FROM HOME TO SCHOOL

THIS A DIAGRAM of Testimony Faith Homes & School,  is situated in Elgonview Road, Eldoret, Uasin Gishu County in Kenya, East Africa.   It is not quite up to date as (l) labelled 'Basket Ball' is now the Swimming Pool, and the Dairy just below that has now been transferred to the Jacaranda Compound to the right.

We began our ongoing Tour with a look into
Jacaranda Cottage - (bottom right) on the diagram.
THEN back across the road to the left marked (n),
to Testimony House.
After that we returned to the Jacaranda side, and looked at Tyndale and Drakeley Cottages before crossing Elgonview Road once again, THIS WEEK,  facing the School Hall (marked (b) just on the other side of the School's Main Gate.

The School began in 1981 with the commence-ment of a small private Nursery School for our own youngest children.   Local Nursery Schools at the time tended to be more like Play Schools without ANY kind of equipment or facility provided.   Teacher mainly untrained ladies who sat and knitted or dozed.    We wanted to give our children a better entry into Primary School.    It was an immediate success, and soon parents from around us began to request we opened it up for their own children.  BUT we had not at that time considered advancing further into education (or perhaps I should say that I had actually lost sight of that part of the 'vision' God had given me in in 1969.)     When we arrived here in Eldoret in 1972 we found plenty of schools around us, and it seemed natural to let our children attend them.   However, as time went by we found a problem arising.
It culminated   'ONE AFTERNOON in November 1983 when the Headmaster of one of our local Primary Schools rang me up.   "Please come to my officer right away; there is a serious problem facing us." he said.    I went immediately, and settling myself into one of rather battered chairs, I asked him what the problem was..   He looked most upset and worried.  "It is a very heavy matter, and I shall need your help and co-operation."    I began to wonder if he had a 'personal' worry.    But he continued on, saying , " You see your boys Daniel and Joseph have been found smoking cigarettes int he school field.    I shall have to suspend them of course, from all classes."

During the previous month I had to deal with cases of theft, and even drug taking amongst some of our teenage boys;  I am sure that I almost laughed with relief.   Smoking cigarettes!  Why that was the least of the current big time temptations overwhelming our national schools.  The next morning I took the two boys, both 16 years old, to school.       (Primary Schooling is supposed to begin when one is SIX and continue EIGHT years.   But some children start late, as some of ours did, due to some problem or other.  A number of ours came to us up to ten years old with NO Schooling at all.)
Once arrived back at the School (the boys were returning their Text Books whilst on suspension) the Headmaster grabbed them both, and had them taken to the School Parade Ground.    There, in front of 700 students, they were made to lay face down in the dirt.   THEN they were given a homily on 'ungrateful orphans' who having no parents, miss spent public money.   They then received six strokes of the cane each.     Suspended, socially stigmatised, and publicly caned - for smoking a cigarette.  
There were, at the time, and continued to be, students who were known to be taking Marijuana who 
remained untouched.        This incident was one of many others.     The real crime, it seemed to us, was not what our children did or did not do, but simply that they were orphans who were cared for.'
((extracted from my Diary for that year))
AND so in 1983 we commenced Primary Standard 1 - 3.     THEN in 1986 with the unexpected and unsought assistance of TEAR FUND we went ahead and built new classrooms for Standards1-8 inclusive, moving out of where we had begun, and handing over the space to Nursery School (i) on the Diagram.    The NEW Primary double story block plus Staff rooms and Toilets are sited as (c to e) on the Diagram.   From there we have, with God's Providence, been able to continue on so that now we have space in the School for approximately 120 Nursery students, 500 Primary and 240 Secondary students - a School population in total of 860 in all.       Our own 140 or so orphans are provided for in the Public Fee structure  for those attending school from the locality, and thus attend school FREE.     The School does not generate further income for the running of the HOMES.   The incoming fees provide additionally only for the Salaries of Government Teachers, text books, and other consumables. It is not run for profit.

SO here we are - at the FRONT Entrance.    The Building up front (LEFT) is the School Hall.    This can seat approximately 400.    It is used for P.E.,  School Meetings such as Parent/Teacher,  Concerts, and also serves as our Church Hall for Sunday Services. To the right of the photo, as we are looking, there is a new block that serves as a Primary Boarding Hostel for 112 external students.     The Hall is also used for serving School Lunches, parties, and even Seminars.
As you pass on, along the drive, past the Hall you come to the School Reception and Staff Offices, and the Parade Ground.   Then the FIRST of our four double story tuition blocks.  Front view right hand side.
The Driveway carries on past this block, turning to the left to arrive at TESTIMONY HOUSE, and on to the second Gate.       However, the drive, after making that left bend actually carries on making a U turn round a Round-a-bout in order to permit traffic to return the
way it came.    The photo to the right is the School Parade Ground with some of the students on Parade and with a group of our Scouts in the foreground.
The School continues on into the distance with further Classrooms, and also additional laboratories for Computer (we teach computer from Nursery School upwards to Form 4 of Secondary), Home Science, Chemistry, and Biology.     The latter are to the LEFT of the first photo on the above line.     And it is in that area that Nursery School is also sited just to the left of the WHITE building on the left which is currently a Primary Computer Classroom,  and also the NEW Secondary School building and Swimming Pool. In the beginning all the buildings that form a line on the left of the School entrance was once home to a stand of very old Blue Gum trees. -- The had formed the boundary of our property at the time.    Beyond them was open countryside - now our School Field, and thereafter slowly being built upon.  
The  photo to the left above is a view of the School taken from the school field, the Main Gate being to the left of picture.   Then the School Hall, Reception and Staff Offices, and First double story Tuition Block of eight classrooms.    Our land ends just beyond the Tuition Block and turns to the left as the Diagram shows.  
The School has done well academically and also spiritually.   One might say it is well known.   SO well known that it has served almost as a camouflage that hides the existence of the the four Children's Homes.     It has given our children a great opportunity to being seen and treated as children from ordinary family homes.    They have not been known as 'orphans' and have at the same time profited from an upgraded standard of education that has come from our ability to choose our own teachers, provide equipment needed for teaching, and a steady, disciplined, and morally cared for society based on faith in Jesus Christ which is open to all of any colour, nation or religious persuasion.      Here are a few more photos to finish off with.

