Update

SATURDAY, 5TH JULY, 2008

This week has also been very busy and I was SO busy today that I did not in fact managed to write anything, but went to bed completely forgetful of even trying to do so. Most of the week we have been engaged in last minute 'Getting Ready' for our friends from Tyndale Christian School in Southern Australia. They all finally arrived yesterday about 6p.m. and are now all installed in the new Guest House (28 of them). We are very happy with the final finish of this building, and it also gave rise to a lot of praise from our guests, although in fact it is a very simple and rather spartan facility. Tyndale will be with us for 13 days as from now, and we look forward to having good fellowship with them. They have come prepared to do a lot of interior and exterior decorating, AND perhaps laying a new sewer line from the Nursery School to the Municipal sewer line across the road! They will also be interacting with the children of course both in and out of school. This is now the THIRD visit over a period of six years, and we feel it has been a very good and healthy link. The Headmaster of the School, Mike Potter, is suggesting we might visit THEM !!! Wow, that would indeed be an experience for us old foggies.

Our son Daryl who was scheduled to leave us at the end of June, will be staying on at least for the time being. He has continued to be a very practical help to us all, and even in the final concensus he has been of tremendous help in getting the latest Building up and in shape. He has a flair for these things. He will continue on as the one responsible for the ongoing state of repair and maintenance for all our many buildings old and new. He will work in with the Maintenance Department, and will also be a general help on the Children's Homes side as Carol continues her teaching in the School. This at least assures the family stays together and intact without one or the other taking off in another director. A great deal of prayer is still needed for them - and for ourselves as we seek to walk along with them in the Love of the Lord.

Our Server has been having problems, and we have only had intermittent access to E-mail and the net over the last fortnight. This has forced us to look for alternatives, and I will shortly be advising you of a NEW e-mail ADDRESS. Additionaly we have now also obtained a gadget that enables us to have unlimited access to the Web at faster speeds that we have hitherto been able to obtain.

Manu spent some few days with us - he just left today (Sunday) back to his Internship some 800 kilometres away. He had lost a little weight and looked good. He was in fact in much better case than for some time, and spent all the time with us, very happy and somehow more at peace than we have known him for some time. We are believing that the LORD is in fact taking him in hand, and the three months (finishing in October) might well be part of the plan to give him time and space to reform and return to the Lord. Go on praying for him..

All for now as I rush off to the Sunday service. God Bless you and be close to you all

John and Esther

UPDATE

SATURDAY, 28TH JUNE 2008

 

A VERY busy week now over for me.    I have felt very weary and tired, but happily I have been able to face the many issues and demands that have come before me.  Some of the most stressful I am unable to share at this time, as they are too personal, and I still need to work them out spiritually in a way that I can be satisfied in my own mind and heart that the Will of God has been carried out, and not my own will or that of others.     There have been conflicts of interest, and relationships; things that are always hard (even in prayer) to always clearly evaluate.      Acton taken has been taken willingly in the belief that the Lord needed it to be done, but the confirmation that He did in fact need it to be done is yet to come.    Pray for me.

 

Otherwise the week saw an unusually large Meeting of the Children's Forum on Wednesday which saw more than 35 NGOs, Mission, and Individuals engaged in Child Welfare (including TFH) come together to -

1. Agree to contribute 5% of their annual income into a common fund for TOGETHER improving Children's Services in our area.

2. To united work and pray towards the establishment of a NEW facility to assist in the immediate care of between 20 and 30 abandoned BABIES, and where necessary their HIV mothers.

This is, I believe, the very first time there has been such a coming together of so many to achieve a common goal crossing cultural, political, racial, and denominational differences either in Eldoret or in our entire district, if not Nation!      Quite an exciting meeting to be in and part of.

 

THEN, last night I attended a Promotional Dinner in the Sikh Union Sports Club Restaurant in town.     This dinner was hosted by the Children's Forum, and we saw some 60 Asian members of our community attend.      The idea was to try and get across to the Asian Members of the Town the many troubles and needs of the children.      There was no Appeal for Aid, merely communication and sharing.

Six Children's Homes were represented, a member of their management each speaking for some 5 minutes each.    We also had others speaking on behalf of HIV / AIDS children - one of them who actually has AIDS.    He was a taxi driver and very immoral.      Some months after being diagnosed his wife died, and his son.    At this point on the point of taking his own life Christ found him, and he turned to HIM with all his heart and soul.       He still has AIDS.       Some few years later he married again - another AIDS sufferer who had found Salvation in Jesus.   Together they have received a baby girl - HIV FREE.         He and his wife now devote themselves to rescuing destitute girls who have HIV.       There was also the Juvenile Magistrate for the Town, herself a Christian, and VERY pregnant, who attended and shared about the children that come in front of her in Court.

After these short presentations which went on as we ate together, there were so many responses from the invited guests, and it was quite wonderful how the Lord was able to give opportunities to us to share about the Love of God demonstrated, shared, and activated in and through Jesus Christ.      AGAIN this was a first time for predominantly committed Christiana to meet with Hindus, Buddhists and others of a different Asian religion on a social level that permitted dialogue and exchange of views without restraint whilst at the same time addressing social evils in our joint community..

 

I do not wish to say more this week.    I have probably been writing too much in previous weeks, and I sense I may have gone beyond the literary pale so to speak and bored a few!        Esther and I want to say a big Thank You for praying for us, and for just being there for us.     It is a tremendous encouragement and source of courage to know that you are with us in thought and Spirit.

 

God Bless and fill your week with His Love and Assurance

 

John and Esther

 

 

Update.

SATURDAY, 22nd JUNE 2008

The longest day! How everything seems speeded up, and we
hurtle along so fast into the future......
I noticed last week that some of the UK politicians are
lobbying for more pay! Sounds like Kenya! In the face of
rising food and fuel costs here the Government put forward a
plan to increase the TAXATION of the M.P.s This met with
almost instantaneous (and predictable) anger from the M.P.s.
One of them - Hon. Bonny Khalwale - was quoted on the
front page of the Daily NATION as saying
"Do they (the Government)
want to make us as miserable as our constituents?"
How insensible this man has to be to say such a thing - even
with taxation he will never be as badly off as his
constituents, the majority of whom will be either unemployed
or earning less than £36 a month to his £12.500 a
month!! There is, and can be, no comparison between him
and them. But this is the world that we now live in, a
world on the move away from honour, integrity and
compassion.
The Statement was made on Thursday 19th June under the
Banner Heading of
MPs REJECT MOVE TO TAX THEIR ALLOWANCES

How is it possible for men and women elected to IMPROVE and
BETTER the general living conditions and standards of the
man in the street, to treat them with such contempt - truly
these ARE 'shepherds that feed themselves instead of the
sheep' - consider Ezekiel 34v1-4 speaking of 'spiritual'
shepherds, but very much applicable to many politicians the
world over.
THE DAY BEFORE, on the 18th we find them seeking to get a
further Ksh.650 million for themselves in allowances for NEW
expenses. TODAY the Religious Leaders are leading the
outcry against all this greed and acquisitiveness!

