CHILDREN, CHILDREN EVERYWHERE....

THESE CHILDREN ARE HAPPY! When I look at a photo like this I find myself automatically smiling, and even laughing out loud. They all look so saucy and cheeky - but intrinsically HAPPY. I feel so glad for them, glad that they can be free enough of all worry and anxiety to be ABLE to look and be so fun loving. And then I am glad that Testimony Faith Homes is here. ALL of this little group were stranded and without shelter just a few months ago. No family, no friend, and shunned by the people around them. BUT, unknown to them, God had promised to take care of them. In Psalms 27v10 it is clearly written -

Although my father and my mother have forsaken me

yet the LORD will take me up

will (adopt me as His child).

A Wonderful verse of Scripture, and one that came to mean a great deal to ME as well in my teenage, when I suddenly began to discover my own past. A verse closely linked with another in Psalm 22v10 -

I was cast upon You from my very birth;

from my mother's womb You have been my God.

Of course these words were quite hidden and unknown by me when I was a child, even as they are unknown to all those others who find themselves cast out into the world uncared for. I was more fortunate than some since I was adopted, and well cared for to some extent, though not without a great deal of sorrow of heart at times, and certainly in the midst of family conflict. If I did not have a considerate or loving father I did have an affectionate and loving mother. But I often had feeling of desolation, as if somehow I was in the wrong place with the wrong people. I had no idea till I was 18 that I had been adopted, but when I DID discover this fact it was not a great surprise. But it then intensified a sense of loneliness. If I had not by then come to have also discovered that God was there for me, I may well not have survived. Indeed God had watched out for me, and always has. I owe my LIFE to Him in every way, and can see that he has turned all my sorrow into profit by bringing me here to Kenya and to show the Love of God to other unwanted children. God works in very mysterious ways, but makes no mistakes, and in allowing the good AND the bad leads and guides into all truth and under-standing. These children above are part of the Family opposite and their Dad and Mum are seen top left - Steve and Emily Situma. They have 32 in their family including their very own little son. They have been with us eight years already. Steve was himself left to roam the streets alone as an orphan child, and eventually came to stay with me and Esther in Testimony House when he was 9. WE were Mum and Dad to 45 in those days, and now we have three more homes, and 142 children in care. And our Testimony has ever continued to be founded on God's assurance that He will take care of the orphan and give him a home and family. For 42 years this Testimony has been demonstrated and proved. IT'S THE SCHOOL SPORTS DAY today, and I can hear the cheers and shouts from here, as they all compete excitedly in the School Field. The parents always support their children to the limit, and the number of cars parked here is unbelievable. Right up the front door of our house, and every scrap of spare place. The School has done well and grown into a very important part of all the ministry here. Some 600 or more children attend from the locality, and so OUR children are able to mix socially and academically with a very broad spectrum of the community around them. They also have every opportunity to expand and develop their academic ability competitively. This year we have THREE in University and 20 in Senior Colleges who have all attended our School. We expect to add at least three more to University before the year is done. Our Revenue People have targeted the School as a High Cost School and Business, refusing to see it as part of our charitable work, even though it provides FREE places for ALL our Homes children, and additionally offers up to 30 FREE places to poor students from the Municipality who have done well in public examinations. AND even though it makes no financial gain either for itself or anyone. Extraordinary, the ways of man. I have to end here this week. A lot of work to do still for me today. But next week I will have some surprise pictures for you. Keep praying for us as the Tax people continue to harass us, and as the Enemy also is busy unleashing a new barrage of fiery darts at the work as a whole. Prayer IS needed urgently so please do remember us. Our Love in the Lord our God John and Esther