OPEN OUR EYES - THAT WE MIGHT SEE!

,

OUR EMPTY SCHOOL.......and it looks very much as if it may stay empty until the NEW YEAR!!
We had hoped that the Education Ministry might decide to open in September.    They are in fact still deliberating - but, the now inevitable 'LEAK' from every confidential Meeting, is saying that the majority of parents want their childen left at home until Covid 19 is no longer existant in Kenya.  Many Government Ministers feel the same, and so...........!?     Well we have to still wait and see what the 'Official' Decision will turn out to be.       Of course the longer they wait to grant us all permission to re-open, the greater the problem will be for us all.      AND even worse for all those who have worked in our Private Schools, and whose salary depends on income from parents sending their children to learn with us.     NONE of us will be able to pay, and thus our teachers and support staff will go UNPAID.     How will they survive.     Nobody quite knows.     Again we look to Heaven and our Heavenly Father  (at least some of us will).

The Government has been concerned in recent days because of what they see as rising numbers of Positive C.19 cases being presented.    As of yesterday 19th June Kenya's figures were as below:-

==================================================

Cases Tested - 133,541  /   Positive Cases - 4374  /   Recoveries - 1550  /  Deaths 119

     

================================================== 

NEW cases - as on 19/6/20 -  117
These cases are now springing up all over the Republic, but WE are still not too pressed, and we have heard of only one fatality in our County.      Our Quarantine is stilll holding, but next week it hoped to bring back some of general staff who had been laid off.    The Cufew still in place, but some business slowly being set free from the severest restrictions.

=================================

THIS IS A RECENT PHOTO
of various mansions that are in process of being built very close to our School Field.
They are beautiful, but somehow I cannot imagine building them so that every football will drop into my front garden.    Even the prospect of looking out at a six foot wall, and the back end of our school would not really appeal to me.      Be that as it may, there they are there, and we were here right before they even bought the land to build on, so they must had wanted to be CLOSE.   You can just make out the Soccar goal post - just to the left of center, in front of the wall.     Hmm!

THIS is a water colour painting,
executed by J.E. Jones, dec, who painted it in the 1950s
He was quite well known, and it was the sale of some of his paintings which he left to us on his death, that allowed me and Esther to help send Steven to University.
He actually left the canvases to his sister in law, my foster mother, but she having died, 
they came to me as her only surviving relative.
At the time we ourselves had not a penny, and it is sure Steven would not have taken his place
in the University if my adoptive uncle had not stepped in, unkowingly, to provide.
Wonderfull are the Ways of God.

oo0oo

Well this will probably be all for this week.       We all remain well, and occupied.   After all that is what He wants from us - to be busy about his business;  gathering others into His Kingdom.   At 50 I had begun to think life was running out on me......but here I am still, thirty years later.......   I wrote in 2003 -  ' Our Lord and King has told us to OCCUPY ourselves until He comes.    He has not suggested ANY should retire, or give up on life - NO!     Jesus expects each one of us to keep busy for HIM, and  for the Kingdom of Heaven.    We should not even be thinking of Death or dying!  That is to give in to the Enemy, who longs to see us shot down in flames into some morbid pond of despondancy and despair, never again to find the courage or faith to continue  the fight.

Are you over forty?  Perhaps youhave actually reached fifty and over.  Tou may be a brother or sister in Christ.   Are you feeling a little dispirited;  a little physically dilapidated, and useless to God?  Are you on the verge of making excuses for not pressing on against that Enemy, and from taking up new challenges, and becoming involved in new ministry?    Come on now RISE UP, and GET GOING.  You are not dead yet!   Let God's Spirit  till He COMES!     Take a new look at Life -HIS LIFE - in you, and realise that you can still have a part to play in it;  still make a difference.   Get some Optimism!    Get some Faith!    Don't end your life like JONAH, all shriveled and shrunken in your own spirit.     I always think of Jonah as a man in his fifties;    God was forever saying to him, ARISE!

GET UP and GO!'

Shrink not, Christian!

Willl you  yield, will you quit the painful field?

Will you flee in danger's hour?

Know you not your Captain's POWER?

Let your drooping hearts be GLAD

March in heavenly armour clad.

LET NOT your fears  your course impede,

Great is your strength, if great your need.

Anon.

