WHO CARES ABOUT US? God does, and Will

YESTERDAY THE GOVERNMENT ORDERED ALL SCHOOLS CLOSED BY MONDAY - Government AND Private Schools!!       I surmise SOME government teachers did NOT strike, and kept their school going until now.       If I am right then I must admire them for trying to do their professional and honourable DUTY, just as all those in the Private Schools are also to be admired for doing the same!   They showed CARE for the Nations children, and for the future of the Nation.   BUT now the Government has ordered School to be CLOSED regardless of how that will affect the children or the State.    This is totally insensible.      Our own School should also shut down, UNLESS that is, Private Schools opt to stay open whatever happens.       As with the majority of Union action these days it is very much pinned to politics,     The last time the Teachers seriously went on Strike it was about the same time of year, and was meant to force government to give in for the sake of the Children.   In October / November the Nation;s Primary Graduating class - Grade 8 - are due to take their FINAL exam, the outcome of which will affect their future in Secondary School and beyond.     In the same period the nation's Secondary Graduating Class - Form 4 - will be taking their FINAL exams, the outcome of which will determine what their future, academically, and beyond, will be.    A VERY tense and life determining time.
In it's latest Communique the Government has said that although School will be closed as from Monday, Standard 8 and Form 4 students can continue to attend School WITHOUT TEACHERS in order to revise alone with their books!     A lot of good that will do them without guidance.   WHO they are, I wonder, these intellectual academics that are foisting their heartless and inexperienced ideas on our already depressed kids?     I wonder if THEY ever went to School themselves.   I wonder if they have any idea of the psychological damage they are wilfully causing countrywide.

Private School interview and employ trained government Teachers to teach in their Schools.   Some are able to charge high enough Fees to provide competitive Salaries for their teachers.    Others do not have this possibility and are forced by the state of the general economy of where they operate to only ask fees that might be affordable, meaning that teacher's salaries my have to be offered at a lower rate than the current Government rate.    There is no shortage of teachers, and they come to teach, not blackmail, the Managements to increase salaries beyond their ability to pay.  They have done us all proud, and as I have written before they are worthy of Praise and Thanksgiving.     NOW the government wants to SHUT our privately owned and managed Schools down.   BUT they do not finance or manage them.       If we shut down we cannot lay our teachers off - on the other hand parents will not pay Fees if their children go untaught!!     It is a serious matter for the Private School Sector.     In our own area in and around Eldoret we have some 40+ Private Schools.     We have more than 800 pupils ourselves - say the average Private School population is 500 - that means some 20,000 + will be out of School next week.     The Government as about the same number of schools in our area with another approximate population of some 70,000 (government schools class number are bigger,)     So just here in Eldoret and around, more than 100,000 can be expected out of school - without any end of the Strike in sight,.

Nurses, Doctors, Lecturers are all threatening to strike as well,  and will if THIS one seems to succeed.     Others will join the Band Waggon, and Kenya will go down the sink with it's people/
The Government needs to ACT, and to act strongly and sensibly for the sake of the Nation, not just a part of it.

TESTIMONY FAITH HOMES has not yet decided what to do.     MONDAY a decision will be made.     It may well be we shall say we will not close, which could put us on the wrong side of the law!      It may also put us, our property, teachers, and even students, at risk from the Strikers themselves who will no doubt feel badly about out lack of support for their cause.     Our main consideration will be for the Children - but we must also consider that to shut down the School might bring it down permanently.       SO we are praying through this week-end to see where we will end up standing, by Monday Morning.   We know we are one of many other school in the same predicament.
Those who do not have God int he Boat with them, might easily cease to exist, and literally hundreds of school close for ever.     Think what that well mean to Kenya.

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ABOVE is a 2007 School picture of some of the students of the year. with one of the School Blocks shown centre with one of our Buses.    It is really interesting and challenging to look back and see faces that have long left us, and continued with life.    Many of them, of course, will have been part of the Testimony Family.      One of our family from Testimony House, Edwin Ngobia has MARRIED today, here in Eldoret, in a Church where another of our old boys is co-pastor (Rev. Moses Ongonga)

Here is Edwin, recently take with his fiancee,
Sabrina.     Edwin came to us with his sister, Salome, in 1995.   He was ten.   A bright child, he did well at School being quiet and studious. He eventually found a place in Busoga University i Uganda, and took A Bachelor of Commerce course with a bias in Accounting.  He did well.
Of late he has been working in Dubai, and having established himself well there he returned a few weeks ago to arrange his marriage to his long time Sweet-heart Sabrina.    Very soon they plan to return to Dubai, but not for ever; home is home!!      Esther and I were proud to stand with Edwin at his Wedding to day.   He had introduced Sabrina previously to us, and we also fell in love with her, for she is a lovely lady.      Quite a few of Testimony staff and children attended the Wedding as well, and Sabrina's Family also came in vast numbers overnight to be with us, from Embu.    Esther is still at the Reception, so am hoping she will bring a photo at least that I may include here.       It is good to have hope for the future from so many of our children.    And to know the Lord is with them, watching over them as He has done with us.

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THIS WEEK we have had the pleasure of Diane and Ian HOGLEY staying with us from Huddersfield.    They actually visited together with Janet and Stuart Brown, and so we were able to let them see the NEW Jacaranda Cottage first hand - they were thrilled.    The Browns actually slept with the Mbithi's in Neema Children's Home just up the road from us, and visited with us during the day.

