UPDATE

SATURDAY, 28TH JUNE 2008

 

A VERY busy week now over for me.    I have felt very weary and tired, but happily I have been able to face the many issues and demands that have come before me.  Some of the most stressful I am unable to share at this time, as they are too personal, and I still need to work them out spiritually in a way that I can be satisfied in my own mind and heart that the Will of God has been carried out, and not my own will or that of others.     There have been conflicts of interest, and relationships; things that are always hard (even in prayer) to always clearly evaluate.      Acton taken has been taken willingly in the belief that the Lord needed it to be done, but the confirmation that He did in fact need it to be done is yet to come.    Pray for me.

 

Otherwise the week saw an unusually large Meeting of the Children's Forum on Wednesday which saw more than 35 NGOs, Mission, and Individuals engaged in Child Welfare (including TFH) come together to -

1. Agree to contribute 5% of their annual income into a common fund for TOGETHER improving Children's Services in our area.

2. To united work and pray towards the establishment of a NEW facility to assist in the immediate care of between 20 and 30 abandoned BABIES, and where necessary their HIV mothers.

This is, I believe, the very first time there has been such a coming together of so many to achieve a common goal crossing cultural, political, racial, and denominational differences either in Eldoret or in our entire district, if not Nation!      Quite an exciting meeting to be in and part of.

 

THEN, last night I attended a Promotional Dinner in the Sikh Union Sports Club Restaurant in town.     This dinner was hosted by the Children's Forum, and we saw some 60 Asian members of our community attend.      The idea was to try and get across to the Asian Members of the Town the many troubles and needs of the children.      There was no Appeal for Aid, merely communication and sharing.

Six Children's Homes were represented, a member of their management each speaking for some 5 minutes each.    We also had others speaking on behalf of HIV / AIDS children - one of them who actually has AIDS.    He was a taxi driver and very immoral.      Some months after being diagnosed his wife died, and his son.    At this point on the point of taking his own life Christ found him, and he turned to HIM with all his heart and soul.       He still has AIDS.       Some few years later he married again - another AIDS sufferer who had found Salvation in Jesus.   Together they have received a baby girl - HIV FREE.         He and his wife now devote themselves to rescuing destitute girls who have HIV.       There was also the Juvenile Magistrate for the Town, herself a Christian, and VERY pregnant, who attended and shared about the children that come in front of her in Court.

After these short presentations which went on as we ate together, there were so many responses from the invited guests, and it was quite wonderful how the Lord was able to give opportunities to us to share about the Love of God demonstrated, shared, and activated in and through Jesus Christ.      AGAIN this was a first time for predominantly committed Christiana to meet with Hindus, Buddhists and others of a different Asian religion on a social level that permitted dialogue and exchange of views without restraint whilst at the same time addressing social evils in our joint community..

 

I do not wish to say more this week.    I have probably been writing too much in previous weeks, and I sense I may have gone beyond the literary pale so to speak and bored a few!        Esther and I want to say a big Thank You for praying for us, and for just being there for us.     It is a tremendous encouragement and source of courage to know that you are with us in thought and Spirit.

 

God Bless and fill your week with His Love and Assurance

 

John and Esther

 

 

Update.

SATURDAY, 22nd JUNE 2008

The longest day! How everything seems speeded up, and we
hurtle along so fast into the future......
I noticed last week that some of the UK politicians are
lobbying for more pay! Sounds like Kenya! In the face of
rising food and fuel costs here the Government put forward a
plan to increase the TAXATION of the M.P.s This met with
almost instantaneous (and predictable) anger from the M.P.s.
One of them - Hon. Bonny Khalwale - was quoted on the
front page of the Daily NATION as saying
"Do they (the Government)
want to make us as miserable as our constituents?"
How insensible this man has to be to say such a thing - even
with taxation he will never be as badly off as his
constituents, the majority of whom will be either unemployed
or earning less than £36 a month to his £12.500 a
month!! There is, and can be, no comparison between him
and them. But this is the world that we now live in, a
world on the move away from honour, integrity and
compassion.
The Statement was made on Thursday 19th June under the
Banner Heading of
MPs REJECT MOVE TO TAX THEIR ALLOWANCES

How is it possible for men and women elected to IMPROVE and
BETTER the general living conditions and standards of the
man in the street, to treat them with such contempt - truly
these ARE 'shepherds that feed themselves instead of the
sheep' - consider Ezekiel 34v1-4 speaking of 'spiritual'
shepherds, but very much applicable to many politicians the
world over.
THE DAY BEFORE, on the 18th we find them seeking to get a
further Ksh.650 million for themselves in allowances for NEW
expenses. TODAY the Religious Leaders are leading the
outcry against all this greed and acquisitiveness!

