(testimonyfaithhhomes@yahoo.com

 TESTIMONY FAITH HOMES

P.O.Box 2134, 30100 Eldoret, U.G.County, Kenya

(testimonyfaithhomes@yahoo.com

On the 25th August, we Celebrated our 55th Birthday.

More than a THIRD of the 350 who have left us to start their own lives,

returned to us, many with their wife /  husband, and even children and grandchildren

August 1969 - August 2024

This photo includes ALL that attended  including Staff

None of our Current Family were in the photo.

WE had a truly wonderful 'family' time together.      The NEXT one is scheduled for August 2029 and will be our 60th Anniversary.      The Homes now expect to remain open until 2032 when the Government is still planning to close all Children's Residential Homs DOWN.    Until then we shall continue with the 130 children currently resident with us, until they complete their education and naturally leave as they become 18.     However our doors will stay open for children in need, and who are destitute for SHORT TERM stays until Government can find Foster Parents, Adoptions, or a path to Repatriation to blood family.    We shall still run as Family Homes, and we feel it is better to have the opportunity to reach out even shortly, than not at all to children whose home and family may have collapsed.

On the 18th of this month one of our sons who was with us in Testimony House in the 1980s-90s, and is now a Chef of note, visited us, and brought with him to meet us his Fiancee.    We were a Party of about 20 in Green Cottage.    Boniface shopped before arriving, bring ingredients for our LUNCHEON, which he went about cooking in our kitchen assisted by Manu.     A  Beautiful family moment, and we hope there will be many more like it.  Below a few photos -    We encourage the children who grow up with us, and who are themselves homeless and parentless,      to keep in touch and so many DO so, even to the point to wanting to bring their Boy or Girl friends back home to know their 'Parents' here, and to go to plan their eventual Marriage also.    This really makes the Family to grow and expand, and we see this in our Anniversary Reunions as OUR children come home with their husbands and wives, AND many children. 

  

Boniface and fiancee at home with us.

The photo the left shows Boniface and his fiancee, seated in front with Esther and me.   Far left is Daryl, the Manu, and some of our old boys, our Pastor Mike, in the red tie, and few other close family members.     Some have asked us why we still hang around in our 80s!   Well it is just too good to be able to get peaks into lives that have come and gone from us, and that have done so with Jesus.   So wonderful to still find ourselves 'family' with them.

ALSO on the 17th August, my dear wife Esther, reached her 80th Birthday, and we celebrated with a small Party of friends and family.       Esther has made a strong recovery  from her Breast Cancer in 2022.   She is now in good health and strength, all of which we Praise and Thank God for.     But during her Chemotherapy she began to suffer some memory loss, which her doctors thought would be temporary,  However, it has persisted, and she gets a bit depressed about it at times.  Nevertheless,  it's not SO bad, and between the two of us memories are recalled, put back together ,and life continues with laughter and satisfaction.      I Thank God daily for her presence with me, here in our little rent free house, still right in the midst of Testimony Faith Homes, with our old home, Testimony    House,  (still a family home for some 30 children looked after by Newton Nyangala and his wife),   just fifty meters away, opposite.     God provides still and we know He cares for us.

Daryl took this photo.  Pastor Mike Kyalo, is on the far left, then Solomon Gikonyo, one of our many sons, now an Accounts Clerk in our Office. Then David Chumba, House- parent for Jacaranda Cottage, James (Manu) Green ( our adopted son) , then there is  ME, then Newton Nyangala, House  Parent in Testimony House.    THEN in the second row center, is our granddaughter Abigail, and next to her ESTHER, then Eunice Lahol, a Relief Aunty  working in all the four Homes, and next to her is Florence Nyangala, Newton''s wife, and House Parent with him in Testimony House.    Next to her is Ruth, our home help, and then Virginia, who is engaged to Daryl Green, and finally Hesketh Muli, who is House Parent in Drakeley Cottage.

We are enjoying sunny mornings, and occasional showers in the afternoons.    Not too hot, but pleasant if you have time to sit on the lawn or veranda.     Eldoret, generally, is a pleasant climate and place to be.     We who live her all agree that this is so.     You are all welcome to visit........?