Ian and Diana slept with us, and also were able to visit Joshua and Miriam in the daytime.  The all left on Thursday, but we are expecting Diane and Ian back with us later this afternoon (is now 5p.m. our time!)

We also had great joy in having an added, though VERY brief visit, from Rev. Phillip Baskerville from Gursney with two members of his Team, touring Kenya.    He had a team of 8 altogether and they had also been staying with Joshua and Miriam - it was Joshua Mbithi who brought the three to say Hi.     Wonderful.

Our Love in Jesus to you all, as always.     Please do keep us in prayer.

John, Esther, and Daryl

SEE THE RUIN THAT BOOZE MAKES!

THIS PHOTO was taken on 2nd February 1976, on the front porch of Testimony House.   It is a photo of Simeon Olumazee, aged 11, and his seven year old brother Charles Kauka.     39 years ago.
both boys were very much neglected, and not in school.    Their Mother, a single parent, brewed local beer for a meagre living, and both children were brought to us by her at a moment of desperate need.    Both were suffering from severe Scabies and Malnutrition.
They were both bright boys.   Simeon joined the family of Testimony House, and Charles went to live with Jacaranda Cottage since we were without further space to accommodate him.
In those days we did not have our own School, and so after being with us a few days they were both admitted to Kapsoya Day Primary School, some two kilometres away, walking to and fro daily with a group of other children from the Homes.
On the way back one later afternoon on 25th May 1977, just a year after joining us, Charles died!  It had been raining heavily for some days, and although there was a road bridge across the full fed river that needed to be crossed to get back home from school, Charles had not followed it.    Instead he followed a few others and crossed over the river balancing on a 2ft wide water pipe.     He did not make it across, but slipped off into the raging torrent below him, and was swept away.      Some of the children he was with ran all the way back to us in Testimony to tell us, and I and others rushed to the scene.    We all ran along the bank of the river as far as we could without obstruction, but found no trace of him.    We then mounted a more determined and desperate search, lasting through the night and the following day.
The river passes through the town of Eldoret and on.      We managed to follow its path to the far outskirts of the town where there is a river wide grating to catch unwanted debris before the river escapes into the countryside.    A great team of us on  both banks came up with nothing.    The Police of course were also notified, but as far as we know Charles Kauka has never been seen again.  After two months a Memorial Service was held in our grounds, with almost all of Kapsoya Primary School attending, with all of our own children and staff, and many friends and well wishers.    It was a VERY sad day, especially for Jacaranda Cottage.     Francis and Elain Wainaina were the Houseparents in those days, now living and working in England with the Anglican Church.

SIMEON continued on with us in Testimony.     He changed Primary School in 1978 for one nearer to home, Sosiani Primary, and in 1983 he joined U. G. High School,.....He was not doing very well in school, and after finishing he ran off to the Kenya Army.    He kept in touch with us, and we wrote often to each other, and later he would come to visit.   But the Army taught him to drink, and drink led him to drunkenness.    The Army did not seem to mind, and kept him until about eighteen months ago when he retired, still a drunkard, and still in touch with us.    He had married, and has children of his own, but mainly unmaintained by him, since he spends any thing he gets on liquor.     About a month ago he collapsed, and was rushed to hospital.    He was diagnosed with a Blood clot on his brain, and taken for surgery.    He survived the surgery, but did not regain power to move or to speak - he is still in Intensive Care.    The doctors say there is still a chance he will recover, but we think it is just 'talk', as every day he stays in the ICU it is costing upwards of one hundred thousand Kenya shillings - more than a thousand pounds sterling.    We have visited but he still is unable recognise any one, and can only move his fingers and toes.    
Simeon did make a decision for Jesus when he was in Primary School, and he knows the Way of Salvation very well.    Our prayer has been that he might regain consciousness so that he might once more put himself right with his God.     He was always a happy boy, and always thankful for whatever was done for him.    Alcohol was his downfall, encouraged by his time in the Kenya Army, and he seemed totally unable to stand out against it.    He remains as a member of our 'Family' and after all these years we cannot but help to be moved by the plight of his life and soul.     We are glad we had an opportunity to have him with us, and to set the Word of God in front of him.   But it is sad to see that we cannot win everyone to Cross, and to steer them away from the 'rocks' and 'whirlpools of life'.

On the 3rd May 1984, eight years after the arrival of his brothers, FRANCIS Lahol, the youngest in the family that ever came to us arrived..   He was ten years old.   He was very bright and intelligent,
He attended Gk Prisons, and U.G Primary School, and then Kapnegetuny and Wareng Secondary School.    Then, afterwards  he trained as a Chef with Kenya Hotel Institute in Nakuru.   Thereafter he pursued a career as a chef, initially with Sirikwa Hotel, in Eldoret.     He married, his wife Eunice, also a Chef, and they now have two children.     THEN on the 1st January 2002 he and his family joined us in Testimony Faith Homes as Houseparents in Drakeley Cottage, where they still live and work.   They have been appreciated parents to all the children in their Home, and both Francis and Eunice have used their culinary skills in catering to great advantage in the work as a whole.   Francis is also Superintendent of our Sunday School at the moment.       And it is Francis who has taken the full weight and burden of his elder brother Simeon upon himself.     He will appreciate your prayers for him, and he may, in the near future, have to decide whether or not to continue ICU treatment for his brother.      It is good that both he and Eunice have Jesus as their Friends and Saviour walking with them in their lives.     I have wanted to share with you all about this family, because they demonstrate clearly that Testimony Faith Homes is not some magical place where all the children that come to stay grow angels wings, and become angels.     Not all choose to either see their sin or reach out for Christ as their Saviour.     Not all leave us for the best.      But, yes, some do.     We follow them all, pray for them all, and hope in Jesus for the best for each of them.      Our sorrows and joys are mixed.

