THE LORD IS TAKING OUR CHILDREN ON!!

YES, ITS ANOTHER WEDDING!    And it took place in The East Gate Deliverance Church, Eldoret, this morning.       Esther, Daryl and I were there, and  a bus load of staff and children from Testimony Faith Homes and also from Neema Children's Home. In the photo above, taken after the Ceremony with the Bride, Faith Kaveza, and her husband Andrew Wanyama - now Mr. and Mrs Wanyama of course.   In this photo right to left can be seen Miriam Mbithi, Esther, Faith, Andrew, Joshua Mbithi, John Green, and an elder brother of Andrew whose name I do not know.
It was a very long service, and very LOUD.      The Worship which opened the Service and took a good 30 minutes and was SO loud that it blotted out all thought!    Pentecostal churches here in Kenya all  feel that loudness gets you closer to God - at least I 'think'  this is so.     The church is not yet completed as a building - very huge, with a very high metal roof, but very bright and airy.
After the Worship, the pastor preached on Divorce and What makes a good Marriage.   It was in English, translated into Kiswahili, and was a good sermon, but a bit heavy, and a good part of it would normally have been mentioned during pre wedding councelling, - but it lasted for one hour and twenty minutes, and again quite loud.         After this the actual Wedding Service began.     We had arrived at 11.30a.m. and were still there at 3p.m.       I was quite tired, as also was Esther but we could never have missed it.      Testimony had taken Faith in when she was  just about 1 and a half.  This was in 1990, and she went to be part of the Jacaranda Cottage Family, where she grew up.    And so, of course, it was Joshua and Miriam who stood with her as parents at the Wedding today.   
Faith will still be teaching in Testimony Nursery School, and her husband will also continue teaching Primary children, but in another School.      It was a Joyous occasion and the weather which has been WET every day for a week yet again relented and allowed the sun to shine.    It is SO wonderful for us to see our kids carrying on their lives with Jesus, all grown up, and working.

Poor Esther, by dear wife, is wrestling with a heavy cold.     She usually gets it really bad when she has one, and this is no exception, and YESTERDAY she adventured with Daryl away from Eldoret into a rural area about 60 kilometers away.    It was Wet and Cold most of the day, though it did let up a little during the Event they went to observe.
The Event was the opening of  Fountain Cloud Natural Spring Water, in MOSOP District.

In 1975 Esther and I received twin boys into our care in Testimony House.   They were just seven months old.     Both boys grew up to love the Lord, and both went into the pastoral ministry.  Anthony (nickname of 'bones' from when he almost died of T.B. in his teenage and lost a lot of weight) is currently pastoring in Nairobi with the African Gospel Church, and Christopher who was here in Eldoret Ministering is now Managing Fountain Cloud.

The boys, after they had left us, after bible College, discovered land belonging to their family had been reserved for them.   Not a large plot, but on exploring it they found it had a clear water perpetual Spring on it.       Sharing this with a friend of Anthony's in the U.S. on an unexpected visit, his friend felt God speaking to him, and suggested the Twins might investigate harvesting water from the Spring for retail consumption.   If it proved viable then the 'friend' would loan them funds to get it started on the understanding that half of the profits should be used to help provide help for  children suffering from Autism.   Back in Kenya samples of the water was taken for examination, and testing, before proceeding development.   Getting the 'all clear' they have gone ahead  

The above photo shows part of the mechanism that receives the water from the Spring, passing it though various stages of cleansing double checks prior to passing on to the bottling unit.

Production and Sales has already begun, but there is still more apparatus to be added.

The Unit has been well built, and the Equipment purchased is of the latest technical specification.

THE OPENING was yesterday, attended by many from the immediate community together with a number of our own Old Boys and Girls, plus some important dignitaries who had been invited to grace the occasion, which seemed a real miracle to the community, and was most certainly a very great Testimony to the Goodness of God.   It is very depressed community, and will truly go a long way to lifting up hopeless hearts, providing not only needed employment, but hope in God.
I was not able to attend myself, as I was busy with a little job in our Administration, and also I do not travel well these days.     Daryl and Esther left Eldoret about 10 and arrived back about 8p.m.  A long day, and although she had thoroughly enjoyed the day, she was also tired, and her cold had thickened a little.       Today hasn't improved it, but by tomorrow we shall be sure to see an improvement.


