UPDATE

SATURDAY, 29TH MARCH 2008

 

It is a WET and VERY COLD day at the commencement of the Rainy Season.  The usually azure sky is grey and dull.   It is quite amazing how the withdrawing of the SUN and blue sky change the very tone and character of the day.     The warmth and uplifting joy of the LIGHT has been removed and we are left with a coldness and drabness that is comfortless.       Is this how the still hundreds of thousands of our people in Kenya feel at this time - away from their homes, strangers in their own land, and almost despised.       Smiles have gone from faces that habitually were given to laughter,  and a jaunty and confident demeanor replaced by a furtive dejectedness.

The RAINS have certainly helped to compound the discomfort and despair of the many still in Camps and Detention Centres.     Eldoret's numbers have reduced from within the Show Ground.     It is said that less then 12,000 are there now  -   those who crammed its confines a week ago have been relocated in smaller camps, nearer the localities from which they were originally evicted or chased, under the eye of the Police.     But it is not just those in the camps.    The majority of those forced to leave their homes are not camped in communal grounds but dossed down with distant relatives or friends with no way of restarting their lives, and often unwanted burdens to those they now live with.     In Nairobi the Dumb & Dee brigade continue to spend money on the pretence of government, unable to apparently decide the most simple matters necessary to putting in place a stable administration and economy.    Truly the SUN is obscured in Kenya.

 

Esther and I were invited to have supper in Drakeley Cottage - one of the four Children's Homes in TFH.      Steve Situma and his wife Emily are Dad and Mum in this Home.  Steve is an Old Boy and was in fact brought up in Testimony House from when he was ten years old.    He is 37 now.    He and Emily have one son of 4, and a larger family of six girls and 19 boys between the ages of 2 and 16 years.      On the dining room wall is a pictorial memorial of Caroline Martha Drakeley MBE and Matilda Dawkins who both in different ways contributed to the conception and building of this Home.

We had barely entered when we were both surrounded by the family all greeting 'Grandpa and Grandma' and wanting hugs and kisses.     Such a very happy and normal pack of kids, very much ' at home' and secure in and with their surroundings.     It was a special evening.     Two long trestle tables were set in the Dining room, and we all sat together for a satisfying supper of meat, vegetables and chapatti, with fruit salad to follow.     It is not possible to have individual Birthdays for each child on their individual days.   However, everyone IS remembered, and each month the Birthdays in that month are celebrated on one particular day.     Each one will have their cake, and candles lit, Happy Birthday sung, and the cake divided and enjoyed with the rest of the family.     Three were to celebrated that night.      It was a truly 'family' occasion and looking around me I suddenly felt such a thanksgiving for what the Lord has accomplished over the years in providing such safe havens for our children.

We stayed on until about 10am.    Most of the children had gone to bed - the majority are under 12 - and we were able to have a little time of fellowship with Steve and Emily.       There was a 'Peace' about the house, and about our being together.   It was something beautiful to contemplate and I remembered the words of Keats in Endymion

'A thing of beauty is joy for ever:

its loveliness increases:

it will never pass into nothingness......'

 

Truly it is not only that which is material which may be seen as something beautifull and able to bring a sense of joy and appreciation to the beholder.     There are those moments and spiritual apprehensions that also reveal beauty, the contemplation and remembrance of which also stir JOY in ones heart and mind.    Moments that will never pass completely away into nothingness.       Steve had remarked that evening that he had tried to make their home and family as ours had been together when he was growing up in Testimony House.     He had more than succeeded I think, and even emulated those memories in something perhaps even more beautiful.

 

BUT THE MOST BEAUTIFUL IS GOD!

Lord of all being, throned afar,

Thy glory flames from sun and star:

Centre and soul of every sphere,

Yet to each loving heart how near!

 

Sun of our life, they quickening ray

Sheds on our path the glow of day:

Star of our hope, thy softened light

cheers the long watches of the night.

 

Our midnight is thy smile withdrawn:

Our noontide is thy gracious dawn;

Our rainbow arch thy mercy's sign;

All, save the clouds of sin, are thine!

 

Lord of all life, below, above,

Whose light is truth, whose warmth is love,

Before thy ever-blazing throne

We ask no lustre of our own.