To the left a group of Nursery children in the School Hall practising for Parents Day. Then to the right a group of Primary Children coming out of Class.
Finally to the left a group of Secondary boys doing private study in the School Hall Foyer.   I would like to have put more but it just seems there is not time or space to do so.      Placing photos has never been my best ability!!!

And , of course, I must add at lease one photo of the NEW Secondary Tuition and Dormitory Block plus the Swimming Pool.
Regretfully ALL these photos are old ones.    We are presently without a camera of any kind between us all just now.   So have to make do with old shots.    Hope to rectify this very soon, and then, at last will be able to refresh ourselves.      The month has almost ended, and then the last month of the Year will rush by, as always with fun and gladness.      You, we hope, will be glad to see, and maybe even remember your part, in lifting these children that live and learn in TFH, from utmost poverty, abuse and hopelessness.      From hopelessness to HOPE.  Do not just see what may seem to be prosperity and ease in your eyes - but see the Mighty Hand of God who is able to save to the uttermost.        Not one of US could have achieved this for the many hundreds that have come and gone, but in joining hands and hearts together with HIM Who Loves us all, we see the IMPOSSIBLE to be possible indeed.

God Bless and be with you all.

CAN YOU FEEL THE HEARTBEAT?

THIS IS FAMILY!!   A photo taken on Esther's 70th Birthday.  John is centre with Michael Green, and Esther to his right, and all around us are Old Boys and Girls, friends and other relatives.     All gathered not just to honour Esther's Birthday but also to remember their Mum.    A BIG extended 'Family'.     THIS is what Testimony Faith Homes is all about, and after 45 years of growth and togetherness we are glad to say THIS Orphanage has become a true HOME for children and adults from all over the State.     A very DIVERSE Family proving that people of very different culture, tribe, and background CAN live very happily together as a family, to become well established members of a multi racial state.     We are GLAD to see them, and to remember and honour them - as they also continually demonstrate their own gladness to BE part of our Family.   Please note that we did not pay, cajole or in any way force anyone to be in this photo or to attend this event.    Not BAD?    Yes we think it is not a bad picture, and not a bad testimony of how even an Orphanage can achieve wonders in child care and reclamation - when God's Love is the foundation and common sense prevails.

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YES this week, as I promised, we are continuing to explore Testimony Faith Homes.    We have previously taken a look at two of our four Family Homes, Testimony House, and Jacaranda Cottage, and I promised to cross the road to Tyndale Cottage and Drakeley Cottage this week.      EACH family home is an entity, but in the broader sense each one is part of the other, making ONE big Family.     None are in competition with the other though, but all rejoice in being part of the other as brothers and sisters.

In 2007, thirty three years after starting Jacaranda Cottage, we felt God prompting us to expand the family, and receiving funds unexpectedly, we laid the foundation for Tyndale Cottage.      We named the home, Tyndale after the School in Adelaide, South Australia,  and indeed they assisted a great deal in helping us to complete this house.      It was built at the lower end of the Jacaranda Cottage Compound, and was planned to accommodate 40 children.      In 2008 we also were able (through a Legacy) to continue on and build a second, sister cottage at the UPPER end of the same compound - giving us THREE homes out of the four on just ONE compound.    We were taken for a 'ride' quite badly by the Contractor, who build the two homes, and after a year we were to discover major defects that forced us to find a lot more money in order to put right.    We learnt from the experience, but it was expensive learning that HURT!     It will no doubt help all concerned to REMEMBER to be more careful in future.

EACH Cottage can, as I mentioned, accommodate up to 40 children   -    even the NEW Jacaranda Cottage, once built will be the same.         Each Cottage also accommodates a married couple and if necessary their own children, completely integrated, as part of the Family.      Each cottage has a Cook coming in five and half days a week.       The children and parents cook week-ends, and do all the housework.    No other staff, although maybe there may be one or two coming in from time to time to play with the children, friends of the family.       Of course, taken as a UNITY, Testimony Faith Homes has a Registered Nurse serving the four Homes AND the School, and also a Social Worker.       A recognised Medical Doctor sits on the Board and is responsible to keep an eye on all the children's / and staff's health.

IN TYNDALE COTTAGE,   Catherine and Mica YEGO are current parents.      Catherine grew up herself in Testimony House.     She and Mica have two small children - a boy and a girl.    They have now been parents in the Home since it began (in rented premises initially) in  2003.   Currently they have the youngest group of children, but of course they all grow bigger every day.   It is a happy home and family.   Mica has trained as a carpenter, and Catherine has a degree in Christian Ministries.