Esther has been away for a few days with Anthony our School
Principal. They were both attending a Seminar on School
Management, and the place of the Computer in current
educational systems and planning. Esther of course as
Headmistress of the Primary Section of the School was very
much into this. Seems that they had a very interesting
and challenging time. The School - founded in 1981 -
is now quite well established right up to the 4th Form of
Secondary, and present seems very popular with the parents
that trust us with their children. We presently have a
total population - Nursery to Secondary - of some 800
students, 130 from our Children's Homes are learning free of
charge. Locals using the School have to pay to attend,
and this charge pays for the total cost of running PLUS
undertaking for the free education of the Homes children.
No other financial advantage comes from this enterprise, but
we have been very glad of the good foundation we have been
able to offer our children through this project, AND for the
fact that it has been used as an Evangelistic tool to share
the Gospel message far and wide.
With carefully chosen teachers who all have a Christian
testimony, and able to communicate freely their faith, and
belief, as they teach and interact with the children, and
with the added freedom to present the Gospel message daily
during Morning Assemblies and weekly Christian Unions, we
have a wonderful chance to reach our children - and through
them their parents as well.
This week we received a letter from one of our past Asian
students. He spent only two years with us from 1998 to
2000 in High School before going to the USA to university.
He enclosed a copy of his Testimony in which he wrote -
My Principal in High School preached once every week during
the Friday morning Assembly, and a 'Memory verse' from the
Bible was pinned up in the Classroom on that day as well.
(it stayed there for a week). I cared less for the
verses, but for some mysterious reason two references
remained stuck in my mind down through the years - 1.John
3v3 and John 3v3. I never went to the Bible to read them.
Pravin writes about himself saying -
I am an Asian by race, a Kenyan by nationality. My
grandfather moved from India to Kenya way back when both
Countries were colonized by the British. My father was
very young when he moved from India to Kenya. As a
family we all practiced various sects of Hinduism. We had
our own culture initially controlled from India, tightly
maintained so as not to allow any corruption. It was my
mother who was the most serious in her religion. When I
was young, my desire to obey and worship the so called god
was very intense. I totally depended upon my parents and
believed with all my heart in the god that we all
worshipped. As a child I strove to do all the necessary
'good works' in order to please this god. I woke everyday
early in the morning to perform a ritual called 'pooja', and
went to the temple and so forth.
Not until I entered High School was I introduced to
Christianity.
The exclusivity of Christianity highly offended me; born as
I was into a pluralistic society I found it impossible to
believe that there was only ONE WAY to the Almighty.
Pravin had many deep rooted resentments against
the whole concept of Christianity. He carried them with
him through High School and on to the United States. He
also carried those two Scripture References with him too;
just the references but not the content for he had never
read them.

He continues -
When I arrived here in America, I was to all intents and
purposes an atheist. In order to fit into the new
culture I thought it was cool to use profane words, and
other vices that I slowly picked up in the University. I
went through many financial and emotional struggles in the
years that followed, but I never cried out to any
supernatural being; never went to a church or temple of any
kind.
It was only after his Graduation in 2005 that, having found
employment he relaxed a little , but with no greater
awareness of God. Then one day a friend from his past
rang him up to share that she had found Christ as Saviour.
He was horrified by this revelation. She had been a
Buddhist previously.
She invited him to go to witness her Baptism in a Baptist
Church. Curiosity tempted him to go, but he remained
very skeptical and unbelieving. "Nevertheless," he says,
"I asked the pastor (of the church) to pray for me!"
Some days later he was again on the phone to his friend.
As the call is coming to an end his friend says "why not
read John 3v3 and 1.John 3v3 and actually READS the words of
the verses to him.
"I was shocked!" he writes. How could it be that out of
all the verses in the Bible these two that had been locked
away in my memory for so many years, unread, should now be
presented so clearly in front of me. A miracle had
happened!"

The next day he went out and bought a Bible and began
reading. He still had a step or two to go. He needed
to know that the Bible really was God's Word. He still did
not find it easy to understand how sinful a person he was
BUT.......
"The Word captured me,
and I repented of my sins.
Christ accepted my repentance and forgave me.
I can now confidently say that I now KNOW that I
am a Child of God, and that as I read I am growing into the
Image of God and Christ.