HERE Francis and Eunice the are seen with their current Family in Drakeley Cottage.
They have 35 boys and girls, with ages ranging from 5 to 20+ currently.     They carry their quirks of character and personality, together with their hopes for their future, with the hurts and disappointments that can come to ANY parent, and shoulder them all in prayer, together with their personal challenges.     They are not special - just part of the greater Family of Testimony Faith Homes.  BUT we are very proud that Francis chose to come BACK to us and be part of this ministry for himself together with his family.  He must have seen something of value in it when he himself was one of many orphans that found refuge and shelter here.

THE WORLD has more and more accepted the social 'necessity' of booze!     I saw my mother almost battered to death because of its outworking in her husband; he almost struck me dead on one occasion as well, when he was drunk.     I have seen how insidious it can be in tempting one to imbibe just to be 'with' others, and to find fellowship; it would have taken hold of me and destroyed my life if the Holy Spirit had not intervened and set me free from its deceitfulness and false hopes.
In the 60's when I left England, many were alcoholics, but it alcohol was not in every house, especially not Christian homes.      But now even Christians of any persuasion seem to have liberalised their attitudes.    Here in Kenya drunkenness is one of THE most common problems.    A problem that does not just ruin individual lives, but  even families, and civil society.       Simeon's sad and wretched life was but one of them.        And YES, it is possible to go into Rehab; there are quite a number of such places that offer help, but not many can afford it.       Another of our old boys, now working as a Gardener, also married with kids, is also a long time drunkard.     This last week he came home and attacked his wife with a knife.    He has come to us begging us to put him into rehab. He earns about a hundred pounds a month; money he immediately spends on booze.       The cost of taking him for a 3 month course (Rehab) is about 520 pounds sterling - way above his ability to find. We have agreed to take him to a Christian Foundation near by;    they make a point of only taking individuals who sincerely WANT to be done with the habit.     We feel Kihara, now close to 60, is rock bottom.   Please do pray for the Lord to reveal himself whilst he is there, and for us as we also look out for his family whilst he is away;   He is not expecting to be paid while he is not working!  
We started Testimony to provide a home and love for orphans.    But one thing ultimately leads to another, and it is not so simple to take care of just one factor in life.........

We remain well, and the sun this week has shone every day, with little or no rain - but the predictions are, if we survive the 'End' of September, that the El Nino will evidence itself here with more and torrential rains through October to December/January.    Great.    At least there won't be a water shortage!!

Our love to you all with full and grateful hearts


John, Esther and Daryl Green

STRIKE ACTION AT WHOSE EXPENSE?

KENYA TEACHERS ON STRIKE -AGAIN.    It IS all about PAY, not just what they currently get, but what has been promised in addition.
BUT the ones to really suffer are the children whose Schools are shut because of the Strike, and the Parents, who are helpless to combat the problem.
THE ONLY schools OPEN are private schools such as ours.   Our teachers in fact are paid generally less than the Government pays due to the fact that the School Management and the Parents cannot afford to find more Fees to make it possible.      Kenya is not a 1st World Country; it is still a Country that can be considered needy.   The money, such as it is, is only found in Government and a shrinking middle class.    Employment is not increasing; salaries are not increasing - simply because it cannot be afforded.
OUR Teachers have never, so far, gone on strike with us.    They have persevered even though their peers in Government School insult and threaten them.     It is in fact 'dangerous' for a school such as ours to remain open.    BUT our teachers, given the choice, have always seen the children in the classrooms to be more deserving than themselves; they would not be happy for their own kids to be idle at home.     This is, of course, also to do with 'Calling' as against 'A Job.     The idea, or perhaps I should say 'the luxury', of following your 'Calling' or 'Vocation'  has by necessity to be ignored in favour of just obtaining a job.       Thus, for the most part it might be said that  Doctors, Teachers, Lawyers, Nurses are just concerned with being paid for their services rather than for the good of their community.    PAY is more important than the human factor.

LOOK at this happy group below!    Why are they so happy?   Because they have just won the right to STRIKE, and to deprive our children of their right to learn from their own dedicated and unselfish elders.    Well, no doubt we might in one way sympathise with them - they feel this will help them improve themselves; their material state.  They have to LIVE.   BUT surely this is not Professional!     To advance themselves against the very reason for their BEING.    Well they are Teachers,  YES, but what are they teaching the next generation, even their own children?   Anarchy.   I believe there IS unfairness in the proper distribution of wealth in the Country, and even in what people are actually paid.     After all the Government was recently suggesting they might increase their own salaries, having just told the Teachers and the Nursing Profession that there is NO money to improve their salary scales.     Discontent has to be understood in the midst of all that is happening - but can we condone such discontent, in letting it threaten the next generation?    The Children in this situation now become the the losers, being held to ransom together with their futures.

