THIS  IS A PHOTO TAKEN IN JULY 2019 - a photo of all the Support Staff of Testimony Faith Homes AND School.    Quite a crowd.  These have been the faithful undergerding of the ministry here, some of them having been with us for decades.   More thana 40 all together, and not including our House parents and General Office Staff.    I had written at the time  about them, and said, 'I take my hat off to them, and honour them.       NOT all of them work for the Homes, but for the School, and THEY are paid by the School, from its income from Fees paid by parents with chldren learning with us.    This has meant that conditions of service have been different.     THOSE employed with the Homes understand that their salaries come in answer to our prayer and dependance upon God.  Those employed by the SCHOOL understand that their salaries depend on the INCOME from parents.
SOME may have felt the latter to be better off, since their dependance and faith in God may not have been enough guarantee.     And this is how it has been, since the School was founded in 1981, and the School has financially been indepenent of the Homes, and had its own Account with the Bank.
THIS WAS BEFORE THE COVID 19 VIRUS BLAST!

AFTER THIS WORLD WIDE EXPLOSION INTO EVERY ASPECT OF HUMAN LIFE AND SOCETY, ITS RAMIFICATIONS HAVE CONTINUED TO MUSHROOM, 

and it is still impossible to forcast exactly how much real damage it will have done, 

or the lives that will have been affected.

FOR US all in the HOMES it has meant restrictions and constraints on our freedom, and upon the way we can conduct what has been a normal way of life.    The FIRST immediate action by Government was to close ALL schools, Colleges and Universities.    This happened in the middle of the 1st School Term, and Testimony School, being privately run, still had not received ALL of its due Fees from parents.     Salaries for MARCH and APRIL could not fully be paid, yet we had no choice but to lay all the Teachers, and other incidental staff OFF, until further notice, and without pay.  More than THIRTY teachers became suddenly financially stranded without redress, plus twenty others working as clerks, cooks, cleaners, and groundsmen.        Everything came to a SUDDEN  standstill, and and the School totally impotent in its ability to PAY its way.    SLAM!   How this has already affected those depending upon it as a living might be imagined the more, as one realises that the State has no emergency schemes or services that can step  in and relieve the unemployed.    And the latest news from Government is that Schools may not open before September, and even then with an adjusted methodology with the Virus still in mind!!

BUT THE HOMES, although they were also required to send all non residential and non essential staff away for the duration of the pandemic in Kenya,  STILL found funds coming in to PAY them all.

Many have warned that funds for charities and mission would diminish, due to the effect, economically, of the adancing Virus.   And yet our prayers have continued to be regarded, and we have received funds enough to pay those who we need to assist us care for the Childlren in the Homes, AND feed us, and pay our monthly bills.     If, at times, we have to hold our breath, or adust our housekeeping needs, yet we have not suffered, and as a group of 130 kids and 14 adults we have been able to REJOICE in the Lord who is our Friend and Sviour!     Yes, truly we have realised His Love for us.

BUT we are increasingly anxious and concerned for all those who are now AWAY, and without any income who have worked cheek by jowl with us, in the School.      We would so much have liked to see them all helped in this very awful collapse of what had seemed to them so very stable and firm employment, and bread of life.     But our hands are tied, and we have to watch and contemplate their difficulty and dispair helplessly unable to save them who have for so long been identified with the ministry of TFH as a whole.       Not easy, since we have to carry the knowledge that if we had had the faith to believe for the cost of running the School at the beginning, things might indeed have been diffferent.    This would have entailed us trusting God for three times more, financially, than we have done, in trusting Him for the running of our four children's homes.     Yes!    Something to consider very carefully now!   

Our Teachers - Nursery, Primary & Secondary as at 2019

Our Homes Staff again 2019 with our House-parents, office clerks, cooks
maintenance, and far right, our pastor.

Please do pray for us all, and especially at this time, those who are employed by the School.

Daryl has decided to at least try and assist FOUR of those in greatest need among them, and

to trust the Lord for them and as many others as the Lord might put on our hearts in Jesus Name.

===================== 

Finally, I am today, feeling much better and less debilitated.    So far no sign of any supposed kidney stone actually having been  moved, but at least the pain of it has diminished, and I feel more refreshed.     I have only to thank the Lord Jesus who walks with me and shares all my joys AND distresses.    My Thanks for all your prayers.       

