KEEPING A WATCHING BRIEF

THESE ARE VIEWS of the front fence of Testimony House & School; in fact you can just glimpse part of the School between the 1st and 2nd pillars of the fence, in the far distance.    Elgonview Road is just noticed at the bottom right corner.
Did the fence collapse?  No, but it was very close to doing so; dangerously close.    The big Jacaranda Tree with its blue blossom had been putting out a stabilising root right under the fence foundation for more than thirty years, and slowly tilted the fence, along a ten meter span.  
Not a big thing, but costly.
The original wall'footing'
had to be removed, the offending root cut into, and then the whole fence rebuilt with the dismantled material.   Three days work.  We decided to take out only one of THREE roots in order not to endanger the tree.   The remaining roots will not expand more, and so the foundation was remade to accommodate them.     It would have been a shame to fell the tree or cause sits slow death.        One of the reasons for doing this repair was accentuated when local traders set up their fruit and vegetable table right in front of it. and made themselves a prime target for an impending accident!!    We have no entitlement to move such traders on, but if the Fence had collapsed on top of them we would have been liable to be sued!!

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TESTIMONY FAITH HOMES AND SCHOOL sit on eleven acres of land, most of it well built upon, and the whole land, buildings, and contents alike need a pretty constant and careful watch kept upon their wear and tare, to say nothing of unexpected conservation.      And, of course, the more one has the more one must spend to keep it all in good shape - progressively!    Rather like each one of us, and we are noticing this in our selves as well, as WE grown older!!        Sharing this just to show that behind our daily ministry we also get involved in propping everything up, and keeping it shining for Jesus.

We have been waiting for the RAINS to slow down in order to get on and paint Jacaranda Cottage Buildings roof.   Normally we have to repaint a roof every three to five years due to the weather conditions.     However it is too expensive to try and do this for all our roofs at one time;  we try to do one or two a year.    THIS week, the rains having greatly reduced, we have at last got around to painting the whole of the Jacaranda roof, which now includes the Day Care Centre and Jean Potts Hostel.  We had kept part of Jean's Gift to us for this very purpose.    So far the First coat of paint has gone on, but there will be another to finally complete.     AND THEN it will be time to think of Testimony House, and then The School, and then maybe even our cottage.    And so it will go on, and on, till He Comes.

On the left, taken from the road, we can see the initial paintwork completed, and on the right it is just beginning on the other side. It is a slow and difficult job due to the heat (very hot to stand on the iron sheeting) and also the irregular shape of the roof

TO THE LEFT another closer view of the one above, with one of our Painters perched on the ridge, just to give some perspective as to size and area.   This part covers the Girls Hostel. The 

part covering the Day Care is out of the photo, to the right.     Here the new tin panels we have put in to shut in the old dorma window can still be noticed but by the time painting is done we hope them to look one colour with the rest.   Quite a big job.      And again, it is something more going on, on top of our daily chores and costs.

And it is also upon DARYL, on top of his general duties, to be the one to 'notice' and then organise for all this Care and Maintenance to be attended to.    It certainly keep s him busy.

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AFTER REFURBISHMENT of the Poultry Unit, we have now commenced re-introducing layers into the project.     We had laid off taking layers, and devoted ourselves to breeding broilers.   However from now we shall be taking in up to 600 broilers, and 400 layers.     The first batch of chicks have just come in - they look so small, like fluffy yellow ping pong balls. under the lamp.

THESE tiny chicks will need careful watching and coddling as well before they are relatively safe and strong.   Regular attention to warmth ( our early mornings and nights are just now quite cold), food and water.    We hope to be able to provide for our own egg need, with some over, to sell.

So this week quite a lot has been going on, more than usual in fact, although at least something is always happening in relation to keeping a watch all the time..    In the end that is pretty well all we are WATCHMEN.     We are Watchmen over ALL that God puts into our care.      It is the prime responsibility of Man.     And we must, in the same spirit, be Watchmen, and women, over one another, from birth to the grave.     A very full time, and demanding occupation that does not diminish with age!    WE all have a Watching Brief.

This young man is LOOKING, but I cannot be sure that in  looking he is WATCHING.    Maybe he is just meant to be looking out on the world around him without any real involvement or concern.    To me, seeing him there with his hands in his pockets, he seems rather hopeless and helpless in lonely despair at what he sees.  This is not what God has in mind; he is looking for the 'Here I am send me!' response  found in Isaiah 6, and it is not a 'once off ' response, it is meant to continue, until nothing is left to be concerned for!


 
We should be on guard and alert at all times to observe the needs around us.    Not only the needs in my house, and my own life, but the needs of those I mix with, and of the world around me.   And I should be ready to identify the need, and to be able to point it out and to be involved about it.   In the photo to the left we see an aged wall, long neglected, and beginning to sag.    The Level has been placed upon it to clearly show just how evident the sag is.    It is a PRECISE OBSERVATION made with an appreciative eye.   It is a 'measured' observation made, not by a casual passer by, but by a dedicated STEWARD going about his or her master's business; ready to 'blow the trumpet' of Alarm, Make a Stitch in Time, and ready to step in to secure the matter.

TODAY it is not that we do not get involved, we have lost the interest and courage needed to do so. Rather we stand disconsolately inactive as life passes by.   Maybe this was the situation with LOT, that 'righteous man' who 'grieved his soul' watching the gradual deterioration of moral life around him that threatened even his own family, ineffective and afraid to initiate any effort to change it.    A man who KNEW what pleased God yet stood by and became overwhelmed by, and even willing to negotiate with, the evil around him.    Yes, I see a huge similarity with his situation and that of this present generation - As in the Days of LOT!    Yes indeed.    We need the SOUND of the Watchman's TRUMPET on every front.     We need to be aware of what is washing over us day by day taking us further and further away from God's Likeness.    A day to remember Romans 12v1-2 

WE have received news of an incoming Gift from AENON today, and we shall soon acknowledge to those who may have shared in it and the one preceding, together with a News Update.   May God our Father truly bless you all.     With our Love and prayers always with our deep appreciation

John, Esther and Daryl Green