TIME GONE BY!

DAVID BROOK, another dear friend from Huddersfield in England, taken here with myself and Esther plus granddaughter Abigail, all in front of our fireplace in Green Cottage yesterday.     David had only been with us a couple of days, as part of a whistle-stop visit to Kenya to update himself on old times.    David had taught in Alliance Girls School for a big chunk of his life from 1969, and We had got to know him during that time, and have remained friends ever since.  David was also able to roam around and take a look at the new Jacaranda that is still being built.      The exterior has not changed a lot since our last photos, but now the Window Grills are going in, and work on the interior flooring, plastering and ceilings are progressing.      Not very revealing or impressive to see.    The first of our photo's below catch a few of our boys helping to landscape the surrounding ground.       Not sure they are helping a great deal, but some of the older ones at least may do better.       THEN we see views of various rooms inside where work is continuing.   The Sitting room/diner, a fairly large open plan room preparing for the installation of its ceiling.    A dormitory in the midst of having the flooring put down - we expect floors to be of Terrazzo throughout, and another where plastering is complete.

Now that the house itself is up and visible, everything seems to have slowed down. But of course the work is going on well and according to the Time-table so far.   However, as I may have mentioned before the Terrazzo flooring may slow things a little, so that we think the actual MOVE INTO THE house might not take place finally until the first or second week of May.       The real blessing is that the RAINS held off as long as they did, and thus saved the timber for the roof, rafters and ceilings from getting wet.     The rest of the work  Isalso assured of being in the dry, though perhaps a little in the gloom as the days will be cloudier and thus darker.    All in all everything seems to have gone very smoothly indeed.     BUT with the April School Holiday now in progress AND the rains Jacaranda Compound as a whole may be rather muddier than usual and the children more difficult to contain and entertain for the next four weeks.

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Daryl Green

ON FRIDAY 27TH MARCH, TFH had its first Quarterly Board Meeting of the current year.     On my recommendation, they APPOINTED a new General Secretary to take care of all the clerical work adhering to the administration of TFH.   He is currently our Estates Manager, Moses Githambothi.    He is not far from Daryl in age, and the Board Members felt they could work well together.   He will be on trial for a period of some six months.       To effect this I finally stood down from being 'Acting' Secretary, and Daryl's official watchdog.    I had felt that Daryl had been too long being ; nannied' and needed the chance to truly take over as Director, and to begin to be seen as such without being overshadowed by me.

The Board felt this was good and right.      I shall, with Esther, continue to sit on the Board, and of course we will remain resident in Green Cottage, learning, hopefully, how to grow old gracefully!!      Outside of the 'offical' situation we hope to keep up to date with events, through our normal relationship as family together, for although Daryl lives with his family in a home of his own about a kilometre outside of this compound, we see him every day!

When Esther and I married, and came together into this ministry, we had prayed and sought the Lord on how it would be - I mean how would it work out in practise.   Would we live in with the children...would we live away from them .....and so on.        We felt the Lord wanted us to BE a family, and that we should live with them (those He brought to us) as if we truly were their parents, and see them through till they could find work and Independence - however long it might take - as we would for our very own.    For 28 years that is what we did, having a pretty constant family over the years of some 40 children, boys and girls together with ourselves, ONE self contained family with our own kids.     This was the pattern for every new Home that came to be over the years, THREE more in all.    More than 300 children have come, grown, up and gone in this way, many of them well over eighteen years and into their twenties.   Only after they had finished their education and training, and found employment did any of them leave.

THE GOVERNMENT has been saying for a couple of years that this should be discontinued as far as those over 18 are concerned in residential children's homes.     They are trying to insist that over 18's be moved on to another site, hostel or rented accommodation.       This has not worked out too well where already tried, and more than TWO independent Kenyan sociological Reports have found this practise to be damaging to the young person.    The sudden repetition of being wrenched from a secure situation in the midst of their higher education, often also from a sense of community and family, causing further trauma and sense of loss.    This encourages drug and alcoholic addiction and loss of focus in life.

TFH has so far held out against complying with this.

However, Daryl feels that we should be careful not to find ourselves opposing too strongly Government directives.

THIS WEEK, he has shared with all OUR 18s and over, that by the end of the year they should have found alternatives places to stay, even if TFH assists with their continued Educational Costs and even housekeeping.     It came as rather a shock to some!    Currently TFH has more than 30 that this news applies to, and ALL of them still in High School or College.        It is a CHANGE that takes TFH into a new ideal.

It strikes at the root of our initial desire - to build a family, one that would replace the ideal home, and family that had been somehow lost by those needing it.     It may have been a little too ambitious a dream, but we felt it was led of God's Spirit of Love and Care.     This change will take us just a little further away and nearer to an institutional concept.         Well we shall pray and wait on events.     

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IN THE BEGINNING the LORD also spoke to Esther and me, confirming that He would be our Provider, and that as such we need not apply to Man for our provision but to Him only - based on Matthew 6v6.   This we managed to continue.         In the last two years we have seen considerable reduction in our needed income.     We have eaten, we have been able to clothe and educate ALL the children.     But standards have dropped and there have been frequent times when we were unable to meet our commitments so that NOW there is a considerable Debt over and above our Daily Bread.    Nothing has changed in our Faith, or in the way we run.      We could site many financial and worldly reasons why this may have happened, and is also happening to others.      But none of them can finally find credence since we KNOW that God is Faithful and DOES and WILL ALWAYS keep His word.       BUT we have found it harder to keep at bey the feelings of those who wonder if God is saying that we should 'move' and find a new way at seeing things financially.       This has happened before!     This is not the first time we have been challenged.    We are still here - finally, 'flour and the oil' never actually ran out!         Nevertheless it is a matter of considerable moment - and thus I came across the Hymn below by John H Sammis who also wrote 'Trust & Obey'.

John H. Sammis

Why should I charge my soul with care?

The wealth of every mine

Belongs to Christ, God's Son and Heir,

And He's a Friend of mine .

Yes, He's a friend of mine,

and He, with me, doth all things share

Since all is Christs, and Christ is mine,

Why should I have a care?

For Jesus is a friend of mine.

Esther and I came across this in the Redemption Hymnal No.481 one morning in our staff prayer meeting - just recently.    We did not know the tune, so we just read it out loud together.   SUCH a Blessing!  Such an UP lift.!!       We do not ask, dear friends, for funds, but please PRAY with us, and with that prayer strengthen are uplifted arms.      We KNOW in whom we have believed, and we have no doubt about it. Nevertheless we know the Enemy also, and we know his determination it to deflect our faith, to weaken it if he can.   We are challenged by this challenge.     The Testimony of TFH is challenged.      Daryl is challenged.

TODAY the sun is shining.    A beautiful day.     We commend it to YOU, and pray that ALL your days will be made 'beautiful' by Jesus walking in and with you.   Keep ALERT!    Be ever ready in heart and mind for His Coming Again.

Lovingly in Him, and in the Battle

John Esther and Daryl Green