IS THIS ANOTHER ICON?

DOES THIS POSTER REPRESENT JESUS?
Is this 'baby' doll meant to represent the Saviour of our soul?  
Initially coming across it today, and seeing it is part of a new publicity effort by the Church of England to wake up the public at large to the fact of Christ in a modern society, I was momentarily shocked!      It kind of offended my inner man, somehow impertinently challenging and cheapening both the simply beauty, and the uniqueness, of The baby born in a manger.   I felt an inward sense of warning against it.   It seemed to openly question Christ's Uniqueness, and to present an 'everyday' insignificance to a World Changing event.       Others have called this poster both 'Tacky' and 'Blasphemous'.     Not everyone has liked it amongst the Christian Community, but the majority seem to be being taken in by it, and even applauding it as an EYE and MIND catching image that brings the Nativity right into the here and now.
The FACT is this representation portrays the Saviour of the world, and of our Soul, as a synthetic copy of a human being.     There is nothing there that points to GOD, or to God being IN this child making it special or more than human.     It is a humanistic, almost secular picture of baby Jesus - very plastic and manipulative - unREAL;  a cheap, infantile comfort to infantile needs.
We need to remember that the Jesus of history and of the Bible was not ordinary.   He was OUT OF THE ORDINARY.     He had no earthly father to start with.     His Fatherhood was from God.   He had a human body of flesh and blood that grew in Mary's womb as that of a surrogate mother chosen for her devotedness to God.      He grew up in every way no different to any one of us, other than that He was WITHOUT SIN.     He came to be tempted and tested in all the ways that any other Man or Woman might be so proved - but without yielding to or submitting to sin in His own personal life.  He remained SINLESS.
In Jesus we have a MAN in Whom the very nature and character of God co-existed with the flesh and blood of humanity that gave Him his human identity.    And let us remember that it was NOT the baby that died on the Cross to purchase OUR redemption from OUR sin.    No, it was the fully grown and developed MAN, unsullied by the sins and imperfections we have in this Age tried to attribute to HIM.
Jesus Saves because He alone was and IS Good enough.      A sinner cannot set another sinner free from his sin.      ONLY one who is FREE can unlock the door of the condemned cell and let the prisoner free.     The Devil would be happy to persuade the world of the failed humanity and futile power of Jesus Christ, and to finally establish amongst us a reason to just GIVE IN to our sinful nature, blind and oblivious to the SALVATION God has provided in Christ on the Cross.
CHRISTMAS did not start with Christ - it was observed much earlier as a pagan feast dedicated to Principalities and Powers in rebellion to God.     In an effort to get rid of it from those they wanted to follow Christ, the early Church re-dedicated the pagan feast to Christ in memory of his Birthday and called it The Feast of Christ, 'Christmas'.      It can never be that Christmas STARTS with Christ.
But is is true that Christmas can never have any useful, life influencing purpose, WITHOUT Christ.

SO, what to do with this poster?     Well  I have put it out of mind in favour of the Nativity Story that I know, and the strength there is in recognising that my Father sent His son to be born, to grow up to know what it is to BE human, to suffer and to DIE that I might one day be FORGIVEN, and to RISE from the dead to walk with me as a brother and friend.      I do not need the image of a plastic doll to comfort me - I have the LIVING and very REAL Man called Jesus, Son of the LIVING God to walk and talk with me.       BEWARE, brother and sister, not everything is good that looks good.   The plastic doll in the poster never grew up to be a plastic man hanging on a cross for you, and no plastic man, dead and ignorant of all your troubles and the evil that infects you, could ever achieve in front of God and the Devil, what JESUS achieved when HE died on THAT cross at Calvary.

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ABOVE is a photo of 'street children' in Mombasa sniffing GLUE.   They are representative of approximately 1.4 million such children to be found in every city, town, and village in Kenya.