SO far 63 children have lived in the Family, including the current 39.   Boys and Girls with ages ranging from 2 to 20.     One or two, having completed their education, will be leaving this year.

ALL the children, of course, attend our School, Testimony School - we shall eventually arrive there on our tour, and more will be shared at that time.      Clothing is one of our recurring needs. We used to be able to receive 'used clothes' from overseas but then the Government disallowed them to be imported by anyone except themselves. We now have to BUY what we need from town.

Some of the older children in the photos will have either completed or be in the process of completing their Secondary Education, and some will be going on to College in the New Year. They will continue to live in the Home until they eventually find employment.

Walking in at the main gate, Tyndale Cottage is immediately on the right of the driveway.    Going on up, Jacaranda Cottage is currently on the left  ( it will be move across to the right later)  and then at the far end of the compound is DRAKELEY Cottage on the right.       You will envisage from this that by next year the THREE cottages will be all on the right in a line.     There will still be enough space for play.         On the left of the main gate, opposite Tyndale is the Dairy, and opposite Drakeley is the Poultry Project.

WE WILL NOW MOVE ON to DRAKELEY COTTAGE,  right at the top of the compound as I have described.      We have 2.8 acres within this compound, and it is quite roomy and spacious.   DRAKELEY was built in 2008,   partly with the the assistance of a Legacy, from a very dear friend in Nairobi.   It was named Drakeley in memory of another dear friend of the TFH, Miss. C.M. Drakeley, M.B.E. who died in 2002.     The Drakeley Family had actually begun earlier in La Chacra and another rented property in the locality in September 2001 and only finally moved to the NEW house in March 2008.     Within a year one end of the new house began to SINK and we had to do major works to support the foundation and save the building.  Friends in Northern Ireland were led to offer help to us at this time, quite inspirationally.  Everything is fine now.

FRANCIS AND EUNICE LAHOL are parents in Drakeley Cottage.    Both are in fact trained Chefs, so you can be sure they make sure the food is well cooked and the daily menu well balanced.     Francis also grew up with us in Testimony House, from when he was about 10.   The have two children of their own, a boy and and a girl, and together with the current 33 children with them in the Home, make a very happy and well run family.  Many in their family are quite young still, but there is also a good number in College, and expecting to new join College next year.   Altogether, since the Home began a total of 38 

have been par of the family, including the current 33.     You will see that turnover in any one home is not very high.    This is basically due to the fact that we have taken quite young children - 0 -10 - so that in most cases they stay for up to 18 or more years before having any chance to leave securely and able to earn their own living.

It demands considerable commitment on the part of houseparents and others to provide the security these youngster need in order to feel safe, at least until they are able to find employment.       We also find it impossible, for this reason, to obey Government directives to terminate a child's stay in any one of our homes after they attain the age of 18.      We let them stay until College/University has been concluded, and they have found a job.     They are then able to step out with some confidence..        BUT of course home is always home, and they do, so many of them, often revisit us, even involve us in choosing a partner, and in their Wedding plans.     We are family, and families continue..........

I regret that recently I misplaced my camera, and this has meant I have been unable to take more photos.     As soon as I have rectified this situation I will also put up some INSIDE photos of how our homes look on the inside, and also up to date photos of the Dairy and Poultry Projects.     But NEXT week we will cross back to Testimony House Compound, and take a look at Testimony School which began way back in 1981 as a small private nursery school.


May God richly Bless each one of you as you pray for us in Jesus Name.    Our Father does still hear and answer prayer - it is the ONLY reason why we have continued on for these 45 years, and WILL continue on till He comes.  


John and Esther / Daryl and Carol

CHILDREN'S HOMES ARE BAD !

HERE IS TESTIMONY FAITH HOMES, established forty five years ago in Maseno, Kenya, in 1969, and moved to Eldoret, in Kenya, in 1972.    We occupy some eleven acres of residential land within the precincts of the Town of Eldoret, which has a current population of more than one million.       We have FOUR residential Homes for boys and girls aged 0 -18 and over.    Each Home has up to 40 children each, and is run by a married couple who live in, and operate as a single 'family' (their own children - if they have any - being treated on a par with everyone else  - ONE family living together unitedly).    
We own TWO adjoining plots separated by a 50ft tarmac road.    On the one is ONE Children's Home and a Comprehensive School - Nursery to Secondary).
On the other plot are THREE Children's Homes. There is plenty of recreational land around the Homes, and within the School precincts.      The School opened in 1981 and now has a population of some 650 from the Town coming in daily, and our own 140.      Outsiders PAY a fee to send their child to the School, and this allows us to be given FREE places for our orphans.     Otherwise the School does not offset the cost of running the four Homes, and in fact is run and registered as a 'non-profit making' entity within TFH.       There is a very happy and comfortable atmosphere both in the Homes and the School, and the local population think highly of what we do.    However, we are not financially well supported from the locality, 60% of whom are unemployed without any State assistance.   The State does not assist us either.       Since we opened 348 children have passed through our hands, and we currently care for 138 resident in the four Homes.   A child will stay for approximately 20 years.

BUT TODAY I have read an article which states, generally speaking, that CHILDREN'S HOMES ARE BAD and, by implication, should be done away with.      The Article, by Professor Eric Hartman, Editor of globalsl.org, among other negative comments, states -

'There is ample child health and psychological evidence indicating that 

residential care centres (orphanages) are simply BAD for children.