LAST NIGHT we had our THIRD Board Meeting of the year, which went well and progressively.

We also received notice funds arriving from AENON Trust with sighs of relief and shouts of joy since funds had been running down a little.     But we know  in whom we BELIEVE, and He is faithful.     Praise be to His wonderful name.   
Now we face the last quarter of the year.     We find ourselves much in prayer for so many world needs and dangerous situations.    To us it as if the whole world is 'tottering' relentlessly toward collapse,      Certainly Kenya is not untouched by all of this world anxiety.    It is affecting OUR economy as well.     BUT as always there is only one thing to do, and that is to pray.    We shall be praying for each one of you, and for the Country you live in,

God Bless you all in Jesus Name

John, Esther and Daryl Green

DONE AT LAST - we have succumbed to Clutter on the Roof!      Well, but the Contractor did a quick clean and efficient job, and took almost three full days sorting out the best place to set it up.  It works very well, and now we do have very hot, even scalding, water all day from early morning till sunset - as long as the sun shines, and total darkness has not descended.     Are we Happy with it?  We are happy with having hot water for free rather than having to either pay for it to Power & Lighting Co., or go without, YES.        BUT our lovely green roof, blending in so well with our leafy surroundings, is now somewhat intruded upon by this surreal piece of external plumbing with its own little plastic tank also on a stand of its own clutching the roof higher up.      I felt shocked when I first saw it, and now I do not look up to see it unless I have to; a necessary (?) progressive item stealing sunlight from a dying sun that will one day, without our help, burn up the planet and everything on it, including the heating unit.       I shall no doubt get used to it, and I cannot but be thankful for its installation that will inevitably reduce our cost of living - not just ours personally, but the Homes and School as well.    For now we see it works, we shall no doubt see more such units as God Provides appearing in many other places AND maybe not just providing hot water, but what would be even more money saving, Lighting!!

The Unit, as purchased and installed, has a guaranteed life of 5 years.......It is not especially an eyesore, and makes no noise, and has no smell.    It is NEW,  clean, and quite honestly inoffensive.   Will it rust away slowly in the rain and heat of years?    Will it age visibly, and become a kind of scab or scar upon the green roof; perhaps a new perch or look-out place for birds to survey the lawns from, and perhaps even use as a lavatory?   We shall wait and see  -   though being elderly ourselves and not able to determine the number of days left to us, it is possible we shall not live to see it.   Does it matter?     Are any of these matters life changing or a cause of real challenge to happiness or joy? 
No, indeed.     They are just the meanderings of an old man who just prefers to live in the past  -  probably not the only one!        The world is very different and far from where it was when I was a child, and free of a great many fears and apprehensions heaped upon the world today by the Media, and by the misguided reasoning of those ignorant of history and heedless of God - generally.     And just this afternoon I heard someone on SKY news telling us that a huge percentage of our young people (in the U.K) are leaving school unqualified, and before the expected conclusion of their education; does this warn us of a generation quite out of touch with the development and learning of thousands of years of civilised behaviour?    I would not be surprised.     Strangely I have never felt out of touch or odds with my forbears, those who lived before me; but I feel  quite estranged from much of what is today being taught and held up as 'human' in thought word and deed.   We ARE moving on and changing - into something quite different.   Do all the elderly of every generation feel like this?     Then I think that I must feel it more acutely.     Certainly I have felt more and more as if I, myself, am a sudden stranger here.       In my 79 years of living, how is it that I do not feel as if I belong any more.      Ahh...STOP!      I am in danger of truly meandering now.  Must be time to take a 'chariot' to my more certain sense of being at home.

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THIS WEEK has been a good week for me.     I have shared in meetings here, discussing ways in TFH might develop, both the homes and the school.    It was good to just sit and put in a word here and there, and to listen to others, and to come away feeling that we together had been led of the Lord, by His Spirit, to reach a united purpose based on what we had already learnt from the past fifty years, and upon leaning even more upon God for the future     We were not many.    Myself, Daryl, Esther, and Anthony Ndungu, who has headed up the School since 1981 when it began, and our Chief Accountant, Tony Koech, and our Board Secretary, one of our old boys, Joel Edaria.     Two good Meetings held on the 11th and 19th of this month.     Prayer, Discussion, good fellowship in peace and unity.     How very good it was.     Long may it be so in the future.

