ONWARDS, FOREWARDS!!!

YESTERDAY WE RECEIVED TWO NEW CHILDREN into the Homes. Camilla and Valentine aged 6 and 9 years. In this photo Valentine is on the extreme right, and Camilla is to her immediate left. Standing with them is Stacey aged 5 and her brother Franklin aged 9 standing behind. ALL four of these children lost their parents to AIDS. They immediately lost their home and were destitute in addition. No home, and no family to find shelter with. Three are clear of the HIV virus, but Camilla is not, and is the first child to come in toTestimony being HIV Positive. This is something of a land mark in our history. Previously we had not thought that we should accept any with the virus since we are not really set up to provide intensive medical care. A Week ago I had been in Court to finalise details to bring Camilla and her sister to TFH, but at the Hearing it was revealed that BOTH had HIV. I could not accept them as things stood with our current regulations without consultation with our Houseparents and Executive Staff. We duly met on Monday of this week, and it was unanimously felt that we could not refuse children in need, and these little girls were in great need. Thus we changed the regulations to accommodate them. We shall not put up a 'sign' to say we welcome HIV children, but we will not in future necessarily turn away those that are. We have in fact helped many disabled and challenged children, but usually limited the number. HIV is no different really. BOTH girls are already marvellously happy and settled. They are now part of the Drakeley Cottage Family, some of whom can be seen in the other two photos. Steve and Emily have a very happy little family of 33 at present. And it is always a joy to meet up with their kids who are real 'SMILERS'. It is a comparatively young family age wise, with the majority being between 4 and 12 years. They get on very well with each other.

THIS WEEK we had one of our many 'sons' staying with us on a short visit from the USA. His name is SAMMY KIRUI. He is presently attempting his Phd., but previously he has been both Pastor and Teacher here in Kenya. It has been good to have time to be with him once more, and to catch up on his news. He needed a break from what has been quite intensive and demanding study. NEXT WEEK we shall be meeting up with our friends from HUDDERSFIELD in England - Ian and Diana Hogley. More of that next Saturday. I must apologise that to-days update will appear late. I have had to be out most of the day visiting another Children's work and have only managed to start after supper.

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ONE OF MY OUTSIDE INTERESTS for the last decade or so has been involvement with a new Kenya Program aimed at reducing overcrowding of our prisons. This involves Community Service as an alternative to custodial sentencing. It has been very successful indeed, and it has been more than interesting and encouraging to sit on the Case Committee. This is attached to my involvement with the local Probation Service. I have been quite surprised this week to read that the Government might now consider dismantling this Program.
THE DAILY NATION, on page 11 of Thursday's edition announces -

COMMUNITY SERVICE UNDER THREAT

New Constitution might kill programme as Bill of Rights

curtails arrests for minor offences.

The writer of the Article tells us - 'The new Constitution outlaws incarceration for offences punishable by fine or imprisonment for not more than six months. Such offences usually involves people patronising busaa (illicit beer) dens, idlers at marketing centres and bus termini.' He also goes to great lengths to tell us that public opinion would be very much against a move to abandon the Community Service Programme. He is very right. I am very disturbed to think that such a thing could happen. It is TRUE that our prisons are overcrowded, but this is not the way to relieve the situation; it can only backfire on the general community by encouraging petty crime. If Magistrates in Kenya are feeling unable to give deserved prison sentences because of overcrowding, and now the Police are in any case to be prevented from arresting petty thieves, drunkards, and potentially dangerous vagrants, then soon we shall have a VERY unsafe society indeed. Even now the Police are wondering if it is worth arresting serious criminals since they are not given adequate custodial sentences. One wonders if they will put themselves out to 'police' the country at all if this new piece of legislation goes through. It is hard to see that 'Rights' given to drunkards, street vagabonds and tramps will improve the 'Rights' of the law abiding society. We NEED to lobby instead for more Prison space, more Police on the beat with powers to arrest. But will we get it? I think not. This world of ours is VERY DARK!