Our Greeting to you ALL, and may you  all be establised without fear or anxiety because you have Called upon  God in Jesus Name to be your Saviur, your Staff, your Refuge at ever corner.

Lovingly in Him.

John Esther and Daryl Green

SURVIVING UNDER PRESSURE CALMLY

OF COURSE YOU HAVE SEEN THIS BEFORE!

Just a very rough sketch of Testimony Faith Homes and School.   I am sorry the KEY and the actual identification of buildings has come out rather too small to see comfortably, BUT  I hope you will find a way to magnify it.   I also regret that on the right hand - in the Jacaranda Cottage compoud -  the new Jeacaranda Cottage is not 'drawn in'  - it should appear center far right of the compound between Drakeley and Tyndale Cottages.

All that is within the boundaries of the sketch have been Quarantined since 16th March.  Interestingly no 'official' enquirey or visit to us has been made to discover if we are well and healthy.

Since we have children in residence on both sides of the road, we have been given permission to come and go as we please but not to adventure anywhere else, and without allowing any visitors to enter the Gates of either residential compound.

We do not have to wear masks UNLESS we have to go to town on necessary business.

We all live in Elgonview Road, ELDORET, in Uasin Gishu County in KENYA, East Africa.   Eldoret is approximately 100 kilometers from BUSIA on the Uganda Border, and some 360 kilometers from Nairobi.

As you can see, although with a good coastal strip, Kenya borders with many other Nations, all trading with us.     Thus most of the challenge is from those coming in who may turn out Positive with C.19

CURRENTLY the whole Country is under daily Curfew as from 9p,m. to 7a.m. for the next month.

Technically we all remain under Lock Down but some hotels and business are beginning to be allowed to re-open but with the usual 'spacing' demands.

LAST WEEK I shared about our School still being closed down with all others.    A few days later the President announced that it was planned to let School generally re-open as from 1st September - but GRADUALLY.     He did not define more than that, and we are still in the dark, to a large extent, as to HOW school will find themselves opening.     BUT of course they will all need to observe spacing, and all children will probably also have to wear masks.

As of yesterday evening _12th June - the statistical situation is as follows:-

=======================================================================

Total Confirmed Cases to date     Total Recovered      Total Deceased      Total under Treament

since 12th April  -  3,305                        1,164                          96                            2,045
====================================================================== 
ON THE 12 June 2,419 were tested, of which 90 proved Positive     -   34 from Mombasa,  36 from Nairobi, 12 from Bungoma, 3 from Uasin Gishu, and 1 from Kilifi, Garissa, Kisumu, Meru, and Turkans.

I hope that the MAP above might assist in helping you to get an idea of the way C19 is affecting the Country as a whole, and I will also now give a County by County tally of Cases that have proved positive up to date.
=======================================================================
NAIROBI  1,188   /  MOMBASA   929  /  BUSIA   217 /  Kajiando 96 / Kiamabu 72 / Uasin Gishu 54 / Kwale 34 / Migore 24 / Kilifi 23 / Mandera 18 / Taita Tavita 17 / Wajir 16, Garissa 13 /  Nakuru, and Kisumu 12 / Kitui and Siaya 10 / Nyere 9 / Turkana 8 / Homa Bay 4 / Machakos and Muranga 3 / Isiolo, Bungoma, Laikipia, Meru, Kisii, Makueni and Nyandarua 2 / and finally  Kericho, Bomet, Nyamira, Kirinyaga, Embu, Kakamega, Vihiga, Marsabit, Elgey Marakwet, and Trans Njoia  1 each.   
=======================================================================

THREE months have gone by since our first case.   The Government feels we may still have a worse scenario to come, although so far it seems we have not done too badly.     Of course, as elsewhere, round the globe, there are many who want to be set free from all lockdown, and it is yet to be seen how well this Virus will in act be contained, at least, in all Kenya.      WE, in Testimony Faith Homes, in ELDORET, are still virturally untested, and apparently untouched by C19.   The hardest hit areas are still at a distance from us BUT Cases are still being discovered all over, and there is little doubt that more people are being infected that we are actually not aware of .      OF COURSE, this is usually the case with ANY kind of infection, viral or otherwise.      Keep your feet on the ground, and whilst taking notice of all the Medical and Media advice and comment, KEEP CALM, Leave your anxieties at the CROSS of Christ, and TRUST in HIM to bring your through, so that you can live an even longer and better life for HIM.

