A BLOODLESS AMPUTATION

I HAVE LOST MY RIGHT HAND! I made this statement first on Face Book, and was deluged with friends writing back anxiously asking how I was and, what had happened. But of course nothing had physically happened to ME. My Right Hand has increasingly been our son, DARYL.

On Sunday he finally decided that TFH was not the place for him, and let us know he would be leaving with immediate effect. BUT he has not left the family, or left in rage or anger against us. Rather he has not been able to bring his life in line with what we feel, and what he knows the Lord would expect of him as His Representative in this Ministry. We had of course known this might happen for some time, and had been much in prayer about it. It has been a disappointment, and hard to bear, and will mean that suddenly I am without a great deal of help and assistance on the side of the Children's Homes. Tomorrow is his 37th Birthday, and tonight we shall be all together as a family (ourselves, Manu, Daryl, Carol, and their three kids) to celebrate. Still a son, but no longer a colleague. No longer my Right Hand!

I MUST CONFESS, that I had come to lean on his support too much, and in doing so was in danger of becoming more decrepit than I needed to be! I had begun to be unaware of my own abilities. Had begun to 'shut down' and almost gone to sleep. This has clearly alerted me to the fact that it IS very easy to let go of what is actually STILL your responsibility, and also come to the place of feeling unable to let go of the 'thing' or 'person' you are leaning upon. To LEAN on God is one thing - He will let you do that without in the least diminishing your own strength, vitality, or sense of purpose. But to lean on anything or anyone else is definitely more than a risk that could deprive you of all your own motivation and vision. I think I was definitely well into the latter in letting Daryl take over so MUCH of what really should still have been my own practical concern. He did not make it happen; he did all that he could and more than he needed to, in order to be helpful and to relieve me. I have been given a 'WAKE-UP' call!

Daryl has proved himself a gifted PR man and Administrator, very pragmatic, and willing to quickly take up any challenge. I just relaxed and let him do all the thinking and sometimes the deciding as well. I had doubts about his Christian character, but was turning a blind eye to it.

I was becoming like Moses at 80 herding sheep in the desert, leaning more and more on his Rod for support..........He had got used to it, and increasingly needed to have it with him wherever he went. He did not question it's ability to help him. I sometimes think Moses, at that point, had no vision for the future, and was in fact accelerating the ageing process in his own mind and body! God suddenly confronted him and asked, 'WHAT have you got in your hand?' The Rod was in Moses' Right Hand. His Support, Protection, and Security, were all centred on that Rod. He was old, getting older - there was nothing but the sheep......nothing more, no greater hope or purpose for LIFE. The ROD had re-focused Moses heart and mind. GOD told Moses to throw this stick upon the ground, and it immediately assumed the reality of a serpent - and Moses fled from it! NO, I am not saying Daryl is a serpent, I am saying that if I had continued to lean so much upon him, I might have so given in to old age and depreciation, that I would have finally found myself UNABLE to do anything. Daryl was in a sense taking away my life.....not in an evil or malicious sense, but just by helping me give in to laziness, and a miss placed belief that I was no longer able to cope with or measure up to the task in front of me. As my Right Hand he made it unnecessary for me to use my OWN right hand to do any work. Yet MY own hand was and IS quite healthy enough, and able, to do the work given to it.

In Tolkien's great work The Lord of the Rings, we find King Theoden, Lord of the Mark, who had been a great and vigorous Leader and Warrior, sitting alone in his Palace, passively accepting and pre-empting his own old age. He had yielded up his sword and position, to one who had come to help, and in helping had slowly taken away from Theoden a reason to be alive!

The HELP was good, the sharing of a load of work much appreciated, but slowly I began to lose sight of the fact that by sharing more and more with others, I was giving myself less and less to do, until finally I felt myself to be almost unnecessary - not dead, not incapable, not useless at all - just ready to believe a lie and lay down the baton...........before God had made it neccesary for me.

'They that wait upon the Lord shall renew their strength;

they shall mount up with wings as eagles;

they shall run and not be weary;

they shall walk, and not faint' -- Isaiah 40v31

SO in fact I now believe for a NEW lease of LIFE; that instead of seeing me RETIRE from active seervice, as I had begun to believe would happen this year, I am now looking into a 2nd chapter of 40 years with expectation and new vigour. I sense then that there has been a 'pruning' in my life. We must now look for and expect NEW life revealed in new shoots and buds appearing. AND DARYL, what of him? It is tempting to guess and gossip, but it is of no real purpose to do so. I can hear Jesus saying to Peter, who had asked Him about John and what the future held for him, 'What is that to you ? You follow me!' There is loving rebuke in those words. They were in a sense sharp, but Jesus loved John AND Peter just as much as the other. Each of their lives was special and indivually important to Him.