Esther has been away for a few days with Anthony our School
Principal. They were both attending a Seminar on School
Management, and the place of the Computer in current
educational systems and planning. Esther of course as
Headmistress of the Primary Section of the School was very
much into this. Seems that they had a very interesting
and challenging time. The School - founded in 1981 -
is now quite well established right up to the 4th Form of
Secondary, and present seems very popular with the parents
that trust us with their children. We presently have a
total population - Nursery to Secondary - of some 800
students, 130 from our Children's Homes are learning free of
charge. Locals using the School have to pay to attend,
and this charge pays for the total cost of running PLUS
undertaking for the free education of the Homes children.
No other financial advantage comes from this enterprise, but
we have been very glad of the good foundation we have been
able to offer our children through this project, AND for the
fact that it has been used as an Evangelistic tool to share
the Gospel message far and wide.
With carefully chosen teachers who all have a Christian
testimony, and able to communicate freely their faith, and
belief, as they teach and interact with the children, and
with the added freedom to present the Gospel message daily
during Morning Assemblies and weekly Christian Unions, we
have a wonderful chance to reach our children - and through
them their parents as well.
This week we received a letter from one of our past Asian
students. He spent only two years with us from 1998 to
2000 in High School before going to the USA to university.
He enclosed a copy of his Testimony in which he wrote -
My Principal in High School preached once every week during
the Friday morning Assembly, and a 'Memory verse' from the
Bible was pinned up in the Classroom on that day as well.
(it stayed there for a week). I cared less for the
verses, but for some mysterious reason two references
remained stuck in my mind down through the years - 1.John
3v3 and John 3v3. I never went to the Bible to read them.
Pravin writes about himself saying -
I am an Asian by race, a Kenyan by nationality. My
grandfather moved from India to Kenya way back when both
Countries were colonized by the British. My father was
very young when he moved from India to Kenya. As a
family we all practiced various sects of Hinduism. We had
our own culture initially controlled from India, tightly
maintained so as not to allow any corruption. It was my
mother who was the most serious in her religion. When I
was young, my desire to obey and worship the so called god
was very intense. I totally depended upon my parents and
believed with all my heart in the god that we all
worshipped. As a child I strove to do all the necessary
'good works' in order to please this god. I woke everyday
early in the morning to perform a ritual called 'pooja', and
went to the temple and so forth.
Not until I entered High School was I introduced to
Christianity.
The exclusivity of Christianity highly offended me; born as
I was into a pluralistic society I found it impossible to
believe that there was only ONE WAY to the Almighty.
Pravin had many deep rooted resentments against
the whole concept of Christianity. He carried them with
him through High School and on to the United States. He
also carried those two Scripture References with him too;
just the references but not the content for he had never
read them.

He continues -
When I arrived here in America, I was to all intents and
purposes an atheist. In order to fit into the new
culture I thought it was cool to use profane words, and
other vices that I slowly picked up in the University. I
went through many financial and emotional struggles in the
years that followed, but I never cried out to any
supernatural being; never went to a church or temple of any
kind.
It was only after his Graduation in 2005 that, having found
employment he relaxed a little , but with no greater
awareness of God. Then one day a friend from his past
rang him up to share that she had found Christ as Saviour.
He was horrified by this revelation. She had been a
Buddhist previously.
She invited him to go to witness her Baptism in a Baptist
Church. Curiosity tempted him to go, but he remained
very skeptical and unbelieving. "Nevertheless," he says,
"I asked the pastor (of the church) to pray for me!"
Some days later he was again on the phone to his friend.
As the call is coming to an end his friend says "why not
read John 3v3 and 1.John 3v3 and actually READS the words of
the verses to him.
"I was shocked!" he writes. How could it be that out of
all the verses in the Bible these two that had been locked
away in my memory for so many years, unread, should now be
presented so clearly in front of me. A miracle had
happened!"

The next day he went out and bought a Bible and began
reading. He still had a step or two to go. He needed
to know that the Bible really was God's Word. He still did
not find it easy to understand how sinful a person he was
BUT.......
"The Word captured me,
and I repented of my sins.
Christ accepted my repentance and forgave me.
I can now confidently say that I now KNOW that I
am a Child of God, and that as I read I am growing into the
Image of God and Christ.

To receive a Testimony like this, right out of the blue, has
been a great blessing to us and cause also of much
rejoicing. It shows us that we should not flag or fail
in proclaiming God's Word ............ We now wonder what
God has in store for this young man who has become so up
front with his new found Salvation.

This must be about all for this week. Except to say that
my EAR is now sorted out. Had to have it syringed, but
thereafter my hearing has returned with full vigour. NOW
I have to be careful what I listen to!! Thank for your
prayers.

Always in His Love

John and Esther

Update

SATURDAY 14TH JUNE 2008

 

Hoping that this time I will manage to get this to you TODAY.    Last week I was completely foiled in my attempt by our Server who for some odd reason locked us ALL out until Monday morning.     Sorry about that, if you went to the trouble of looking us up.     Although from the weekly count it seems not too many of you actually visit ...... I guess I might be boring you by being too long winded  and also not perhaps keeping to the main issue of TFH news.      Of course, there is often not a lot of news in any case, as our routine and daily grind is fairly unchanging.    Well this week I was going to tell you that the ARMY had disappeared out of town and that all is quiet and peaceful in every way ----- it remains just so... BUT this morning, as we were in town doing some last minute shopping, we did notice a couple of army personnel WITH guns strolling along amid the jostling people in the High Street.   No one seemed in the least disturbed by their presence, and they were still in a happy mood.

Four of our Primary children from the Homes have been involved in petty theft from amongst their peers this week in School.      They are all in the region of 12 years old and all boys.    Two from Jacaranda Cottage have been with us some years already, and one each from Drakely and Tyndale.  Two of these children came from the Street.   This is not the first time they have been in trouble.       None of them are what you might call 'difficult' children socially.     Generally pleasant and easy to get on with.