=============

President Uhuru Kenyatta, soon after last week's Blog, spoke on Television to the Nation, warning us that although progress was being made we still could not take chances, and be tempted to move too quickly in trying to return to life as it was.    It was then that he announced a continuation of the Natinal Curfew.
Our own special interest, was in what he said regarding Education, and the future for our Schools, and of course our School  in partuclar.
He said only one definate thing, and that was the date School would open - hopefully - and in doing this, he also added that they would open 'gradually'.  He did not go into details of what he meant by this, but said that a Special Committe was looking into it, and hoped to let every one know by the middle of August.       School would OPEN gradually (maybe class by class ....) on 1st September
Teatimony School is also a Member of the Kenya  Private Schools Association, and Anthony Ngungu attened a Meeting to discuss these revelatios, just this week.       There was a lot of positive feeling, and we at least see a good posibility of being able to continue, ourselves   -   BUT there will be much to do befor September !       Already Government has agreed to bring forward their discussions intended for August.   It was felt more time would be needed by ALL schools to get ready and C19 prepared.        Government Requirements to meet C.19 specifications will now be delivered before the end of JUNE.      Much better.   But it will still be very demanding.
Daryl, Anthony Ndungu and I have walked round the School together since then to get an idea of what faces us.       We have discovered that we will not have space (after meeting the 1`meter spacing requirement) to have desk space for more than HALF of our previous population.     However we feel  that few, if any, of our parents will want to take their kids to another School - if they can find one~!      SO we are working on a plan to divide into two seperate groups that will come at different times daily - for Example Group A will attend mornings and Group B afternoons.   It will need a lot of planning but it is feasible.      A lot MORE is needed, and we are going to recall some key staff to assist Anthony Ndungu to help get everything sorted out.     This  VIRUS!      Wouldn't it be something if, in the end, it is discovered to be little more than any other, and if left to itself would have just become another 'bug' to contend with - if we got it.     No I am not trying to be flippant or calous, and I am conscious of the thousands that have died.     BUT, thousands die every day and many from colds and influenzas thatm meeting other infections being faught, will cause those deaths  We are not even told how many usually die in an average day - apart from C.19 - we have just blindly lived with it.     The Population has continued to expand.

Testimony High School under construction 2013

I must conclude for this week.    We continue to job along day by day, and like the Widow of Zarapheth we neve come to the end of the oil or the maix barral - as we take the last scoop, more comes in - as with this week - We had needed to puchase necessities that come to an end.    Before we could even consider what we would do, a gift of Fifty Dollars arrived out of the blue from a dear brother and friend we had not set eyes on for many years.      Our Father in Heaven surely never ceases to look out for us in our store, as well in every other matter of our lives.   Keep close to HIM, and do not waver or doubt that HE knows your need before you even ask, and will not ingnore it.  BUT and if you do waver in believing, and miss-trust His Faithfulness, THEN you might receive nothing - not even protection.      HE is SO jealous of our love, and trust.............

Ours Love to you all, with thankful hearts always..

John Esther and Daryl Green

TESTIMONY SCHOOL, our beautiful School is in danger of closing.   TODAY we expect the President to announced possible dates when schools, generally, will be able to re-open, and the changes that will need to be made to ensure continued protection to the students and teachers from Covid 19. 
We do not forsee this to be a smooth and easy practicallity!
For example the School has 24 classsrooms with a total population of 860.   IF we were to re-open with the same students that were
with us before the Lock down, we would have to find as much classroom space again in order to cater for 'Spacing', for example in every classroom.    This would not be possible for us.     
Then again, if we had to REDUCE our intake, our INCOME would not be able to support the salary of the necessary teaching staff.
Then there is the factor of whether or not we would even find parents willing to return their children to school, when Covid 19 is still with us, and increasing.
ALSO, as I have shared before, having had to release our teachers, being unable to pay them, we may still have difficulty in replacing them without a sure ability to discover the necesssary incoming FEES.    So we need parents to comitt themselves FIRST...... 
WE WAIT to see what will be suggested today.   BUT for us, whatever the word might be, it will still present us with considerable problems.     Considerable financial risk, and a need to secure what we have without loss.
AGAIN, if our School remains shut, then our children will have to remain out of school, OR we shall have to find places in other schools that may be open around us - at a cost we have so far been able to avoid.
However we look at it, we are confronted with a challenge greater than any in the past.
WE, from the point of view of our human reasoning mind, are looking at an impossible situation - BUT WITH GOD, NOTHING IS IMPOSSIBLE!
YES - and so we hang on;  we STAND, wide eyed and expectant, yet conscious that we still need to enlarge our faith.....AND that, I believe, is what our Father in Heaven is all the while endeavouring to do - grow our faith in us.