I must close now.     I am sorry to be so erratic.  I do try to send out a more regular UPDATE of our affairs, but I can only send it to you if I have your e-mail address.    The Update is mainly news about Testimony Faith Homes, and makes no Appeal for funds, or other.'

God Bless you all.

John and Esther, and all of us here in TFH

 

         

                                                                          

 Here is a Photo

Taken recently of the President of the U.S.A.

Mr. Joe Biden, by the Globe Newspaper, 

With Caption,

''Amplifying our own fears of Ageing''

MR.  BIDEN is Eighty- one years old, and feeling it.     Regardless of what any of us might think of him of a President, or as a man even,  he is worthy of our sympathy and compassion, as we watch and see his physical strength and faculties show signs of wear and tare.     It is one thing to say that maybe Mr. Biden is now ready to retire from Office, and another to make jokes about the way he stumbles about, and every time he forgets who he is talking to, or even the actual words he is trying to say.    You and I might end up experiencing similar changes as we age, and indeed might all in some measure have to face, the onset of Dementia, or some other related illness.      It is good to think about it, and take time to meditate on how we feel about the elderly, and just how they are catered for in our world society.

A FEW DAYS before I caught sight of the Photo put up  by Globe Newspaper, I had been viewing a number of United States Videos NEWS casts related to Mr. Biden's current state of mind and body.

Without exception the Presenters of these Programs used the anomalies of Mr.  Biden's apparent weakness in walking or mounting steps or stairways, together with his forgetfulness, and speech problems, as an occasion to sadistically ridicule and belittle the Man, and the President.  Is this right?  Would you or I like this be happening to US?

Does Joe Biden, or any man or woman deserve to end their labour on earth  as a laughing stock?   I do not believe it myself.    Where is our dignity and human value due to each one of us. BUT is there more to all of this than meets the eye?    He himself seems to feel 'fighting fit' and is either unaware of his occasional moments of 'lostness', 'muddle -headedness' or plain old age, or just stubbornly unwilling to admit he is not the man he was, and may put the Nation at risk.   Of course it is possible an effort to prove he is too old to cope with his Office as President is cashing in on his so called 'gaffs'.    Whatever the reality may be,  It is remains shameful to expose him to such blatant, and devilish amusement.

==================================

IN THE BIBLE,  in the Old Testament, and the Book of OBADIAH verses 10-15 we are given an example, and council.     The Example is of the family;  a violent feud between Esau and Jacob, brothers.   Two brothers from separate groups or parts of the same nation.     And not just between two individuals but two whole groups of brethren that each party represented.      

I will not go into the reasons that contributed to their bitterness toward one another.   God was troubled by their conflict and attitude towards each other, and spoke through His Servant, OBADAIAH in the verses mentioned above.   God accuses ESAU and his people because they joyfully watched while Jacob and his people, attacked (v.11), without lifting a hand to help them.    God says to Esau and his brethren, first of all in verse 10 of Obadiah,  "Shame shall cover thee, and thou shalt be cut off for 

ever .''   And He speaks further  and says  ''YOU SHOULD NOT..'' more specifically.

God says, via Obadiah, to ESAU - Esau, you should not have stood aside from helping you brethren, even though they were not from your side of the family.      If we understood this,  that all the nations of the world were joined together, each one related to the other - then war of all kind would cease world wide. Well there could be a better reason to seek for peace, that wrangle so bitterly all the time.

NONE of us should lift up our hand against another of our kind.     NONE of us should be willing to see one another hurting another without some effort to intervene to prevent it.

AGAIN -  YOU SHOULD NOT, have gloated over your brother's misfortune in the day he became a stranger to you (in the day he ceased to call you brother).

AGAIN - YOU SHOULD NOT,  have rejoiced over the sons of Juda in the day of their ruin, nor spoken arrogantly in the day of their distress.

AGAIN - YOU SHOULD NOT,  have entered the gate - house of your brethren (Jacob) in their day of calamity and ruin - YES, YOU SHOULD NOT have looked with delight on their misery, or sought after their possessions in the day of their calamity and ruin.