Why are they stealing suddenly?       Well of course we are often without much light when we meet this kind of aberration turning up in a life that had previously been without comment.     Do we need a Physiologist or Psychiatrist to advise US or council THEM.      I guess some would definitely say that we do.     Right now there is a great deal of talk about having councilors come to the Children that are in Children's Homes and other places, that have suffered shock, hurt and sometimes abuse, as well as loss of home and family, during the New Year Troubles.      Whatever happened to common sense ?        Well I must not be too radical I suppose, but I feel that we are a different kind of people to those who went through the 2nd World War without any such help either during or afterwards, and yet managed to GET THROUGH and OVER it by their own and other's generally human compassion, understanding, and plain old common sense.        These days we seem to be unable to face up to anything - even a headache.     How did JESUS get through His 'trauma' I wonder.        Still I must concede there will be a few instances where some professional guidance and help may be needed.    BUT, I am too old to believe that EVERYONE needs to wheeled off to the 'trick cyclist' and straightened out.       two hundred kids shave passed through TFH to date, and 140 are currently in Residence in addition.      Only TWO (brothers) were taken for evaluation to a Psychiatrist.         Not a bad record - notwithstanding that we HAVE had a good number of difficult, mixed up, and even disturbed  young people in the Homes.   They and we managed to get through into sunlight and normality.      We thank God that it has been so, and we Thank God that HE is able to provide the Strength and Wisdom needed.      YES  with God the Holy Spirit with us in life, the little candle flame of common sense and wisdom we are each born with, is increased and enabled - or could be if we believed.

 

Our Annual Audit has just been completed for 2007.     In Kenya we are of course required by Law to have our financial affairs properly monitored and attended to.  If any of you feel you would like a copy please let us know as we can send you a copy if necessary.   Finance is always a somewhat difficult factor in our lives here.       Insisting as we do that we live by Faith in God's Ability to Provide, and not clearly stating our needs at any time is sometimes quite a difficulty both to those who here working with us as well as those who might want to help us.            We have always stood on Matthew 6v6 and still do so.      We have felt the Lord has wanted this of us as a Testimony to His Faithfulness, and as a spur to our own faithfulness toward Him for ourselves.   It DOES have its drawbacks since we find it difficult to share if we are in a problem at any time - apart from the Lord Himself.         There are times however when having WAITED on the Lord to bring the Bread without seeing any I have E-mailed AENON Trust just to find out if anything has in fact been sent for us.

Should I admit such a thing?       Does this depart from our having Faith.    It might, but it seems to me we should always be honest with each other.     We DO seek to live by Faith in God, and He HAS proved His Faithfulness to us always down through the years - BUT we - poor flesh and blood that we are - sometimes doubt when the 'storm' is all about us, and try to wake God up, saying 'Don't you care that we perish?'      The Amazing and Wonderful thing about this is that He doesn't get annoyed with us - merely rebukes our lack of faith and then stabilises everything.

It is good to know that His Loving Arms are around us and beneath us.     None of us are worthy to be saved, healed, delivered, or provided for - YET there is not one of us He will not do all of this for - again and again and again.     He understand that we are FLESH   -   now WE have to understand the same thing about each other as we pray for, believe in, and consider one another.      God will Bless us for this.

 

I have been suffering from EARACHE for a week or more.     My left ear has apparently a large plug of 'something' lodged just in front of the diaphragm.     The doc thinks I had an infection and that the residue has dried up blocking the canal.       SO I am now on treatment hoping to disperse it - if not the old Syringe will be applied.         I have not had any pain, just deafness.     Interestingly my doc said that sometimes when this happens and the diaphragm is prevented from vibrating because of blockage of sound waves to it, then it eventually becomes less responsive until permanent deafness ensues!!     Amazing.Thus I hope my ear will be unblocked and my hearing become even sharper than it ever was before.      How important to be able to HEAR properly.        It affects so many things even more than understanding, such as balance and even ones stomach!     Straining to HEAR everyone just now, I have realised that I don't really need to hear everyone!       This has caused me to consider -

JUST WHO, AND WHAT ARE WE LISTENING.

TO IN OUR LIVES?

To whom, and what, do we give our attention so that our life is affected?    It is VERY important indeed to make sure that we are getting the right council and direction for our lives; the right advice, the right criticism.   Some time back in our daily newspaper THE DAILY NATION one Seneiya Kamotho wrote -

'Many religious leaders normally claim to have

a NEW REVELATION, or a SPECIAL MESSAGE, or a NEW LIGHT from God.

Some have even claimed that the Bible is obsolete.    They can say things like "God spoke to me the other day".

OR "I was lifted to heaven and Jesus told me such and such."

One such preacher was heard asserting "I went for a swim in heaven with Jesus last week, and He said...."

Others may be heard saying "God is telling you to give me five thousand shillings today, and he will bless you."

They claim to have an inside track on supernatural revelation, and their dreams and visions cannot be refuted,

or examined against already accepted traditional doctrines.'

 

It is true that we should not believe EVERYTHING we hear,.  But we do need to KNOW where the words are coming from, and where they are leading us to!   After all Paul the Apostle was caught up to the Third Heaven, and also at another time received direct communication from Christ.     In mentioning these things Paul does not seek to use them or ADD to the Gospel, or to his own reputation or situation in any way, but rather to emphasize and illustrate the TRUTH of God, to encourage the Christian in Faith and Endurance.

God in the Beginning, communicated with Adam, and told him to avoid eating of the fruit of the Tree of the Knowledge of Good and Evil that grew in the midst of the Garden.   God said, if you DO eat of it you shall

standing near the actual tree in question - near enough to SEE and to reach out and PLUCK a fruit from it.   Satan was within the serpent using it, and HE said through the serpent, to Eve, who was listening to it -

"HAS God REALLY said that you shall  not eat of ANY tree in the Garden?"      Satan knew very well what God had said, but he was hoping to sew doubt and confusion in Eve's mind.   How WELL did she know and understand what God had said?      She understood it very well, and repeated exactly what God HAD said.    THEN Satan said through the serpent - "But surely God did not MEAN that you would actually DIE...?"

And he went on to explain his point of view - and Eve listened to him, and as she listened to him, what she had heard from God began to recede from her mind and attention.      She was hooked by ANOTHER voice, finally yielding to it instead of God's.     She took the GOD FORBIDDEN fruit and gave to her husband also no doubt repeating the Devil's words to him.............     