We are all well, and enjoying each other.      We also are blessed in having received help from the Lord yet again, via much love shared through Aenon Trust who have prayerfully undertaken to foward the gifts of many to us.    Such a very great encourgement at this time, and in the midst of the Trial of Covid 19.       Kenya still struggles to keep the Virus at bay but has many challenges, not the least being transportation across our borders with Tanzania, Uganda, and Somalia, with incoming trade, and also floods, locusts still, and land riots in Narok.     The Country is taking a number of knocks, but our President is standing firm and confidently.
Current figures stand as - our of 76,003 trested 1,618 remain confirmed and being treated.  438 have so far Recovered, and been repatriated to their families, and 58 have died.
So far, in our Country of Uasin Gishu, EIGHT positive cases have been reported - all of  these some 40 kilometres away in Turbo on the main Uganda Road into Eldort, and through to ?Niarobi.

And with this I will pen off for this week.     We do apprecite your prayers and loving support of us all here, and want to repeat that our prayers go up for you all every day, with thanksgiving and love in Jesus.    God Bless and Keep you all SAFE and WELL  always

John, Esther and Daryl Green

   

AT LAST!  Our Vegetable Gardens are being reborn, having for a season died away.   In 2011 Daryl and I had decided on making an effort toward self sufficiency and initiated a poultry project, a small dairy, a bakery, and two allotments for veg.     It all began very well, but eventually tailed off.  The Bakery has done well, and the Dairy, (we now have three cows and plenty of milk) but the Allotments and poultry have suffered.      PLANS are now on the way to revitalise ALL these areas, and to make sure that we can feed ourselves with the basics.      We are definitely seeing a 'beginning' and crops are being sown, and planted with a view to continuous supply.     Also the Poultry  Project has picked up and we have been heartened to see definite success in being able to produce enough eggs and meat with careful and responsible management.       Hesketh Mulli and Mica Yego have both felt that they can contribute to all this, and indeed have already done so.    Together, and with the help of the children, we believe that God will prosper our effort, and keep us well and healthy in what we expect to be a national time of dearth and increased poverty.

CURRENTLY, IN kENYA, by yesterday, we have counted 1,160 Cases of Covid 19 confirmed, out of which we have recorded 50 fatalities and 380 recoveries so far.       Nationally we are still 'locked down' with some little easement here and there.     Schools still shut.    Hotels only permitted to open if they are approved to be able to keep the new Distancing Regulations and so on.    Masks still to be worn in all public places.     All Churches, Sports meetings, and other gatherings cancelled.     Some movement back to work, but it is slow, and travel and movement severely restricted.     STILL very few officially confirmed cases in our immediate area - it would seem to many that the greatest problem is not in HAVING the Virus, but in protecting ourselves from it.    I mean we are not seeing GREAT numbers dying, but we are seeing greater and greater numbers reaping the economic effects of keeping the very threat of death away from us.      So many have been laid off of work without pay.    Schools especially, as I have shared before in relation to the private sector, have had to close and be unable (as ourselves) to continue to pay salaries to the teachers.     Many others in the same boat and unable to find alternative income anywhere, including the Government.    This is already beginning to take a toll, for example, in the incidence of suicide.     With our Government here saying that they believe the Virus to be with us for ever,  and little comfort or encouragement as to a return to 'normal' life, an element of despair is descending upon and increasing many!

WE, within the Children's Home, continue to be 'quarntined' which literally means that only one m or two of us are allowed into the outside world on urgent or necessary business (i.e. shopping and medical emergencies) and NO one is permitted to enter either of our two compounds.    HOWEVER our compounds comprise some eleven acres of land, and we are able to walk where we will inside its boundaries.     We have 130 children and young people with us, plus eight houseparents, and our  pastor and his wife.    All our other support staff has had to be sent to their homes for the duration, but we will still pay for their salaries as well as those still working with us.       ONLY the School which runs financially separate to the Homes is now unable to pay their way.
YESTERDAY, our cupboards in the Homes, were almost bare, and our Bank Accounts empty.  But we had not ceased to pray and look confidently to our God.     What great JOY then, to receive this morning via AENON TRUST a gift comprising the love and remembrance of many; enough to look the month ahead in the face, once more, by His Grace.     Our Thanksgiving knows no bounds, as we lift up our voices with a SHOUT, yet again, to GOD.     The Promise of God's Word cannot fail.