To receive a Testimony like this, right out of the blue, has
been a great blessing to us and cause also of much
rejoicing. It shows us that we should not flag or fail
in proclaiming God's Word ............ We now wonder what
God has in store for this young man who has become so up
front with his new found Salvation.

This must be about all for this week. Except to say that
my EAR is now sorted out. Had to have it syringed, but
thereafter my hearing has returned with full vigour. NOW
I have to be careful what I listen to!! Thank for your
prayers.

Always in His Love

John and Esther

Update

SATURDAY 14TH JUNE 2008

 

Hoping that this time I will manage to get this to you TODAY.    Last week I was completely foiled in my attempt by our Server who for some odd reason locked us ALL out until Monday morning.     Sorry about that, if you went to the trouble of looking us up.     Although from the weekly count it seems not too many of you actually visit ...... I guess I might be boring you by being too long winded  and also not perhaps keeping to the main issue of TFH news.      Of course, there is often not a lot of news in any case, as our routine and daily grind is fairly unchanging.    Well this week I was going to tell you that the ARMY had disappeared out of town and that all is quiet and peaceful in every way ----- it remains just so... BUT this morning, as we were in town doing some last minute shopping, we did notice a couple of army personnel WITH guns strolling along amid the jostling people in the High Street.   No one seemed in the least disturbed by their presence, and they were still in a happy mood.

Four of our Primary children from the Homes have been involved in petty theft from amongst their peers this week in School.      They are all in the region of 12 years old and all boys.    Two from Jacaranda Cottage have been with us some years already, and one each from Drakely and Tyndale.  Two of these children came from the Street.   This is not the first time they have been in trouble.       None of them are what you might call 'difficult' children socially.     Generally pleasant and easy to get on with.

Why are they stealing suddenly?       Well of course we are often without much light when we meet this kind of aberration turning up in a life that had previously been without comment.     Do we need a Physiologist or Psychiatrist to advise US or council THEM.      I guess some would definitely say that we do.     Right now there is a great deal of talk about having councilors come to the Children that are in Children's Homes and other places, that have suffered shock, hurt and sometimes abuse, as well as loss of home and family, during the New Year Troubles.      Whatever happened to common sense ?        Well I must not be too radical I suppose, but I feel that we are a different kind of people to those who went through the 2nd World War without any such help either during or afterwards, and yet managed to GET THROUGH and OVER it by their own and other's generally human compassion, understanding, and plain old common sense.        These days we seem to be unable to face up to anything - even a headache.     How did JESUS get through His 'trauma' I wonder.        Still I must concede there will be a few instances where some professional guidance and help may be needed.    BUT, I am too old to believe that EVERYONE needs to wheeled off to the 'trick cyclist' and straightened out.       two hundred kids shave passed through TFH to date, and 140 are currently in Residence in addition.      Only TWO (brothers) were taken for evaluation to a Psychiatrist.         Not a bad record - notwithstanding that we HAVE had a good number of difficult, mixed up, and even disturbed  young people in the Homes.   They and we managed to get through into sunlight and normality.      We thank God that it has been so, and we Thank God that HE is able to provide the Strength and Wisdom needed.      YES  with God the Holy Spirit with us in life, the little candle flame of common sense and wisdom we are each born with, is increased and enabled - or could be if we believed.

 

Our Annual Audit has just been completed for 2007.     In Kenya we are of course required by Law to have our financial affairs properly monitored and attended to.  If any of you feel you would like a copy please let us know as we can send you a copy if necessary.   Finance is always a somewhat difficult factor in our lives here.       Insisting as we do that we live by Faith in God's Ability to Provide, and not clearly stating our needs at any time is sometimes quite a difficulty both to those who here working with us as well as those who might want to help us.            We have always stood on Matthew 6v6 and still do so.      We have felt the Lord has wanted this of us as a Testimony to His Faithfulness, and as a spur to our own faithfulness toward Him for ourselves.   It DOES have its drawbacks since we find it difficult to share if we are in a problem at any time - apart from the Lord Himself.         There are times however when having WAITED on the Lord to bring the Bread without seeing any I have E-mailed AENON Trust just to find out if anything has in fact been sent for us.