WELL, as I have said life here in Testimony continues so far without interruption, and out 800 or so students continue to learn, and attend We are VERY thankful that God has brought men and women to the School willing to stand out and to stand UP for the children they teach. They too could be glad of more money in their pay packet, but they are not letting it make the children to be side-lined, and even forsaken, in revenge or for their own gain.
Our School is open in all classes, with all their teachers on duty and giving of their best for God's Sake to the children who depend upon them for their future success.  They see and understand OUR problem as well, and have agreed to walk with us, at least for a time, to assist us in our effort to help and care for children.    Our School exists to do that.   Even our parents understand this.     Private Schools face many problems and hurdles in continuing to provide Education here in Kenya.   We may not always be understood or appreciated - especially by government schools and teachers, - but we are not without sympathy for their plight.
There is cost to standing 'apart' and in 'contrast' to what is happening in the world around us.    Schools, all around us are CLOSED until this Strike Action is resolved.     To-day the Courts are saying this particular action is 'Illegal' since the Teacher's Union did not 'declare' or give Notice of any Strike!      We shall see.     Pray for our children!    Pray for US.     The longer the 'strike' continues the longer students studying to take National Exams in Primary and Secondary levels will be affected and put at risk of performing under par.

We are proud of our School, 34 years old this year.   Proud of our more than 55 Teachers who have worked hard over the years to promote and support the School.     But these are not the only teachers to have worked with us here.    Additionally we have seen more two hundred come and go over the years - usually to seek a better paid position.   Our Thanks to all of them, and our good wishes too, that they might have prospered in leaving us,   .  

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This week has sped by so quickly.    Partly this was due to the School opening, and also we have had quite a few visits, all in the midst of trying to balance various School and Homes expenses well enough to still have enough to eat!    God wonderfully helped us yet again, and we continue to see the miracle of our daily bread, day after day.     BUT the weather has changed again, and after a spell of very fine weather the RAIN came back with a vengeance together with colder temperatures - Thursday and Friday it rained all night and all day!!      Our Meteorologists are predicting a very heavy El Nino Autumn with HEAVY and prolonged (unseasonable) RAIN  all the way to the end of December!      Well that is IF we are here in December - I mean we have to get beyond the end of THIS momentous month first - what with the incoming Meteor, the CERN Experiments, and the Coming of Jesus all predicted for the end of the month!!!      Amazingly, after all the hype, we are hearing less and less about ANY of these looming events.      We have barely noticed the passing days we are so busy, and I think this is the very wisest occupation for us all.    Jesus Himself said 'Keep busy till I come', and after all there is always so much to be done - we stand looking for an incoming meteor, or a an explosion you are unlikely to hear, or an event that will happen in the twinkling of an eye - even before you can blink.     Could wast a lot of time, when all we NEED to do is to be ready in our heart with Jesus.

Simeon Olumzee, one of our old boys, who has spent most of his life since leaving us in the Kenya Army is still in I.C.U. at a local hospital after removal of a blood clot from his brain.   He has not regained consciousness.    He is married with children.     Much prayer going up on his behalf, and we seek the Lord's Will for him, as the doctors have not held out much hope for recovery.      If he dies or lives it will still be a crushing burden financially since there is no appreciable social security that can help wipe out the tens of thousands of pounds his hospitalisation will have cost.

Wilson Lokitala, another of our old boys working in the Teaching Hospital here in Eldoret, and who was knocked down by a car, suffering multiple breaks in both legs, and a punctured lung, is now home.     He is still suffering a lot of pain, and has to yet commence physio therapy.   A  long haul back to normality for him, but he is trusting Jesus to do a perfect work for him.   He also married.

ALSO this week, in Testimony House, one of our teenagers, Charles          who has been suffering from severe malaise, with aches and pains for some time, was diagnosed as having a strain of T.B.   

This is apparently not the contagious kind, and he is being treated as an Out Patient.    In fact he is already feeling much better.     He is in College in the middle of his Course in Community Development, and very anxious not to miss out.   Please pray for him.

We are also visiting in hospital an old missionary friend of ours.    She has been admitted here in Eldoret for an operation.    Ann Lipson used to be with CMS, and now works and lives with a Kenyan work of Faith not far from Mount Elgon in an area know as Kimililli.    She is 76 and Esther and I have known her for more than forty years now, a precious sister in Jesus.     She has recovered well from the op, and hopefully will be able to return to Kimililli within a week or so.      OTHERWISE WE ARE ALL WELL.
Last night, in the late afternoon really, and in the midst of a torrential rain storm, we were visited by another of our Old Boys, who has business in Eldoret and Nairobi - Elijah Aura.     It was really SO good to see him, and we were able to have very good fellowship.     It does our heart a lot of good to see members of our old family from Testimony growing up successfully.
Mr. Muli from Testimony House has gone off to Embu to take part in a Family Meeting with Edwin Ngubu's fiance's family - they will soon be married here in Eldoret.
And so live continues.     Thank you for partnering with us, and for encouraging us.   We DO often need the encouragement as there are often human disappointments as well as joys to deal with along the way.    We thank the Lord whose Blood we share, always for each one of you.

Lovingly in Him, His Mercy and His Grace

John, Esther and Daryl Green    

STAYING DOWN TO EARTH..BUT CLOSE TO GOD.