Daryl is still a beloved member of the Green Family. Part of him is his own dear wife, Carol, and their three children. They remain living close to us, and Carol continues to teach at Testimony School. Life goes on. Only God knows what he has in store for any of us. Each one needs the prayer of others, that God will watch over us, lead and guide us, and deliver us from evil.

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THIS WEEK IT HAS BEEN RAINING EVERY DAY!! In parts of Western Kenya there has been deluge and flooding. Here in Eldoret it has rained a good part of the later afternoon, evening and even into the night. Nothing very devastating, but certainly refreshing, and welcome. We are Thankful and Blessed.

We have been told some donations are now on the way to us as well. Not enough to immediately cover all our current need, but enough to keep us going, and keep us from being seriously in debt. Bills are often many on my desk, but I can say with gratefulness that they tend all to get paid before the LATEST due date advertised on each. God is SO good. Sharing with Joshua and Miriam Mbithi on Thursday I found them testifying to similar experience in their own walk and ministry. He IS the same yesterday, Today and Forever toward all of us that trust in Him.

ALMOST

a real amputation!

On Thusday of this week two of our African cleaners fell out with each other. One is responsible for controlling who travels on the School Buses, and the other had been trying to force himself on a particular bus without a ticket, and been turned away. This was quite early in the morning. Later having arrived at work the rejected passenger found the one who had refused him, and there began a loud and abusive argument. During this unpleasant altercation the bus conductor punched the other in the face, where upon he turned and went away cursing his aggressor. He had not finished however, and finding a panga ( a broad double-edged knife for cutting through undergrowth and brush) went to the School Workshop and sharpened it. Then, hiding it in his shirt, returned to re-discover the bus conductor who also cleans the School Latrines. It was then School Break time, and all the children and staff were out of class. The two antagonists met outside the main Toilet Block almost in the centre of the School. Immediately the one took the sharpend panga from his shirt and set about the other severing his LEFT hand, and chopping the other severely. Blood spurting everwhere, the whole place panicked, with children and staff running hither and thither screaming.

Finally all was brought under control and the wounded one rushed to Hospital, and the other held and bound and given over to the police. The wounded one found good treatment and his hand has been restored to his wrist with good hope of eventual healing. It will take some months. We shall be the ones responsible for shouldering the cost of his treatment. He himself has no family, and since he will not be able to care for himself easily he will be staying with us here till he is able once again to use his hands. Always something NEW ! However we are not hoping for further such happenings.

And so yet another week has flown my - and the month almost ended. God Bless and be with you all

John and Esther

ARE YOU OCCUPIED?

WE LIKE TO SING the Chorus - 'He's got the whole world in His hands..' honouring God and witnessing to His Power. But the chorus is, of course, able to be turned round depending on what we are thinking about. The DEVIL may also be said to have the whole world in HIS hands since He is still the prince, the titular head under God, of this world. And again YOU and I might at some time think that WE have the whole world in OUR hands, seeking to manipulate and make merchandise of it for our own gain and pleasure. Did not Jesus Himself find Himself being offered the whole 'world' by Satan, if He would only fall down and worship HIM? And was it not this SAME Jesus that spoke and said -

Luke 9v25 - 'What is man advantaged, if he gain the whole world, and lose himself, or be cast away?HE answered Satan's temptation and said - 'Go away Satan, for it is written, Thou shalt worship the LORD thy God, and Him only shalt thou serve. God MADE the world, and He entrusted it to Lucifer as a gift. But Lucifer turned against God and miss-used the Created World in pride and arrogance. God went on to Create Man and put him into this World to bring back order to it, but Satan immediately set about the task of turning MAN against God also. He willfully misled him with reason and logic, and additionally used everything he could find or invent from the world's resources to attract Man AWAY from serving God to serving himself and his own lustful desires for self pleasure. SATAN has yet again twisted the world to his own purposes against God, until it is itself sick and spoilt - a terrible parody of what God intended.

THUS the one who loves ( prefers) the world and the things that are in it, becomes an enemy of God, separated from Him - 1John 2v15-17(Amplified Bible) 'DO NOT love or cherish the world or the things that are in the world - the lust of the flesh (craving for sensual gratification) and the lust of the eyes (greedy longings of the mind) and the pride of life (assurance in one's own resources or in the stability of earthly things) - these do not come from the Father, but are from the world itself.' (AND of the devil, by implication!)