LAST SUNDAY I preached on Psalm 11v3 - If the foundations are destroyed what can the unyieldingly righteous DO? The 'foundations' in question are those moral and ethical laws on which all our history is built upon - the TEN COMMANDMENTS. But all our World Society is breaking up, regardless of what it is built upon! The God given evidence of Right and Wrong are no longer being accepted or understood. Even religious people are forgetting their religion and merging into world humanistic values and habits. Why - even Christians give less and less attention to the Word of God - either written or as seen in the Life of Christ - preferring instead to seek after sensational 'experiences' and to lean to their own understanding. Few seek how to 'please' God, or how to Be a Witness to the world around them. Why even today we are told on the WORLD NEWS that the Archbishop of Canterbury is happy to have a homosexual as a bishop provided he is not having sex with his partner!!! I have put THREE explanation marks because I just can hardly believe it. BUT, look at 2.Peter2v1 -

IN THE LAST DAYS

false teachers will arise among you who will stealthily (almost unnoticed) introduce

destructive heresies (deceitful teaching)

and many will follow their immoral and lascivious life styles

AND, because of them the TRUE Way

will be evilly spoken of.

In Psalm 83v5 it says that even Magistrates will not know what to do because of this breakdown in law and order - I have already mentioned how our Kenyan Magistrates are at a loss how to Sentences convicted felons! -

All the fundamental principals that justice rests upon

ARE SHAKING!

Secular Society - the majority - who do not KNOW God, are unaware of where they are going. They help make and change laws and practice to suit themselves - NOT GOD.

Look at Isaiah 24 - a truly terrible chapter speaking of the END of the world, and how things will be in those days. Isaiah had a vision of this -

Verse 3 - The land and the earth shall be utterly laid waste and utterly pillaged (ecological mismanagement)

Verse 5 - The land and the earth are defiled (made unclean) by their inhabitants, BECAUSE they have transgressed (disobeyed) the LAW, disregarded (God)'s) Statutes, and broken the everlasting covenant.

THEN IN Verse 16 God comments and says -

From all over the earth we heard singing

'Glory to the Righteous One (Jesus)

BUT I (GOD) feel deprived and unsatisfied. WOE is Me!

The treacherous dealers (shepherds / teachers) have dealt treacherously -

they have betrayed me.

TO ME this is another reference to the loose and decayed state of the World Church. The Laodician Church of Revelation - There is hardly any visible difference between the so called 'godly' and the ungodly - as with the merchant so with the priest! THE LIGHT SEEMS TO HAVE GONE OUT other than for rare exceptions here and there.

THUS in Verse 17 we continue to read -

Terror, and the Pit (Hell), and the Snare

are upon you, O inhabitant of the earth!

He who flees from the terror will fall into the Pit,

and he who climbs up out of the Pit will be caught in the snare

AND THE FOUNDATIONS OF THE EARTH WILL TREMBLE AND SHAKE.

BEWARE! Take care! This has BEGUN already, and is far on in its progress everywhere. SO what will each one of us who seeks to be unyieldingly, uncompromisingly, Righteous DO. Will we go the way of all FLESH or will we STAND and SHINE in the Spirit of our God

THIS IS THE TIME TO WARN the world.

This is the time to WARN the CHURCH with JUDE in mind.

We must PROCLAIM the Gospel Message

We must OPPOSE ungodliness and Warn of Judgement and Hell.

We must regard the poor and needy, the widow and the fatherless around us.

WE MUST BE LIGHT - SHOWING THE RIGHT WAY

WE MUST BE SALT, highlighting the world's lack of real flavour;

ready to cleanse and disinfect from sin.

We must be DEAD to sin - ALIVE to God.

We have to begin NOW if we have not already done so

THIS IS WHAT WE MUST DO.

And we have to do it just where we are - right in the midst of where GOD has put us, without fear or favour, with all our strength and with all our mind.

God Bless you all and enliven you to hear HIS voice at every turn of every day.

John and Esther