AUGUST 1969 I was living in THIS small cottage 20'x40' made of mud and wattle with a tin roof. when the first two boys (Wilson and his 8 year old brother Zacaria) came to live with me.   When we moved, to a larger house of brick, six months later we had 25 boys in the family,
We still had about the same number in January 1973 when we moved to Eldoret, into yet another, larger still, house, also made of mud and wattle. From mud to mud we have gone.   I shall find myself singing ' MUD GLORIOUS MUD...' in a minute!!   This time the exterior had been given a light plaster so that the walls looked smoother and more substantial,    They were two feet thick walls,    They had stood quietly and strongly since they were put up circa 1910.     Esther and I had moved into this house early January, with 28 boys, mostly between 11 and 15 years old.   We had been in England together for nine months visiting family and friends of mine.    Our first born, Steven Iguru was born there in Truro Hospital in Cornwall, south west England.     Our second son Michael Waweru, and daughter Elisabeth Mugure were born into this pillared palace of mud.    It was to be our extended family home for 28 years, as we brought up our own three children plus 115 more that became part of that first family over the years.      To day Testimony House, as it came to be known, has new Houseparents and a family of 40 odd still living as a family together.
The house stood alone in five acres of land, on a continuing slope of hillside.  On three sides open countryside was untouched, and full of wild life, snakes in abundance, monkeys, gazelle, and wild cats,  but fortunately no lions or leopards.    It had stood empty as a house for THREE years, cared for by an elderly Watchman, who had brought his chickens and goats inside with him at night to keep them safe.   The main sitting room was 900 square feet with an enormous fireplace, and timber floor.
For some reason the Watchman did not think to light a fire in the fireplace, but instead had a charcoal jiko burning in the middle of the room resting directly upon the timber floor - God must surely have been watching over THAT!  
WE arrived from England with less than a hundred pounds in hand to face turning a very dirty and totally unfurnished, and derelict eight bed roomed house, without electricity, water, or sewerage into a habitable home for 30!!!    We had bought 14 steel bunk beds, and 28 cow hide chairs with us for Eldoret where all this had begun.   Nothing else except our Faith in our Father In Heaven to provide.   And He did, and has continued to do so.  WE have never advertised any NEED, but only shared them with God in prayer;  We have never appealed for funds, food or anything else.   Yet 'out of the blue' funds would come our way - oh, not in huge amounts, small on the most part.     Food would be brought at times to the door, as the day the Sikh Community arrived at mid-day with enough cooked and other foodstuff to last us a whole day, and at a time when we actually had NO food in the House, and NO funds to purchase any.    Every day was a new experience, and each experience taught us what it meant to actually WAIT ON GOD for our life to be secured.      And at times we DID WAIT for an uncomfortable time before our prayers were answered.     We discovered we were not just trying to serve HIM by letting Him demonstrate His love and care for others through our labours.      He was also helping us to learn to be what He had made us for; to trust Him and to be faithful to HIM  no matter what the circumstances of our life might be in real time.........   NOT an easy road at times, but in the end fulfilling and satisfying, though of course there were days and moments when humanly we got a little impatient and a little anxious concerning  whether or not God has actually HEARD our cry.!    Hmmmm!    Well we have to say that He always had heard, and He always did Answer us, but He may not be taken for granted, and is determined, I believe, that we should not do so.       After all He did not create us to use Him for our selves, selfishly, but rather to SERVE and OBEY His demands that we might become like Him, and able to achieve His Purpose.

THE YEARS HAVE ROLLED BY;   in only four more years, we shall have reached our 50th year since we commenced this Work.      A Work not merely of rescuing and caring for abandoned and orphaned children, but of revealing the Reality and Faithful Reliability of God who can interact with any one of us in our daily lives.      We have FOUR, not one Home now.     We care for 140 - 150 children instead of only 28 at any time.     We have a School too; a School providing free places for ALL our children in the Homes, and also some 20 others in the locality.    Additionally more than 600 other children from the neighbourhood attend the School on a Fee paying basis.    Thousands of children have come and gone as students in the School since we began in 1981.      The Word of God has gone with them transforming many of their lives, and the lives of own homes and families as well.    A wonderful and blessed tool of evangelism.          In regard to the Homes not so many have come and gone.    We take children generally in between 0 and 10 years, and they stay between 20 and 25 years, leaving only when they are able to find employment and stand on their own feet.   It makes for a SLOW 'turnover'.      Since we began, including the 140 still in residence with us, we have seen only 400 come and go.     But we feel it has been for the best to build small family homes rather than huge institutional boarding hostels.      True we may have been able to reach more, but this way we have help to give each one a sense of 'Family' and Homeliness.        Again not easy for the 'Pareents' to be close to all of the 30 - 40 in the Family, but provided for loving and personal contact and interest.     We feel it has worked very well, and this is evidence by the numbers that continue to come back to visit and remain in touch.        Life in the Homes is not a rich life.    We do not have a lot of anything, but we do enjoy what we have, and we believe that the Children are VERY Happy.

Four of of our seniors about to launch out into the deep.   They finished School and now have to look for digs, and be independent.    They all began in a small way and grew up.   We are grateful to the Lord for helping them and us stay the course.      SOME leave having never really identified with Testimony as home or family; they just want to get out and do their 'thing' their way.    We can be relieved to see them go at times, but our heart is heavy, for we know they will encounter hardships and disappointment.
These four SMILERS are still very much in touch with us all, and are happy to be out on their own and established, but they still MISS home here, and stay close and in contact with family left behind in the Homes, and with 'parents' there grew to be happy with and glad for.      Family Life - like any other family really - just BIGGER, and we want you to know you are part of that family for ever.