THIS PHOTO was put up on Facebook yesterday by one of our sons now working in Nairobi with his family.   I had never seen it before, and I have done my best to improve its quality here.   I cannot be sure of the YEAR it was taken, but I think it likely to have been 1976.   All gone now, grown up, and working.   No spacing then, and how good to be a Family Group Together.      We are GLAD that we were there and that all of us together shared in a life that was not always comfortable or without a need, but which was SHARED, and enjoyed in love and peace still enduring....and growing.

========================== 

ALMOST TWO WEEKS since my 80th Birthday.       ONE week later I was taken off to the Doctor by Daryl with sharp pain in my left side.   Turned out to be my old problem - a kidney stone - yet again.     My doctor, who is a jovial soul even at a funeral, commented  "Drink a lot, and it will come out!   It will hurt but not kill you after all!"        So I returned home again, no better than I had arrived, but at least I knew for sure what was wrong.    I have been lurching around for a week almost, since then, still without sighting any 'stone' but still feeling it.    Well the pain is on and off, and I have nothing more to do than to be patient.      To conclude I enclose two photos from my Birthday.   One with some of our current children and staff, and the other of me and my Esther together.     

May the Light of His Face toward you encourage you and draw you nearer to Him Who is our Peace and Confidence.     He is indeed our  Strong Tower in whom we may hide impregnably from every foe and  evil design.       Keep looking up, seeking those things which are above, where Christ sitteth on the right  hand of God - setting your affection on things above, not on things on the Earth.  Colossians 3v1-2.

With all our love in Jesus

John, Esther, and Daryl Green

My 80th Birthday Party

In the midst of a Lock Down imposed on us by the Government since the outbreak of Covid 19 here in Kenya during the second week of March this year, we all met together in the School Hall.     

IT WAS A SURPRISE.    I had not picked up even a whisper about it all, and so when I found myself at the door of the HALL I was quite unprepared to meet ALL the children, and our remaining staff (a small crowd of approximately 140),  OR to be greeted by so  many all at once.    The Hall had been laid out with each of our four Family Homes having a space of their own, and me and Esther also with our own table.     Each Family  stood and sang Happy Birthday,  uproariously and then CAKE was cut and eaten.     A dear sister in the Lord had arranged for a Cake for ME, and one for each Family group, so that there would be enough for all to partake.     Great delight and fun, and a very HAPPY moment for me.   

 Daryl, Jeremy, John, James Manu, Jesse, Ericka, Esther, Helen with Abby, and Becky Green

 Of course we had hoped that, come this day, we might have been able to meet with ALL the Family, but regretfully Steven, Michael, and Elizabeth, and their families were also in lock-down in the U.K. and there was no chance for ANY of them to be with us.   But Daryl, and his three children managed to be with us, AND Manu - by special clearance - since they all live 'outside', AND Helen also since she has been confined inside TFH since the School was closed. 

Most of the 130 children + 12 staff - just a few missed at the edges!

Me and Esther receiving cards, together with Pastor Mike Kyalo and is wife Jacinta.   That Big SMILE of a Card bottom left of the photo hid a whole lot of Greetings from our dear Friends and Family in South Australia, and in particular Tyndale Christian School.

The one I am holding is from the Kyalos, and there were SO many more,  and ONE, that I was to receive a little later in the day, contained more than 64 signatures from the many of our 'sons and daughters' now away working in the world, with a big HAPPY BIRTHDAY, DAD, and a Gift Voucher they had all contributed to.   I am sure it stopped my heart for many moments, as I saw so much overwhelming evidence of affection, which I had not realised or understood.   I felt very humbled indeed.    More than 200 Greetings altogether with all our sons and daughters, grandsons and grandaughters all together from TFH as a whole, not to count another hundred from friends, all over.     

To the left is me and my dear wife, Esther.   What would I ever do without her.    She has been by my side now for 49 years, and good years they have been.     In fact most of the affection shown to me this Day, stems from her being my wife and their Mum. And I know the Day will come, by God's Grace, that will demonstrate the great and deep love our children have for her.      Well, she has been and remains God's greatest Gift to me in my life bar non but Christ.    She is my great pride and joy, and few men could deserve such loving and loyal support, through every Up and Down, of daily life and in the heat of the heavenly battle. 
We enjoyed the Day unitedly together, and so much the more because we had traveled the road together, and had prayed for the children together, that now - grown up - as adults could still make our hearts sing with gladness, pride and pleasure.