Genesis 3v17 says - (God speaking to Adam) 'BECAUSE you have listened and given attention to the voice of your WIFE, the ground is cursed for your sake, and you shall eat of the fruit of it with sorrow and toil.

God does not accuse Adam of listening to Satan but to his WIFE!          He who had HEARD first hand from GOD listened to his wife repeating words from another that did not AGREE with God's WORD, and yielded to them.        He chose to put those words in front of God's words.      And lost everything.       He backed the wrong horse!

How careful WE all should be in what we say to each other - we may be passing on a word or thought from Satan himself!        Consider CAUSE and EFFECT.     Listen to the WRONG VOICE and you will PAY for it.      MAKE SURE THEN that you are listening to God.   Make sure that the words you hear do not bring doubt to, or ADD to, the Teaching you have had from the Apostles , and what is actually contained in God's Holy WORD.      Consider 1.John 4v6 -

'We are children of God.

Whoever is learning to KNOW God, and to get an ever clearer knowledge of Him, listens to us;

and he who is not of God does not listen or pay attention to us.

By THIS we know and recognise the Spirit of Truth and the spirit of error.'

 

READING IN 1. KINGS 19V2 We can read of Elijah the Prophet and the message that Queen Jezebel, that wicked Queen, Ahab's wife, send to him.    In it she had written - 'So let the gods do to me, and more also, if I do not make your life as the life of one of them (those God killed today) by this time tomorrow!'

ELIJAH, all alone, had prevailed against four hundred and fifty false prophets, and had seen God stand with him, and answer his prayers in the most sensational and amazing manner.   BUT when he read this woman's message, he believed the words that were written, and went to pieces, forgetting God, and all that God had done.   He gave place to the words of a godless woman, and made them mean more than the Word of God.  Isaiah 54v17 says 'No weapon that is formed against you shall prosper, and every tongue that shall rise against you in judgment you shall show to be in the wrong.   This peace, righteousness, security; this triumph over all opposition is the heritage of the servants of the Lord....'

WHO ARE YOU LISTENING TO TODAY?

Are you listening to your doctor who says you are terminally ill and must die?    Are you listening to the spiteful, false and offensive words of those in your work place that scorn God and Godliness?    Are you listening to crushing criticism and condemnation of those who feel you are lazy, useless, foolish or just plainly worthless?     Are you in despair,, are you feeling DOWN because of these words you are listening to?

Come, come, dear brother or sister!   RISE UP,  Shake yourself, and TUNE IN to God's Voice!    LISTEN to what He is saying to you in Psalm 18v29 - ' By you I can run through a troop, and by my God I can leap over a wall.   As for God, His way is perfect!  The WORD of the Lord is tested and tried;  he is a shield to all those who take refuge and put their trust in Him.'

 

Turn off the T.V., turn off the Radio, Ignore the multitudinous voices of the world around you and turn your ear to the WORDS that God Speaks and is speaking now to you.     Hide those words in your mind, commit them to memory.    Store them up progressively as you hear them, so that you may at all times bring them out when needed to measure and compare all other 'words' by.

REMEMBER, when Jesus in the Wilderness was accosted by Satan He resisted and refuted ALL that Satan said and suggested quoting the TRUE WORDS OF GOD,      Satan put his hands to his ears and RAN.    We LIVE only by giving attention to God's WORD.    There is no other SAFE voice to listen to.    SO make sure that what you hear is from GOD alone, and no other.    Surely if you are truly straining to HEAR the Holy Spirit will enable you to RECOGNIZE the genuineness of that voice.

 

'Thy Word, O Lord, They precious Word alone can lead me on;

By this, until the darksome night be gone, lead Thou me on:

Thy Word is light, Thy Word is life and power,

By it, O Lord, guide me in every trying hour.

 

Tomorrow I am bringing the Message in our fellowship.    Beginning a Series of Messages on PRAYER.      Hope I will have my ear turned to God's Voice within me.      At least I won't get distracted by noises from without!      God bless you all

 

 

 

 

 

Fw: Update

 

----- Original Message -----

From: John Green

Sent: Saturday, June 07, 2008 4:13 PM

Subject: Update

SATURDAY, 7th JUNE 2008

 

THIS WEEK IN ELDORET, we have seen the presence of the Army back on the streets.    Quite low key - two or three thinly spread in the Town centre and immediate suburbs.    They are armed!     Still they look very relaxed and fairly friendly.      More like the local 'bobby' on his beat but with army fatigues instead of the usual uniform.      BUT WHY ARE THEY HERE? 

Well it is NOT because the Country is up in arms again for any reason as it was in the early New Year.    No, but there IS discontent and especially amongst the unemployed or semi employed youth.       You may remember that on average Kenya has approximately 60% of its population aged under 20.     Most of these are out of School AND unemployed.      A situation that produces a largely layabout mob in most towns in various degrees of need.   NO - it is because, at least in Eldoret, the Municipal Council has decided to set itself against Street Hawkers, as they are called.

Usually these are young men peddling wares on the street, sometimes on behalf of Retail Shops in the town and sometimes on their own behalf.     There have even been times - say on a Friday afternoon when they have actually spread out their wares on the pavements and streets, necessitating traffic diversions.   This has not seemed to have upset many until the newly elected Mayor and Corporation came into Office.     They are not apparently determined to clear the streets of Hawkers come what may - and MAYHEM may be the outcome.

Some years back a Slogan appeared in the Press

KEEP HAWKERS OFF THE STREETS, BUT IN BUSINESS

 

I thought then, as I do now, that this was very apt, and a slogan that should be taken to heart by all - at least in our town of Eldoret if not throughout the Nation.      Many Authorities see Hawkers or Peddlers as they may have been called, as very undesirable; even a public nuisance; something like a pestilence, akin to flies and mosquitoes - similar to the way Street Children are seen to be.    BUT these people are very different to Street Children, for they are actually doing their best to earn a living as honourably as they can either with or without education - and I can personally honour them for that!

Too many are content to steal rather than actually WORK, and many others are just as willing to hand around and live off the labour of others.  Paul says in 2.Thessalonians 3v10- 'If anyone will not work, neither let him eat.'   VERY strong advice!   He says in Ephesians 4v28 -  'Let the thief steal no more, but rather let him be industrious, making an honest living with his hands, so that he may be able to give to those in need.'   OF COURSE there IS a huge unemployment problem, but it is not always because there is NO work to be done, no job to be had.    Sometimes it is because the job available is not to the liking of the one seeking employment.      Not everyone can begin in a nice clean work environment at comfortable wage.      Many available jobs are dirty, underpaid, physically demanding and just plainly unattractive. - BUT if someone wants to EARN something for himself work IS there.    And a self respecting man or woman will make every effort to FIND something to do.