I also managed to turn my attention to my own flagging correspondence and bring it up to date once more.. Praise the Lord.    Now I should have time and determination to KEEP up to date.

I am also continuing to keep an eye on our young people in the homes who are now outside in College - we have fellowship about their Courses and how they are going, and their needs along the way.    It can be quite demanding, but it is also a very important link, and we have seen great profit in it.      We have twenty at present in College, and about SIX are boarding in college.    They all come  to discuss with me, and with Dan Notte who assists Daryl with Accounts, about their Fees and other needs whilst away from home.     And I am just their grandpa - not the Director, or some other person considered to be 'management'.       Very homely and informal family business.


THE WEATHER HAS CHANGED just a bit and we have been having clear skies, sunshine and quite warm days; very enjoyable and pleasant     But scattered showers of rain still happen but very few this week.      We hope it will continue - and even get warmer, as it should this time of year.

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THIS WEEK I also came across an account of a Blasphemy Case. heard at the Old Baily in London, under the respected Q.C and Judge Alan King-Hamilton who was 71 at the time, and lived until 2010.
He was a Christian.    He was the last to hear a Criminal Case relative to Blasphemy under the Blasphemy Act of 1697.    This Act was in fact Repealed in 1967, in Parliament.    Now anyone can say anything they like against any thing religiously considered sacrosanct.  It is no longer considered a Criminal Offence in the U.K.   I think it applies to all faiths.     The case was especially unsavoury to Christians since it concerned a poem written by a well known poet - James Kirkup - about an imaginary sexual relationship between the dead and crucified Christ and a Centurion guarding the corpse.     The Case was brought against the publisher, and won.    The Judge, summing up, said that he hoped the verdict was a sign that the national climate had changed for the good.      By 2010, when he finally passed away, he would have discovered that he is wrong.      The Climate has worsened;  so much so that the majority of those now living are quite unaware of it, and indeed, if such a case could be brought to Court today, it would not only be unable to achieve the result that it did in 1976, it would in any case be rejected as inadmissible for a Hearing!    TODAY any thing is allowable and perhaps even permissible morally and spiritually.     Indeed, it has been stated that 'Christianity is no longer part of the Law of England'.    This was in fact stated by the defence counsel in the  Case mentioned above, and recently upheld by a Chief Justice of the United Kingdom, in the press.     So it seems the Sure Foundations have been crumbling, and we shall soon be a free to accept all free thought as well as speech - and thus finally be an uncontrolled chaos.  SURELY the days WILL be shortened, if GOD exists, and ultimately Governs.   We should be VERY watchful, and VERY READY, for the Final Trumpet to sound.

GOD Bless you all, and speak to your heart and spirit, awakening you and enlivening all your thoughts to be aware of HIM, and of His Coming.      Do not be unprepared!

Lovingly in Him

John. Esther and Daryl Green

BATS IN THE BELFREY..?

NO - BATS IN OUR HOME!   More than a dozen little mini-monsters like this cosily roosting in our attic.    Probably started with just a couple, and they they decided to settle on making a home for themselves and their progeny with us.   WE did not hear them, or see them - but recently we did begin to smell them.  TODAY they have been evicted, their home sterilised, and all trace of their habitation removed.    Just took 30 minutes.          Amazing!     Amazing that we were so unaware of them.     We HAD seen one or two over the last year few years fly down the chimney in our sitting room, but, thinking nothing of it, we opened the outside door and they flew out and away.    AND YES we did feel a little 'queazy' about it and wondered if we had a party of 'demons' hiding in the dark places of our little home - little did we realise the truth.      I am told, if left to themselves, they will live for approximately 30 years.
Are they to be feared?     Should we see them as servants of Satan?     The Bible says in Leviticus 11v13-19 that they - bats- should not be eaten - they are abomination / detestable ....AND in Deuteronomy 14v11-19 Moses adds that they are UNCLEAN, dirty, unhealthy, unhygienic.
WELL, our own Medical Research of this age has clearly stated that BATS are carriers of sickness spread to humans through their urine, faeces, and bite.    Both viruses can kill.   RABIES is the worst of the two.      Both have to be suspected to inhabit any bat you might meet, or from which you may have been bitten, or having inhaled or touched its urine or droppings.    This is was  recently endorsed and confirmed unilaterally by the United States Center for Disease Control.        DOGS actually look quite mentally deranged and demonically mad, when found to be Rabid.     BATS do not seem to have to wait - they tend to look like this normally - and even though we are encouraged to now cast out from our mind memories of the occult, and graveyards when considering bats in general, the BAT still somehow evokes the image of a Griffin / dragon / or little devil.     The Bat still brings us the smell of Hell, and thus is not sought after, but rather run from and avoided at all costs.
For my part I am glad and relieved to have them GONE!