On Wednesday of this week, I attended a Committee that I am attached to.     The Eldoret Court Users Committee -  a committee with members drawn from the Judiciary,  The Law Society, Police, Central and Local Government as well as the private sector.      My own attendance is basically related to my work with and for the Children's Department and the Probation service.

On this occasion the first item on the Agenda was The Problem of Street Children in Eldoret.

The discussion turned on 'How to clear the Streets'.     This discussion began years ago in 2000.

The District Commission of the time, and the Local Government had come together to find an answer to the then growing numbers.         No lasting answer ever surfaced.    Words, words and more words. BUT no improvement.     The children on those days have gone on growing up on the street until today they are still on the streets - as adults.      MORE and more children continue to come...

WHY?    Why are they there.      

Many say it is because of poverty in the country at large.     Partially this may be true;  many of these youngster actually come to beg or find some kind of income on behalf of their family (for 90% of the children on the street at any time are NOT orphans).

But these might not be there at all if there was nothing to GET.     Missionaries and kind hearted folk find it hard to pass by a child in rags looking in need.    Food, and money is handed out daily in our streets.

Other well wishers provide 'soup kitchens' and other on the street feeding programmes.

Sex and drugs are also available on our streets.      Some adults (some of them probably graduates from the street themselves) gather others found on the street, and run them to provide for the sexual and other other addictions of others - taking their earnings and giving them food and lodging in return.

Growing prostitution, drug addiction, petty theft, and a percentage of mental illness to say nothing of Aids all without  apparent restriction available in our streets, nation wide.

The meeting was disposed to just round up all street dwellers.

BUT there is NO WHERE to take them all.    BUT it could be achieved with all the social services and other agencies working together - yes it could be achieved in just a few days.....

WITHIN just another few days the streets would begin to fill up again with NEWCOMERS!!

Thus I found myself on my feet once more, and stating strongly that BEFORE we could in any way improve our current situation on our streets, we needed to find out first WHERE these kids were coming from, and then even more importantly to find ways and means to cut off ALL the attractions and allurements from the Street Scene generally so that no life support is to be found on them.

1.  ALL those handing out money and food to be judged to have committed an offence carrying a FINE.   All Feeding Programmes to be confined to being held in viable Schools, or re-organised so that food is distributed to recognised CCIs.

2.  The Police in concert with Social Works with the Children's Department, Social Services and others to discover those supplying glue, and to take measures to prevent the same.    Even to additionally discover if the current Glues on the market might be prescribed if they are found to be dangerous to public and mental health.

3.  The Police and others as mentioned under (2) to investigate and discover those running prostitution and illicit sex of any kind for profit and to prosecute the same and close down their business.

4.   To assess and discover those cases that might be made to return to home and school, and to then discuss ways and means to achieve this.

If we do not want beggars and profiteers of any kind on our street we have to snatch the proverbial 'rug' of security, profit, or plain pleasure from right under their feet.

This was all received in silence and without comment.   The Meeting proceeded to other business.

I am not encouraged to think that the next fourteen years will produce more success than the previous  ones.       ACTION is needed, but action is not the most noticeable attribute to Kenya's affairs.

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YESTERDAY we managed to secure the most part of our salaries for our many co workers.   That left us with enough for the week-end.      Next week will have to be a miracle week - but we know and have proved that BEFORE we ask or call HE has already made provision for us.    He CARES and PLANS for every eventuality.       Please, even so, continue to uphold our hands in prayer.

TODAY, just an hour ago, I ADMITTED to Testimony House to small brothers from Eldoret Town.     They are Victor 8 and Steven 5.      Their mother died of AIDS last year, and they have been staying alone in a VERY poor mud hut in Langas (a suburb of Eldoret) ever since.    Victor, the eldest has AIDS.      He has been on retro-viral drugs but not taking them regularly.    He is not at all well right now.    We have to do our best to get him back on a proper regime and hope and pray for a recovery.     His father also has AIDS and neglected to take the appropriate medicine and is now bedridden and dying.       Victor's brother Steve does NOT have HIV, very lively little boy.    Both children have a sister aged 9 staying with a grandmother who is using her as a house-girl.   We may eventually step in and see what can be done to improve this situation as well.      I always seem to find myself opening the door for MORE children, when finance is very low!      I never have felt afraid to do this,  and Father, looking down, has always taken care of us all.