 

Grant us thy truth to make us free,

And kindling hearts that burn for thee,

Till all thy loving altars claim

One holy light, one heavenly flame!

                                                     Oliver Wendell Holmes

 

Our love to you all

 

John and Esther

 

 

 

 

 

   

 

Dispensing of Aid

TESTIMONY FAITH HOMES

Statement of Aid Given Out

29th December to 20th March 2008

relative to political and ethnic disturbances suffered

 

During this period TFH received a number of designated donations from brothers and sisters in Christ living in the UK, and in Australia in addition to donations sent in for its own General Expences.  

TFH has, since its beginnings, always set aside 10% of any Income received for itself as a Tithe which is then used for assisting the general poor in their locality.     Funds received and set aside to Relieve those who have been caused loss and even destitution during these recent Troubles in and around Eldoret have been deposited in the same way and used together with the Tithe from our own income as outlined below.

 

Many of you have asked for a detailed account of how your Gift for Relief Aid has actually been spent...    This may be difficult to list individually as Gifts have come in at different times over the period and have been set aside in a special fund and then spent as the need arose.     This has meant that at times donations may have been spent to offset different needs all together.     HOWEVER, we are able to show exactly how much has been spent on different aspects of Relief, and the numbers involved.       We hope this will give a clear picture of how much HAS in fact been achieved by you all, together

 

Of course we are very willing to answer any further query you may have -

 

 

GENERAL FINANCIAL INFORMATION

 

Designated Income for Relief = £7934

TFH Tithe on Gen. Income for the same period = £2219

TOTAL DISPENSED FOR RELIEF AID

    £10,153

 

Detail of How this Money was Spent

1.   TFH extra expences in Admitting, fitting out, and generally caring for

TEN total orphans from the Displaced Persons Camp = £1134

The parents of these children were killed in the disturbances.  No other relative has so far been discovered willing to care for them

 

2.   Cost to TFH of caring for more than 100 Displaced persons who had to leave their homes and possessions in fear of their lives.   They resided within our Compound for more than one month, and were fed, clothed and generally cared

for  =  £2308

We helped them to finally return to their homes if that was possible or otherwise assist them in resttling in a new location.

 

3.   Cost of providing articles of School uniform including footware to 140 boys and girls all resident in the Sugoi PCEA Children's Home which was burn down in the Trouble = £538. 

These children are STILL camping out in the PCEA Church main compound in Eldoret, but are now settled in Town Schools for their education (their own School was also burned down with the Home)    They will not be able to return to their old site, and may seek to rebuild their complex within the Town Centre.

They have a sponsore in Germany who will assist them to do this.

 

4.   Cost of providing ONE SEMISTER'S College Fees to TEN teenagers who were unable to continue their Course due to having all they had either burned or in other ways destroyed during the Trouble.    Some of these had also lost their parents = £1625

We have a note of each of these young people, and we shall expect to do what we can to assist them to complete their Courses.

 

5.   Cost of providing two change of clothing, footware, basic furniture including bedding,  necessary cooking and eating utensils to more than 60 people whose homes had been raised to the ground and their contents burned = £4548

The majority have had to seek alternative places to re-settle due to the continued animosity of their neighbours and the fear of further antagonism if they return to their burned out homes.

 

ALL TOGETHER more than 320 individuals have been assisted.

Many of these have been members of our own general staff, but a great number also from outside of Testimony Faith Homes 

 

 

THIS MAY NOT SEEM VERY MANY comparedd to the tens of thousands actually affected and still affected.      We know that others may have given LESS assistance to HUNDREDS more than we have done.       BUT we feel that those we have helped, have been helped ONWARDS and in ways that enabled them to find ongoing security or the ability to get up and find it.        NONE are as well off as they were (and many were already poor) but they are at least having hope and motivation more than they had, and also making recovery.

 

We THANK you all for your contributions that has made this possible

WE ourselves were kept all this time, as you all know, and we have felt very priviledged to see the Love of God enabling even us to be able to reach out with you all.    