Surely  this is enough to emphasise to us all, how very responsible each of us are for the care and welfare of our neighbour, no matter who they are, what they may be guilty of, and without exception.

v.15 of Obadiah, adds an ominous warning to all who treat an individual human being with callous, and even brutal sadism.   He writes:-    "For the day of the Lord is near upon all nations.   As you have done, it shall be done to you; your dealings will return upon your own head.'' 

We are ALL brothers and sisters ?

We are ALL cut from the same genetic cloth; all have sprung from Adam and Eve, and in fact ARE 'FAMILY', though regretfully not in touch.

BUT Jesus, using the word 'NEIGHBOUR' suggests that we DO need to recognise a responsibility toward all mankind, even those we may tend to see as untouchble, or in some other way inferior, and unde-serving of our care and love. 

IN the Bible, the NEW Testament, and in LUKE 10v30-37., a certain Advocate had been asking questions, and having quoted the Law, ending with 'and you should love your neighbour as yourself' the man had asked the Question - 'then WHO is my neighbour.' and Jesus had replied with the Story that I briefly outline as follows:-                       ..... 

 

.A MAN was travelling from Jerusalem to Jericho, when he falls among thieves, who stripped him of his clothes and belongings, beat him up and left him for dead.   After a little while a certain priest was walking that way, and saw the man lying at the side of the road, and when he saw him, he crossed to the other side of the road, and passed on.    Later a LEVITE came upon the injured man,  and when he saw him, he also crossed to the other side of the road and passed on.     AND THEN a Samaritan (considered inferior by the Jews of that time) arrived at the scene, and saw man lying at the roadside, he stopped, and being moved with compassion, he went nearer to the man, and  dressed his wounds, pouring on oil and wine,(as an antiseptic, and healing balm), and then carried him to a nearby inn, and took care of him.   The next day, the good Samaritan took out two days wages (in worth\) and gave them to the Inn-keeper, saying ''Take care of him:  whatever more you spend, I myself will repay you when I return".     End story

.AND Jesus then asked the Advocate he was  talking with, " Which of these three was neighbour to man attacked by thieves?"      And the Advocate Replied "Why it was the one who showed him compassion and care!"    And JESUS said  - "YOU GO, and do the same.'

YES, it is the Truth.      We SHOULD love our neighbour as we love ourselves, for he is as we are, part and parcel of our humanity, related to us, part of ADAM's Family.     We are all brothers and sisters of each other.    AND, finally, in the Gospel of Matthew 7v12, Jesus is found saying ''Therefore, all things, whatever you would have men do to you, you so do to them, for this is the Law and the Prophets.''   

 

====================================

John Green

(NB    ---     I also  from time to time send an UPDATE on matter concerning Testimony Faith Homes and School.    Currently this is send direct to E-Mail addresses of friends and family.   

Also This Blog is sent via Facebook or via Google at 'John Green's Notes from Kenya

                                                         

KING SOLOMON THE WISE  also Collected TAXES!

SOLOMON, according to the Bible, was granted the Gift of Wisdom by God, but this did not deter him from making mistakes!     Remember, for example, that the Bible records that he erred in having many wives;  few if any followed the God in whom Solomon believed.   An error that cost him dearly in many ways.   Of course, the picture above is only a picture, meant no doubt to startle us into accepting that even the Wise can be greedy and grasping.

HERE, in the Republic of Kenya, we are finding ourselves challenged by TAXATION!    Not for the first time either.    But just now it seems that a heavy shower of multiple Taxes, covering almost everything except the Air we breathe, is imminent!    I personally feel sympathy for our President, His Excellency, the Honourable William Ruto, who is seen as the perpetrator of the current wave of taxation.   He has inherited a Government mired in debt, and everyone expects him to SPEAK, and Prosperity will immediately come forth and we shall all rejoice....... BUT the reality is that a reversal of the Economy, such as the Man found it, is impossible to achieve overnight....(indeed, not over many nights); and on the way to bringing such a reversal, many traps and temptations will stand in the way, and confront the best of intentions.    Any of us in the place of Mr. Ruto, would have more than a 'headache'.   We should pray for Him; for Strength and Wisdom from GOD, not to be rushed into quick solutions which may in themselves aggravate and worsen the poverty of the Nation..

