TESTIMONY FAITH HOMES HAS UNTIL MAY 2024

just about 2 years, before having to re-apply for Registration

as a Charitable Children's Institution for a futher 3 years.

Will the Government agree to let us continue? We have no idea.

Will they come and repatriate our children?  We cannot be sure. 

GOD INSPIRED US

just a very few of us,

to make a Family for those Needing one.

We never were an Institution

just a Family in the making.

God opened the doors of our hearts.

We WAIT on, and for, Him, as we have done,

day by day since it all began.

Many of the children that joined us here

grew up, and left us to start their own family, but never far

from our thought and memories.

The Family

grows, Marriage by Marriage.

And it has been such Blessing to us all -

 -to see so many of our little girls grow into Womanhood, and Marry;  and to be able to Give them away on behalf of their parents,  to start their own new family, with a Man of their choice.     And how equally proud, to stand with so many sons,  and to see them begin a family of their own,in front of God, and witnessed by such a Family Gathering.     (opposite a photo of our 'son' Molem Piera with his wife on their Wedding Day.)   A GREAT  PRIVILEGE, AND A GREAT BLESSING,  and HAPPINESS TOO.   Families stick together, and we have enjoyed being glued together into this one.    And we have seen it come together as one entity, yet still maintaining, individually, its individual history and roots.  When those who come, reach the time to leave home, they do not leave each other behind, but keep track of each other - and even of us.    They drop in for a chat, a cup of tea, even a meal.    They gather at reach other's Weddings, support each other in sorrow and in joy.

                                                                                                       

And Yes, they attend each other's Funerals too, joining together even more poignantly to grieve, and shed a tear.    All those who have spent time with us at Testimony Homes, whether in Testimony House, Jacaranda, Drakeley or Tyndale Cottages, remember each other, both the good, and not so good.   In a Family, each member counts, and has value.     This took time to develope and to achieve.  But it has happened, and one day it may happen to Kenya as whole...........

And this sense of belonging has spilt over, and into the lives, of those who, as employed adults, give their strength and lives to helping to keep everything going, so to speak.   The Mums and Dads, the clerks and other staff, that do all the nitty gritty things that have to be done for so many, living together, and adjacent to each other, including the upkeep  and care of the buildings.    I put this photo up recently, but I will include it here, for they need to be remembered, seen, and appreciated as part and parcel of Testimony.     We are ALL TOGETHER a very real FELLOWSHIP.

Esther and I, together with 4 Married Couples, (the mums and dads) are here,

all resident, plus clerks, administrators, thirty other men and women

who come in daily from across the town.

They all make it possible for us all to live here safely, cleanly,

and cared for - five of them that came to us as children,

and have finally stayed on to give back what they found here, for others.

What we have here is valuable to society at large.

But we are not individually, or collectively, by any means perfect.

We are all, young and old, human, and flawed.

What we have, and who and what we are, is by God' Grace.

In the End

HE is the Owner, the Governor.

He alone can close us down.

BUT

We are all 'pilgims' in this world; just passing through

This World is not our home.

And it is a Shrinking Ecomomy that besets us now,

just as much as a shrinking freedom in putting

our Faith in God, first.

This last year has been more challenging to us all, with Covid 19 restricting so many things, and putting extra pressure on our own economy, inside Testimony Homes.   We were all penned up inside our compounds for so many months.    Then we underwent a series of utility supply breakdowns;  our water supply was cut off, and then electricity, NOT because we had not paid our bills, but because the Rains had held off, and water seriously rationed.     Electricity cuts, sometimes for days at a time due to faulty Transformers in the locality, and to falling trees bringing down power cables.    Suddenly in the  midst of Summer  the skies became overcast, and unseasonable COLD temperatures made for dull days.   A year full of of anomalies, and unepected jolts along the way, like Esther discovering she had Cancer, and even more, up to day, with one of our boys, home visiting us from America with a coveted Phd.,  died in his  sleep, in our house. on the second night of his visit to us.    And our general well-being, at the same time, continuing to dwindle, month my month, and slowly we have had to pare down our daily expenditure.  It has been, all in all, a rather harrowing time for us all.    BUT we have stood firm in our prayers, and  in our trust in God, and in His Word.      We have been here before.    

 I heard this week that it costs $1,100 to keep  a child in residential care in BENIN for 1 year. 

The article did not describe the kind of Care that is given.   We spend approximately Ksh.46,600/- per annum per child.  This, again approximately, is Ksh.127-200 per day!     In the UK the internet tells me it costs upwards of Sterling Pounds 3,000 per WEEK  or approx. Ksh.67,550 per day.    We all seem to be doing well here by comparison,  BUT it is harder and harder to find what WE need, week by week.

OF COURSE Kenya's economy is suffering the same as the rest of the world, and our cost of living has trebled since the Ukranian War began. ( NB no one believes this is entirely the fault of either the Ukrain or Russia).      BUT definately life is deteriorating.    Can the man in the street survive.  Not easily; not without great restraints.   ARE WE AFFECTED.    Yes, of course we are.  and we wonder how we will survive.     We have often been in this situation.    We have always  come through it.  Is is always different.

We have not sought a way of escape, but - like the 'boy on the burning deck' we have waited for the Command to move from above.     We are not our own.    Father has put us where we are, and told us to WAIT upon Him for what we need.    And this we will do, quietly, and obediently, together, praying and trusting, and REJOICING for every day He brings us through.

IN GOD WE TRUST

ESTHER  and I are both fine.    She is due to go for her 2nd dose of Chemo on Thursday this week.     She has done well this past month, and regained her appetite, but this week she noticed her hair is falling out.   She is in good spirits, and we together have been much comforted and encouraged, even in the midst of losing one very dear to us.     God has Blessed us together  as ONE, and we are GLAD to be together in His Hands.

It is a little COLD at present, still.    We are headed for our 'winter season'.

Steven is coming over to visit us again on the 24th of this month, and will hopefully bring our grand-daughter, Tonia with him.   We are so happy.

I have writen often,  I have wanted to restate why we are here, and what we are here for.   And I have wanted to make sure you can share with us, and pray effectively for us at this time.    We are SAFE in the arms of our God, whose arms you all are.      God Bless you and carry YOU all through the alarms and excursions of life.    We are thinking of so many in the U.K. and in America at this time,  and all of our friends in Denmark, India, and Australia especially.     We know the Shadow of our Time is upon all the World.     BUT He has Promised to Keep all those who are His.      May He Bless and KEEP YOU also in the Name of JESUS the King.

Lovingly,

John, Esther and Daryl Green, 

and ALL with us in the Testimony Family Worldwide.