Ian and Diana HOGLEY were here for a few days from the 19th September.   Always good to see them, and this time Diana's sister Irene joined them, as also a family friend Judith.   We had a nice time.    In December we hope to have their son Simon, and wife Rhianna to be with us over Christmas.

Today an Old Boy of Testimony House from when we were parents - Sammy Kirui - will be here for a week or more.     So we are always blessed with visitors.   Keeps us on our toes, and provides a lot of encouragement to us two old fogies.

STILL raining, but at present not very heavily.    The Teachers Strike has ended and the Doctors so far continue.     Kenya is NOT very stable socially at present, and that with political activity all over the country due to the expected March Election next year.      BUT all is peaceful in our neck of the woods so far.      We dwell under His Wings, safe and sound, secure and snug.

'I lay down and slept:

I wakened again, 

for the LORD sustains me.'  - Psalm 3v5

,In peace I will both lie down and sleep,

for You, LORD, alone make me dwell in safety and confident trust - Psalm 4v8

Much Love in Jesus to you all

John and Esther  AND  Daryl and Carol (still in OZ)

TRUST IN THE LORD!

TRUST does not grow overnight.      It takes time, often a LOT of time.   And thus PATIENCE is also needed to reap a harvest from it.     I remember when we got to the place of putting up the first double story tuition block for Testimony School, the Administrative Office and Assembly Hall.    All these buildings wee designed to stand on land then occupied by a grove of Blue Gum Trees; many of them a hundred years old, and as many feet in height.      The site had to be cleared before we could build - one by one those tall stately, long standing, trees were brought down - all in less than thirty minutes.  SO EASY to destroy TRUST, so difficult to replace it quickly!   ONE OF THE BIGGEST CHALLENGES FOR US has been waiting for trust to be received and accepted between ourselves and the children the Lord often brings to us.    There are occasions where a child comes as a baby or infant, and a relationship immediately begins, and without either of us noticing 'trust' between us is set in motion.      But there are also those who come older, with many years behind them.     They come into our care, the care of strangers, with reservation and often suspicion.

AND, of course,  we also may have our own reservations about them!      Then there is a third scenario, where a child having grown up with us for some time is found to have unexpectedly lied, cheated, even spurned the trust given to him or her.        NOT easy to put that failure or rejection aside as if it did not happen.........Back to square one all over again.     It is a set back demanding even more faith than before.   And it can also work the other way - ON OF US may fall short of a child's expectation so that they back off, and their own trust damaged.      It may not be repaired over-night, but will take time to heal - time to grow again.         During such times, Love will be given opportunity to flourish;  mercy, forgiveness and PATIENCE to be demonstrated and revealed.   We may not be able to 'hurry' things along.     Children are not like sticks of rhubarb under glass being 'forced' to speed up their development at the pleasure of the 'gardener'.   Neither are adults.     DEATH comes suddenly to us but CHANGE takes time to actually happen.      Trust is the same.    It must be built, waited for, and   carefully maintained.

THUS for us every incoming child is a challenge - will we be able to build trust between us?

Perhaps I should then go on to ask the Question - 'How many people trust ME - or even YOU?'