And the world (will pass away and disappear) and with it the forbidden cravings (the passionate desires, the lust) of it; but he who does the will of God and carries out His purposes in is life abides (remains) for ever.'

BUT JESUS has also said that in the last days of this planet's life, 'the love of the great body of people will grow cold because of lawlessness and iniquity.' Matthew 24v12 Perhaps that is what we are seeing today - but are we watching? Are we alert and aware?

I have had DEMAS on my mind for about eighteen months. Not a great deal written about him in the New Testament of the Bible - just three scripture references by Paul the Apostle. Two of them find him mentioned as amongst Paul's companions (Colossi ans 4v14 & Philemon v24). The third reference is found in 2. Timothy 4v10 where it is written 'Demas has forsaken me, having loved this present world..' Paul was actually 'forsaken' by many others in his life and ministry just as Jesus Himself was......I wonder why Demas was especially named out of the many? Perhaps he was one that Paul had put more hope in than others.....perhaps he had a preference and was therefor more personally affected....... YET in a way it may have been even MORE because it was the WORLD that had taken him away. The World - what part of it ? - the lusts of the flesh, materialism, selfish ambition of some kind? We are not told. But the obvious disappointment and personal loss hangs heavily upon the words. OUR commission is to witness and share what we personally have discovered about God's Love. To tell how He found a way to redeem not only MY soul, but everyone's soul who would believe it. It is SO special when we are permitted to see someone who has HEARD Gospel, the Holy Spirit catching their attention and bringing them OUT of the world to GOD! It is the hardest thing to see one such later turn back. As Paul again says in Hebrews 10v38 concerning such a person - 'Now the just that live by faith (in Christ), but if any man draw back, my soul shall have no pleasure in him.' NO, it is abject misery to watch a loved one blindly pursue a path to self afflicted pain and hurt brought on by forsaking God's love and salvation. Much the worse when it is a member of ones own family, or special circle of friends.

BUT, in fact NONE of us should be of those that actually turn back, and to have done so in all likelihood means that we took our eyes away from God for a moment, just as David took his eyes away to Bathsheba bathing in her garden, and was carried off by his own lusts. How desperately we need to keep our thoughts upon the Lord, upon the Word of God. As long as GOD is with us we shall have Power to endure with Him, and in fact with all those who are on the journey with us
This young couple to the left have yet endured to remain together to become the older couple on the right! Not without the suffering of each other's foibles, failings, and differences. How has it come to be? BECAUSE as I have often witnessed to - JESUS lives in each of our lives, and gave us the strength and reason to be FAITHFUL, first to HIM, and then to each other. Oh JOY! No one and nothing down here on earth is perfect, but God by His Spirit can make it possible for everyone and everything to be endured for His Sake, and for His Honour. In this I WITNESS TO THE SAVING POWER OF CHRIST. Let HIM reign in your heart and you will have POWER to live, and you will also be PART of the power that keeps the worst of the evils from coming upon this world - at least until Jesus comes and takes us to be with him collectively - together with the Holy Spirit Who enables us, and Who in us keeps the worst at bey!

There IS a force that keeps the worst at bey; that keeps Satan from bringing 'the tide of iniquity from coming fully in'. There IS a force that hampers that Man of Sin, who shall come to sweep everything of God away with all deceivableness and lying wonders, from actually showing his hand and from being revealed. That force is the Holy Spirit of God, inhabiting the lives of the First Born, the true ALIVE Church of Christ. Read 2.Thessalonians 2v1-12 As long as the Holy Spirit remains in the world IN the Believers who ARE the Church of the First Born, the WORST cannot come. But they are not many. The greater number have become cool towards God, and that number is growing. YET even THEY are able in the Spirit of God, to hold back the Evil, even SATAN himself. SOON the trumpet WILL sound, and even that small company, the remnant of the Ages, will be called up and away. All restraint will be taken away and the Lawless One will sweep in with his tide of Iniquity to cover and blot out all godliness.

ARE you AWAKE to this? Are you alert?

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AND WHAT OF TESTIMONY?