Thus the Hawker has my commendation.   He has found something to do.  He may have been to School or College, even University.    He may be totally uneducated, landless and homeless, but he has found something to bring in an honest shilling or two.     Such a person is worthy of respect AND also encouragement.       Rather than being seen as a burden to society or their own family these people have humbled themselves to do what is often very hard indeed to do - to turn away from their hopes and dreams to face the hard reality of life and necessity.    They walk miles and miles in a day in all weathers, often loaded with merchandise which is wearisome to carry, difficult to exhibit, and hard to sell!   For their labour they must ever be ready to be ignored, scowled upon, and even cursed for their importunity.  At the end of the day they find little gleaned for themselves to live upon, and day after day, week after week, they must continue to so toil, for the most part despised by everyone.        Yes, it is true, the can harass the shopper, the man or woman in the street; they may take a little trade away from the regular shopkeeper.   But all the same they are trying earn an honest living.

Should we or anyone else discourage them?   Should we harass them OUT of this honest endeavour?      The answer OUGHT to be NO!

AND NOW, here we are again with even more Hawkers mingling with the shopper and the traffic on the streets of Eldoret, and no doubt on every other town and city in the Country.       They are a nuisance!   Let's get rid of them.

There seems little sympathy for them from the powers that be.     Many of the hawkers on the streets will have voted our present Municipal Council into Office - and now those very Councilors have taken council together to get rid of these very same hawkers.      Feelings are funning high, and there have been signs of riot and antagonism - thus the ARMY is in Town!    Not a good sign.     Not a good way to solve a human problem.

A man in his late fifties that I knew in England many years ago had been a self made man.    He had spent a lifetime in commerce, starting off by selling a bag of plums in his local market.     With the profit he purchased two more bags, selling them also, and so on.    As the weeks and months passed he prospered enough to buy a barrow, and later rent a Market Stall.     Finally he bought a shop in the High Street, and  eventually owned a chain of Green Grocery and Fritterers across the north of England.      But he had laboured in order to prosper, and he was permitted to labour by a sympathetic society that saw his right to a living.

Obviously I am not saying that every hawker on the streets will become a millionaire.      But perhaps some will.      The Bible says in Proverbs 10v4 - 'He who deals with a slack hand becomes poor, but the hand of the diligent makes one rich.'    And again in Proverbs 13v4 - 'The soul of the sluggard desires and has nothing, but the soul of the diligent shall be made rich.'

and finally in Proverbs 22v29 - 'Do you see a man who excels in his work?  He will stand before kings; he will not stand in front of unknown men.'

IN THE 14th Century, in England, a boy of 13 was said to have left education and gone off to the City of London to find work.   he found none to his liking and finally became an errand boy to a Clothing company.   He was paid nothing, but provided with his food and lodging.    But he listened carefully and watched, and LEARNED the trade of the Clothier.     Very much like my friend with his bag of [plumbs Dick Whittington started a small business selling cloth and material of all kinds.    Eventually he established a business that became renowned.   so famous was it that even the king heard of it and became a regular customer.    Dick Whittington was to become a household name in England, and was four times Lord Mayor of London and Knighted by the King.       BUT he began as a school drop out, on the streets of London, a poor, parentless boy who wanted to WORK and better himself.    He was not in a hurry, but he was determined, and with carefulness and honesty he slowly established himself.   He was NOT lazy, not looking for something for nothing.   He was not a 'con-man'.      No he was a young person with self respect, moral fiber, and vision - and he succeeded.      If we have God in mind, and if we are industrious and true in all we attempt, we shall also succeed - as also will the contemptible 'Hawker'.        To prevent and frustrate such is to bring down calumny upon our own heads and commercial prosperity.

 

#######################

 

I am writing this in the afternoon of a very cloud-laden WET Saturday.

Once again I am typing in our sitting room in Green Cottage, looking out through the big window onto the lawn and across to Testimony House.

It is cold today.    Later we shall light a fire, as will probably the other Family Homes.      Well, at least Testimony and Jacaranda may do so; Drakely and Tyndale do not have fireplaces so will no doubt have to switch on their electric heater if it gets too chilly.

This is a 'coldy' / malarial time.

The time when the COLD and RAINY season begin to suddenly bite

The change from a fairly moderate and comfortable climate to one that has suddenly forgotten the sun and the warmth can be drastic for the well being of some.

It will probably not go down in temperature much more than to C17 - it is 19 today.      I guess that sounds quite pleasant to you, but to us it is COLD!!

 

Our four teenagers have now left Testimony House and started their own lives in their own rented accommodation.    None of them are far from us, and we shall probably see them Sunday by Sunday as they come to Church with us - at least initially.      Each had used their three months salary from their places of work to buy bed, bedding, and cooking utensils.    TFH has added £150 each in cash to help them get started with foodstuffs, rent etc. for the first month.    Quite an adventure - no doubt a little daunting - (I know it was for me when I left home to fend for myself when I was 16)        Our son James Manu has also left home -  He actually has been attending University for the last four years but we have had him home with us most weekends.    Now he has finished his Course in IT and has gone some 800 kilometres away to do his final Attachment.    He will be away two and half months, then return for Graduation.    After THAT he is hoping to find employment in Nairobi.    To all intents and purposes he has been slowly leaving home for some time now, and we can see that the future consumes his interest and ambition, which is as it should be.   It is still somehow hard to see one's children more and more at a distance physically.........     Helen our youngest daughter will commence Nursery Teacher Training in a Christian College in Nairobi in September, God Willing.      She is still the quiet little 'Tweetie-pie', but she is more self assured than she was, and seems happy and excited about this next step (her own choice) for her self.      And so by the end of the year it will be 'Darby and Joan' alone!       NOOOO..!   we will never actually be alone, since our home is for ever crammed with children both from the Homes and the School.

Thursday this week saw a great storm of rain and hail engulf our compound and surrounds.   We have never seen or heard such a deluge since living here - almost 36 years now.    The hail was so think upon the ground - pieces of ice as big as marbles - that it had not melted away even after 5 hours.   Good test for the new room of the Guest House.      No leaks, and no damage to anything except for one small bird that lost her next and chicks in a small shrub where she had built her home quite close to us.  The phone was dead for two days, and the Electricity went on and off four times into the night.     But that is normal....