Or again 'Who do I trust?'         It is amazing how, when  friends lets us down, those that we counted on, we immediately change in our attitude towards them.        There is a kind 'blame game' factor that many of us suffer from.     Even some of our children 'blame' their parents for dying - 'WHY did my parents die and make me an orphan?'      And then. perhaps, they may begin to blame GOD for letting it all happen........    Can we really trust GOD?       Ah, now THERE is a question.      Indeed if I may NOT trust in God then I am left with nothing to trust in at all - I am of all people in deep despair, hopeless, with nothing and no one to hang on to.       IF we could safely DEBUNK the whole idea of God then we might ALL find ourselves individually alone, and totally despondent.    I can see the Enemy of Mankind rubbing his hands with glee at the thought of it - surely this is what he ever works towards.   He loves to sow doubt and discord; loves to question God's veracity.    He can often use a death to do this.   'IF God is there and loves you, surely, He would not have broken your heart and taken that loved one away?'       The Enemy loves to chip away at TRUST in God.    And really at times I feel there is that of the Enemy in all of us - even the Christian - that Satan awakes to question us in a way that will destroy trust - in each other - AND in God.     It is when we yield to this that life opens the door to despair and misery of heart and soul.

This week I was reading again Psalm 4.    I read it first in the King James Bible, and later again in the Amplified Translation of the Bible.      I will print it here - maybe with a comment / maybe not - it is really, for me, a Psalm of great Encouragement.     I will use the Amplified Bible Translation.

LORD, how they are increased who trouble me!  Many are they who rise up against me.

Many are saying of me.  There is no help for him in God.    Selah (pause and calmly thing of that!)

But You, O Lord, are a shield for me, my glory, and the lifter up of my head.

With my voice I cry to the Lord, and He hears and answers me out of His holy hill.  Selah (pause and calmly thing of that!)

I lay down and slept;   I wakened again, for the Lord sustains me.

I will not be afraid of ten thousands of people who have set themselves against me round about.

ARISE, O Lord; save me, O my God!   For You have struck all my enemies on the cheek:  You have broken the teeth of the ungodly.

Salvation  belongs to the Lord, May Your blessings be upon Your people.  Selah (pause and calmly thing of THAT!)

I suppose I have read this Psalm dozens of times, but on this occasion I felt especially blessed and refreshed by it.     There is such sure Assurance and Certainty in it about GOD.    No matter how great our enemies might be, or how weak and unable we and others might feel we are to confront them, YET GOD is our shield - He will lift us up victorious.      Calmly consider this - There IS nothing and no one God will not save and deliver us from.
HE hears and answers my cry for help - always.  Calmly think about that - He attends day and night to our words.
I can sleep KNOWING that I will awake because HE will sustain me as I trust in Him.
I need never be afraid of being overwhelmed by those seeking my downfall - however many they may be - when I am trusting in God to be with me.
He WILL deliver me and save me!
His Blessing will ever be upon His people - those for whom Christ bled and died and ROSE again.
THE WRITER is David, and he is NOT theorising about some mythical god.    HE sings of the ONE he has FOUND to be REAL from his own experience and relationship;  The ONE TRUE GOD.    He is not singing about trite nothings, but he proclaims from his heart what he KNOWS to be TRUTH, and Truth enough to lift anyone listening up from the gloom of the miry pit.

It set ME up for the week.     A week of visitors, and business and many comings and goings.   A week of the humdrum and of the unexpected.    We week that played on our physical and emotional strengths and weaknesses.       A week that began without a penny in the Bank, leaving us hanging by a thread until Thursday when the Bank let us know that funds that had been sent more than a week before had now arrived.        Thus WE were relieved by the ONE who never fails, who had gathered of His love partners what was needed to sustain US, tucked away in Eldoret.     Thus we shall praise HIM, and extol His NAME.         If HE stretches my patience, and my trust, or permits a doubt to cross my carnal mind, YET will I never cease to TRUST in Him who IS my life and my Expectation.

God Bless YOU all, and carry you through the week ahead.  


John and Esther & Daryl and Carol (just now leaving for Australia)

 I 

WESTHOUGHTON PENTECOSTALS ON TOUR.