THAT IS, even in orphanages with full time staff in the best ratios seen around the world,

children do not develop at the same rate as children in foster care or other community centred

alternatives for children lacking  biological parents.'  

'Even in the best circumstances, the institutional structures

of orphanages are, at best  BAD FOR CHILDREN.

Nothing really NEW in this - even Charles Dickens presented a BAD picture of such institutions AND even schools.     No doubt it will have been true - to some degree - about every kind of boarding institution down through the ages.  MAN has not changed!     The BIBLE says he is prone to sin - leans towards, and is attracted to it.    SODOMY for example has been around a long time, and until recently has been disapproved of.  Likewise thieves, murderers, adulterers, slanderers, and yes, even paedophiles have been with us down through the ages.    Are they more commonly found in this Age?    No.      They are just being noticed more.      We are all a Race of Lawbreakers - indeed the Bible agrees with this when it states that we have ALL sinned and followed our own way(opinion).      Should we then ACCEPT it, and just let wrong BE approved?    Surely not.     This is obviously acknowledge by all, in that every Nation on earth has a Police Force to protect us from one another;  Man IS his own worst enemy!   - BUT it is also true of humanity that it often shifts its position to suit itself, as is happening already in respect of Sodomy.   In the 18th and 19th Century Witches were hunted down and burned.    Today you will find them practising their beliefs in shopping malls and advertising in fashionable magazines.        Currently we have decided to concentrate on sexual perversions against children.   On the other hand Adultery is on the increase, even encouraged in our world society,  as also are all kinds of violent crime such as murder and even more perverted atrocity. It is good to recognise it but it would seem these days that we hear of nothing else than Child Abuse.       The result now is a society that has become more and more hamstrung in its human outlook on itself, so that humanity is almost becoming a dirty word. Certainly we are not encouraged to 'believe' in each other until found guilty.      Fathers and Mothers, grandparents, and other family members are all suspect of being possible perverts and are barred from even sticking a plaster on a child's leg, alone.     It is harder and harder to truly LOVE each other today since we are more and more taught to doubt and suspect each other.       SO now Children's Homes must GO.     Such places are nests of iniquity.       On the other hand Prisons, Boarding Schools and even Hospitals can stay - but one wonders for how long.        Family homes are also on the way out, don't you think...?     Marriage is on the way out, faithfulness, honour, and even filial love are all becoming things of the past.........NOWHERE for a child to learn the better things of life - what of the next and future generations.      We are headed for chaos.      BUT,   NASA has noticed a bright LIGHT in the distant cosmos, brighter than the suns of all the Galaxies put together they say - and they do not know what it is!!   Maybe it IS true that Jesus the KING will soon be seen coming in the clouds.    Well, finally I must confess that Professor Hartman does have some fair comment on what can and does happen in SOME institutions.    It is true some make money from children.    It is true that some only want to exploit them.     As part of the Article a very useful Video is included which I believe gives fair warning and observation on the worst scenarios.     However, he makes a GENERAL statement that lumps all Orphanages (Children's Homes) together with little or no suggestion that there are exceptions.     Such Statements can and do change public opinion, and may well in the end affect public charitable support for children in need within the area of residential care.

TESTIMONY FAITH HOMES, seeks to pattern its Children's Homes on God's idea of home and family.     It accepts that such Institutions are not a perfect answer, but neither is Fostering.   Both CAN be exploited and imperfect.      We BELIEVE nonetheless that both can be and ARE still useful in providing care for children in distress.     We do not believe in any sweeping statement that either one are BAD.    This would be in our opinion an ignorant and purely academic viewpoint.   BUT both do need to be supervised and monitored - not an easy task.

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Continuing a Review of Testimony Faith Homes which I began last week with a look at our 2nd Children's Home - Jacaranda Cottage, we shall this week take a look at Testimony House, our FIRST Home, started way back in 1969.     This house was in fact built about a hundred years ago in the Colonial Era, of mud and wattle.    It is quite an historical house, built by a family of Boers from the Cape Province of South Africa who trekked up from the Cape around 1908. They were a family of husband and wife and seven daughters.   They were farmers.   The house contains seven bedrooms, one of which is that of the Houseparents Hesketh and Alice Muli.      The others accommodate up to 40 children (boys and girls) at any time.       Since the Home began in August 1969,  more than 170 children have come and gone, and currently further 37 are resident in that Home.
Dad and Mum Muli have been houseparents for some 9 years now, and they have done well, together with their own three children, to become one with the rest of the family of children they found here.
Daryl, our son, and his wife Carol were also houseparents before them for 8 years, and Esther and I preceded them both for 28 years from the time we began.     It has been a happy house and family, and this is proved, as also with the other three Homes, by the many old boys and girls that come to visit and remember their days here.   They come often with their own wife or husband and children to prove where they grew up and so on.     Many good times to look back on - even when money was short.     We were always a family.
Testimony House was the ONLY house from 1969 until 1974 when we began to rent a house of similar age just across the road from us (Jacaranda).        From the time we began we had made sure with the Kenya Children's Department that we would only accept children who had lost both parents.
In 1969 there were quite enough of them.     But later as more and more people flocked to town life from the country a greater incidence of Single-parenthood began, until at last we began also to take in children with just one parent as well.         BUT if that parent was able to support herself  enough to provide shelter and food, we did not bring her child IN as a resident, but perhaps helped her to send the child to school if the NEED presented itself.        We have the majority of children still having lost both parents either from illness and death, accident, or plain desertion.        WE would not give a home to a child who already had viable home and family of its own.      The Kenya Government supports us in this.      During the 45 years gone by only two of our girls in Testimony House became pregnant (and not from 'in house'), and only three of our boys returned to the Streets!       Two of those who ran away have recently returned to visit us and to tell us of the hardships they faced on leaving us - and to THANK us for trying to help them !