Should I admit such a thing?       Does this depart from our having Faith.    It might, but it seems to me we should always be honest with each other.     We DO seek to live by Faith in God, and He HAS proved His Faithfulness to us always down through the years - BUT we - poor flesh and blood that we are - sometimes doubt when the 'storm' is all about us, and try to wake God up, saying 'Don't you care that we perish?'      The Amazing and Wonderful thing about this is that He doesn't get annoyed with us - merely rebukes our lack of faith and then stabilises everything.

It is good to know that His Loving Arms are around us and beneath us.     None of us are worthy to be saved, healed, delivered, or provided for - YET there is not one of us He will not do all of this for - again and again and again.     He understand that we are FLESH   -   now WE have to understand the same thing about each other as we pray for, believe in, and consider one another.      God will Bless us for this.

 

I have been suffering from EARACHE for a week or more.     My left ear has apparently a large plug of 'something' lodged just in front of the diaphragm.     The doc thinks I had an infection and that the residue has dried up blocking the canal.       SO I am now on treatment hoping to disperse it - if not the old Syringe will be applied.         I have not had any pain, just deafness.     Interestingly my doc said that sometimes when this happens and the diaphragm is prevented from vibrating because of blockage of sound waves to it, then it eventually becomes less responsive until permanent deafness ensues!!     Amazing.Thus I hope my ear will be unblocked and my hearing become even sharper than it ever was before.      How important to be able to HEAR properly.        It affects so many things even more than understanding, such as balance and even ones stomach!     Straining to HEAR everyone just now, I have realised that I don't really need to hear everyone!       This has caused me to consider -

JUST WHO, AND WHAT ARE WE LISTENING.

TO IN OUR LIVES?

To whom, and what, do we give our attention so that our life is affected?    It is VERY important indeed to make sure that we are getting the right council and direction for our lives; the right advice, the right criticism.   Some time back in our daily newspaper THE DAILY NATION one Seneiya Kamotho wrote -

'Many religious leaders normally claim to have

a NEW REVELATION, or a SPECIAL MESSAGE, or a NEW LIGHT from God.

Some have even claimed that the Bible is obsolete.    They can say things like "God spoke to me the other day".

OR "I was lifted to heaven and Jesus told me such and such."

One such preacher was heard asserting "I went for a swim in heaven with Jesus last week, and He said...."

Others may be heard saying "God is telling you to give me five thousand shillings today, and he will bless you."

They claim to have an inside track on supernatural revelation, and their dreams and visions cannot be refuted,

or examined against already accepted traditional doctrines.'

 

It is true that we should not believe EVERYTHING we hear,.  But we do need to KNOW where the words are coming from, and where they are leading us to!   After all Paul the Apostle was caught up to the Third Heaven, and also at another time received direct communication from Christ.     In mentioning these things Paul does not seek to use them or ADD to the Gospel, or to his own reputation or situation in any way, but rather to emphasize and illustrate the TRUTH of God, to encourage the Christian in Faith and Endurance.

God in the Beginning, communicated with Adam, and told him to avoid eating of the fruit of the Tree of the Knowledge of Good and Evil that grew in the midst of the Garden.   God said, if you DO eat of it you shall

standing near the actual tree in question - near enough to SEE and to reach out and PLUCK a fruit from it.   Satan was within the serpent using it, and HE said through the serpent, to Eve, who was listening to it -

"HAS God REALLY said that you shall  not eat of ANY tree in the Garden?"      Satan knew very well what God had said, but he was hoping to sew doubt and confusion in Eve's mind.   How WELL did she know and understand what God had said?      She understood it very well, and repeated exactly what God HAD said.    THEN Satan said through the serpent - "But surely God did not MEAN that you would actually DIE...?"

And he went on to explain his point of view - and Eve listened to him, and as she listened to him, what she had heard from God began to recede from her mind and attention.      She was hooked by ANOTHER voice, finally yielding to it instead of God's.     She took the GOD FORBIDDEN fruit and gave to her husband also no doubt repeating the Devil's words to him.............     

Genesis 3v17 says - (God speaking to Adam) 'BECAUSE you have listened and given attention to the voice of your WIFE, the ground is cursed for your sake, and you shall eat of the fruit of it with sorrow and toil.

God does not accuse Adam of listening to Satan but to his WIFE!          He who had HEARD first hand from GOD listened to his wife repeating words from another that did not AGREE with God's WORD, and yielded to them.        He chose to put those words in front of God's words.      And lost everything.       He backed the wrong horse!

