OH WHAT CAN AIL THEE KNIGHT AT ARMS, ALONE AND PALELY LOITERING; THE SEDGE HAS WITHERED FROM THE LAKE, AND NO BIRDS SING!

THESE CHEERFUL LILLIES  spring up with their bright blossoms within minutes of receiving just a drop of rain.     Dormant during drought they cannot resist responding, in the midst of even dark and cloudy days, to the mere 'smell' of rain.     WE have a little patch of them  just in front of our porch - and they are a continual Delight and cause of Joy and Thanksgiving whenever they appear.    We do not know how they came to be planted - they just appeared.      And they have taught us how we need to lift up our hearts to God when days are dark and gloomy.

I was born on the eleventh day of May 1940, probably conceived about the time War with Germany and the World broke out in 1939.    The War was to trundle onward for many hard and painful years, but Edie Green, who with her husband Bill, adopted me,  never seemed to be bowed down by it all.     She did not just endure hardship, she seemed to 'shine' through it.  Always optimistic, always able to see the blue sky behind the lowering clouds of life.    She was not my birth mother.    I usually see trouble coming before it arrives!   I am not a natural optimist at all.   But to Edie Green, every cloud DID have a 'silver lining'.     She believed in 'God' but was not a church goer, and not aware how the Gospel affected her personally.  Yet 'she was a woman who could make happiness and laughter out of nothing at all, and most of the time there was nothing at all!    She made all things come alive around her.'    

It was rather a different England then.    England was where I was born, right within the bounds of London itself.    There was a very definite national 'feeling'  for King and Country.   Something which has largely changed with the decline in 'nationalism', and the resurgence of the idea of a World Family Unity kind of concept.      God dismantled it once at Babel!.    My Education and my reading material I think gave me a sense of appreciation for what were seen as our national values and virtues.    Oh yes, I did realise as I went along that we, as a nation, were not perfect - and had NOT done all things well...but still there were  many things to be glad about, even proud of.

This week I was greatly saddened to read of the jocular repartee of the President of The European Union, Donald Tusk, and his side kick, Jean Claude Junker,  considering where Brexit might be leading US, they quoted 'their' pope as believing Hell was currently empty,  leaving plenty of room for Us to end up in.
It was all said with a 'laugh', of course, but I found it sad.      We, who historically had stood against Napoleon when he over-ran Europe, and against Germany in two world wars, in the defence and aid of a beleaguered Europe, might as well go to hell???       I  shall be 79 this May.    To me England has become a laughing stock.    Its national character dissipated and weakened by a disregard for its history.     Our Parliament a 'bedlam' of self seeking, carnal minded, sheep.     There is no proper Guidance in the LAND.    No awareness of Evil, or premonition of where we are being led.   To me England is again in the midst of WAR.    Perhaps 'war' never actually comes to an end.   But this time, in the no longer united Kingdom of Great Britain,   it is both within and without.    Where once the the prayers and voice of countless saints, who brought and established the Faith of the Gospel to  this Green and Pleasant land, brought Light, and Strength to it,  Today we are found bound and helpless.
We are like a big, ripe, ready to eat, CHEESE, over run by mindless, chattering, carnally minded mice.      Am I too pessimistic, too stuck in the '40s era, too spiritually minded to be any earthly good?     It is possible.      But I do not feel it is so!.       NO!     The whole world looks as if it is teetering on the edge of a cliff - unilaterally!    In every way.     MORE than at any previous time in our universal existence as a species on  this planet, we seem to be irrevocably  sliding downwards......

ONLY A VERY FEW will even agree with this, comparatively.       ONLY HALF of the 10 Virgins mentioned by our Lord in Matthew 25v1 managed to meet the Bridegroom, and enter into the Marriage.    All ten went - but five were ready, only five were equipped, only five got to SEE Him and  to finally be ONE with Him.       This speaks only of the Christian community worldwide, and any other sincere seeker after GOD.       And the REST of the people?   What of them!   Where are they headed.    Do we care about each other on this planet in Truth?     Or do we 'jokingly' say there is always a place in Hell.          BUT a huge faction among Christians deny that there is in fact a HELL, or as the Pope of  Europe has declared, Jesus has emptied Hell;  NO ONE is there - it is shut up. It has been abandoned, done away with.         BUT.......We are told the last Book of the Bible, the Book of Revelation chapter 20v13 speaking of the Last Judgement before God, at the END of all things as we know them.....

.'death and hell delivered up the dead which were in them; and they were judged every man according to their works.    AND death and hell were cast into the lake of fire.   This is the second death, and whosoever was not found written in the book of life was cast into the lake of fire.'