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

EASTER

EASTER SATURDAY 2008

Our Good Friday was grey and wet this year. But although the School was shut over the weekend, the Church Service was reasonably full, and the Lord was wonderfully present as children, staff and outside members of the Fellowship shared and took part in the Meeting, with song, exhortation and testimony...... it was good especially to see so many of our children ready to stand and identify with the Saviour. I spoke briefly on the amazing quality of our Father's Love that caused Jesus to offer His Own Life to save us.
Later the JESUS film based on Luke's Gospel was shown in all four Homes, and there were fellowships and prayer.

TODAY is the day in between - the dark night before the glorious dawn. A quiet day
when life goes on, and we shall meet each other and there will be talk of the One we Love.

IN TODAY'S PAPER I read the following -

FORGIVENESS, repentance and reconciliation dominated Easter Sermons across the country yesterday (Good Friday). Religious Leaders deplored the violence that was witnessed during and after the December 27th elections, and said Kenyans should never again allow electoral politics to divide them
They asked the faithful to embrace virtues such as loving one another, to prmote national cohesion.

It is strange how the media report things, and even stranger how they phrase things.

Who are these 'faithful' and to what are they faithful? Are they in fact Christians - are they faithful to Christ or to the Church? Are they referring to those who think of themselves as Christians regardless of denomination, or to those of one particular group? Either way they could merely be referring to the adherants of the 'Church' as an organisation. Then to say that such people should embrace virtues 'like' loving one another. It would of course be something wonderful to behold if the 88% or so of Kenya's population that refer to themselves as 'Christian' actually DID love one another, but those genuinely in the Ministry would say that less than 2% are actually concerned with LIVING THE LIFE of Christ, thus leaving some 80% having the name but without substance. TRULY the Faithful in and to Christ OUGHT ALL TO LOVE ONE ANOTHER in word and deed. Our Lord Himself stated that those that were truly HIS would be known (shown up to belong to Him) by their love for each other - a love just like His Own.

Then the question rises should such love be 'embraced' or should it in any case come upon us as Christ Himself enters into us by His Spirit? Should not such love actually be irristibly growing in a true Christian committed to following after His Steps?

If we are NOT so striving to let His Love flow out to others in the same Faith, our own position needs to stand in question. Without Love we are nothing. Without Love we have nothing. And the QUALITY of that Love has to match the Love with which we ourselves are loved by God the Father, and through Him, by Christ Himself upon the Cross.

The fact is in Kenya, and all over our planet, men and women that have taken Christ into their lives still often dilute HIS love with their own 'conditional love' dependant on their own traditions, human and personal inclinations and feelings. We all find it a challenge to love one another (even within the Family) unconditionally as WE ourselves are loved. One would think we all are all without sin at times! How far each one of us really is from true 'perfection'. We seem to take it for granted that because Christ died and rose again, that our manifold sins are overlooked and of little account; we are cleansed........ BUT ARE WE PERFECT? Can we afford to be arrogant and judgmental in our relationships with each other? Do we not ALL now still need to be forgiven - YES YOU AND I NEED TO BE FORGIVEN till the Trumpet sounds, and in the Great Mercy and Grace of God we are finally and forever CHANGED. Till then I need to actively and practically LOVE my brother and sister in christ, and my neighbour also, as myself.

OUR GENERATION is DARK and the work of our Enemy almost complete in overwhelming the Goodness of God. A generation has begun that hardly knows the name of Joseph!! The Disciple of the Lord has great need to be SEEN and HEARD wherever he or she goes. We need to be LIGHT. We need to keep our HEAD above water, and refuse to be washed away.

AND MOST OF ALL we need to rally each other by ensuring that we do not lose sight of the need to be in touch with each other.

Those first brothers and sisters of ours in the early Church, were daily in touch with each other. Remembering Christ's Love and Sacrifice together, rejoicing, exhorting and encouraging each other......looking all the time for His Coming. Today we have the E-mail, mobile phones that link so many of us without taking a step outside our homes and offices. We still meet together once in a while, but we could be in touch, and ought to be in touch more and more (not with ALL the Family of course but at least with our own close circle - remembering that each one in the circle has his or her own circle so that the effect finally entertains EVERYONE.

Come brethren let me encourage you. Reach out to others of a like mind and lift up Christ - Let us not be ashamed to BE part of each other's life and testimony.