All those who have so far left Testimony House have initially found employment.     Some did subsequently lose that first job, but most have been able to recover and continue employment.   Not all had academic ability and so we have quite a variety of employments engaged in by past children.
Some are now respected Teachers, Accountants, Medical Officers, Business Managers, and others are shop assistants, labourers, drivers, clerks, chefs, and so on.   The majority married and have their own families.  And most are still in touch with us all.    In this photo, taken at Esther's 70th Birthday Party in August this year, to which more than 100 old boys and girls attended, we can see a group ALL of whom, (with the exception of Lucky who is seen standing centre in white shirt - he grew up in Drakeley Cottage),  grew up in Testimony House between 1972 until circa 1996. In the Back row from the left is Rev. Anthony Kiprotich, now married with two kids, pastor of one of the largest Churches in Nairobi,   Richard Ochieng, married with three children, a Business man in Eldoret, (then Lucky) then Pastor Christopher Kipkosgei, married with two kids. a pastor in Eldoret Town, and lastly Michael Green, married with one son, working as a Computer Program Manager in South of England.
On the front row is Francis Lahol, married with two children, currently Houseparent of Drakeley Cottage and also a trained Chef.   Then Daryl Green, married with three kids, currently Director of TFH, then David Koech, married with three kids, an Accountant working in the U.S.A. and also in Nairobi, Kenya. and finally Steven Green, married with two kids and working in Computer, self employed, in the North of England.       All still friends and family to us and to each other.   That is a Testimony in itself - but is in fact only part of a GREATER one involving the Children and Staff of all four of our Children's Homes.
WE DO NOT SAY we have lived always perfectly together, or not made any errors, but we DO SAY that we do not see that what has been experienced, and remembered has been BAD.     No there can be no doubt each may have been discontented at some time, but no more than members of any ordinary family living in their own home with their own family members.      We have confidence in ourselves that with God's help and guidance, we have in the main succeeded in what we set out to be - the provision of what was most needed by children who have lost their own home and family - that is A HOME AND FAMILY they can call their own.         We are not ashamed of being poor, multi racial,  at one time lost and despised orphans - NO God kept and will always keep His Word to US, and be a Father to us, and provide mothers, fathers, brothers and sisters in abundance, as well as food and shelter.    HE IS MORE FAITHFUL,,,,,,,LOVING AND KIND than any.     HE provides the only real foundation of Security that any one actually needs.       We will give HIM all the honour and glory for what has been, and is being, done here.    

NEXT WEEK I will cross the road with you all to visit Drakeley and Tyndale Cottage Homes which were built in 2007/8 and make up our 3rd and 4th Homes.     Then perhaps, later on, we will take a look at the School that we began in 1983 fourteen years after TFH began.        We want to make sure we do not hide our light under any bushel - so for a while expect to hear ONLY about Testimony Faith Homes
a Children's Home that is GOOD!

Much Love to you all in Jesus name, and thanks to all those who hosted and assisted Miriam and Joshua as they were visiting England recently.     They and their ministry are very close to our hearts, Miriam having joined TFH as a little girl of 7,   and gone on with Jesus to have her own dear family, and to be involved together with her husband in helping to care residentially for unwanted children.

Sincerely

John,Esther, and Daryl Green

TIMES CHANGE ...........

TO DAY, as days and weeks turn into months and years, THINGS are changing!   AND not always for the GOOD.    We had reported some two years back that the Government was trying to push through a Bill which would affect the income of non-government organisation from overseas.     At the time there was a lot of opposition and the Bill dropped out of sight - THIS WEEK  it is back again.   In Tuesday's Daily Nation we find on page 9 the headline -
NGOs fault foreign funding rule.

'Draft law seeks to limit cash, 

from international donors, 

to only 15% of organisations budget.'

Behind this is a determined effort by Government to profit from overseas donations that so far pass through the hands of NGOs.     It seems Government expects Donors to still send whatever they have previously sent, but direct to a central collecting Office in Nairobi.     This Office would then send on to the NGO 15%  of their declared Budget, and keep the rest!!       There is of course a continuing outcry AGAINST this.   If it is not heard, then it is obvious that many NGO's will have to pull out - we would be one of them.

Government says they want to encourage NGOs to develop internal sources of self sustaining income in an effort to assist develop job opportunities etcetera.       For some of the richer NGOs this 'might' be a possibility, but for the small charity it would be out of the question.      Currently NGOs nation wide receive some Ksh. 300bn annually.   It is very unlikely that the Government is thinking of handing out the 75% they hope to keep for themselves.     This would without doubt mean that the poor will be the more deprived than they already are.      NGOs would pull out and take their aid and services with them.       All of this I have noted before.       I REGRET that the Government is STILL pursing such strategies.     I regret their disinterest in the welfare of their own poor and needy.