It is so easy for any one of us, in a moment of human rage or impatience, to say 'Go to Hell. but this is not the Way. We should not wish this even upon an enemy!      BUT we all should be aware that there IS an Enemy who implacably and single mindedly seeks the destruction of ALL humanity in one way or another  - and there ARE many ways it can and is being done.    We may not pray for THAT Enemy.       

IS the world scene darkening?     Yes I think it is.    BUT this is also what we are being led to SEE and believe in......AGAINST the truth that THE DAWN IS COMING, A DAWN that will push ever vestige of darkness away for ever.       The Trumpet WILL sound, The Angel WILL shout.....Shake yourselves, WAKE UP, look into the mirror of His Word - are you READY to meet HIM?   

AND LOOK UP!      Don't look down, and give up, and despair.    LOOK UP!    Don't be SAD and despondent.        BE GLAD in the LORD.    Be GLAD!     Believe for the HOPE that is before you.

THINK of all that you KNOW that is good, and right, and honest, and clean, and worthy of praise.

Don't think darkness but LIGHT.    Don't think defeat, but of VICTORY.     Believe in each other. Pray for one another.  Do good to one another and lift up each others heart.     I look now outside my window.    The light of a brilliant sun floods all that I gaze upon in golden brightness.  the Sky clear azure blue with not a cloud in sight, and all around the whisper of God's breath that cools the air, and caresses each leaf of every bough of every tree and plant.      Tomorrow it may be darkened by thick clouds, the brightness gone, the colour of life dimmed, that cool breeze withheld, perhaps replaced by sudden storm and rushing wind.      BUT I will remember the blue sky above.   I will remember God, that He is with me, and that he loves me, and that even the dark day will in some way or measure turn to my blessing and my good, if I hold on to His hand in the storm as in the calm.

REJOICE!

Again I say, Rejoice!! - Philippians 4v4

For we know and are assured

that all things work together, and are fitting into a plan for good

to all those WHO love God and a called according to  

His Design and Purpose

Romans 8v28 - the Amplified Bible;

TO THE LEFT copies of the Jubilee Brochure fresh from the Printer.    A4 size gloss paper of 22 pages.   covering in full colour, the Vision, History and growth from 1969-2019 as laid out and presented by me.    Printing achieved by Wilson Lokitali  ELSOFT MEDIA.

#Contents -
Page 1.   John and Esther Green - 2 became 1
         2.   Preface
         3.   A Personal Testimony - J.A.Green
         4.   Aims & Objectives / Financial Basis
         5.   Filling up the Years
         6.   Memories & People down the Years
         7.   Views of our Homes
         8.   House Parents now and then!
       11.   Support Projects
       15.   The Australian Connection
       16.   Weddings
       17.   General Information
       18.   Into the Future
       19.   TFH Site Plan - Homes & School
       20.   R.I.P   In Memory of those departed
       21.   Photo Gallery.
                                                                                 



If YOU WOULD LIKE A COPY PLEASE LET US KNOW, AND WE WILL FIND A WAY FOR YOU TO RECEIVE ONE      They WILL be selling at Ksh.100/within Kenya. or One |Pound Sterling or one Dollar elsewhere.     This will not cover the cost but will assist toward it. It is still value for money

AND FINALLY  JUST A WAFT OF HEAVY SWEET SCENT FROM ONE OF OUR TEMPLE LOWERS - Frangipani - FULL OF DELICATE FRAGRANCE AND BEAUTY

God Bless and be with each one of you, and calm you mind and spirit as you put all your trust and confidence in Him.    He IS our Strength and our Defence.
lovingly
John Esther, and Daryl Green

GOING BACK IN TIME (1)

FIFTY ODD YEARS AGO, in 1969, but before Testimony Faith Homes was even dreamed about, this photo was taken with two good friends that often joined me in sharing the Gospel - Elija Akhahenda on the left, and Everlyn Etchenje  on the right, both to be teachers.  And yes, that IS me in the middle with beard and tache.    It was taken during a weekend Retreat deep in the countryside around Maseno.  I had been in Kenya about six months working with Trinity Fellowship, a work of faith in God reaching out to School and College students across the Country.