On the 20th of this month, having written the above,  Parliament voted the New multiple Tax Bill through into law. Already riots have broken out in Nairobi, and this may just be the beginning, since almost everyone will feel the weight of this Taxation.    Property, Food, Services, will all see soaring prices affect our daily lives that will be crushing.    ALL in an attempt to reduce the Nation Debt and other pressing Creditors.   Perhaps an earnest, though risky move, to save the Nation.   But it just might destroy it.

SOLOMAN fell into the same soup, and Taxed Israel -exorbitantly!   Even selling people into Slavery. (in 1. Kings 5v13-18) it is written that he - King Solomon - 'raised a levy out of all Israel; and the levy was 30,000 men.  He sent them to Lebanon, ten thousand a month by courses:  a month they were in Lebanon,  and two months at home.'    Yes!   Where and how to get money can lead us down very dark and inhuman ways.    And as I have said before, even a godly-wise person can find themselves delving deeper and deeper.     And the masses- the man in the street - the POOR?  They become poorer, and just a small and particular group became richer, and RICHER.

It has been cited that 'the height of heavy taxation during the Solomonic Era, angered the populace, so that pent up resentment eventually exploded, by the end of Solomon's reign'.  A good article expanding on these things can be found as per The Asian Economic and Financial Review pp337-346.  It is a short comment on the Nigerian Tax System as at 2012. Published  by Asian Economic and Social Society - 15th June 2012.      

NOW,  for ourselves, as it stands for Testimony Faith Homes & School,  the newly passed Taxation is predicted to increase monthly expenses by a minimum of some 40%.   Not a very happy prospect.    

Not a Happy Prospect for the WORLD!

Since the cost of living worldwide is climbing, and the peace

      and contentment of all mankind receding!  

SO WHAT SHALL WE ALL DO?

We should come before our God in Prayer.

1. Chronicles16v29 encourages us to 'GIVE unto the LORD the Glory due unto His NAME; and to bring an Offering, and COME before Him; WORSHIP the LORD in the Beauty of Holiness.           (WHICH IS OBEDIENCE)

At Times like these, we have need to assess where we stand - with the pressures of the World, orchestrated by the Enemy to  dishearten and bring us to despair,  -  OR with GOD.   

Continuing to read in 1. Chronicles 16 and verse 23, we are exhorted to  ''SING unto the LORD, all the earth;  shew forth from day to day His Salvation.''  And in Verse 24,  ''Declare His Glory to (those who do not know Him);  His marvellous works among all nations.''   And in Verse 25  ''For GREAT is the Lord, and greatly to be Praised;  He also is to be FEARED above all gods.''     And also in Verse 26 For all the gods of the people are idols; but the LORD made the Heavens.''   and so to Verses 27-28 ""Glory and Honour are in His Presence; STRENGTH AND GLADNESS are in His place.     GIVE unto the Lord, ye kindreds of the people,  GIVE unto the Lord GLORY and STRENGTH -  (29) GIVE unto the Lord the glory due to His Name: bring an offering, and come before Him: WORSHIP the Lord in the Beauty of Holiness - in OBEDIENCE.

I found these verses both uplifting and challenging - even Exhilarating and exciting!!   It called me to WAKE up and start BEING  a Witness in this unbelieving time; it called upon me Stand UP for my Salvation, and talk about it, demonstrate it and Glory IN it,  DAY BY DAY!!!      How easily to find oneself ''asleep'', and even moribund, alive but not busy going about our Father's business, as Jesus demonstrated to us.    NOW is the Day for us all to be SEEN.

ABOVE is a photo of ALL of us, Orphans and Surrogate Mums and Dads, who are currently living in Testimony Faith Homes, Eldoret, Kenya.     We began to build a Family HOME for children who had lost their own home and family for some reason in August 1969.     Right now we have FOUR such Homes all adjacent to each other; each one run as a Family, and up to date more than 450 boys and girls have come, grown up, and left to start their own life.  Every FIVE years we hold a Reunion, and THIS year will be our 55th, and we shall expect to see at least 300 come home for a week-end of family fellowship.    We look forward greatly to it.