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 YOU WILL RECOGNISE 'Jacaranda Cottage".
The photo is recent, and was taken from directly opposite to it, on the other side of the drive way.
Exactly, God Willing, from where we hope the NEW House will be built.     We hope the ground will be cleared and the foundations in by the New Year.    
For those who have lived in Jacaranda since 1975 when we first took it over, it will have both good and bad memories.   It IS also an OLD house, as houses go, in Eldoret.   It has its own history.     However, is not a well planned house, and that part of it to the left and centre of the photo is fragile, being made of mud and wattle.
We had planned to knock it down partially, leaving the right hand - breeze block - intact as a Store and Laundry.     108 boys and girls have been at home in this house, including some 37 who are currently resident there as in the photo to the left.     Not all look forward to the change.
BUT the NEW Jacaranda will be just a little bigger, much easier to run and much brighter.
Situated between the two new Cottages of Tyndale and Drakely built in 2007/8 it will form a pleasant row of houses on the pattern of Green Cottage, where Esther and I live.

One thing is sure, and that is that Joseph and Beatrice Rop, who are Dad and Mum in Jacaranda, will be MUCH happier to leave the comparative gloom and inconvenience of the old for the NEW.

THERE is also a suggestion (by our Australian friends that visit with a Team of Students and staff annually), that if it might be possible to re-arrange and convert the OLD house it might be usable as a Hostel for the Team when it is here, and thereafter as an occasional Guest House for those visiting, or wanting to have a Retreat or place to relax.      We have passed this idea on to those who are putting up the funds to build the NEW house, and they have assured us they would be happy if this could happen without further expense to ourselves.     At least this decision has time to be considered since nothing will happen to the present building, and none of the children will move, until AFTER the New one is up and ready for habitation - probably sometime in March / April 2015. Hope you will all be praying along with us as building commences, and we consider change and resettlement.

RIGHT NOW our Secondary School Form 4 students are sitting their National Exam.   NEXT WEEK the Primary School Class 8 students will sit for their own National Exam, closing their time in Primary.     THEN the School will shut for the Summer - and we will commence the long 8 week holiday!!   So far the weather is very good, and at least this year, for the first time, we have the full use of the Swimming Pool to help out with recreational activities.  
Last year Kenya suffered a sudden increase in Examination Abuse - more exam questions, even whole Papers, leaked, and especially by mobile phone.    This resulted in our School banning mobiles on campus, but it has in fact not been easy to enforce.      THIS year the problem has continued, and the PRESS has again drawn attention to it.    It is not merely a case of students cheating, but even Teachers and HEAD Teachers are involved in passing on information illegally.     Some have already found themselves in prison.      MOBILE phones my be very convenient and attractive but they are a greater evil than a blessing in the general sense.    I noticed today on SKY that there is discussion as to whether or not such phones are not replacing the art of normal conversation.   I believe they are, and at the same time changing our social behaviour for the worse.    Certainly they are being well used in co-ordinating crime.       I have one myself.     I rarely use it, and much of the time I switch it off in order not be interrupted in other social behaviour.     It otherwise cuts into conversation, into the business of Preaching and Teaching and so on, and so on.
This week one of our own students (not from the Homes) was found with a full answer sheet to an exam whilst attempting the Paper.     He was taken out of the exam and he will not be allowed to re-attempt it - though he will still be able to complete his remaining Papers.     After all has been completed the National Council will review his case - a long process.   We hope he will be our only case this year.

May God Bless you all, each one, as you pray on for us and for the children in our care.    WE lift up our hearts to God for you every day in Thanksgiving and Fellowship.

John and Esther

BRIDGING THE GAP ..?

THIRD TIME LUCKY?    Well, shall we just say that I seem to be back on track this week, and that I just found myself with less time than usual to put pen to paper.      We have been going through a rather difficult time, and somehow 'tip-toeing through the tulips'.     A LOT of prayer in progress among us all, and we sense the world around us is changing, and becoming more and more challenging, both materially and morally.      Just found myself in a bit of a whirl - but still being held tightly by the Hand that is promised NEVER to let go of me.    Yes. JESUS was there with us all, and continues to be so - till He COMES, and sweeps us into His Arms on that Great and Wonderful Day.

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ON THE 12TH October Esther and I were Guests at the 30th Anniversary of the Founding of Sirikwa Fellowship in 1984.     A group of us in those days had felt of the Lord to initiate a new Pentecostal Inter Church Fellowship.   It began with a Townwide Crusade, and then initial Sunday Meetings in the Sirikwa Hotel in Eldoret Town.       I was one of the Speakers at that ground breaking Crusade, and another of us, who was at that time working with Testimony Faith Homes - Bob Grahamslaw, was also present from the UK for this Occasion.   The Fellowship has expanded since then, and we were celebrating in the 2nd Church in Eldoret with a united congregation of more than 1500 souls.

It was a real JOY to be there and to be part of that celebration, even though we do not worship with them on a weekly basis.     Rick and Carol Koetz are still part of the Fellowship and we see them often at the Missionary Prayer Fellowship.