GOD bless you.   Yes you are right I did not have much to say this week that was new, but I always enjoy looking back and remembering the Blessings of our growth here together.    It has been a very real Adventure.       Daryl is finding that it CONTINUES as well.     A great LEARNING opportunity.   It is the end of the month, and September is beginning.     God be with you day by day, and keep you READY for whenever He might appear.

Loving from us all - John, Esther, and Daryl.

AT SCHOOL HE WAS CALLED 'THE MONSTER'

                                 THIS IS A 1977 PHOTO OF PART OF THE TESTIMONY FAMILY.

Back Row - Paul Ngugi, Charles Green, Isaiah Sambuli, Samuel Macho, Mwangi Macharia, Michael Rufroni, Hendrik Ajwong, Hellen Chepkoris  

 Middle Row - Timothu Njugunah, Joseph Kipwabok, Anthony Kipkoech,   Christopher Kiptizia, Steven Green.   

Back Row - Michael Green and Nicholas Mwangi, deputy director at the time

On the top row Left you can see an eight year old boy standing.  His name is Paul Ngugu.  (also seen left when he was 15 in his wheel chair).   Paul came to stay with us in July 1974; he was three and a half years old.   On the face of it he was an abandoned baby who had poor sight due to neglected measles;   Someone had also tried to strangle him to death. Having accepted him into our Testimony House Family we discovered Paul had a terminal disease known as Hurler's Syndrome; a disease that would progressively, if he lived, render him paralysed, deaf, disfigured and eventually, mentally, a  vegetable. He would also lose his sight completely.    Life expectancy was up to the age of 10,  over recorded incidents of one in every ten thousand.    Paul lived with us in Testimony House until October 201l, when he died - he was then 40 years old.   When he first arrived he was unable to walk or do anything for himself, but by the time he was ten he was walking, and he could still see colour and shapes, but we then began to see a serious depreciation. He had an eye operation, but it was unsuccessful, and went on to attend two Blind Schools, but had to discontinue because his sickness attacked his skin and muscles so that his appearance rendered him a laughing stock.    He then stayed at home and worked with Braille.    He was very intelligent, well informed in general knowledge, and speaking three languages fluently.

Paul at 40 - kept his hair long as he used
to feel cold around his neck

From then on Paul's physical life was a battle for him and for us.    BUT he never complained, and was very sure that God Loved him in and through Jesus, and that whatever happened to him it was for some special good.    He never wavered from that belief.    And, indeed, Paul WAS to be a blessing all his life, first to those he grew up, and lived, with, and then to all those who came to know him.        He was often in pain, and suffered the frustration of being totally dependant on others, but few people knew this.    He was always the one to pray for others, to comfort, council, and generally encourage those who needed it.       WE could have turned him away on the excuse we really did not have enough staff to care for him, and could not be sure if we would financially afford to support him.    But we did not turn away - we welcomed him into the family, and into the home that would be his till he passed on to a better place.    And the 'Family' rallied around him, loving him, caring for and affectionately being his eyes and ears, as well as his legs.         His funeral turned out to be the BIGGEST gathering of Old Boys and Girls, Family and friends we have ever had.    ((The FULL STORY of Paul Ngugi was printed in the Blog of 22nd October 2011 - just in case you might want to see more))

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The Month of August has been good for all of us. Oh, yes, it has been a rainy month, and the children all home from School has made it quite a noisy month.    Thank God we have all been fed, and in the shelter of each Home, have been loved and cared for.    For Esther and me this is our 44th year together - all of it lived in a very topsy-turvy Extended Family of very different children and young people.   And don't be deceived - Esther is into her 71 this year as well, even if she does look a good decade younger than me in this roguish photo.     Both of still in love, and very glad for all the years that have past, and for the present that finds still in reach of so many of our BIG Family.    God has been SO good, so Faithful, in the midst of every day, even the very darkest of them.   He has been and REMAINS our strength, our Happiness, and our Eternal Hope in and through His Son - Jesus.

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School will open in about a week, so the kids still have some freedom left.   They seem to have really enjoyed the Holiday, and our cows also seem to have continued to settle into their new surroundings and are providing us with plenty of milk.    Looking forward in September to seeing our friends Ian and Diana Hogley, and also Stuart and  Brown who will be coming with them - an opportunity for the latter to see the NEW Jacaranda, although they will actually be sleeping with Joshua and Miriam Mbithi in Neema Children's Homes just a few kilometres up the road.    Always nice to see visitors about to arrive.

Our Love to you all in Jesus Name  -  John Esther, and Daryl Green

LETTING GOD LOVE THROUGH YOU.

THIS PHOTO WAS TAKEN AT A SPECIAL THANKSGIVING SERVICE within the compound of the Anglican Church of Kenya's Diocesan Headquarters for Eldoret and area.   I was there at the invitation of the Founder of a Special Clinic for Physically and Mentally Handicapped Children.   Cannon Percia Hutcherson (seated right centre in the photo) a retired physio-therapist, had come to Eldoret in her retirement to offer the Diocese assistance in helping children within the Diocese that might be challenged physically and even mentally.    She must have almost 80 by then, and remained in Eldoret to fund and build a Special Clinic within the Diocesan Office grounds, to be known as The North Rift Rehabilitation Centre.    She was responsible for giving hope and new life to many hundreds of young people AND their despairing parents.   The Bishop The Rt. Rev. Thomas Kogo also attended the meeting (seated on the left), and I shared in part as follows:-

'I FEEL GLAD to be here today

and to see the SUBSTANCE of things hoped for; the EVIDENCE of things not seen!

