire of her face or of anything about her.   A real 'Darby and Joan' we are together really.   When we first met in June 1970 we both knew we would be together for life.   And from the Day we married we have been in this Ministry of Testimony Faith Homes together.    Esther has been the Mother of All, and even now after leaving being a houseparent, she remains closely connected to children - not just those in the Homes, to whom she is now known as Grandma,
but to all in the School where she is daily to be seen as a Class Visitor keeping an eye on teaching standards and school welfare in general.    She celebrates her 70th Birthday in August just a few days after our 43rd Anniversary.     I can't see her 'retiring' in any real sense.
I have continued to be the 'Director' since we began in 1969, even after announcing my Retirement in 2010, when I reached seventy.      I handed over then to our son Daryl, and he has been standing as Director since then, though somehow it just did not seem real - I mean I was still here - there - and butting in and 'finding fault' with how things were under a 'new' leader.    I found it hard to really take my hands off, and not BE (still) the Director.   I also hung on to the secretarial things such as looking after the Office, doing the letter writing and filing and so on.      THIS YEAR I knew things had to change if we were to see real progress.      Daryl went on a six month Sabbatical.   He went to give us all time to consider the future as well as the present.     I was very ready for his return after the break. He arrived yesterday, and was welcomed back by us all, including the Board of Governors.     We shared Tea, samosas, and mandazi together ( will leave you to discover what they are if you don't know) and had a very good fellowship.  
AT THIS TIME,  I FINALLY HANDED OVER being the 'Director behind the scenes, and welcomed Daryl as the 2nd Director of Testimony Faith Homes.      In the Beginning I had appointed myself, but Daryl has been appointed by the Board.    A NEW Era has therefore opened up.   Looking back the last three years have been rather tedious and tremulous as both Daryl, myself and the Board have waited for God to put His seal on our candidate for leadership.    It is good now to feel the Lord has, at last given us all a sense of settlement.

Daryl P. Green

I shall still be the Office manager for a while longer - until we find a new General Secretary to be officially given the responsibility of dealing with correspondence, and so on. In the past I had been Director AND General Secretary - both.    Now those offices will remain separate.  Momentous occasion and momentous decisions and a very special moment in our history.      It has taken time and courage to get to this point, and a determination to move on.   At 41, and going a little grey round the edges we have felt this is the moment for Daryl to finally 'Fly his own Kite, so to speak and to stand alone.     WE therefore commend Daryl to you for prayer and support.          Carol has not felt at this time that she should be involved with TFH.    But she is fully behind Daryl in his position and calling here. She wants time to seek God more carefully as to the way she should serve HIM.      It is always good and wise for each one of us to fully persuaded in our own mind what His Will for us really is when it comes to Service.    So you should pray for them together, as they also pray and encourage each other.  Their THREE children are all at School with us too, Jesse in Form 3 of Secondary, Becky in Class 8 of Primary, and Jeremy in Class 5.   They all are doing well and they make a great little family together.
CURRENTLY we have been going through a very unsettled time in every way.    We are believing that now the tide will turn, and that not only will we realize a more settled situation, but also a more prosperous one.     Still a time needing more than usual Faith, and Strength to face the immediate challenges,  and also one in which the 'nettles' of difficulty must be grasped.

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TO A GREAT DEGREE Government has not had its own way regarding proposed Bills.  One Bill seeking to curb the Freedom of the Press is still being fought.    Also another seeking to increase National Security Contributions has amassed quite a lot of adverse attention.    The Country itself is a little unsettled politically still, and the economy increasingly difficult to live with.    NEVERTHELESS there is also a lot optimism around, and we ourselves feel it for ourselves as we pray and seek the Lord.

THE WEATHER, hot and full of the prospect of SUMMER, has once again suddenly changed.  The sky now leaden, and RAIN no less, falling heavily from the grey canopy.    What is going on?   No one knows, and everyone appears completely baffled.by it all.     BUT the Pool is still open and every day is FULL to overflowing with children staff and other interested swimmers, all seemingly impervious to the cold snap.   It has at least saved the grass from going brown,,,,,,

Our Pastor, Wycliffe Ondanga, lost his mother on Sunday last, and he had to journey home to a rural area to arrange the funeral and so on.    It can be a long, demanding process.   She was of course quite elderly, and had in fact deserted Wycliffe when he was very young - they had not seen each other again, she having eventually remarried.    It must have been quite difficult for Wycliffe in many ways to be the one to arrange things.     He is still away, and so tomorrow I will be preaching to our little Fellowship - now swollen, with School open, to some 400 youngsters as well as our usual small group.

On the 1st February it was Carol's 40th Birthday. As Daryl happened to be away we decided to have her party today.    We hope to cheery her up since fortieths are not always looked forward to!! However we will have a good time together and
especially since expect Manu and his young lady to join us for Cake and ice cream.   Yummy!!!!
Regretfully NO photos this time since our camera was stolen just recently, out of the car.  Carol is just as pretty as the day I first met her, about 20 years ago.    May she be blessed with a truly wonderful year

Much Love to you all.    I know you have been walking with us through this week, and we have felt your prayers supporting us.      I hope you have been conscious too of many prayers that have gone up from here for YOU too.     God Bless and be with you all

John and Esther