Yesterday - Friday - we had a gift arrive via AENON Trust to which many of you had contributed.   We had in fact been totally without funds since the previous Saturday, but we had enough on hand not to need us to spend until Thursday night.      When Friday dawned we knew there was nothing in the cupboard or the Bank.          By 10a.m. the Bank rang to say a Gift had arrived!   Yet gain the timing was perfect.       We thank you all who may in some way of contributed to our deliverance in His Name.  Obviously some of you will have contributed financially, but I am equally sure that some of you will have also been praying for our provision, preparing the way for together with ourselves.  SO truly Friday was a Day of Thanksgiving.   Praise the Lord.

 

God Bless and be with you all.

 

John and Esther

 

 

 

 

 

Update

SATURDAY, 31ST MAY 2008

FAILING TO ATTEND THE LAMBETH CONFERENCE

IS COWARDLY !

So comments Mr. Charles Njonjo, a one time Attorney General  for Kenya, and a respected member of the Anglican Church here.     He was writing in the Daily Nation about the failure of some of our Bishops to attend the Lambeth Conference of Bishops in London because of their stand against homosexuality.     He felt that their place was at the Conference standing up for their opinion instead of being an unheard opposition.     His arguments were fair and supportable.     But then right at the end he said -

'I find it impossible to keep quiet when people are frequently hounded, vilified, molested and even killed as targets of homophobia for something they did not choose - their sexual orientation.   Where is our Christian charity?

How sad it is that the church should be so obsessed with this particular issue of human sexuality when God's children are facing massive problems - poverty, disease, corruption and conflict.!'

 

One of our girls and one of our boys within the Testimony Family, both now grown up and living away, have recently publicly declared that they have chosen a GAY lifestyle.   They have CHOSEN it for themselves, although they might both say that have felt an inborn predisposition towards such a lifestyle.      Neither of them will suffer the loss of our affection, or prayer.     YET, we cannot say it has not brought heartache and disappointment to us as individuals and parents who can only see such a way of life as dangerously unnatural.       Mr. Njonjo is sympathetic towards those having such a disposition, saying they did not choose it, they were born with it.     But are we to give in to every unrighteous disposition that we might be born with?     Because we have inherited a bad temper, should we give in to it?    Because we have inherited sin are we to then put up with it without a fight?     Surely not.     To just give in is just as much a 'choice' as any other.   

It is also very easy to rationalize with sin and sinfulness, and in so doing to dilute true Righteousness, and degenerate the Image of God.       The current Archbishop of Canterbury has said that as long as a priest performs his priestly duties well and ably, then his private life is of no account.      Surely this cannot be?     Can a man or woman who is willingly given up to living below God's standards, be fit to stand as a Godly role model in front of the church and the world at large?

THE BIBLE refers to Homosexuality / Lesbianism as an 'ABOMINATION'.     Something in itself 'unnatural' and not meant to be.     As such it cannot be encouraged or praised; cannot be treated as being in fact what it ought to be.         I am talking about the ACT of homosexuality - the lifestyle - the habit.          To let a man or woman having such a lifestyle hold an office or position in society that is expected to reflect the Righteousness of God would be wrong.    IS wrong, in the sight of God.           Does this mean I must hate the homosexual man or woman, or as Njono suggests - hound, vilify, molest or even kill' such a one?    NO, of course not.     There IS room for Christian Charity, but it is not in telling the homosexual that he is doing good to indulge his homosexuality - or in encouraging him to do what is not meant or intended by God to be done.        We must not argue for the Image of God to remain damaged, but instead seek for its restoration and healing.         Isn't this why Christ came?       Some say that He came to forgive us, and in doing so it appears that the need to cease from sin has been removed - 'Because Grace abounds - shall sin continue?    Heaven forbid.'    

 

PAUL SAYS IN ROMANS 6v12

'Let not sin therefore rule as king in our mortal (short lived, perishable) bodies,

to make you yield to its cravings and be subject to its lusts and evil passions

v.16 - Do you not know

that if you continually surrender yourselves to anyone to do his will,

you are the slaves of him whom you obey, whether that be to sin, which leads to death

or to obedience which leads to righteousness (right doing and right standing with God?

v17 BUT THANK GOD,

though you were once slaves of sin,

you have become obedient with all your heart to the standard of teaching in which you were instructed, and to which you were committed

v18 - AND HAVING BEEN SET FREE FROM SIN,

you have become the servants of righteousness

(of conformity to the divine will in thought, purpose, and action)

(The Amplified Bible)

 

CHRIST CAME to provide the means for our FREEDOM and DELIVERANCE from SIN.     God has provided a WAY for every human being to be set free from his sinful inheritance.       It is not God's WILL that anyone should be unable to display and exhibit His Likeness.       He wants every man and woman and child to be like HIM in pure Righteousness.          But it is a choice He leaves with us, a choice that is left even to the called Christian - and remember 'MANY are called, but FEW are chosen.         We who are the Children of God are MEANT to be LIGHT THAT WILL ILLUMINATE THE PERSON AND CHARACTER OF GOD in a world that has forgotten and even sought to obliterate His memory.       Man has then gone on to forget Who he was made to represent and be like.

PAUL SAYS IN THE OPENING CHAPTER OF ROMANS, that men and women turn away from the NATURAL and meant use of each other's bodies when they LEAVE GOD OUT.      Homosexuality is not anything but a curse with which God curses those who have forgotten and set Him on one side to follow their own fleshly lusts - He GIVES SUCH PEOPLE UP to the lusts of their own hearts to sexual impurity, to the dishonoring oft their bodies among themselves (abandoning them to the degrading power of sin - Romans 1v24 Amplified Bible).     In the Word of God it is not our 'sexual orientation' so much as the 'lust of our own hearts' that is the real problem for mankind.     Because of this 'he gave them over and abandoned them to vile affections and degrading passions -

for their women exchanged their natural function for an unnatural and abnormal one,

and the men also turned from natural relations with women and were set ablaze with lust for one another

men committing shameful acts with men and suffering in their own bodies and personalities the inevitable consequences and penalty of their wrong-doing and going astray

which was their fitting retribution.'      and so on to the end of the chapter!