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WAS THIS THE ANTI BAT TEAM?     No!   HE alone was inside the roof they were standing on, and although he explored and disinfected the entire area of the roof, he only found the bat colony concentrated in the left of the attic to the left of this photo, right at the end.        No, it was our Solar Heating Team on top of the roof;  two men and a girl - a family business!.    They have not completed the installation yet, until Monday next week, but they are efficient.    This installation will only deal with our hot water for the house.     It is, as I may have  previously mentioned, a Gift from our Old Boys and Girls.    We think it will have cost them them  almost two thousand pounds to put up the entire unit - including the repair of one of our bathrooms.........We feel very, very, thankful to them all for wanting to appreciate their old home, and ourselves in this way.   In future Kenya Building Requirements will insist that all new residential houses must provide Solar heating and lighting as part of the build.

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THIS LAST WEEKEND, began with the Graduation of the youngest son of Joshua and Miriam Mbithi.   You will possibly remember that Miriam grew up with Esther and me from when she was 7 in Testimony House.    We see her as our daughter, and thus grandparents to her children, Mark, Jonathon and Esther.     So this time it was Jonathon Graduating from his University on Saturday, and then on SUNDAY afternoon there was a Reception and Party in his honour at their home within the Neema Children's Home and School complex, just a few kilometres away from us.  We were invited,and arrived in time for lunch with everyone, after our Morning Service.     Later our friends from Huddersfield in the U.K. Ian and Diana Hogley joined, together with other friends, Stuart and Janet Brown.     We had a truly wonderful and happy time together rejoicing over this tall young man, so like his Dad, Joshua, who had finally concluded his Degree.    We Praised the Lord for His Goodness.     Above left can be seen a photo of ourselves with our 'grandson' Jonathon, at his home last Monday, having Graduated the day before.    We truly rejoice to see him at the end of his Course, and we pray much, together with Joshua and Miram, that he may soon find opportunity to discover employment and a way forward for his independent life.      Seems only the other day that he was just a babe in arms.

Miriam and Joshua commenced their own Home to assist HIV children in 2003.    They had both previously laboured with us in Testimony Faith Homes for 19 years.    But The Lord led them in their leaving, and proved Himself to be WITH them also in their new vision and work for children.  They have now also begun a Primary School, just as we did, and as they have prayed and trusted God to provide they have now been able to build Classrooms.     These were Opened at a special Ceremony on MONDAY of this week,    Daryl, and I, plus Ian and Diana Hogley attended.    The Lord had spoken to the hearts of Stuart and Janet Brown to also have a big hand in this development, and they had specially arranged to be present for this Occassion.

Above is the completed first block of five classrooms.    Two more are planned and it is hoped that by the Grace of God they will become (as the first) the evidence of things once hoped for; the Substnce of things not seen.   Neema Homes children, and those from the nearby locality attend the School.

IN 2015 we, in Testimony, built the NEW Jacaranda Cottage, and it so happened that Stuart and Janet Brown and their Trust in the U.K. became God's Answer to our need and prayer.  When it was completed and we were ready to Open it the Brown's were unable to be with us.  THUS after the Opening of Neem'a School last Monday morning, we took them back to Testimony Faith Homes and to the NEW Jacaranda Cottage for a Blessing.       They were delighted, and so were the Jacaranda Family.      Daryl organised this event, and had chairs arranged in front of the OLD house, with the new cottage behind. children present a dance and a song or two, and then we all walked across to the NEW cottage, and Stuart and Janet were shown around, and 'officially' once more, Opened the Cottage.      ALTOGETHER a busy but VERY enjoyable few days.     I think everyone was blessed - and GOD was honoured and glorified.       There is no doubt that without Him being a living Entity in our lives, none of what we have together seen put together here could have happened

+++++++++++++++++++++++++++

WELL HERE WE ARE, AT LAST - THE OLD AND THE NEW.