THIS is the present day Church - there have been three and the first one I ever entered was in 1968 when it was a rather dilapidated and sprawling wooden structure.     Westhoughton is not far from Bolton, in Lancashire, and I had never before attended it.     BUT from that day, in 1968, somehow the Holy Spirit kept the memory of my visit alive to the congregation, and they have ever since prayed for us, and later increasingly supported us. In the beginning they were just one of three groups of Christians that prayed for us, and encouraged me, a new man for God in KENYA.    Esther and I were able to visit in person together in 2011, and this month it has been our joy to have Pastor Martin Speed and his wife Margaret with us just for a few days Wednesday to Friday this week.  They were accompanied by Deacon Eddy and his grandson Luke.    We had a wonderful time of fellowship together, and they were able to present gifts to the Children here, and also to the Homes generally, in person and on behalf of the Church.  

The Church as a 'body' had been able to purchase a new Table-tennis table, together with bats and balls, for the use of ALL the children -  There had also been a Sponsored Walk of some 14 miles that had raised further funds, out of which footballs, basketballs, and other sports equipment had been bought.  The balance presented as a cash gift to the Work of Testimony Faith Homes.    We had a special gathering of Children and Staff on the Thursday evening when presentations were made, and the table tennis table set up and demonstrated.      The children, always a little 'reserved' on such occasions were truly delighted at the prospect these gifts presented.      'THANK' you Westhoughton Pentecostal Church - wish you could all have been here to see for yourselves the great contribution your constant love and prayers have accomplished over the years.

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ON FRIDAY (yesterday) afternoon our Westhougton friends were due to fly out of Eldoret Airport to Nairobi, and thence to Mombasa for a Pastor's Conference.    We had to be at the Airport by 4p.m. to catch their scheduled 5.30p.m. flight.    We were there on time, but then informed that their flight would be late as it had been diverted to the North of Kenya (to Lodwar) and would not now arrive until 6p.m.       By 6.15p.m. there was no sign of it, and on further enquiry were informed that the pilot of the plane had decided not to return to Eldoret but to proceed direct from Lodwar to Nairobi!!

There was no other 'scheduled'  flight, and our friends plus another dozen travellers were all stranded.  After some time we were told that the Airline (as per above right) were sending another plane from Nairobi that would arrive about 9.30.p.m.      We had by this time hung around for some hours and decided to come back to Testimony, and then taken them back at nine.      This we did and they caught the plane to Nairobi.      However on arrival the promised transfer from the Mombasa flight they had booked to a later one had not been done.     The plane did arrive in time to catch the last flight to Mombasa, but they were not allowed on it since they did not have appropriate tickets for THAT particular flight - so they had to stay in Nairobi overnight - at their expense.      They were by this time very weary, tired AND frustrated.       We have not yet managed to contact them today, but we HOPE they are now safe in Mombasa.

THIS AIRLINE is the cheapest that comes to Eldoret.     They are also the most UNRELIABLE of all.

They seem to have no clear policy or even schedule.      They change their flight schedule as if it has never been printed, and then lose sight of their planes as if they are totally without communication.

In fact to set foot in one of their aircraft seems to be very hit or miss - you may think you are going to where you booked and find yourself taking  'mystery' journey to the unknown, or else just stranded, uninformed, and un-mourned for, without apology.         How any respectable Airport agree for such an Airline to use its facilities is beyond understanding.

BE WARNED if you are thinking of using THIS Airline, think again.      If you go for cheapness you may well live to regret it.      ECONOMY can be EXPENSIVE.

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Our dear friend and brother in Christ, John Fowler has also been with us since the 13th.  He and his wife Sal, were missionaries here when we arrived in 1972 and we enjoyed their friendship and fellowship in those early years.   John is taking time out to revisit old friends, and scenes of their ministry together.    On money we shall be taking him on to another area to the West of us.

On the 19th we hope to receive Ian and Diana Hogley, Diana's sister, and another friend for a few days.      We are blessed.     AND on the 23rd Daryl and Carol will fly to Australia.     

Will tell you more NEXT week.     Till then our continuing prayer and love for you all - and our grateful thanks for all of you that wrote to assure us that you are reading the Blog and keeping up with our life here in Eldoret, Kenya.

God Bless and keep you safe and well

John and Esther.

