PLODDING ON......

WELL NOW WE CAN BEGIN TO SEE THE RING BEAM shuttering in place.   I took the first photo from the roof of Jacaranda Cottage, but could not get the whole new building in the picture due to the tree on the left.   Still it does give a different view, and we now see the veranda or front porch of the house dead centre.    The second photo was taken from the ground.

TODAY left is a up to date picture of Old Jacaranda.    Doesn't look too bad from outside, but there is a great deal of damage and decay inside relative to the roofing, walls, and flooring - especially of that part under the pointed tin roof.     All this will need to come down.     On the extreme right of the building you can catch a glimpse, under the ridge roof with dormer windows, that part built in circa 1979 of breeze block.    This part will not be knocked down - we may even hope to put a second story on it, but removing the ridge roof.    The Family is still missing Joe and Beatrice, but think we have found a suitable couple out of many applications.    Hopefully they may arrive within the next few weeks.
Everything is going steadily ahead, with the weather unchanging.      The only dodgy commodity is WATER at present.    The forecast continues to be that it won't rain before mid March at the earliest

Our 'daughter'  MAUREEN, having left us as I described last week, is now safely installed in the School of her choice.     The Director of Children's Services for our region, has insisted she be transferred from our care (although he in no way criticised us for wanting to be the ones to decide where she goes to school).  She is now officially in the care of relative who previously refused to care for her, and who has no financial ability to provide against her higher education when she leaves her present school.    We are not very happy about it since we would have preferred to keep her with us even if, initially, she may have shown her annoyance at having to attend our own School.       For the present she will no doubt be satisfied.   The School in Nairobi is also FREE, so her relative will for the next four years not have to worry about money unless for transport too and fro for holidays (though this school usually arranges activities during holidays so that the students do not have to return home!).       We pray for Maureen that she WILL do well in her studies.   She is intelligent, bright, and with a lot of character; she has always testified that Jesus is her personal Lord and Saviour.    We do not feel bitter because of the way she has left us, but we do feel sad and disappointed that did so with such determination, regardless of the years and relationships she has made and the care she has received here.       This is never easy to come across in one of our children.   BUT we DO have a great majority who come to communicate what Testimony means to them NOW,    We do see the Hand of God - even in situations that at the time seemed almost unbearable.    Her brother James still remains with us here, and so we hope one day, when she has opportunity and has had time to think things our and to have understood for herself our own reservations, that she will come and see us.     LOVE NEVER GIVES UP.

Please pray for our son Manu.     He has been troubled for some time with discomfort in his left eye.   He has been severally treated, but just this week in Nairobi, he has been told he may lose the sight in that eye within three years.      He has to undergo some rather unpleasant out-patient treatment in the coming days
He currently works for The Moi Referral and Teaching Hospital, although he is not trained in what he is doing there.     He has a Bachelors Degree in IT.     BUT he wants now to do an MA in Community Health.
He is 31 this coming April.

Our daughter Helen, who has been with us the last nine months since she gave birth to our little grand-daughter,  Abigail, is now looking for ways and means to start a Baby Care Centre.    She is going to be 26 this year and is a trained Diploma Teacher in Early Childhood Education.    She is really excellent in her field, and we are praying the Lord will open a door of opportunity for her.

Esther and I have been wrestling with a kind of 'flu like cold - you know, sore throat, cough, sneezing and malaise.     About ten days, but it is beginning to subside.     We have kept going every day, and with the HEAT sometimes found ourselves rather exhausted - BUT we seems to be resilient, and we thank God for HIS health and strength.      Esther keeps a check on the Teaching methods and standards in the School Classroom, and attends an average of four classes a day.     She reports and sends the information to the Principal and then later there are meetings and discussion.     Since this system began last year the School has been seen to improve, and the attitude of the teachers also.    She really enjoys doing it, and it makes sure she isn't tempted to slow down!        I am still involved in administration as General Secretary, and as that title implies I do a lot of correspondence, office work and so on - right now I am in the midst of compiling a Bi-annual Statistic accounting for all Children and Staff currently here with all their relevant details - this is required by the Kenya Children's Department.  It is very tedious    Frankly I hate this kind of work - but it will be done soon, and then I may be able to turn to other things more palatable.      Life is not all roses.      I guess if it were I might end up moaning as I find myself doing about constant blue skies, and a sun SO yellow and hot EVERY DAY, for almost two months already ,,,,,,     THANK you Lord for everything - even those things that get to be wearisome and draining of energy......Yes.  Thank God - for EVERYTHING.

MY SISTER, PAT Wilson, in Scotland, has not been well.    Some of you may remember I first met her in April 2011.       She was able to visit us here the following year, but since then we have been unable to meet, and recently she has not been so well, though she still lives alone in KIETH.     She is not able to correspond, and of late we have not been able to even converse on the phone.    We have come to know each other so late in life, and still seems unable to make up for the lost years.    Life is very strange, AND frustrating at times.     We had hoped she might be able to visit us again herself, but right now that seems more unlikely than it was.    

WELL, the afternoon has almost gone, and I must close once more.      We trust you are all well.    We find writing the BLOG is rather like dropping a stone into a well too deep to hear it hit the mark!    We do not know WHO actually reads it, and less than three in a year communicates any comment.     But we seem to have a LOT of readers - the most in America from whom we have never had a word.       I guess it is easy to just read, and go one's way - in honesty I often do the same.    MANY say THEY never hear from us since they do not go to the NET, or do not know how to find us on the net.        WELL to them all I say that If you let us know we could send you a copy of the blog direct to you if that might ensure you receive it.
I am not sure if it could be E-mailed....?          We would love to be in touch, and in deed we would love to hear from you sometimes as well.     With our constant Thanks and Love in Jesus


John. Esther and Daryl Green