A LOT OF MEMORIES flowed and for us it was a special happiness to be with Bob and Joy Grahamslaw who were for a short time Houseparents in Jacaranda Cottage.   Bob and I were among the many Speakers for the Day, and it was truly a very wonderful and blessed Day that glorified the Lord to the full.  We spent most of the Day there - Daryl also with us - enjoying the Program, the Food, and the general Family of Jesus.   My own contribution was somewhat brief -

THIRTY is said to be the Prime Year for a Man, and probably for a Woman also; the year of maturity.  In the Old Testament a Priest was consecrated at 30.
'JESUS was said to be thirty when He began His ministry.   That year He turned water into wine and entered a new phase of life.  And Mary said 'Whatever He tells you to do, DO IT."   However unlikely, however ridiculous, DO IT.     John 2v5.   What was Jesus doing for the previous 30 years?   He was growing up!   He was preparing and getting ready for His Life's Work.   Getting ready to change the world, and our lives.    In the light of this it would seem that TODAY is not so much a 'bench-mark' of what Sirikwa Fellowship has attained or accomplished, but rather their GRADUATION DAY.
Tomorrow is a whole NEW deal.   Now has come the time, fully fledged, to FLY - and GO forth into a new chapter of life and experience.   THIS is for Sirikwa Fellowship for Sirikwa Fellowship right now.
I wonder if the Fellowship, or any one of you here today, has a Strategic Plan for the future?
Its very much in vogue these days - to have such a Plan.     Really since you have reached 30 years what have you done, where are WE all going?     Are we following Christ's EXAMPLE?    Or are we just putting on our 'Gradulation Robe' every day, believing we have got it all - resting on our 'laurels' and yesterday's experience?    NO, surely this should not be the case. We are at the Beginning today! It has to be bigger, better and even more challenging tomorrow!   And the TIME to accomplish it all may be short;  Jesus only had THREE years.    RISE, SHINE, FOLKS!   NOW is the TIME to reveal yourselves as a 'Body' in which Christ has come of Age.
Be very bold and courageous, knowing that God is IN you, and with you in all that you do.   
WHATEVER He now tells you to do  -  DO IT, with all your heart, and mind, and strength.'

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RECENTLY  I wrote to friends in the UK, asking those who pray for us to somehow do what they could to increase AWARENESS, among their friends and acquaintances, about the work and ministry WE are engaged in here in Testimony Faith Homes.      We suggested that perhaps one or another might join together in starting a Prayer Group.         We have never travelled abroad from here to raise funds, trusting rather in the Lord to hear our prayer and to provide our needs.       After 45 years of reaching out to homeless and helpless children here, and having seen more than three hundred and fifty come and go out from us into the Kenyan society,  we are still virtually unknown.

We have never made any real effort to advertise ourselves.      TO-DAY we have about two hundred names of people who have ever written or passed by whilst travelling in Kenya, including those who have come to be aware of us in Kenya herself.       Of those we actually hear from there are less than 40 on a regular basis.      

The work has grown over the years.      Starting with a handful of children, we now care for, on average, about 140 boys and girls for 0 -  18, providing by God's Grace, shelter, food, clothing, education and all the other things a child might expect to receive in a loving caring family.      GOD, by His Holy Spirit has not failed to keep us and to provide all these needs.         We have a Testimony, and we are not ashamed of it.        BUT we feel we have reached a time when we have felt the Spirit pushing us to spread knowledge of us, and share our knowledge of God's Faithfulness - and who better than those who KNOW us to help us accomplish this.         HOWEVER, although almost ALL those we KNOW have written back applauding the 'idea', we find all are feeling bound from interacting in this matter due to advancing years or just plain 'too busy-ness'.     Some have even felt we are begging for money in a round about way.    Well we understand it may seem like that to some.    However,  this is not so.    

We now, through this Blog, want to extend our plea to ALL those who may be tuned into it, to perhaps join us in expanding knowledge of us.     We have never and will not APPEAL for money; this is not an appeal for money - It IS an appeal to spread the Testimony of what God has done, and is doing here so that more people can also learn to trust and believe God for themselves, knowing that He is THERE, and that He Hears and Answers prayers - not just ours, but anybody's.       Of course it is true that the more people that come to know about us may potentially hear from God via His Holy Spirit, to help us in some way - but WE are not asking them.    WE are asking God, and He alone is the one that might stir anyone to be concerned for us.     We DO have an illustrated pamphlet about the ministry here - if any of you might like to receive one and perhaps copy and hand it out, please let us know and we will send one to you via E-mail.

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LAST SUNDAY our own Fellowship Dedicated more than two dozen babies and young children from Testimony Faith Homes.      One of our Old Boys, Moses Ongonga, now a senior pastor in Eldoret came to give the word and lay hands on each innocent head.    It was a very beautiful Service, affecting all four of our Homes.   Rev. Moses and his wife Miriam stayed for lunch with me and Esther afterwards, and we had a very happy and joyful time together remembering the years gone by.
ONE OF THOSE DEDICATED, was baby Abigail, our daughter, Helen's baby girl now 8 months.   She was only 5 months when the photo was taken, and has grown apace since then.

These days she does not cry at all at night, and sleeps right through.    She is a really pleasant child, with a good sense of humour, and very intelligent.

Her Mum, Helen, is 25 this coming Monday, looking to re-start her career as a Pre-primary Teacher, as a single parent probably far from home.    Please pray for her that the Lord finds a safe and happy chance for her.     Well, but she is not expecting to leave us before the New Year, and indeed we know we shall miss her AND baby Abygail.    She has really found a place in our hearts.