How careful WE all should be in what we say to each other - we may be passing on a word or thought from Satan himself!        Consider CAUSE and EFFECT.     Listen to the WRONG VOICE and you will PAY for it.      MAKE SURE THEN that you are listening to God.   Make sure that the words you hear do not bring doubt to, or ADD to, the Teaching you have had from the Apostles , and what is actually contained in God's Holy WORD.      Consider 1.John 4v6 -

'We are children of God.

Whoever is learning to KNOW God, and to get an ever clearer knowledge of Him, listens to us;

and he who is not of God does not listen or pay attention to us.

By THIS we know and recognise the Spirit of Truth and the spirit of error.'

 

READING IN 1. KINGS 19V2 We can read of Elijah the Prophet and the message that Queen Jezebel, that wicked Queen, Ahab's wife, send to him.    In it she had written - 'So let the gods do to me, and more also, if I do not make your life as the life of one of them (those God killed today) by this time tomorrow!'

ELIJAH, all alone, had prevailed against four hundred and fifty false prophets, and had seen God stand with him, and answer his prayers in the most sensational and amazing manner.   BUT when he read this woman's message, he believed the words that were written, and went to pieces, forgetting God, and all that God had done.   He gave place to the words of a godless woman, and made them mean more than the Word of God.  Isaiah 54v17 says 'No weapon that is formed against you shall prosper, and every tongue that shall rise against you in judgment you shall show to be in the wrong.   This peace, righteousness, security; this triumph over all opposition is the heritage of the servants of the Lord....'

WHO ARE YOU LISTENING TO TODAY?

Are you listening to your doctor who says you are terminally ill and must die?    Are you listening to the spiteful, false and offensive words of those in your work place that scorn God and Godliness?    Are you listening to crushing criticism and condemnation of those who feel you are lazy, useless, foolish or just plainly worthless?     Are you in despair,, are you feeling DOWN because of these words you are listening to?

Come, come, dear brother or sister!   RISE UP,  Shake yourself, and TUNE IN to God's Voice!    LISTEN to what He is saying to you in Psalm 18v29 - ' By you I can run through a troop, and by my God I can leap over a wall.   As for God, His way is perfect!  The WORD of the Lord is tested and tried;  he is a shield to all those who take refuge and put their trust in Him.'

 

Turn off the T.V., turn off the Radio, Ignore the multitudinous voices of the world around you and turn your ear to the WORDS that God Speaks and is speaking now to you.     Hide those words in your mind, commit them to memory.    Store them up progressively as you hear them, so that you may at all times bring them out when needed to measure and compare all other 'words' by.

REMEMBER, when Jesus in the Wilderness was accosted by Satan He resisted and refuted ALL that Satan said and suggested quoting the TRUE WORDS OF GOD,      Satan put his hands to his ears and RAN.    We LIVE only by giving attention to God's WORD.    There is no other SAFE voice to listen to.    SO make sure that what you hear is from GOD alone, and no other.    Surely if you are truly straining to HEAR the Holy Spirit will enable you to RECOGNIZE the genuineness of that voice.

 

'Thy Word, O Lord, They precious Word alone can lead me on;

By this, until the darksome night be gone, lead Thou me on:

Thy Word is light, Thy Word is life and power,

By it, O Lord, guide me in every trying hour.

 

Tomorrow I am bringing the Message in our fellowship.    Beginning a Series of Messages on PRAYER.      Hope I will have my ear turned to God's Voice within me.      At least I won't get distracted by noises from without!      God bless you all

 

 

 

 

 

Fw: Update

 

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

From: John Green

Sent: Saturday, June 07, 2008 4:13 PM

Subject: Update

SATURDAY, 7th JUNE 2008

 

THIS WEEK IN ELDORET, we have seen the presence of the Army back on the streets.    Quite low key - two or three thinly spread in the Town centre and immediate suburbs.    They are armed!     Still they look very relaxed and fairly friendly.      More like the local 'bobby' on his beat but with army fatigues instead of the usual uniform.      BUT WHY ARE THEY HERE? 

Well it is NOT because the Country is up in arms again for any reason as it was in the early New Year.    No, but there IS discontent and especially amongst the unemployed or semi employed youth.       You may remember that on average Kenya has approximately 60% of its population aged under 20.     Most of these are out of School AND unemployed.      A situation that produces a largely layabout mob in most towns in various degrees of need.   NO - it is because, at least in Eldoret, the Municipal Council has decided to set itself against Street Hawkers, as they are called.