ABOVE IS Testimony House, our flagship family home, and a viewe of the whole Family, all locked together, waiting on God, and safe in His Loving Hands.

Beginning in 1969, fifty years ago, with just two boys, and a promise from God that He would take care of us, we have grown to see more than  350 come and go, and a standing total current family of 120, all enwrapped in His everelasting arms.      God asked me to depend only on Him and no other.  This has meant we have done our best not to share our needs, specifically, with any man.   We have not always had a smooth ride in doing this  (neither did Elijah) .   But this is what we felt he wanted from me, and from all of us together,      He has never failed us.    He has increased us, and increased our initial little faith - step by step..       We are now in the process of making another step.   Are we alone in this?  NO!   Father still has hold of our hand.    HE is with us.      BUT, dear brothers and sisters out there, we do feel weak at times like these, and perhaps weaker than usual now, when all the world seems to be in a 'twist' all around us.     Indeed I think we ARE, all of us caught up in a veritable 'WHIRLWIND' of unnerving events.     YET GOD IS STILL WITH US.     We all need to remember to pray - not merely for oursleves either, but for one another, for WE ALL, who believe, ARE one Family in Jesus.

AT TIMES, we have felt we are being prepared for an ending;  an ending, or wrapping up, of this ministry.     After all, what he set before me in 1969 has been accomplished - we have seen four family homes for homeless children and young people come into being, AND a School to prepare them for the world outside.      It MAY have been something transitory to meet a special need for a time.      There has been opposition often, and the world has changed for us.    BUT on the other hand this may just be a time of transition, rather than a complete end in itself.     We must not lean  to our own understanding in any thing, but at the same time we have to take care that, whilst we are here on Earth, we keep our feet on the ground as well.

TODAY

is a cloudy day.   Rain is forcast for the week ahead of us.

Within our compound, in our family,

there is peace and joy in each other.

OUTSIDE

the world waits crazily, impatiently, even rebelliously.

for tomorrow.

And it waits ready to be swomped by human unreasonableness

in every kind of impassioned, lawlessness.

WE THANK GOD HERE FOR OUR LITTLE ISLAND OF QUIETNESS.

Standing with Jesus, our Rock of Security and Confidence

we may be sure that we are not IN this Whirlwind, and not of it.

WE ARE SECURE.

God Bless you ALL, as we continue to pass through the world on our journey Home.  Remember THIS is not our home, we are sojourners, pilgrims on our way further, not residents seeking residence finally were we now find ourselves.     Day by day the scene is changing, and being left behind, as we draw nearer and nearer to HOME......H O  M E at last! ever to Rejoice!      

From us all 

John, Esther, and Daryl Green, and ALL of us here in Testimony Faith Homes. 

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

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

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

or the lives that will have been affected.

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

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

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

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

Our Teachers - Nursery, Primary & Secondary as at 2019

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

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

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

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

===================== 

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

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

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

John, Esther and Daryl Green

   

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

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

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

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

========================== 

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

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

With all our love in Jesus

John, Esther, and Daryl Green

My 80th Birthday Party

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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COVID 19 latest comment.

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Lovingly in Jesus NAme

John, Esther and Daryl Green

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

All ye who hear,

Brothers and sisters draw near, 

praise Him with glad adoration

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

Surely His goodness and mercy here daily attend thee;

Ponder anew,

What the Almighty can do,

If with His love he befriend thee

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

Who, when the elements madly around thee are raging,

Biddeth them cease, 

Turneth their fury to peace,

Whirlwinds and waters assuaging

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

Who, when the godless do triumph all virtue confounding,

Sheddeth His light,

Chaseth the horrors of night,

Saints with His mercy surrounding.

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

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

Let the Amen

Sound from His people again;

Gladly for aye, we adore  HIM.

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