@@@@@@@@@@@@

MORE THAN THIRTY THOUSAND still languish in the Eldoret Show Ground apparantly destitute and on the run from their fears. Now with the onset of the Rainy season we may also have to grapple with the possibility of disease and sickness adding to their misery.

This week TFH has taken a family of four children into care. All living with their grandparents in one tent at the Show Ground. Their parents had died, and their aged grandparents home was burned to the ground in the Trouble. Both of them are over 80. Two boys 7 and 9 and two girls 12 and 14. The Girls have gone into Jacaranda Cottage and one each of the boys into Drakely and Tyndale. The Homes are now MORE than full to capacity having 145 + in residence. We have now taken more than 10 children from the Show Ground - all orphans - since January began. The Children's Forum have taken another 40 or so between the different Homes represented. Hardly noticeable against the numbers still left there. Still the Lord knows. At least SOME have found home and safety, and MORE IMPORTANT an opportunity to grow in the knowledge of the Saviour.

We have had one or two letters asking why we do not share more about financial need and costs. We have always felt a need NOT to do this unless we are specifically asked to do so privately,. Our testimony has always been that the Lord is the one who hears our prayers and sees our need, and that if we made all this known and advertised it would be harder to give HIM all the honour and glory due to Him. But we are and always have been willing to share if asked specifically on any issue privately for the purpose of private prayer. We have no wish to be seen as 'secretive' or deceptive in any way - but we do feel that He wants us to continue in honesty and sincerety trusting in Matthew 6v6 as a means of revealing His Reallity to all men.

We have also been having quite a lot of requests for photos.

We would suggest that if you have need of photos please get in touch with our son Steven or with Ian Hogley - addresses and contach here below.

STEVEN GREEN E-mail S1green@onetel.net.uk

IAN HOGLEY E-mail ianhogley@ntlworld,com

This must be all for today. Esther and I are about to go across to Tyndale Cottage to have fellowship with the 'family' there for an hour or two. Must take an umbrella - it looks like a downpour again any time.

God Bless you all

John and Esther and all at TFH

Fw: EASTER GREETINGS

 

----- Original Message -----

From: John Green

Sent: Friday, March 21, 2008 7:43 PM

Subject: EASTER GREETINGS

LOVING EASTER GREETINGS TO YOU ALL!!

 

'There was no other good enough

to pay the price of sin;

He only could unlock the gates of heaven

and let us in

 

No one on Earth at any time could by any means

redeem his brother, nor give to God a Ranson for any!

It would be too much needed not merely to purchase a life,

but to also secure it's ongoing security for Eternity

Psalm 49v7-9

 

ONLY JESUS

CAN SAVE US AND GIVE US LIFE.

 

And HE entering into His Father's Love for us

offered Himself voluntarily

to come down to where we each one was

to pay the full price of our Redemption out of the hand of the Enemy

 

He did not purchase us with money

but with His Own Life - but with His Own BLOOD. 

 

Our Selfishness

cost GOD His Life

THAT

is how much He Loves us

 

Shall we then continue to live for ourselves and the pleasing of our flesh?

Shall we stir up His Indignation against us?

GOD FORBID that we should so continue in sin.

For should we do so there is no more Forgiveness

Hebrews 10v26-27

 

Let us AWAKE and put on CHRIST

Let us LIVE the Life He has Bought for us

REMEMBERING

that I am

NOT MY OWN

But saved by Jesus, Who redeemed me by His Blood;

Gladly I accept the message, I belong to Christ the lord.

NOT MY OWN

to Christ, my Saviour, I, believing, trust my soul;

Everything to Him committed, While eternal ages roll.

NOT MY OWN

My time, my talent,Freely all to Christ I bring:

To be used in joyful service, For the glory of the king.

                                                                          D. W. WHITTLE.

 

 

 

LAST NIGHT, on Thursday, Esther and I brought our Houseparents all together with us for a time of Fellowship and Breaking of Bread.     The Spirit of God descended upon us and moved us mightily as we sensed the Presence of God amongst us.  We

are believing that this prelude to our Easter will herald His Greater Presence amongst all our children and other staff that make up the Testimony Faith Homes Family.

 

God be with you to Bless and awaken you all to His Love more than ever before, and thus encourage you all to rededicate and recommitt your life and service to HIM.