I was from England, but my heart began to reach out to Africa in Denmark, when I was helping Marinus Lund with Evangelistic Meetings on the island of Fyn, in a small town called Ejby.   I was staying with Eva Vosegaard and her parents on their farm, known as 'Vosegaard'.     I will always remember that visit, and I will always remember the loving welcome from Eva's Mum and Dad, who were then quite elderly.  They knew no English and I knew no Danish - but it did not seem to make a difference to fellowship we enjoyed.    Eva had previously been Secretary to the Principle at I.B.T.I in Burgess Hill, Sussex, England all the time I studied Bible there from 1966.     We are still in touch although she now lives in Middlefart.    I came across a photo of  'Vosegaard' just this afternoon whilst looking for something else - I had no idea I had it.   It was just the right place for me to seek the Lord, surrounded by fields and woods, and within walking distance to the sea.    I will always remember my stay there, that year, and I know that there I laid down my will to do whatever God had for me to do for Him...     In December I had arrived in Kenya.

IN THE MONTH OF MARCH 1969, I had written in my Diary the following - (remember I had not yet received from the Lord the full purpose for me to be in Kenya!    I was just a preacher, and at that time more of a clerk, and still not very sure about living by faith - I was from the beginning unsalaried and unsupported in Kenya. Many days were filled with Meetings, and sometimes far afield.)

'March 12th,1969  - Elijah and I had just finished days Meetings in a Boys Secondary School some miles from Maseno where I live. Sundays are difficult for transportation if you don't have a car of your own, but sometimes you can get lucky and pick up a fast Peugeot taxi (matatu) on the road.   These vehicles are quite roomy and can often be filled with many more than the recommended number of passengers plus luggage.  They are often driven quite recklessly if not also drunkenly!   (But the fare was cheap in those days. I could travel almost four hundred kilometres for Twenty Kenya Shillings - just under a Sterling Pound in those days)   On this occasion we were able to wave one down before having to stand too long in the dusty heat of the late afternoon.   We both got in, my  friend in front with the driver, and me in the boot almost!  There were already three passengers in the seat in front of me.    The road was tarmac, but with quite a lot of wear out of it.    There were many people about, and a fair amount of traffic.

A few miles on we stopped to pick up a young African family of three; husband, wife, and child.  Again we set off, and gathered speed along the straight road,   Suddenly the young husband of this family began to cry out, and struggle in his seat, and it became apparent that he was drunk.   His wife tried to calm him, but to no avail, and he began to hit out, and then grabbed the collar of the driver, who was in front of him, as if to choke him.   The car, now overloaded began to swerve all over the road, but the driver managed to keep control , and at last brought it over to the side of the road, and 
stopped.    He quickly turned in his seat, and pushed the young attacker from him, and he now began to weep with contrition loudly, and to beg the driver for forgiveness.   But the driver was in no mood for such things, and hauled the man, his wife, and small child, out of the car.  There they all stood trying to get back in.    Slamming and locking the doors, we drove off, and looking back, I saw the young man stagger back into the road amid the oncoming traffic, his wife hysterically striving to bring him to the verge.   Their child stood by, screaming in cold terror.   Then I remembered my own childhood, and how I too had stood by and watched, my helpless mother wrestle with her violent and drunken husband.    Sundays can be very bad here.   Bars ( in 1969) are open most of the day and night (a lot of them illicit establishments), liquor, of one kind or another, is cheap and plentiful.  Drunkenness is rife everywhere, and at most social levels.   Recently, at the gate of Maseno Mission Hospital a man was attacked, and cut to bits with knives, and not much further away from there a girl was raped by her own School Teacher.   Both assailants were drunk.   Alcohol is eating into many hearts, and lives, to the injury of many souls.   One African Poet has written -

"If only you knew the horror that is wine,

You would curse it.

you sway, you fall  on your face,

You are covered with dirt."

'''''''''''''''''''''''''''''' 

Writing in a Newsletter for March that same year I had shared -

'Since my first letter, the Lord has so arranged it that I am now doing the work of Chaplain at the Siriba Teacher's College here in Maseno, and also at the Maseno Mission Hospital run by the Anglican Church of Kenya.   I had a large parish of countless student teachers and staff, plus patients, and also more than 40 student nurses to look after in the Word.      Last Saturday afternoon more than 15 came to enquire after Christ, and offered their lives to His Service.'