God has been very Faithful,  but Esther has been my human stay; more than a wife! And I do Thank the LORD for her every day.

 AND HERE is another little glimpse of her on  the Day with me again, and others of our 'family'.  It was, in fact, a 'Selfie' taken by Wilfred Kibet (far right) just out side the School  Office steps, after my Party!    A JOYFUL snap, and one that clearly reflects the free and happy mood of the Ocassion.      I think it was, in all, one of the  most happy days of my life!

 TO CLOSE is a photo of Grandpa and his six year old grandaughter,  Abigail.     I may be wrong, but she could be my greatest admirer.    She always brings out the best in me, and I must say she brings great joy and delight into my old age - but  then I must confess I can't help loving little children especially.       She spends a good part of her time with us, and a lot of that time she is telling me what she knows, and how well she can accomplish what she knows.   I am quite charmed, often swept of my feet by her sheer energy and every joyful and optimistic personality.

I must kindly ask all my many other Grandchildren not to feel put out - you are ALL loved and reached out to by me, and I believe God has something wonderful for each and every one of you.  I also can assure you that God longs to put his arm around you, and to draw you nearer to Himself (each one of you especially) in that warm and loving relationship that will never ever end.

================================ 

COVID 19 latest comment.

TODAY - 16/5/2020 Kenya has recorded a total of 830 Positive cases with 50 Fatalities.

Out of this number 301 cases have made recovery and have been able to re-enter normal life.

There is so far little easement of Lock down, and what HAS been reduced is now in balance caused by some doubt as to whether such easement has been wise.

SCHOOLS have not so far been opened, and there is still no concrete suggestion as to WHEN students at any level will be able to return to study.       The latest provisional date for limited return to School was given as 4th of June but this is now in doubt. 

WE hope to be taking councel as to how we should progress in the event of school being allowed to re-open on a limited basis with restrictions applying, such as 'spacing' .     We will try to continue to provide ongoing information as it affects TFH week by week.

We all otherwise continue to live here as previously described.    There seem so be no change in this area of the Country in regard to the Virus.      However RAINS have been heavy in places and many have died in floods and landslides.      We are also living under the threat of renewed clouds of Locusts re-invading Kenya.       Not good news.

And there we will leave it for this week.      I would once again personally like to Thank all those who have sent Birthday Greetings, and words of encouragement in the last week especially.    Your words and thoughts were indeed encouragement, and also strength to our heart.      The Lord truly Bless YOU all, and uphold you all.      The VICTORY is HIS.      We shall NOT be moved.

Lovingly in Jesus NAme

John, Esther and Daryl Green

Hi Everyone!    Sorry I missed last week, but we are all well, and here I am back again to say that our God is Faithful and Good, and that in the midst of this World Crisis, and depression, we remain FREE and GLAD in the knowledge that His Arms are all about us.   
This MORNING the POWER went off early, and the day dawned wet, cold and grey.     I had woken at 7 a.m. to begin writing this blog.    BUT found the electricity OFF.    No computer, no Internet, no light, no power to boil the coffee..........What to do ......and suddenly the Lord whispered, Adam never had it, and did not miss it -  because they were with Me!     Ha!    Truly, I felt rebuked.   Adam had invented his own 'power' basis, and came to believe in THEM, more then in the Power that is in GOD who made him.    We have come a long way since then.....AWAY from faith in God's power to keep, provide, and protect us.    Perhaps that is why so many of us do not SEE HIS Power too much - our whole expectation is toward the wrong direction; our faith is in ourselves, and Man generally, rather than in the prime source of ALL power, even its Creator, GOD, and in the Name of JESUS CHRIST, to whom, and in whom ALL POWER has been given by the FATHER.       And, think about it, Jesus lives in those who are His; and He has given us all power over all the power of the Devil.     Why is it so difficult to appropriate it?   Probably because we have been 'conditioned' away from really believing in it.      This is the day we begin to see the whole WORLD running hither and thither in desperate confusion and fear.   And AGAIN I cite the word of Jesus found in Luke 21 in the Amplified Translation of the Bible and in verses 25 - 26  in the last days  -  'there will be (on the earth\)  distress, (trouble, and anguish) of nations in bewilderment and perplexity (without resources, left wanting, embarrassed, in doubt, not knowing which way to turn.............Men  swooning away or expiring with fear and dread and apprehension and expectation of the things that ares coming on the world.....'    Certainly we are nearer, if not actually IN, the culmination of these words.