 

Your brother and sister in His Love and Mercy

 

John and Esther

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

UPDATE

SATURDAY, 15th MARCH 2008

 

Hullo Again!   Yet another week had fled past at breakneck speed.    There seems so much to do these days.    Partly this is due to the fact that we have been re-organising the way things are done from the point of view of general maintenance, and also because the Town is picking up again, and a whole crop of government departments are calling Meetings that have been delayed due to the recent crisis.    Especially this concerns me as I sit on so many different Committees related to Children's Services.  Some have not met for up to nine months!       This takes chunks of time out of a day of planned activities needing constant adjustments and changes.      Daryl has been a great assistance in this because i have been able to leave him to do many of the practical matters whilst I am away from the compound.

 

Each week one of the Homes is inspected by me and two other staff members.  Everything is looked at inside and outside from the point of view of wear and tear, and general hygiene.    It is really working out well, and we can see the improvement and help it is producing. both for us as Administration, and also the parents themselves.

AS I WRITE the roof of the Hostel is going on, and plans to commence the plastering are going ahead for Monday.     I HOPE the photos I sent by E-mail were able to be accessed by you all = sent a week or so ago?   Please let me know if they did not reach you - we are still having occassional problems with our Server, and there are times when it seems outgoing mail is interrupted.

 

Manu has been suffering with his stomach most of this current week  - Doctor things it may be a Peptic Ulcer = he has been under extra pressure with final Presentations and Papers all made more difficult at the last moment by his computer crashing!   Hope to see him later to day.

 

THE RAINS  really seem to have commenced.     Most of last night was a continuous downpour.    How the many tented thousands spent the night in their leaking and draughty tents dosn't bare thinking about.      Really a terrible prospect.    Yesterday in the paper I read  -

UPROOTED FAMILIES WON'T BE SETTLED SOON, SAYS MINISTER!

'They have nowhere to go back to.  They will only be able to go back after their homes are rebuilt.

According to the minister the displaced people will be resettled where they lived before the chaos.   However, some of the victims who have expressed fears over their security wish to be setlled in NEW areas.

One spokesman for the Displaced aged 76 expressed fears that their lives would be in danger if they returned to their old homes......Another, a mother of five small children, said that security had not been improved at her Eldoret farm, and that it would be madness to return there.  Continuing she said - . 'Reports on the ground indicate that our farms and property have been acquired by some of our neighbours.   How can the government tell us to go back, and we are still psycholoogically traumatised.'

Certainly this is the view of the majority of those still camping out in the incrasing discomfort of the camps - including Eldoret's.     People are refusing to be made to leave the comparitive safety.       They do not see that to go with their tent back to the place their previous home and possessions were destroyed will save them from a quick and perhaps more thorough destruction.

 

This was also expressed in a District Meeting I attended on Thursday morning.

As a result of our discussion a hasty Meeting was arranged with our District Commissioner for this coming TUESDAY, 18th March.      Three of us that will attend are also Members of the Area District Advisory Council which represents to the DC area needs.     All of us also sit on the UG Children's Services Forum representing the District Children's Department, District Probation Services, District Labour Office, and various prominent Children's Institutions including of course our own. (A group of 10 altogether)

The District Commissioner who represents Central Government is NEW.       It may be a very interesting and far reaching meeting.        We shall also be discussing the increase of Street Children, and the Trade in GLUE.

 

MANY Christians are continuing to MOVE or perhaps FLEE from troubled areas of conflict to what they consider 'safer ground'       A Bishop was with me here at home this afternoon who is contemplating the same.    He plans to take his family and church administration to an area more friendly to his tribe.       FEAR seems to be in so many hearts - but FEAR can be a sin, if it describes a lack of TRUST in our God to Protect, Defend and BE WITH US through the 'fire and flood' of life.    Jesus after all also said 'He who would save his life, will lose it.............Can we RUN anywhere that is SAFE apart from into His Arms?         To us it feels as if this is the TIME for the Sons and Daughters of God to make a STAND.      To be - in Jesus Name - ROCKS that will not get out of the Enemy's way,   LIGHTS THAT WILL NOT BE PUT OUT.      If all those who have the POWER to declare the Kingdom GO, then there will indeed be nothing left to prevent the Enemy from doing whatever he wants.......   The People of God should never FLEE, should never RETREAT, but having done all they should finally STAND in His might and strength.      We need to demonstrate the TRUTH that GOD is with us, rather than being as those who know not God or His Strength.