Indeed every week now we are meeting new 'grandchildren' as boys and girls now grown up, married and fuilding families drop in to visit, and reminisce about their time here, living in one or another of the four Homes.  It is GOOD to see them making out, and a joy to our hearts that they remember those that brought them up, and still pray along for them.

This must be all for this week.    I shall be speaking tomorrow at the Fellowship,,,,,, and in the afternoon we shall be having a special Meeting for Married Couples, and then later about 6pm there will be the Missionary Fellowship ...a full day.....a day with Jesus in the midst.     Love you all

John and Esther

A GLIMPSE OF WHAT WE SHOULD BE LIKE

FRIENDS AND FOLLOWERS!

THIS WEEK THERE WILL BE NO UPDATE OF THE BLOG

due to other activities and business that take me away from my desk.

In the Meantime

why not meditate on the words below, as I am..

Sounds good - but not easy to actually DO.   Try it out

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Romans 12v10-21 - Amplified Bible Translation

v.10   LOVE ONE ANOTHER (as members of one family),

giving precedence and showing honour to one another.

v.11   NEVER LAG IN ZEAL and in earnest endeavour;

be aglow and burning with the Spirit,

serving the Lord.

v.12   REJOICE and exult in hope; 

be steadfast and patient in suffering and tribulation;

be constant in prayer.

v.13   CONTRIBUTE to the needs of God's people

(sharing the necessities of the saints)

pursue the practise of hospitality.

v.14   BLESS those who persecute you

(who are cruel in their attitude toward you);

bless and do not curse them.

v.15   REJOICE with those who rejoice; (sharing others' joy),

and weep with those who weep (sharing others grief).

v.16   LIVE in harmony with one another;

do not be haughty, snobbish, high-minded, exclusive,

but readily adjust yourself to people and things 

and give yourselves to humble tasks.

Never be wise or overestimate your own opinions.

v.17   REPAY no one evil for evil,

but take thought for what is honest and proper, and noble

(aiming to be above reproach)

 in the sight of everyone.

v.18   IF POSSIBLE, as far as it depends on you,

live at peace with everyone.

v.19   BELOVED, never avenge yourselves,

but leave the way open for God's wrath;

 for it is written Vengeance is Mine, I will repay, says the Lord.

v.20   BUT if your enemy is hungry, feed him;

if he is thirsty, give him drink...........!

v.21   DO NOT let yourself be overcome by evil,

 but overcome evil with good.

INTO THE JAWS OF DEATH RODE THE SIX HUNDRED!!

YES!   THIS IS A DEPICTION of the Charge of The Light Brigade, and every time I see or hear of it I am personally reminded of School Examination days, the preparation, the apprehension, and very often the total mental pandemonium of my mind as I ploughed through the Paper in front of me.

CANON to right of them,

Canon to left of them,

Canon in front of them,

Volleyed and thundered;

Stormed at with shot and shell

Boldly they rode and well, 

Into the jaws of Death

Into the mouth of Hell

Rode the six hundred

And scarcely has such a terrible scene been painted in words than this singular Cavalry Charge against an enemy.    Alfred Lord Tennyson wrote it, commemorating the Battle of Balaclava in the Crimean Wars between Great Britain and Russia in the 1850s.     It has always reminded me of my School days and especially of Examination Days.    Those Days which always seemed to come unexpectedly and yet so compellingly.    Days that dawned with apprehension, if not terror for me.   Squeezed into a small space, with teachers shouting instructions, handing out papers, and the noise of scraping desks and chairs mixed with confused and excited chatter from my classmates tended to silence ME into horrified paralysis.       It was not of course a BATTLE or a battlefield - but for me it well might have been, and I was irresistibly caught up in what could easily have been a charge toward certain death.     Too melo-dramatic?    Probably, but to day sixty years later I look at our students in Testimony School - the Secondary School  Form 1V final Government Examination candidates - and I can see many of them are also terrified.      Their usual high spirits and bonhomie suddenly replaced with a kind of hunted look, as of a person seeking a way out of certain death!

TODAY is the Prayer Day in our School for the Secondary Candidates as they prepare for the FIRST of the many Papers to be attempted next week.       We - Esther and I, and our Houseparents - gathered in the School Hall with many other parents from the area, together with Teachers and the Candidates.

WE gathered to pray for the Candidates all between 17 and 19 boys and girls, and to encourage and strengthen them as they faced the greatest Challenge so far in their young lives.    It was a good time.

In their uniform blazers and grey skirts or trousers, trim, smart and regimented they looked every inch ready for the worst!           At times it all seems so useless an exercise.    With opportunities to find chances in University or College more and more competitive, and with Unemployment continuing to rise, many of our young people succeed in passing exams only to find no one has anything for them to DO.       And if this is the picture for the successful, what of those who die on the field of battle - who do not make the Grade - they will be dead almost before they begin.        

DO YOU BEGIN to get some idea of what it is to be growing up in an aspiring Country that is always telling its people that 'Things' are improving; the economy is in recovery, and soon there will be work for all and more money for all. And it looks good on paper, and sounds good to hear we are no longer part of the Third World, but claiming our advent into the 1st!      YET the reality is that this IS a poor Nation and the majority of its citizens contend and struggle with poverty increasingly day in and day out.

WELL dear ones, this is all for this week,     We did not finish with the School  Prayer Time till 1p.m. and I still have a Sermon to complete for tomorrow.     Continue to pray for us in the light of what I shared last week.       God Bless you, and BE with you day by day.

John and Esther