Only 32 years between us - quite a Gap,

BUT Jesus has Bridged it.

FINALLY

a picture of SOME of the Greens

We were celebrating Esther's 75th Birthday, and our 48th Anniversary

left to right round the table 

Becky, Abby, Helen, Esther, Dad, Jesse, Jeremy, Daryl

(Carol is taking the photo)

Love from us all in Jesus Name

WHAT A GATHERING THAT WILL BE !!

FOR US, this has been the BIGGEST Reunion of The Family ever, bringing together more than 130 of those of The Family who are now independent of us, with those who are still currently growing up with us in the homes.    THIS PHOTO  includes the 130 who came together with their own newly made families, and spanning a current age range of between 64 and 24.

YES, THIS WEEK

I WANTED TO JUST GIVE A SMALL IDEA OF THE OCCASION

Initially, then a few views describing the numbers crowding into our compound of Testimony House and School

Here some views of the tents put up for providing Refreshments during the two day event.   More than 400 were able to sit down for teas and lunches.    We did have the help of outside caterers who also put up the tents, and other furnishings.

All visiting Family members with their wives or husbands and child-ren, TOGETHER with ALL of US who are resident here AND other invited guests mingled together, and managed to eat well and comfortably.     The area used was sited between one of the School dining rooms, and the Main Primary School Classroom block, and still left ample space to walk about and talk at will. 

After lunch on Saturday the 24th there was a BIG Meeting in the School Hall. Some of the current children entertained with a dance or two.  And a lot of other items.
such as choirs, and so many recalling their time in the Homes.
BUT the great joys were in the many Reunions with each other.

To the right Francis meets Miriam, father and daughter and both once individually house parents in Jacaranda Cottage,
Then to the  left is Charles meeting up with Esther Mbithi.   Charles serving the Lord, still unmarried, and Esther married and also working.       Both a bit smaller and younger last time the met.

And another long lost daughter of Testimony who just could not greet all her brothers and sisters enough.    Here she has found Daryl, and
let her heart spill out on his  shoulder.    Her twin brother Abu could not be with us since he was working.   He is a Medical Officer.

Well we could go on and on.   So much laughter and even some tears of emotional joy.   It was all very wonderful.    We were all immersed in each others memories and affections.

AND ABOVE IS

Daryl, sitting next to Ben Chemoiyai, our Chairman of the Board

This photo also gives an idea of how many were pressed into the Hall.

AND AGAIN ABOVE

our Guest of Honour for the day, Bishop Oommen M. Panicker.

Oommen and his wife, Mercy, have walked along with Jesus for many decades,

and their fellowship and encouragement a constant contribution and support to us all.

Joy (as we affectionately know him) and his wife now live in the U.S.A., but he also

has ministry and work here in Eldoret, and also in India.

A Family Group all one Together

from  LEFT to Right  
Justin Kiprono, Daryl, John and Esther Green, Sarah Njeri,and daughter
and Steve Green visiting from U.K.)

And yet Another!

Going Back to the '70s

From the Left to right - John Ngugi, David Koech, Charles Okose

Dad Green, Moses Ongonga, Abraham Kipchumba, James Manu Green

and Anthony  Muhati

A Family Photo

of old sons and daughters from all homes

in front of Testimony House with a few older ones!