Usually these are young men peddling wares on the street, sometimes on behalf of Retail Shops in the town and sometimes on their own behalf.     There have even been times - say on a Friday afternoon when they have actually spread out their wares on the pavements and streets, necessitating traffic diversions.   This has not seemed to have upset many until the newly elected Mayor and Corporation came into Office.     They are not apparently determined to clear the streets of Hawkers come what may - and MAYHEM may be the outcome.

Some years back a Slogan appeared in the Press

KEEP HAWKERS OFF THE STREETS, BUT IN BUSINESS

 

I thought then, as I do now, that this was very apt, and a slogan that should be taken to heart by all - at least in our town of Eldoret if not throughout the Nation.      Many Authorities see Hawkers or Peddlers as they may have been called, as very undesirable; even a public nuisance; something like a pestilence, akin to flies and mosquitoes - similar to the way Street Children are seen to be.    BUT these people are very different to Street Children, for they are actually doing their best to earn a living as honourably as they can either with or without education - and I can personally honour them for that!

Too many are content to steal rather than actually WORK, and many others are just as willing to hand around and live off the labour of others.  Paul says in 2.Thessalonians 3v10- 'If anyone will not work, neither let him eat.'   VERY strong advice!   He says in Ephesians 4v28 -  'Let the thief steal no more, but rather let him be industrious, making an honest living with his hands, so that he may be able to give to those in need.'   OF COURSE there IS a huge unemployment problem, but it is not always because there is NO work to be done, no job to be had.    Sometimes it is because the job available is not to the liking of the one seeking employment.      Not everyone can begin in a nice clean work environment at comfortable wage.      Many available jobs are dirty, underpaid, physically demanding and just plainly unattractive. - BUT if someone wants to EARN something for himself work IS there.    And a self respecting man or woman will make every effort to FIND something to do.

Thus the Hawker has my commendation.   He has found something to do.  He may have been to School or College, even University.    He may be totally uneducated, landless and homeless, but he has found something to bring in an honest shilling or two.     Such a person is worthy of respect AND also encouragement.       Rather than being seen as a burden to society or their own family these people have humbled themselves to do what is often very hard indeed to do - to turn away from their hopes and dreams to face the hard reality of life and necessity.    They walk miles and miles in a day in all weathers, often loaded with merchandise which is wearisome to carry, difficult to exhibit, and hard to sell!   For their labour they must ever be ready to be ignored, scowled upon, and even cursed for their importunity.  At the end of the day they find little gleaned for themselves to live upon, and day after day, week after week, they must continue to so toil, for the most part despised by everyone.        Yes, it is true, the can harass the shopper, the man or woman in the street; they may take a little trade away from the regular shopkeeper.   But all the same they are trying earn an honest living.

Should we or anyone else discourage them?   Should we harass them OUT of this honest endeavour?      The answer OUGHT to be NO!

AND NOW, here we are again with even more Hawkers mingling with the shopper and the traffic on the streets of Eldoret, and no doubt on every other town and city in the Country.       They are a nuisance!   Let's get rid of them.

There seems little sympathy for them from the powers that be.     Many of the hawkers on the streets will have voted our present Municipal Council into Office - and now those very Councilors have taken council together to get rid of these very same hawkers.      Feelings are funning high, and there have been signs of riot and antagonism - thus the ARMY is in Town!    Not a good sign.     Not a good way to solve a human problem.

A man in his late fifties that I knew in England many years ago had been a self made man.    He had spent a lifetime in commerce, starting off by selling a bag of plums in his local market.     With the profit he purchased two more bags, selling them also, and so on.    As the weeks and months passed he prospered enough to buy a barrow, and later rent a Market Stall.     Finally he bought a shop in the High Street, and  eventually owned a chain of Green Grocery and Fritterers across the north of England.      But he had laboured in order to prosper, and he was permitted to labour by a sympathetic society that saw his right to a living.

Obviously I am not saying that every hawker on the streets will become a millionaire.      But perhaps some will.      The Bible says in Proverbs 10v4 - 'He who deals with a slack hand becomes poor, but the hand of the diligent makes one rich.'    And again in Proverbs 13v4 - 'The soul of the sluggard desires and has nothing, but the soul of the diligent shall be made rich.'

and finally in Proverbs 22v29 - 'Do you see a man who excels in his work?  He will stand before kings; he will not stand in front of unknown men.'