THE KING OF ALL THE EARTH

is on the way, coming

Blessed by the Name of the LORD.

GOD spoke and told  us to gather the homeless and destitute children around us and make a Home and a Family for them to belong to; a place to be loved in, and a place of quiet refuge and safety.   From the first two children to cross the thresh-hold, Wilson 12 and Zecariah 8, his brother, in August 1969, hundreds more have come and gone.   Gone from our four Family Homes, but NOT from the Testimony Family.  Even this week we have heard that Family Members living in Nairobi have gathered themselves together in an effort not to lose sight of each other; they will be meeting locally and from time to time, as a Family Chapter, and other towns are catching the idea and doing the same.    Amazing and Wonderful in our eyes.

BUT this year the Kenya Government passed a New, revised Children's Act, and in it they have made it clear that all Children's Homes for the orphaned and destitute will be ABOLISHED as from 26th JULY 2032.      Well we have been hearing threats to this effect from as early as 2005  -  but THIS is the final word,      The Government, including the President, believe that Institutional care is unhealthy, and that children need to grow up in a family, either Fostered or Adopted if it is impossible for them to be with their  own kin.      WE BELIEVE THEM.   WE have done our best to arrange our Children's Homes, as family homes (NOT in any institutional!    And although ours family homes cater for large families, they have worked well, and produced well balanced kids.      Oh we have had a few druggies for while, teenage rebels here and there, but only a few have proved un-manageable, and running off and away from us.    We have seen so many leave us as teachers, accountants, electricians, nurses, research chemists, Hoteliers,  Mechanics, Engineers, hair-dressers, beauticians, Cooks and Chefs, Social Workers, Secretaries,  ++++.NO Doctors, Lawyers, Scientists, Bankers, yet, but they are on the way......  I am sure we are not the only  ones to have seen success as we have reached out to fill the gap in children's lives.      It does seem a pity for the Government to close us ALL down in favour of uprooting them and re-distributing them to totally un-known Foster parents,  Adoption, and long lost birth relatives who have cast them off since their birth.    

WE are permitted to continue on until 2032.     We have EIGHT YEARS to STAND our ground, and to prepare and SEE what GOD will do.    We are not Anxious.   We BELIEVE that God is with us, and with the orphans who will still find themselves alone and in danger.     PRAY with us.

I hope to continue to send further blog pages.   Many Thanks to you all for praying for us, and encouraging us, as we continue to be here in Kenya for children, and for the LORD.   We love you all in Him, 

God Bless and Keep you safe in Days.

John and Esther, Daryl and all here with us.

 

                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                    

   

 

     .

'

                                                                            

Since this photo  was taken, a further FIVE years has gone by 

IT'S TIME FOR ANOTHER

TESTIMONY GET TOGETHER!!!

'Let us consider and give attentive, continuous care to watching over one another,

studying how we can stir up (stimulate and incite) to love and helpful deeds and noble activities.

NOT FORSAKING

or neglecting to assemble together, but admonishing

 (warning, urging and encouraging) one another all the more

as you see the Day approaching 

HEBREWS 10v24-5 

How time has flown, and gone by.     We wonder, has it been the same for you at home, where you are.    I am sure we have all had good and bad times, and sunny as well as often sad and difficult times.      For us the most trying moments have been in the taking away from us of so many loved ones.     Yes, we do believe it has been but for a time, perhaps only a short time, that we have to be separated, but the unexpected suddenness seemed to make our own hearts to stop.   Yet God helped us all to get through, and to continue forward.     AND truly the hurt of the passing of these dear ones  has lessened, as we realise all yet live, and  shall be seen and known again.     As Shakespeare wrote 'parting is such sweet sorrow, that I shall say goodnight till it be morrow'.     The pain of saying goodbye is swallowed up in thinking of meeting again soon.  Truly passing days (for those who fellowship in Jesus) turn loss into anticipation of our next meeting, and continuation.    Their faces no longer sadden us as we see their photographs, but bring us joy in thinking of SEEING them again.