ABOVE is an old photo from the 1980s, when we were going through a time of considerable need, and funds seemed to be cut off from us altogether.    Many days began with nothing to put on the table.
On such a day we suddenly were visited during the morning hours by a quite astonishing group of ladies from the local Mothers Union of the Anglican Church.   They came walking, and CARRYING sacks of maize, sugar, beans, cabbage, PLUS also boxes of toilet rolls, soap, and many other things God had put on their heart to bring.    They had not said they were coming!    WE had not in any way advertised our need.  Were not even in touch with them!    It was a Day where once more our LORD demonstrated His ability to keep us and protect us.    Truly not an isolated day, though not something regular.    Indeed we did not see these dear sisters in Christ, again.     But we have seen God's hand deliver us from every threat of disaster - just in time!
AND AGAIN THIS WEEK we have  received gifts of basic foodstuffs from local people we had never met or known before, who just appeared at the gate to say ' God  Bless you.'!

KENYA continues to confront  the Virus.  The National Restriction on society of Curfew, and Lock Down continue, with very precise, well ordered, and commendable action, communicated daily  by radio and television.     TODAY we are advised that Kenya has a total of 621 confirmed cases since the beginning  with 29 fatalities.   It is also noted that 202 have recovered..         Most of the cases are confined to the Nairobi/Mombasa areas, but cases are also now being recorded in many other Counties throughout the Country.     The Health Authority feels thing will get worse, and are not in any way feeling complacent.       Neither are WE, here in Testimony!     Though we are all occupied we are not stressed nor in a state of anxiety.  No, I would say all are somehow with high spirits and working well together - from the smallest to the oldest among us.   It is joy to see, and an evidence of the sense of family and  security God has been fostering all these years.     

Another view of Testimony House taken from just outsides Pastor's Office.  It looks SO quiet and pastoral - but it is still home to 37  kids, and is often still invaded by 90 more from the other three family homes.    Not always so quiet, but always somehow with a sense of PEACE.

THIS IS A PHOTO OF OUR SCHOOL teaching staff, a year ago,   Some have moved on an been replaced, but the same number remain.   ALL of them are currently out of work, although tacitly we have not terminated any.    We cannot pay their salaries without the School Fee income, which of course is not available in a time like this when the School is forcibly closed.    We ARE  doing our best to help them a little, but basically they are on their own, and could out of paid work for some time.

To close this week I want to print a hymn by the German Hymnist Joachim Neander.   

Neander was born in 1650 in Dusseldorf, Germany.     He studied Theology in his home town from 1666 to 1670, initially without any commitment.   In 1669, having been convinced, after listening to a sermon,  he committed his life to Christ.   He went on, in 1671, after his Graduation to become a teacher of Latin in Dusseldorf.   Then in 1679 he took a pastorate in the  city of Bremen.  He is credited with writing more than 60 hymns, the most remembered being the one printed below.   Joachim died of Tuberculosis in 1680 at the age of Thirty years.

Praise to the Lord, the Almighty, the King of creation;

O my soul,   praise Him, for He is thy health and salvation. 

All ye who hear,

Brothers and sisters draw near, 

praise Him with glad adoration

Praise to the Lord, who doth prosper they work and defend thee:

Surely His goodness and mercy here daily attend thee;

Ponder anew,

What the Almighty can do,

If with His love he befriend thee

Praise to the Lord, who, when tempests their warfare are waging.

Who, when the elements madly around thee are raging,

Biddeth them cease, 

Turneth their fury to peace,

Whirlwinds and waters assuaging

Praise to the Lord, who when darkness and sin is abounding,

Who, when the godless do triumph all virtue confounding,

Sheddeth His light,

Chaseth the horrors of night,

Saints with His mercy surrounding.

Praise to the Lord!  O let all that is in me adore |Him!

All that hat life and breath, come now with praises before Him!

Let the Amen

Sound from His people again;

Gladly for aye, we adore  HIM.

God Bless you, encourage you, and draw all of us together closer and closer to the KING our sure salvation   -    Yours in His POWER    -    John, Esther and Daryl Green