STRIKING A BLOW AGAINST OURSELVES

THIS WEEK THE TEACHERS CONTINUE TO BE ON STRIKE.     They have been joined now by the University Lecturers, and next week the Doctors are to jump on the same band-waggon.
School are already shutting, students locked out and stagnating at home.    A present the Government is adamant and threatening not to re-employ those on strike!!  
OUR School remains open, and our teachers remain teaching.   We are a 'private' school and our teachers are not paid by the Government but by our selves - though we pay no more than the Government at present.
Of course the Government is not without fault in this matter.     They have promised, as much as is being asked of them by the teachers, years back in 1997, and they knew then that they did not, and were not likely to have the money to pay them.     Taken together with their own extravagances as a Government - (they recently once more raised their own salaries, whilst sitting on their recently newly installed parliamentary chairs valued at approximately £2,000), it is not surprising that there is discontent.   If the government had forgone their own personal comfort and aggrandisement in these matters alone, they may well have had more than enough funds to reach a compromise settlement with all comers.
In 1997 Testimony Faith Homes issued a Statement on its own position regarding Strike Action.   I will give it again here as we have again re-issued it to our own staff and parents.

'Testimony Faith Homes believes in Freedom of Speech and expression.    It believes in the  right of all men to live together in peace and harmony at a fair standard of living.  Because of this we believe that the Teachers of  Kenya have a good reason to press the Government for improved Salary Scales, and we support them in their applications and petitions to the Government of Kenya.

HOWEVER, we do not believe that any individual or section of society should use the other to obtain what they want in life.    We feel it is wrong in the sight of God for any man, woman, or child, to be used as a 'bargaining chip' by others.   We are to respect each other, and to value each other, and NOT put another person or group of persons to distress because of our own pain.

We put God first in these matters.    And God tells us plainly that a Godly person will strive for peace and NOT strife.    The Wisdom that comes from GOD is first of all peaceable, gentle, and easy to be entreated - Galatians 5v19-21 & James 3v13-18 & 1.Peter 2v17.   We see it is our DUTY in front of God, and all men, to honour the President and the Established Authority of Government, and to turn away from all social actions which might be opposed to peace and security, and which might encourage greater chaos and suffering in the community at large

THUS, we have encouraged our own teaching Staff to remain on duty with us in the School, and to TEACH.   It is the Calling and the Duty of a teacher to TEACH, and to teach what is RIGHT in order that the young might be brought up in a good and law abiding manner - to do their duty when their time comes.    It is our purpose to continue teaching as long as we can.

Should pressure from the 'outside' be brought to bear against us, or threats be given to us, we shall not be deterred.    BUT, and if through any MOB action, we might be forced to close the School (to safeguard the safety of our Staff and children), then we may well consider closing the School permanently.    We will not be manipulated by force.    For, if we have to demonstrate to our young people that MOB opinion is more than Law and Order and the common values of life, then we have agreed to Anarchy and every anti-social evil.   We shall have no ground to stand upon.    Better then to re-tools and turn the School into an Evangelistic Centre for the propagation of the Gospel - the TRUTH which is the only Saving Factor in a gradually crumbling society.

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LAST WEEK,  we all found ourselves busy with many different daily labours, and Saturday arrived with us getting ready to say Farewell to FOUR of the Senior boys resident in Jacaranda Cottage.

Once education has been concluded we encourage our youngsters to seek employment within three months.    Once employment has been found we let them continue to live at home for a further three moths whilst they look for suitable independent lodging.   During this time we hold 50% of their monthly wage against their final departure, and purchase of what they will need to set up on their own.

Once lodging is found,  they can still remain till the grace period of three months is ended.   THEN we give them a Gift of £80 to add to their saved earnings, and send them on their way with a Farewell Fellowship Evening where the Family Members including invited members of friends and staff from the other Homes come together for prayer and fellowship.