My 40x2-ft mud cottage was just inside the gate of the Hospital.    All around me was a quite densely populated society of a semi rural. and very needy and materially, poor nature.    When I had first arrived in Maseno in December 1968 I had found myself sharing a substantial and secluded rental house with another brother in Christ.     We had a cook and a house man to take care of us.  I was uncomfortable in it, feeling very set apart from the community around me.      After about a month I had found myself visiting the hospital, just to acquaint myself with how it was.    As I was leaving I noticed a small mud and wattle hut standing empty.   I walked over to it and found a young white man unlocking the front door.    I greeted him.   He had just arrived from Canada to spend a little time as the doctor for the Hospital - he was also looking it all over.    We chatted.    The place had not been lived in for a while.   It was just mud daubed around the poles and twigs of  Wattle trees.  Just as many of our own British Medieval 'mud and wattle' houses had been made.    The internal walls divided the interior into living space accommodating three bedrooms, a living room, and bathroom (a place where one could throw cold water over oneself )- and outside a kitchen and toilet.

There was no ceiling, and the rafters and tin roofing were exposed to view.   The windows had no glass, only wooden shutters.    A very simple little house.    But it DID have electricity, and running water.     Just the place for me, I had thought.        I asked the doctor if I could rent it.   He had looked astonished at my question, and asked if I was serious.    'Yes, of  course' I had replied.   'Then you can have it for free!" he said.      And that day I moved into it.        After a week of scrubbing, painting and repairs it look quite inviting, and it WAS very homely - apart from snakes, rats and bats.   We managed to keep them at bey, learnt not to even bother much about them.      After I left Maseno it continued to be used - at least until 2008, and by  then it had been allowed to run down.   Although still occupied the roof had rusted and fallen in, and whole exterior looked as if it had been repainted with mud and dirt.   A very sad picture.  Whatever we allow to be neglected, in ourselves, or in our possessions will surely decay and fall apart!!!

I will now break off.     I hope to bring some memories as the weeks go by, but perhaps not every week.   I do not travel much on public transport these days.    But on the whole there is not a lot of change.   Modernisation?  Yes, I suppose so.   More good roads, improved laws to ensure safety on the road, and good maintenance of all vehicles using them ( though one can still come across some very ill maintained cars and buses.)     Drunkenness?   Oh yes,  I think it maybe worse.    AND it costs more to travel today.    My Ksh. 20/= trip  would today cost about Ksh,1,500/- or about Eleven Pounds Sterling.
Oh, and Matatus DO still get overloaded at times, as you will observe from the photo below.  There will probably be as many as 16+ INSIDE and four or five more hanging on outside!!   And you are right to imagine the RISK and DANGER in taking a ride in one, AND to assume that many DO die in them



I  will conclude with a photo of me when nine years old, living in Wimbledon, England.   I was of course in Primary School at the time - my 5th!!    My dog was a faithful friend all his life.  Amazing to see myself then, and consider where I am now.     God was my helper even then, though I knew so very little about His Love for me.   But I know, looking back, that it was His Hand that guided, protected, and assured the salvation of myself, AND my adopted parents.    Bill Green came to Christ through the Salvation Army before he passed away, and my mum, Edie Green came to Christ in 1987 then in her late seventies.    They are both with the Lord I believe.     During my childhood I watched the hurt and abuse given to one another through  unfaithfulness and booze.    I watched them separate and seek solace in other ways, with others they met, never finding it.     I saw them come back together, and I saw them separate again - BUT finally each separately found JESUS, and peace and mercy, at last.    GOD IS Merciful, Compassionate and Longuffering, and HE will do His best to help us find Eternal Life.

GOD is Blessing US here in the sunshine.     He is answering prayers.    I will be sharing more.
Till then dear brother sisters, tighten your belts, secure your readiness to GO, for HE may very soon snatch us from yet more evil.      I have a NEW Slogan for my self, which I think is very much in line with God's own Advice.   It is, simply  'Don't be SAD,    Be GLAD!!    No matter what we might face, if we acknowledge HIM in our lives, He is with us -  and HE will bring us through with a song on our lips.

Love to you all in His Name.