And to see the outworking, in part, of a VISION that is still ongoing.

GLAD to see the Love and Value God Himself has set, those who are so often neglected,

hidden away and despised.     Those who through no fault of their own

suffer some physical or mental disability.    Those often made to feel OUTCASTS from their own family as well as the rest of society.

There are so many people in our world, both young and old who are often shut away from the community, even from their own families, because others feel ashamed of them; ashamed of their disability.    They live a life of seeming hopelessness, even loneliness and isolation.

IT IS A MIRACLE TO ME

that God should have given a woman in her elder years such a heart, and such a Vision, with Faith to see it come to pass.

PERCIA HUTCHERSON

is an inspiration in herself, and she has inspired many others to catch the vision, and work with her, with God's help, to bring her Vision into being.     We see the First Part of it today, and in SEEING it, we have no doubt the rest will follow on.    What God begins He also finishes!

We need people like her!   We need Clinics like this one.   A Centre where we can bring our outcasts back into the community and the family, with hope;  a Place of Healing for body, soul, and spirit.

I have mentioned the work 'outcasts'     Isaiah 16v 4 in the BIBLE mentioned them too.   I hope I may be forgiven if I take the words a little out of context, and apply them to those with various human disabilities.

GOD SAYS

'LET MY OUTCASTS DWELL WITH YOU

Be a Shelter to them.

I like these words.  I like the CHALLENGE of them, and the implication behind them.

They suggest the very opposite to shutting them up, concealing them, leaving them exposed to ridicule and neglect.     It fits SO WELL with something that King David did as recorded in

2. Samuel 9

IT IS WRITTEN there that King David took Mephibosheth, the crippled teenage son of Johnathon into his own house, after Johnathon died.    It is written that Mephibosheth referred to himself in front of David, as a 'dead dog.'

That is how he probably had been made to think of himself - a helpless, good for nothing cripple.   But David had him to live with him in his own house, and to eat with him daily at his table.

THE KING took him in.

The King sat him down at his own table.

The King let him put his FEET under the table with his own - even though he was a cripple.

I LIKE THAT!     That is what JESUS would - and does - do.   He want US to do likewise.

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THIS PHOTO, taken in 1976, is of myself, and a 12 year old boy who was both Spastic and Epileptic and who became part of our family until he was in his twenties.    We had not had a disabled child before.   His name was HOSEA MWENDO.   He was an 'outcast'.
Esther and I, together with one of our older boys (Peter-John Odeyo), were travelling back to Eldoret from Western Kenya.  We had stopped not far from Maseno, at Luanda Market, to take more fuel into the car.     It had begun to drizzle, and people were packing up their stalls, and slowly dispersing from the Market area together with those who had come to buy.      Suddenly we noticed an ungainly half naked boy stagger into the road in front of us.    One eye seemed to have been damaged, and was bleeding, and one arm, was bent across his chest rigidly.     He had seen us from across the road, and made a bee line for us, drunkenly.    We watched him in some horror, for he looked SO forlorn, and neglected.    On reaching us his left arm shot out toward us with a hand spread out like the talon of some bird of prey, and he croaked, hoarsely ' Pesa!!'  or 'Money!' as it would be in English...   Esther tried to ask him questions but either would not or could not answer her.    Peter got out of the car and accosting a few passers by tried to find out if he was known,    He was told the boy had been in his condition since he was born; he has Fits as well! He had been cast our of his home by his widowed mother,  and ever since wandered aimlessly begging, often spending the night under a lorry with the dogs.    No one had ever heard him speak more than the pitiful 'Pesa'.
The Petrol was in the car, and I had paid the pump lady.       "Well it would be nice to help him", but really we are not equipped to help someone with his kind of disabilities.   And we drove off, down the Maseno Road to Kisumu.    The sky was black with rain clouds, and the flash of lightening and rumblings of thunder seemed to turn the prospect both in front and behind seem very foreboding.
As we drove onwards towards Testimony in the now heavy downpour of rain, Peter quietly asked from behind be as I drove 'What would Jesus have done?'    I said nothing.   I felt very unhappy.

THE next morning I said to Esther, "I have to go back to look for that youngster"     Peter John said "And I am going with you."      And so the two of us got into the car again and drove back to Luanda, some 150 kilometres away    We arrived mid morning, and with the Market all of a bustle around us, we searched for the boy.     Eventually we found him stretched out under a lorry, dogs licking his wounds.     We got a blanket from the car and Peter-John crawled under the lorry, wrapped the boy, still unconscious, with the blanket and carried him to the car.      People actually backed away from him as if he was some kind evil spirit himself.      With the help of a police man we managed to locate the boy's mother, but she wanted nothing to do with him, and told us to take him away.     So we did.   He suffered FIVE fits on the way back to Eldoret.     During that night he had seven more!   Peter John had him to sleep in his room, and each time Hosea was seized with shaking, and screaming, we all gathered around his bed and prayed in the Name of Jesus that the Fit would cease - and it did immediately do so.     Every day the fits became less, until they ceased after the second week.   They never returned, and he never had to take any drug  to protect him.
In the 3rd week we too him to a Dr. 80 kilometres away, in Kitale.  Hosea was still not talking, and he still was unable to use his right arm.     The Dr. prescribed exercise only for the arm, and a single little pill once a day for a week for his muteness.    He said that he had got used to not to speaking over the 11 or 12 years of his life.   He believed the pill would put him at liberty to begin to do so, until we might feel he was speaking too much.     He was right!    In a week Hosea began to talk - not fluently, but a little hesitantly as he remembered words and how to put them together.    It was slow, but in the end Hosea responded to loving security and company.     He did not attend school but he learnt how to count and account for his money after he grew to have a job as a labourer.    He regained the use of his arm.    He talked all the time! He finally went back to Luanda where he built himself his own house from wood and wattle.     And everywhere he went and to whoever he met he told the story of how God met him and pulled him out of the dirt and hopelessness of his life as a young boy, and went on to put him right, physically and mentally, till he could earn his own living, and fend for himself.   "It was all because of God's Love" he was fond of saying.