 

Pray for us as we pray for you in your trials and temptations; in your conflicts and terrors.

 

Lovingly

 

John and Esther

NEWS

SATURDAY 8TH MARCH 2008

 

Dear Friends,   Once again some many days have gone by.    It seems I cannot keep up with a daily insert into the Blog.      Now that the pressure of getting urgent news has subsided, the normal calls on my time squeeze out actually putting a daily report in place.        However it is more convenient to write a regular news update more frequently than the old Update.     Perhaps you might just check in once a week, and find at least some recent news of of us more often

I have this afternoon also put together a few photos and will be sending them on the E-mail.    Rather a heavy attachment - more than 700kb.    Hope you will be able to view without a problem IF your comp allows you to,    I have not yet learnt how to include pictures here on my blogsite.     Might have to wait until Steven visits later in the year God Willing.

 

WELL, the smiles and handshakes aside, it seems that Kenya has returned to a fair semblance of stable government.     Everyone - for the most part - seem happy and glad at the outcome.      We still have to wait and see the long term result of this so called Coalition will be.     MPs still struggling and striving to obtain positions of power and influence.    All of them wanting as much material gain as they can squeeze,   It still appears to me inordinantly disgusting that so much money can be squandered on men and women just to satisfy their ego and vanity when the masses are on the edge of starvation.     Our new prime minister will - among countless other 'allowances' on top of his inflated salary - have a personal motorcade of countless new cars, security men, outriders, and so on wherever he goes.    Meanwhile they tell us the weather is going to be quite devestating and will compound the destruction of our Grain Reserves that have been burned and destroyed in the 'Trouble'      Billions of sacks have been destroyed.   Prices of basic commodities continue to rise as the cost of petrol and diesel increase.

Certinaly the future looks bleak for every level of society - well perhaps not for the BIG WIGS sitting in the House of Power there in Nairobi.

 

Those poor people who were displaced and harried from their hovels here in Eldoret and who have been tented in the show ground ever since with their children have been told to pick up their tent (issued by the Red Cross and mostly in holes) and return to the place they were squatting before the trouble started.   Needless to say not many of them want to do that.     What they HAD, little though it was, was burned down or destroyed in other ways by their neighbours for one reason or another.    Their .good neigbours. are still there - surely a tent will be even easier to destroy!      Still more than 25,000 adults left in the show ground to brave the oncoming Rains not to speak of more than 3,500 children of school age.   We note SKY news have had their reporter here, and their comments generally correct.    

FEAR remains in many hearts and minds.    The government HAS promised Financial Support, Compensation for property lost, Protection, and Security - BUT it may take a time to actually be appreciated physically.

 

My Work Permit has been issued for a further TWO years without any problem at all.

My brother in law just walked into the Immigration Ddepartment in Nairobi with all the papers and walked out an hour later with the Permit.       However it cost twice as much as two years ago!   But as I have already intimated everything is quickly rising to more than double what it was even ONE year ago!

 

Daryl continues to be a strong right hand in practical matters for me, and for the Homes.      Together we have been making efforts to improve the general administration across the four Homes, in matters related to general 'housekeeping' and home making.     Part of this is also causing us to review the use and number of our auxillary support staff in the area of maintenance and upkeep.     All in all this looks like it will work toward a general economy and improvement in the way things run.   More efficiently we hope in every way.      All the children are continuing in good health and happy and content.   Our Houseparents also in good shape and heart.    We have so much to Thank God for, and the more we look back over the years and see the way He has led, and undertaken the more we Praise Him.

 

We have also suddenly realised that on December 13th this year I will have been in Kenya for 40 years, and NEXT year in August Testimony Faith Homes itself will celebrate its 4oth Birthday.       Truly God is Faithful.       Wish we could pay for you all to come and celebrate with us.

 

We thank you all for your fellowship - you are our Strength in the Lord.  

 

Sincerely always in His Love

 

 

John and Esther

I am also being urged to apply for Citizenship!!!   Amazing.