THE CHANGING SCENES OF LIFE

SIZZLERS CAFE, in ELDORET, Kenya, taken from the pavement outside.   We have been visiting for an occasional fish, chicken, steak, burger and chips for almost forty years!!    And NOW it has been removed.     The premises has been rented all these long years from the owner, who suddenly decided to walk in a week ago and demand the Renters LEAVE with immediate effect.   They had nowhere to go, and so currently the frontage is 'tinned up' with corrugated iron.    The shock of being confronted with this SCAR where once a Greeting and good food was looked forward to has been quite severe.       Sizzlers has been a family business, and even the waiters have been in longtime service and part of the scene for almost as long as the Cafe itself.   It will be hard for them to find a new job after so long in one place - and some of them not so young any more.     SIZZLERS has always been known for good, reliable food, and the best prices in town.     CAN they really be kicked out of their rented premises after forty years WITHOUT notice?     Well it seems so.    It will be MISSED.      Kenyatta Street will never be the same to those of us who have actually LIVED here for more than a day.        When Esther and I first arrived in Eldoret Sizzlers had not begun, BUT it had a previous existence,  just a street away, in Oginga Odinga Street.    I think it was then 'Sparks Cafe'.
ANYWAY perhaps this is just another - the latest - CHANGE on the face of Eldoret, and one of the oldest little 'landmarks' to vanish from its well known location.

THIS MORNING THE SKIES ABOVE ARE GREY AND louring.    The Sun barely able to penetrate its rays through this thick bank of cloud.     It is cool as well, and DAMP from daily showers of quite heavy rain.        NOT too cheerful but at least DUST FREE.    The Town seems more over crowded than ever, especially with traffic.    A real trial to do shopping, and also to transport our external School students to and fro - so many traffic jams, and at times one is hemmed in and STUCK for almost an hour at a time.    And we are only a 'small town' of a million or so souls.

AND HERE, AT LAST, almost 6 months to the day we began, is the NEW Jacaranda Cottage! In the distance, to the left, you can see the end wall of Drakeley Cottage.    If you study the photo you will see how the land slopes downward - the new building obviously lower than Drakeley.
Also you can see that the new house has had to be set LOWER than the surrounding ground to the left.   The whole Plot slopes steeply down to the road below..    Daryl is in town buying curtain material, and we plan NEXT Saturday to have a small Family Gathering to PRAY the family IN and for the Blessing on the House.
THEN the Macharia's and the Jacaranda Family will MOVE IN, and begin to make history in this new home.        THE OLD Jacaranda has still not been demolished of course, and at this stage we are not quite sure what will happen.    There is still a possibility that we might convert the mud brick end into a Day Care Centre, and the breeze block end into a small Training Centre for School leavers - BUT it is still being prayed about, and no firm decisions have been made.      We do not want to waste anything, and although the old building IS OLD and depreciated, if we might still make temporary use of it whilst waiting to ADD something more useful and profitable to the Ministry, then we do not want to miss an opportunity.    We have waited MANY years in prayer for this NEW House.      We waited in patience, and NOW it is here, and we can SEE it, and reach out our hands and TOUCH it.     Amazing and Wonderful - a Miracle.Surely our Thanks rise up to our Father in Heaven, and through Him to the DONORS that His Holy Spirit spoke to and inspired to be His Hands of Provision.     Hallelujah.  !!!!

ESTHER arrived back from her Nairobi trip on Monday afternoon.    Was truly glad to see her.  She had enjoyed meeting old friends and associates, and it had been a very special time for her.   She found us all well except me, currently labouring with a rather chesty cough and cold.     Probably due the changing seasons.      I have always been prone to change of weather.     Also most colds go to my chest, and take a while to clear.    Otherwise well and in good spirits.  

Just looking up from my computer, through the nearby window I have caught sight, even on this inclement day, a whole lot of swimmers splashing away in the Pool!       I am sure they are all having a wonderful time - and probably do not even notice it is COLD !       Our team of 10 swimmers were in Nairobi recently competing with another 70 schools, some from Tanzania and Uganda.   We did very well and the Team came 10th overall, with many individuals attaining gold and silver medals.

DO YOU REMEMBER a TV Series known as STARGATE?    The photo to the left is of the actual Stargate from the Series.    A Gateway into another dimension, another place in another time, and something more and more identifiable with what astro science refers to as 'worm-holes' or short cuts to another place in space!!      It was a popular series, and it is therefore interesting when comparing the general idea behind it with C.E.R.N.

The PHOTO below is of part of the interior of C.E.R.N  in Switzerland.      Specifically this huge project, covering an area greater than two football fields, is a large Hadron Collider - an atom accelerator built in order to discover how matter came into existence.
BUT are they also researching into other things - things that are perhaps not so healthy - even dangerous?     A lot is being talked about.   But, and IF, this project could in fact become some kind of 'stargate' then not only could man begin a new kind of Space exploration, but we might find other worlds invading OUR world through such a Gateway - such a worm-hole - and this week I read that at least ONE of the scientists working within CERN have agreed that one of the outworking of CERN is to produce 'worm-holes' in Space.
CREEPY goings on underground.      And the vast majority of of us know nothing at all about it.  I commend study and investigation of this Project.     On the other hand do not believe everything you may read on the Net.    

I am signing off for this week.      God has taken care of us for week gone by, and we are Glad and Thankful.     May our Father also Bless each and every one of you, and keep us all together in prayer and care, for each other through all the days ahead.
Lovingly in Jesus

John, Esther, and Daryl Green