Saturday 26 June 2010

SO MANY CHILDREN!

MORE AND MORE CHILDREN ARE BEING ABANDONED. A dozen or so are in this photo, and they have all been committed to the care of Testimony Faith Homes. BUT they do not live with us, and are not physically cared for by us. Horace and Phyllis Leister together with their two young daughters care for them. The Leisters are from the USA, and Phyillis is a woman called of God to just love and care for kids. Her husband Horace is a builder and he is the Home Provider - the one to actually BUILD the family home. So far they all live in a rented house not far from us whilst the NEW house is being built adjacently to the rented one in the same compound. Horace and Phyllis work with a Mission known as 'Children With Hope'. They have been in Eldoret for more than two years, but still the Government hasn't Registered their Children's Home. This meant that although they were having time space and funds to care they were unable to legally have one child to live with them as long as they were unregistered. NOW the Certificate should come any time soon......but in order to assist them Testimony Faith Homes offered to have children admitted to themselves, and then fostered them out to the Leisters Home which is called Tumaini Children's Home, just kilometre away from us. They were, as a couple, legally allowed to Foster children privately under their family name. This means I have to visit them often to make sure the kids are safe and cared for - and they ARE. This is a work of love and sacrifice. To have so many babies and toddlers in your own house, demanding your every attention 24 hours a day does need sacrifice. It has been a great blessing to know them all, and to see the Love of Jesus in action. Even if physically we are not part of it, we feel somehow part of the family. Some of these little ones are physically and even mentally disabled as well. No one is refused, but how many more can they take? ------ well the way it looks they will just go on opening their arms and their hearts to as many as are brought to them!
I just thought you would like to know about them, and the fact that TFH is not alone in reaching out to the needy children around us; there are many. Wonderfully Jesus works with all of us, welcoming so many into His Kingdom. SIX of the tiniest ones in the lower photo were brought to us, and then fostered by us to Phyllis just two weeks ago, and Esther and I were in their Home this last Wednesday. What joy and real happiness to see them already safe and settled. SOON, when their Certification has arrived, TFH will be handing each of these little ones permanently to Phyllis and Horace. TFH will have no more responsibility for them. BUT it will always have been a privilege to stand behind and with them. I am sure we shall still want to watch them grow and develop as God gives us life and Strength.

NEXT WEEK on Friday we are expecting 35 Staff and Students from Tyndale Christian School in South Australia to arrive. Some old friends and faces, and some very new. They will be with us for 14 days, and some will also be helping Joshua and Miriam at Neema Children's Home, going to and fro daily from us. These young people and their mentors have ever shown themselves to be willing for anything; hardworking, generous hearted, and very out-going. We are always blessed by their times with us all, and we especially rejoice to know Mike and Dani Potter and their family who are in fact very much OUR own family in every way. God is so good at bringing people together. You may remember that Tyndale Cottage is named after them.
To the left is a photo of the 2008 Party that were with us. The School visits bi-annually, and each student works in out of school hours to provide their air-fare and other costs. They come to work and to give of themselves freely. This year they will probably be building fences and painting and even laying foot paths! They will this year be again staying in the LILLIE HOSTEL, which stands just behind Testimony House and can sleep 40 comfortably. Maybe the last chance they will get to stay there, since NEXT TERM we are letting it out to Testimony School as a Dormitory for Girls learning in the Secondary Department. Our Secondary School both for boys and girls has been a DAY school since it opened, but many have been pressing to attend from a distance, and we have not been able until this year to consider providing at least some boarding space to accommodate them. The School will also rent an adjacent property to assist boarding some 40 boys. Quite a new venture.

ESTHER AND I have felt the Lord leading us - if possible - to spend two or three months in the UK as from late August this year. Previously, I had felt very unable to travel, but since the operations this year I feel very different, and relatively free to go anywhere and do anything!!!
We have missed seeing our UK grandchildren as well and feel we need to at least to catch a glimpse of them again before they have become adults! However I would also like to take any opportunity that might arise to visit friends and churches that pray and support the ministry here, and who have encouraged and been our stay for so many years, when we have been almost invisible here. If you thought that we could meet up somehow so that we could share a little, first hand, of our life here in Eldoret, please do let us know, or get in touch with Allan Nicholls or our son Steven Green - I'll leave the contact details for both at the foot of this Blog.
If we do come, who will we leave behind? Well we will leave Anthony Ndungu who has led the School since it began in 1983 to be in charge of the School, and then leave Daryl our son to watch over the Children's Homes. A shared responsibility. We discussed this last night at the AGM of our Board, and they were quite at ease and happy with this arrangement.
Please pray with us that He will Guide and provide for every detail. This is the first time that WE ourselves felt led to journey out of Kenya. Every previous occasion it was God that dug us up and out of here - not always when we felt happy about it. But this time the leading has come from WITHIN, though no less from the moving of His Spirit upon us, we believe.

God Bless and be with you all

John and Esther

Contact Addresses:-


Mr. and Mrs. Horace Leister,
Tumaini Children's Centre
Box 3828 ELDORET 30-100 Kenya
E-mail hpleister@gmail.com


Mr. A.E. Nicholls, MBE., FRGS., Secretary The AENON Trust
137 Belvedere Road, Bexleyheath, Kent, DA7 4PA - England
Telephone: 020-8303-5216
Mr. S.I. Green,
20 Waverley Road, Baxenden, Accrington,
Lancs., BB5 2TT, England
Telephone 1254 871208





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