WE were all very much spoken to by this incident.     We had turned away like the Pharisee because Hosea looked just to difficult to help, too dirty, too sick, too unattractive in every way.   We left him - but the Love of God turned us back again, and God showed the way to persevere and see the Answer to all of Hosea's challenge and problem.          It was not the last time.    But out of hundreds who have come to live with us in our home we did not find more than three physically challenged children come to our door.      BUT the door IS OPEN now to the whosoever.    Open to AIDS sufferers as well.      

Do you think you could also open your door - the door to your heart first and then the door to all you have?     There ARE so many with nothing and no one.     Think about it.

Our loving regard to each and every one you who know and pray for us.

John Esther and Daryl Green

HOME AND FAMILY MATTERS

I REALLY LIKE THIS PHOTO!  If you enlarge it you will see a LOT of people indeed.
In actual fact I published it before, just recently toward the end of 2014.   It is a photo taken at Esther's 70th Birthday!    WHY do I enjoy looking at it?  BECAUSE it's one of the few with so many of our family members crowded into it.   They are not ALL there by any means, but just seeing these enlarges our hearts. Memories begin to flood in, and suddenly who ever came to live in our Home, and even the others, somehow become ONE with us.    So proud of them all, even the ones who may not have done so well at school...... each one was special, and each had special talent and character that we could enjoy and be happy for. They may not always have been 'angles' - some acted like the devil at times - but each was able to be appreciated and loved.  
Just this last week-end Thomas Kioko and his wife and two little daughters suddenly arrived, to delight and surprise us, and our hearts jumped for joy.    It IS always just so good to see one that grew up here, and especially those who grew up in our own Testimony House, no matter how they may have left us - and some did leave joyfully, leaving us low in spirit, and in heart.     Never mind, it is such a reward when they 'come back'!!!  - if only briefly - to let us know they are alive and well.    Faces, voices, and memories from the past suddenly with us again, reviving our faith and our confidence.
Yes each one is precious to us still.      And so much has changed since many of them were here.   The place where they slept, and the chair they relaxed upon may still be in the same place, and the walls may still be adorned with the same photos and wall hangings......but!    Buildings have been torn down and new ones built - the School is always changing its look and fabric.    Even the Homes with Jacaranda now forsaken as a family house, and a NEW one built opposite with NEW parents...NO !! Things are not always the same - except Esther and me, for the time being, who are still here, and able to sit and remember the past, and also to BE remembered.      A privilege for us, Truly - AND a reason for not wanting to LEAVE.

Recently Esther and I were asked to consider retiring a little further - to the U.K. in fact.      Well it would be good to be closer to Steve, Mike and Lizzy with their families; we have missed, and do miss them a lot, and it would especially be so enjoyable to see our grandchildren growing up; we are almost strangers to them.
BUT the truth is we have made Testimony to be our home, and we are parents and grandparents to all that have come and gone.   We are not lonely; we are, even here, surrounded by 'Family' even here Our Father in Heaven provided this house to be ours for the rest of our life if needed.    And it has space for visitors including our overseas family when they are able to come.      We would miss a whole heap of people, and I think we also might BE missed by those calling in to remember the days we all lived together here.      AND the climate here is better!        SO we seem to be persuaded of just being where we are till He comes or Calls, to all those who know Him, to COME TOGETHER to be with HIM.    As I am always saying - 'It could be quite soon.'

TO, DAY, Saturday the 9th August, one of our Girls, Purity Abwona, who came to stay in Testimony House with her two brothers and two sisters, is coming home to Testimony House.     Her Fiancee is also visiting with his parents.   They want to Marry in December, and according to culture the Man has to visit the parents of the girl with his parents so that they know each other.   Quite an occasion.    Purity came to us when she was a very little girl.  Now she is about 28 and working as a Nursery School Teacher with a Diploma in Early Childhood Development.
When Purity came first we were Parents in Testimony House.  The year was 1993.   Then in 1998 we left the house and Daryl and his wife Carol became houseparents there; they became Purity's parents. THEN in 2006 Daryl and Carol moved out to attend to other matters within the Ministry here, and a NEW set of parents moved in - Hesketh and Alice Muli, who are still with us    SO, Purity has three sets of parents!!   She is really looking forward to showing us all off!  Her fiancee  is an I.T Technician working in Eldoret.   She was a sweet child, and a very lovable young lady for whom I have a very soft spot.

SO life goes on for us - even whilst we might be in the Wilderness and Straightened, yet does He watch over and KEEP us, and give us JOYS along the way.     We can only Give Thanks.

God Bless you all and make you precious to one another in each of your family circles.

Lovingly in Jesus

John, Esther and Daryl