IN THE 14th Century, in England, a boy of 13 was said to have left education and gone off to the City of London to find work.   he found none to his liking and finally became an errand boy to a Clothing company.   He was paid nothing, but provided with his food and lodging.    But he listened carefully and watched, and LEARNED the trade of the Clothier.     Very much like my friend with his bag of [plumbs Dick Whittington started a small business selling cloth and material of all kinds.    Eventually he established a business that became renowned.   so famous was it that even the king heard of it and became a regular customer.    Dick Whittington was to become a household name in England, and was four times Lord Mayor of London and Knighted by the King.       BUT he began as a school drop out, on the streets of London, a poor, parentless boy who wanted to WORK and better himself.    He was not in a hurry, but he was determined, and with carefulness and honesty he slowly established himself.   He was NOT lazy, not looking for something for nothing.   He was not a 'con-man'.      No he was a young person with self respect, moral fiber, and vision - and he succeeded.      If we have God in mind, and if we are industrious and true in all we attempt, we shall also succeed - as also will the contemptible 'Hawker'.        To prevent and frustrate such is to bring down calumny upon our own heads and commercial prosperity.

 

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I am writing this in the afternoon of a very cloud-laden WET Saturday.

Once again I am typing in our sitting room in Green Cottage, looking out through the big window onto the lawn and across to Testimony House.

It is cold today.    Later we shall light a fire, as will probably the other Family Homes.      Well, at least Testimony and Jacaranda may do so; Drakely and Tyndale do not have fireplaces so will no doubt have to switch on their electric heater if it gets too chilly.

This is a 'coldy' / malarial time.

The time when the COLD and RAINY season begin to suddenly bite

The change from a fairly moderate and comfortable climate to one that has suddenly forgotten the sun and the warmth can be drastic for the well being of some.

It will probably not go down in temperature much more than to C17 - it is 19 today.      I guess that sounds quite pleasant to you, but to us it is COLD!!

 

Our four teenagers have now left Testimony House and started their own lives in their own rented accommodation.    None of them are far from us, and we shall probably see them Sunday by Sunday as they come to Church with us - at least initially.      Each had used their three months salary from their places of work to buy bed, bedding, and cooking utensils.    TFH has added £150 each in cash to help them get started with foodstuffs, rent etc. for the first month.    Quite an adventure - no doubt a little daunting - (I know it was for me when I left home to fend for myself when I was 16)        Our son James Manu has also left home -  He actually has been attending University for the last four years but we have had him home with us most weekends.    Now he has finished his Course in IT and has gone some 800 kilometres away to do his final Attachment.    He will be away two and half months, then return for Graduation.    After THAT he is hoping to find employment in Nairobi.    To all intents and purposes he has been slowly leaving home for some time now, and we can see that the future consumes his interest and ambition, which is as it should be.   It is still somehow hard to see one's children more and more at a distance physically.........     Helen our youngest daughter will commence Nursery Teacher Training in a Christian College in Nairobi in September, God Willing.      She is still the quiet little 'Tweetie-pie', but she is more self assured than she was, and seems happy and excited about this next step (her own choice) for her self.      And so by the end of the year it will be 'Darby and Joan' alone!       NOOOO..!   we will never actually be alone, since our home is for ever crammed with children both from the Homes and the School.

Thursday this week saw a great storm of rain and hail engulf our compound and surrounds.   We have never seen or heard such a deluge since living here - almost 36 years now.    The hail was so think upon the ground - pieces of ice as big as marbles - that it had not melted away even after 5 hours.   Good test for the new room of the Guest House.      No leaks, and no damage to anything except for one small bird that lost her next and chicks in a small shrub where she had built her home quite close to us.  The phone was dead for two days, and the Electricity went on and off four times into the night.     But that is normal....

Yesterday - Friday - we had a gift arrive via AENON Trust to which many of you had contributed.   We had in fact been totally without funds since the previous Saturday, but we had enough on hand not to need us to spend until Thursday night.      When Friday dawned we knew there was nothing in the cupboard or the Bank.          By 10a.m. the Bank rang to say a Gift had arrived!   Yet gain the timing was perfect.       We thank you all who may in some way of contributed to our deliverance in His Name.  Obviously some of you will have contributed financially, but I am equally sure that some of you will have also been praying for our provision, preparing the way for together with ourselves.  SO truly Friday was a Day of Thanksgiving.   Praise the Lord.

 

God Bless and be with you all.

 

John and Esther