Nicholas,  Phillip,  Stephen,  and Moses

SO, last Saturday evening a number of us found ourselves in Jacaranda Cottage to bid farewell to four of the eldest boys,   Nicholas Kibet, 28 and with us since he was three...  a Waiter in a new Coffee Bar in town, whose story I shared a few weeks back.     Moses Maresi, 30 and with us since he was ten,  working at a Christian  Rehabilitation Centre from which he himself graduated delivered from alcoholism last year.   He has a 2nd class honours degree in Engineering,    He is now a committed Christian.      Phillip Kiplimo, 23, and with us since he was four, a Warden of a Tourist Lodge in Eldoret.         And lastly Stephen Wathika,  24, and with us since he was five..  a farm worker and also a trained motor mechanic.      Stephan is troubled  psychologically but the Lord has answered so much prayer for him, and he is in truth a lovely young man, hardworking and reliable.      ll leaving to live on their own in their own quarters away from home and family.     Quite a challenge and change.   They need your prayers.

Most 'family' members wanted to say a personal 'something' and the four leavers also took opportunity to unload their hearts.    Lastly we all gathered round to lay hands and pray for each one.    From the youngest to the eldest there was a genuine demonstration of emotion - from joy to sorrow all mixed up together.      And our Pastor tied everything up with a short exhortation and prayer of his own.  It was a good family evening, and one that will be repeated again and again as family members come to the time of commencing their own independent life.

Do you remember Jacob Njenga?    A nine year old boy who had suffered severe burns in a fire when he was just eighteen months old.     He lost a hand at that time as well, and he remains severely scared on his entire right side, head to toe.       He has been with us since December last year, and this month was due to attend a Nairobi Hospital for further work and treatment; he will be regularly going back and forth for some many years, as he grows to adulthood in order to work on the scarring from his burns, and also to repair his right eye and hand.     He is a brave and courageous little fellow, and his grandmother was with us on this Saturday evening to go with him to the hospital.   He herself is not well, but the only relative that cares about him that is left.     We tool opportunity to pray for him.  He left the next day - but TODAY he returned, having had successful surgery, as bright as a button.  Thank you Jesus.      

IT IS STILL RAINING HERE, at a time when usually it should have stopped and given place to the beginnings of Spring and Summer.    Our weather men tell us it may continue to rain till Christmas!

Generally the year has not seen much sun, and for the most part has felt very similar to European weather.      But life goes on whatever.       We have been thankful to have seen very little illness.

The School Building program continues, and the new Hostel for Boarders is progressing well.  In addition Parents sending their children to Testimony School seem more than supportive and willing to improve the facilities.     Their latest interest is in the provision of a Swimming Pool, and it is now hoped that work will start on this very soon.      It will be financed by a Bank Loan in the name of the School, but again will be built on land belonging to the Children's Homes, and will be open for them to use during holiday periods.      It will also be open on a limited basis to other Schools at a small fee to cover maintenance and servicing.

It is incredibly strange to see this material growth right on our doorstep, and indeed as part of Testimony Faith Homes, yet also to find ourselves - in the Orphan Homes - waiting upon the Lord for every shilling, and for every lick of paint and stitch of maintenance needed.     The School, with its, 500 parents paying for their students education, is able to budget for its expected expenditure from its expected and predictable  income.     But the four Children's Homes cannot budget since it has no expected income of a predictable nature.      How amazing then that at the end of any year those trusting solely in God and the Work of His Spirit are found equally taken care of as those trusting in man, and secular security.       ALL Praise and Honour to God, Who shows the Increase.    This altogether strange ministry clearly testifies to the Faithfulness of God.

We hope and trust you are all well.     We have no way of really knowing who is reading this Blog.  Not so many we think.      Only less than a handful actually comment on it, or even mention having seen it.      We would love to hear from more, since we often feel very short of encouragement and the knowledge of the Fellowship of those also labouring for Jesus.     We send you our united Love and Greetings.      May our Father Keep and Bless you day by day.

John and Esther & Daryl and Carol

                                   (The Greens)