 

KNOWING THESE THINGS, how can we not reveal them as charitably as we can, wanting -as God Himself does - that men might live and not die!        There are NO practicing homosexuals allowed admission into Eternal Life and the Presence of God.     No practicing sinner will be there with God.    1. Corinthians 6v9-11.   No one with the heart and mind to enjoy what God hates can possibly be able to stay where He is.    How CAN two live together unless they be AGREED.         Thus it is for the Christian to declare what God AGREES with, and what He does NOT agree with!      We are not to be silent about, or acquiescent to, the practice of SIN in the world and society around us.        We must not trade with it, or be seen to compromise or make allowances for it in our life IF we say God lives in us.      AND He has given us the Power to resist sin within our own selves that we might indeed be able Role Models.

 

IF I WERE A BISHOP IN THE ANGLICAN COMMUNIION.

or even a humble curate

I would make sure I visibly stood my ground against the acceptance of sin in Society around me,

AND in the fraternity of all those standing for the Lord Jesus Christ as Ministers of Righteousness.

I would definitely be a Thorn in the Lambeth Conference.

I would not hide my light under a bucket - I would make sure I was SEEN and HEARD as well.

And this not only in regard to the practice of homosexuality, but in relation to ALL unrighteousness.

 

Poverty, Disease, Corruption and Conflict need to be fought and assuaged

BUT we have to remember they are the result of uncontested SIN in the world

They are the result of men living without God in mind and being yielded instead to the flesh.

Good Works are commendable

BUT without the GOSPEL preached lived and responded to Good Works will not save Mankind or the World.

 

I love Sinners.    I long to see their Salvation.     I reach out to them with compassion and not judgment, but I do admonish their sin as lovingly as I may, yet without trying to excuse it or support it.      Esther and I ask you to pray for us as 'parents' to those who have fallen into this and other pitfalls, and to pray for them also that even now the Lord will deliver them from the 'Trap of the Hunter'

 

 

##############################

 

 

 

AND NOW THE END OF MAY HAS COME!

Month has succeeded month so quickly this year.       We are already half way through the second School Term.     To day four of our children (all from Testimony House) have moved out into their own apartments in Eldoret Town and surrounds.       They all seemed quite ready for it, and excited at the prospect of looking after their own place.       They have been out earning their living for three months already, and have been able to gather together the basic necessities they need .     It is a beginning.     Not an easy transition, but they are all within easy reach of us, and we will see them often I am sure.      We have had a party for them and prayed for them and given them our blessing.        SOON four new children will come in to take their place.       There are always MORE children - more and more children.      Even so come Lord Jesus.

 

Steven Stuma and his wife Emily came to have supper with Esther and me this week.     We had a really lovely evening together.       They had left one of our Relief Houseparents with their little family whilst they were with us, so they felt quite safe.     Steven spent a good number of years in Testimony House when Esther and I were parents there.     He is as a son to us, and indeed Emily is a lovely daughter in law.    It is a comfort to see them with a House now of their own, and we laughed and cried together remembering years gone by, and the experiences both good and bad that were part of 'family life' then, and those that are now part of their own daily lives.      We felt very encouraged,     We thanked God.        We are hoping to replicate the blessing with all the Houseparents, family by family as weeks go by, and of course we shall also be visiting their Homes as well.       This will enable us to deepen the love and unity that we long to see built up more and more.

 

In Kenya petrol is currently selling at approx. Ksh.105/- per litre, which again is approximately 50p less then you will  be paying in the Uk.         However relatively this is still VERY high in relation to the cost of living here, and as I have said last week sent all costs upwards.       This has caused us to look at the way we use the vehicles ourselves, and we have managed to make a considerable saving on re-organising our visits to town and around.      This together with a few other economies have helped us to save about £1,000 a month.      Amazing what you can do when you try, and of course it has also opened our eyes to many other things which have been good for us all as stewards of the Kingdom of Heaven.        We have also decided to change our main household supplier of general household commodities.      Quite a juggling act - and just heard meat will rise by Ksh.15/- per kilo next week.       Wow! win some - lose some.     But in the END all is balanced and provided for.          I hope you will not mind me sharing a few factors from time to time, as I feel many of you need to see that even though, in the main, cost of living is cheaper than it is in the States and Europe, it does fluctuate and affect us just as it must be doing there with you.    The whole world is heaving with a great deal of uncertainty and economic indigestion!          Esther and I were talking about it last night, and beginning to feel a bit glum.     But then the Lord spoke to us and asked us what we were bothered about.        No matter what happened HE held us, and all that belonged to Him, in His own hands.    He would not let anything fall.      Immediately we relaxed, and realised what an amazing life we have.

What a wonderful Lord He is.

 

Monday is a National Holiday for us in Kenya.     School will be closed.   JUNE will have begun.     This is the month we hold our A.G.M. as a Society, and also it is the month we have to write a full Annual Report of our work and ministry to the Government plus Annual Returns to Tax and other related Government Departments.    Quite a bit of red tape this month.      Not my favourite month, but we will find much to Praise Him for I know.

 

We pray His Presence and Richest Blessings on you all.

 

 

John and Esther

 

'

 

 

 

 

UPDATE

SATURDAY, 24TH MAY 2008 

To be or not to be...

THAT is the question!!

 

In 1 Kings 22 we read of Jehoshaphat going to the aid of the then king of Israel against Syria.      The burning question was about how the battle would go - who would win.      The King of Israel brought 400 men who were his advisors (prophets) and they all said 'GO and fight for the Lord will deliver the battle into your hands.'        Humanly the prospect did not look good, but the word of these men was encouraging, and sure.      Never mind how bad things look - the future is bright, you will win through.     There will be VICTORY.

 

Everyone would like to believe that about world civilization at this point in history.     Things look bad..     Yesterday on SKY NEWS the Financial Expert was saying things look bleak - a World Recession is now close if not inevitable!       What does that mean?   How are we to see this?       TODAY in the Kenya Daily Nation we read on the front page -

OIL PRICES SET TO INCREASE FURTHER

Kenyans have been warned to brace for further increases in oil prices - and the rise in the cost of living that goes with it.

Many household budgets have been stretched to breaking point by increases in fuel prices which have sparked similar rises in the cost of food, transport and other essential goods.

From motorists in Mombasa to farmers in Eldoret, and fishermen in Kisumu, Kenyans will have to tighten their belts as experts predict oil prices will continue to escalate.

Global oil prices soared to a high of $135 a barrel and this is likely to rise to $150.

 

The situation could not look more uncomfortable economically, and if we take this with the increasing incidence of world unrest elementally, politically and socially, then many might be forgiven for looking for someone to provide encouragement to believe in a better world around the corner.     Everyone would gladly accept and believe in ANY MAN that could assure them of PEACE, PROSPERITY, and REST from all this  increasing apprehension and fear of the future...............Perhaps he is not far away!