John, Esther and Daryl Green             

THIS IS A LOGO WE MADE SOME YEARS AGO, and this year we shall be using it on the front of our Testimony Faith Homes Jubilee Brochure, soon to be printed.     We felt it summed up our image so well, providing glimpses of some of the homes and the families that live in them.    Daryl's wife there in the midst as the loving mother and loved Mum she will always be.
The Brochure will be made up of Twenty-two pages of photographs spanning 50 years of growth related to the Homes and the School.    Also many other items relative to the various events and history of our Family in Jesus       It will be printed on gloss paper A4 size, and we hope it will be a valued keepsake to all those who are part of the Family, and who may have also come to know us.    The printing is being beautifully done by one of our family members now married with his own family growing up here in Eldoret - Wilson Lokitali.     Wilson, and his brother William, aged ten and eight respectively came to us in 1982.  Wilson studied Information Technology, and is now a Lecturer, as well as involved in printing.   He suffered a serious accident on his way home, on foot, from work.    A car veered off the onto the pavement, knocking Wilson down and also running over his legs.   Both legs were broken in many places, and he was in hospital and then at home in bed for a year or more.     It took years for him to be able to walk again, and this photo, taken last year at our family reunion, recorded his miraculous recovery.
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We are Blessed to have so many of our 'sons and daughters' now living and working, many with family of their own, right here in Eldoret where we can still be within reach of them, and have opportunity to meet and have fellowship.   We are glad to see them independent and making out on their own.    God has been so good in answering prayer for them, and in opening up ways and means for them to find faith and future.     We are filled with gladness to be in some way 'family' with them.
|NB - If you are interested in obtaining a Brochure but unlikely to be able to be with us in August,  we can reserve a copy and even send it to you.    We shall be asking a small contribution toward the cost of each copy equating to the sum of Kenya Shillings Fifty only.

IN 2015 WE RECEIVED A DONATION FROM Stuart and Janet Brown and the Kirkby Trust in England.
The Old Jacaranda Cottage was old and decaying, and was also of an awkward and difficult design not so easily run. We opened the  NEW house made possible by this donation, on 13th June 2015.   A Service of Thanksgiving with all the children and staff attending.     Stuart and Janet were unable to make it for that occasion, but their part in it all has been, and ever will be remembered.
IN EACH OF OUR HOMES there is a House Blessing, similar to the one above which is in the New Jacaranda - in their case, part of the special framed Memorial of the Opening of the Home, and of those who had made it possible.     Our hearts were full of Joy and Gratitude that day, and still are as we witness the ongoing Family life that fills every room still, as the family lives their safe, secure, and loving days.     God is so Good, and it remains a miracle how He brought Stuart and Janet to know us, and to have us put upon their hearts.       EVERY individual day is filled with such miracles that provide every detail of what we each need here in each of our homes.    God Bless and return such blessing upon the heads of each and every one of our dear friends who  have been been prompted by the Holy Spirit to help us materially and in lifting up their voice in prayer for us all.  (Stuart and Janet are standing on the left of the photo opposite.)

+++++++++++++++++++++++++

TODAY, SATURDAY, the Kenya Private Schools Association has been meeting in our School Hall.   Most of the Private Schools in Kenya are associate members, and our own long time Principal, Anthony Ndungu, is a national officer of the Group.

Looked like between 4 and 5 hundred people attending.  They had lunch and continued on thereafter.    The School is well thought of, and we ourselves have been very encouraged to see our prayers answered.     We are proud of what He has helped us to build here.

To the left is a photo of me being shown some apparatus in one of the Science Labs during Parents Day.    And parents never get tired of coming to see and admire what the school and their children are doing here.

THIS YEAR Parents Day will be early - on the 16th MARCH.

Although I and others will still attend, the School will in future make THIS day their very own, whilst the HOMES will have their own Day on the last Saturday of August each year.

THIS IS AMAZINGLY GOOD ADVICE!    And the truly amazing thing about it is, that it is not HARD to let it happen, and to change your day.      There have been many challenges to our faith, and to our joyful spirit over the last year or two, and I have realised that I am more affected by adverse news and even circumstances than I had realised.  Although I have understood that I am often negative.
BUT I have not discovered that all this is able to be changed as quickly as the flip of a light switch!    And sadly I should have seen it long, long ago!
It is amazing how deceitful we can be not only to ourselves but  to others.     Here comes my neighbour,  "Hi John, how are you today."   I look up and smile "Hi |Mark! Oh, I'm fine, just fine."   Mark passes on,  and my smile droops, and I tell myself that  it's not really true, I am NOT 'just fine' at all.     We can put ON the smile, even lighten our voice, and make it seem true, but I am just putting it on.      WELL, friend, I can assure you, you can just as easily put it off!    All you have to do is to take your mind away from your self pity, sorrow of heart, negative evaluation of the weather, the fellowship, the situation you are in  - and GET GLAD.       Yes, I know we can push this away by declaring to ourselves that nobody knows the sorrow I bear -  but we CAN turn around and 'count our blessings' naming them, and remembering them, one by one.    We can, in a moment, be GLAD, even the face of real pain and anguish of mind.     Do it with JESUS.

Another week has sped by.    Time running by faster and faster.       We have been blessed by so many in the past week, and we feel greatly loved by our Father,  and by each one of you .   God Bless you, your home, and you family.

John, Esther and Daryl Green