AND HERE I MUST COME TO AN END.    So MANY more photos!   I AM sorry not to put everyone one in front of my readers........It is as impossible, as it is for me to begin to make real to you the Atmosphere that permeated every part of our property on these two days.   Under a blue and sun filled sky there was so much chatter, shouts of joy, laughter, - a cacophony of sound, the sound of children, yes and GROWN UP CHILDREN just as noisy.    And all from those from many different tribes and backgrounds, male and female, short and tall, thin and not so thin, all of a different colour ranging from white to black.......all SO different - all belonging to ONE family.    Truly God's doing, and Wonderful in our sight.      Oh, yes of course, not ALL give God the Thanks  -  Y|ET  - for all of this, even whilst enjoying it.     BUT I am sure that finally, as years go by eyes and hearts will open that may now be closed.      There is a great GOOD demonstrated by all and sundry as we come together to greet each other with a smile of gladness, all barriers down, all disappointment and hurts forgotten just in SEEING each others faces.      It IS the GOODNESS that comes only from God our Father in Heaven who has made us all to be like HIM.

God BLESS you all.       I cannot be sure if I will l continue to write every Saturday.    I will however write when I can, and when, specifically,  have something to actually say.      Till then God be with you as we continue to remember and thank God for each one.

John, Esther and Daryl Green.

A GOLDEN JUBILEE!

Above is a photo of just a fraction of the 150 or so out of the two hundred and twenty of our Old boys and girls that have come and gone from the Testimony  Family since 1969   Those in the photo

are some of the oldest, and who also love and support the Family.

YES THE 50TH ANNIVERSARY OF TESTIMONY FAITH HOMES FINALLY TOOK PLACE, and we truly rejoiced to see so many of our family, returning to join in the festivities on the 24th and 25th August.    MORE than the 150 who had grown up with us, since many came with their own families - husbands, wives, children, and even fiancees.    Then of course there were almost a hundred guests plus all of us who still live here at home - another 150.     In the end we saw almost 500 come and share our joys together, in song, word, and dance, as well as in heartfelt REUNION with one another.     It was a VERY special occasion.  We Thank God in Jesus Name for it all.

     

OF COURSE Esther and I were both there celebrating with the rest, as you can see from THIS photo, taken in one of the many Refreshment Tents.  I think we both look good in our matching RED Jackets ....... BUT this was NOT OUR fiftieth Anniversary -  this year, on 14th August - we had been together 48 years only!     Many seemed to think WE were the ones being celebrated !!  NO, not yet.      WE were celebrating 50 years of our Father in Heaven's Wonderful Love and Grace, building and holding together a Family where no family had been.     God in His Mercy found a way to provide for a whole host of children, and young people, a place of refuge and Care and HOPE.   It was only a handful compared to the millions in need around us - just over four hundred and twenty all told, including a hundred still with us and not yet grown.     A 'drop in a bucket' so to speak.   BUT for us it is as a BIG bucket, and now to see. already, so many grown to man and womanhood, with their own families, doing well, and loving God, OUR hearts are just SO  full of Thanksgiving and Happiness.      AND this year, the group in the photo at the top of this report, decided to install Solar lighting and heating into Green Cottage in an effort to bring down the funds we spend on Electricity.  If it proves successful, then the idea will be to do the same for the rest of the Homes.    TFH currently pays for OUR  electric bill, and so we shall be glad if this burden can be lifted, and maybe pave the way for even great saving.      Now that we are getting O L D  we do not want to be just  an extra expense in staying on as 'grandparents'.

Not all the photos are available to me yet, so will hope to send more later.  For the moment I just want to convey, first to the 'Family' and then to all those came to celebrate with us, our very sincere appreciation and thanksgiving to each and every one of you for just coming, and for letting us enjoy you.       What Happiness, What real deep satisfaction and JOY it was to us both, and indeed to all those here with us who have allowed their hearts to LOVE.

EVERY DAY through the month of August it rained, and was comparatively COLD, and inclement weather.      BUT on the 24th morning the clouds receded, the sun was revealed in clear blue sky.  The weather held all that day, until late Sunday.     AND THEN the rain came down again,  HEAVEN smiled on us all.      And we believe there was some gladness in Heaven even more than ours.

Thank you  all for your prayers.    We have needed them.

I will close now.     I apologise for not blogging for the weeks previous to this, but I was not feeling quite myself, and just decided relax a little.        We both realised we tired  more than we expected and perhaps were a little caught out in trying to take on more than we needed to, or should have done.

All is well now, and we look into the future with peace and quietness of heart and mind.

God Bless and keep you all

John and Esther Green