 

I was recently reading an account of the English society as it was in the early eighteen hundreds - just a hundred years ago.

'Success in discovering new forms of livelihood

was uprooting growing numbers from the country's traditional life.   Though many thrived in that freer society, many more, the old props gone, went to the wall.   Those swept into the slums of the capital or squatters towns around the steam factories could transmit to their children only a memory of the Christian traditions and influences among which they grew up.   A generation after Waterloo a third of Manchester's children attended neither church, chapel nor school   The stony places in which the dispossessed took root tended inevitably to make hard cruel reckless men and sluttish depraved women.'

The Age of Elegance by Sir Arthur Bryant.

 

NOT a pretty picture.

Yet England recovered, rose up, and attained greatness.

Perhaps there are 'cycles' even in the ebb and flow of national and world society.

Solomon tells that there is 'nothing new under the son'

It has happened before.    We should hope and believe for recovery, and even improvement and advancement in the evolution of man and civilization.

SURELY - not all is lost!    A better day IS coming

 

IS IT ?.    

2.Timothy 3v13 tells us that people (humanity)

will get worse and worse!

PAUL who is the author of this Epistle says the basic reason for this is because Man in the last days will be a lover of himself and a seeker of pleasures for himself.;

C.S. Lewis in his Essay entitled 'We Have No Right to Happiness' written in 1963 says -

'Though the 'right to happiness' is chiefly claimed for the sexual impulse,

 it seems to me impossible that the matter should stay there.

   The fatal principle once allowed in that department, must sooner or later seep through our whole lives.

   We thus advance towards a state of society in which not only each man but every impulse in each man claims carte blance. 

 And the, through our technological skill may help us survive a little longer, our civilization will have died at heart, and will - one dare not even add ' unfortunately' - be swept away.'

 

JEHOSHEPHAT

asked the King of Israel if there was a Prophet of the Lord ..

He was not satisfied by the words of the 400 men - the majority sycophants.

A Man called MICAIAH was suggested by the King of Israel

But he said of him 'I hate him; for he doth not prophesy good concerning me, but evil.'

And Micaiah spoke oppositely to the 400, and predicted ruin and defeat.

And so it was

 

The whole story is worth reading and thinking about.    We need more men and women like Micaiah to stand for the TRUTH against all the deceit and lies of the Devil that surround us and encourage us to go to our deaths without a fight.   Let us see things squarely and rightly in the light of God's Word.

 

THERE WILL BE NO LASTING PEACE OR PROSPERITY

Till the King Comes.

 

###############

This Week in KENYA the politicians are still bickering with each other as they have from the outset.       They have been discussing the size of the Cabinet, and whether or not to have a Grand Opposition in the Grand Coalition!     To and fro, to and fro.......very economically costly discussion,      So far little progress.     Life goes on - more and more expensively, and still just a little apprehensively.   The started, faltered, stopped.    Prospects for a good harvest already very negative.    Many business people in Eldoret still selling up and leaving - including our only Baker!    Population increasing with congestion, crime and some little insecurity in urban areas.

THIS WEEK in Testimony Faith Homes has been testing to say the least.  But those who KNOW the Lord will also know that at the same it was also faith building and profitable.

 

On Monday I was in the Eldoret Children's Court processing Court Orders for some of our children.     The Lady Magistrate was impressed by the fact that so many of our children are from different tribal groups and said she had been distressed and offended by one Children's Home whose managers had presented the children of only ONE tribe.    When she had enquired why, he had said that his Home would only take children from that tribal background and no other.      She was wondering how this could be allowed, and was mounting an investigation.         As I have said before Eldoret is in the midst of an area where tribalism is on the increase, and where there has been a feeling to discourage all others but the predominant local tribe to live and work here.       It was not encouraging to hear that this attitude had crept into a Children's Home.         We shall no doubt discuss this in the Children's Forum Meeting which will be taking place this coming Wednesday.

The youngest child we presented to the Court on this occasion was four year old Simon and his six year old sister Kezia.     Their parents had died of AIDS.   The Magistrate fell in love with Simon and had him sit on her lap through the proceedings.       She is coming to visit the Homes and have lunch with Simon in Drakeley Cottage which is where he lives.      A successful end to the morning.  

We still have to take 32 more children to her Court in the near future.

 

Tuesday we discovered that the cost of building material had doubled in cost in  relation to roofing materials, cement and sand.     Over the period since we had begun to build this had in fact pushed the cost of the new Guest House up by more than 60% overall,     This was rather bad news - but we are near to completion now and there is no going back.          We have trust the Lord for the cost from the commencement, and we just have to trust Him that much more.... We are safe in his hands.      Indeed as you will have noted from the beginning of this update costs ARE rising and will continue to rise.     We cannot retreat or cease from what we are doing, but must continue and even grow notwithstanding all these evil prospects and dire predictions.      The Testimony and the Glory will go only to Him when it is seen how we survive and prosper still in His Name.

 

During the week myself and other members of the Children's Services Forum including the District Children's Officer have been receiving offensive and insulting letters by E-mail.    At the same time similar letters have been sent to the Press and printed by them.     This has caused us all some concern, and we have finally lodged a complaint to the District Commissioner in the hope that something might be done to root out the perpetrators of this maliciousness.        Mainly the letters accuse us of making money out of children, abusing children, and generally manipulating Children's Services.      The letters are all unsigned and without sound evidence to back up their accusations.        It is felt that it is a ploy to disrupt the good progress that has been made in helping needy children in our District by those who have not been so successful in other related fields.

 

Otherwise LIFE in the homes has continued as usual with 140 pairs of feet walking, running, and romping around in the four homes and another 700 pairs doing the same in the School.     It is quite amazing how QUIET it is even so - and at the same time how HAPPY and JOYFUL all the children seem to be both at home and at school.    One broken window in Jacaranda Cottage this week - a football came to close!     Two Toilet seats broken in Tyndale - still not sure how ..?    The cook in Testimony House off work with Malaria so Mum Mulli is doing the cooking!    RAIN very intermittent at present - ONE day in ten it really RAINS,     Rationing of water now introduced - (saw the Water Company this week but they are helpless to do much until it DOES rain in a real way - so last night in our Night of Prayer this was one of the main requests going up to God.

 

Here we sit, stand, and work for the Lord our God.    We will not be moved even if our arms are sometimes heavy or our knees week.     We are upheld by your prayers and most of all by the Spirit of our God.

 

John and Esther