EVERY FIVE YEARS Testimony Faith Homes family - the House-parents, and the children - have tried to have a 'Get Together', back in the homes that they grew together in.    THUS again, this year, we are looking forward once more, in August, to come together.     It is always SUCH a happy and joyful time, and an opportunity to catch up on one each other.       

SO many came in 2019.   Have you noticed the lady at the extreme left of this photo?  Yes, she is a lady, but  poor dear; one who has gone through mind shattering times, becoming a broken shell of who she was.    She used always to attend our Church meetings, and every other event;  Testimony being a kind of refuge and memory of another better day.      We have lost sight of her over these last five year, and have not be able to discover how she may be today.    Any one reading this and able to update us, will do us a service. She has become part of the Family   Her name is DORCAS.

AND HERE, just a small glimpse of how good it IS to be able to see a brother or a sister AGAIN.   In this photo Charlie Green is meeting up with Esther Mbithi, and her little son.      Are any of you in touch?    Esther is now in the U.K. with her immediate family!     And dear Charles is still with Nairobi Chapel, reaching out to children and young people with the Message of Jesus.    Life goes on - whether here or there, upon this Earth, or above with our Father, and with our LORD.

SO GOOD to see each other again face to face, after the passing of years, and re-establish knowledge of each other, and be able to grow in love and CARE of each other in our prayer life. 

WE are a FAMILY, put together by the Holy Spirit of God for good reason and purpose, little or great, in order that we might realise what God's Family is like

YOUNG and OLD together around a table, and in the midst of so many other tables filled with so many more, enjoying fellowship full of laughter and joyful clatter.
Well, the food might not always be ****** but it is enhanced and improved by the company and sense of 'occasion' and Partying that one of our Reunions becomes.
IF YOU HAVE NEVER MADE ONE YET,
OR if you have been to ALL of them, PLEASE do decide to come AGAIN this August 2024 and we know it will simply be a truly memorable and Wonder time.

      COME!!      
Join with us this year and be 
IN THE PHOTO FOR 2024
+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
            

 

TESTIMONY FAITH HOMES FAMILY

2024
August Family Reunion

Saturday 31st AUGUST

Registration 9a.m. Saturday Morning

'Catching-Up Time'

Reunion Luncheon 1-2p.m.

Family Time

Supper @ Home  6.30p.m.

Evening Fellowship

Bedtime 10-11p.m.

Sunday Morning 1st September

FAMILY WORSHIP

9.a.m. - 11 a.m

Farewell Till Next Time

(( We will need to know in ADVANCE if you will come, and how many))

We have to be able to cater, and need to know what to buy in order to feed those coming.

Of Course the Invitation is limited to Family Members ONLY.

Please Send your Name & phone number to

SOLOMON NJUGUNHAH  -  TFH Office

Mobile No. 0729-621-611

BEFORE

1st August, 2024 

Let us know how MANY you will be

============================================

HERE is a new photo of Esther, taken on Valentines Day at our local Mall, with a dear friend, Margaret Wanguhu.     IT is a great joy to see Esther returned to her old pre Cancer self, and looking very chic in a new dress.     Well these two 'gals' gad about most days together, and truly Margaret has been a huge aid in getting Esther out of the house, and going around the town again.     After her Chemo ended, Esther was a bit flat and depressed, but now she is revived and doing so very well.  Margaret has truly been, and continues to be a great Blessing to us both.    Yes, Cancer intruded rudely  and forcefully into Mum Esther's life in 2022.   Shockwaves throughout our little family - a huge test for us all.     But the LORD walked with us all into the sunshine of the present, and indeed we do all -  me perhaps most of all - thank God for  having Esther still by my side, and looking as if Cancer had never been        named; and fortunately Esther caot remember any of it as part of a Memory loss package that began at the onset of Chemotherapy.     Her memory is still being tested,    But  we are pressing on and believing for a restoration in all things.       She will be joining me in the 80s Club in August, God Willing, and well in time for the Reunion!   Just as she was in 2019!

God Bless and be with you, every one,

John and Esther