We are all here! We who know and love the Lord are standing ready; ready to do great exploits for Him before the Trumpet Sounds! We are on Guard against that day, with our sword in our hand as we go about our work and business; as we minister to the children about us, and as we witness to those with whom we must trade and do our work. You ask, But are ALL standing? Perhaps not ALL, but those that ARE keep themselves occupied and ready. Especially our general and domestic staff are a mixed bag - and even some of the School's teachers

Times are HARD in Kenya. Hard also all around us where we are. The year has proceeded month by month with spasmodic showers of rain, teasingly unhelpful, whilst the earth has dried out, and set concretely around the roots of crops, crushing, strangling, and killing them. Many have died together with their livestock from starvation. The skies are cloudy, often grey, but they do not carry rain - the rivers remain dry, the lakes shrinking, the water tables sinking ever deeper below the roots of trees whose branches themselves like hardened arteries bring less and less life above the ground. The great Mahogany Tree outside Green Cottage, once so dense with luxuriant foliage is now looking starved, its branches bare and drooping, its leaves sparse, limp, and failing. All our trees begin to look the same. The lawns are green, but all above them seems prematurely aged, deprived of life. For us in Eldoret we still have some water supply from local underground sources, but none can tell how long they will hold up. We are like a desert being born. But our weather men say it will RAIN heavily in October - a Tsunami of Rain they say, an EL NINO of rain, that will drench and flood, and maybe of itself also take more lives! The crops have failed, money is short nationally, and in the months ahead we are told shops may become empty, - and thus our stomachs also. For the moment all remains relatively normal in Eldoret Town and environs, but we cannot say this will continue unless God intervenes. Not a good prospect for us, for Kenya, Africa, and the World. Prices are obviously continuing to climb. We are unable to buy what we once did. Tighter and tighter draws the communal belt around us all. The Lean years are upon us. Life goes on.

HERE IS A PHOTO OF EMILY AND STEVE with their little son, at home in Drakeley Cottage.

Yesterday Emily had gone to Nakuru to attend a Court Case against one of her younger brothers who is accused of Manslaughter against another teenager. On leaving the Court in the late afternoon Emily took a Matatutu, a local minibus taxi to come home the 160 kilometers. The taxi was packed with about 14 people, and as they all neared Eldoret, about 10 kilometres distant, and about 9p.m. at night, the driver lost control and the taxi ran off the road and rolled a number of times into a gully. Emily was thrown violently about with all the others, though fortunately perhaps a bit jammed together in the taxi. Her mouth and chin was cut about, and she had bruises, but fortunately no breakages. She was in a state of shock by the time she got to Eldoret finally, and to Hospital for a check up. Very frightening for her, and also of course for Steve who was anxious not knowing why she was so late getting home. We Thank the Lord for protecting her and sparing her life.

Today is Saturday, 19th September. Everyone has eaten lunch, and will eat supper. Most of our bills have been paid, but we have not yet seen funds for Monday onwards, or for salaries of our workers. It is a strange situation to be in. One that has recurred again and again in the year behind us. YET we live! And TRULY, ' NOW, may Israel (the people of God) say, if had not been for the Lord we would have been destroyed.' Pray for us even today as you read this. I am confident in knowing that BEFORE we called, and before we have shared the LORD has attended to our needs, and that help is on the way - help that cannot be anything else that miraculous proof of the Resurrection of Jesus Christ in Whose Name we forever pray to the Father in Heaven.

We pray always for you all. May He forever be close to you, to comfort, encourage and sustain you till He comes or Calls.

In His Love and Grace

John and Esther

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LIFE BEGINS AT FORTY

1969 IN MASENO, WESTERN KENYA. Yes, it IS me sporting a beard - but it did not stay long. To the left is a Bible School friend, Elijah Akhahenda, and to the right is Eveyline Echenje. We were all part of what was known as 'The Roaving Team' a group of young people often out and about at week-ends sharing the Gospel in Schools and Villages. Elijah is in the USA with his family now-a-days. We had some great times together. I had no idea, when this photo was taken, that I would become involved with children, or that Testimony Faith Homes would ever happen. BUT it was at a week-end retreat just BEFORE that the Lord spoke to my heart. I had been feeling homesick! I had been in Kenya seven months. I had not found it easy, as it had not turned out as I had hoped. Instead of full time evangelism I found myself in charge of mission administration and also with a lot of idle time on my hands. Surely I had not come to Kenya as a part time book- keeper! During the the week-end an elderly pastor from Dagenham, Essex, UK (Afred Webb) who was visiting us took me on one side, and said 'John don't let the enemy depress you. I feel in the Spirit of God that you are to stay and do something special.' By the following year I found myself father to a gang of 28 destitute boys between 12 and 16, and by June of that year I became engaged to Esther, then teaching in Machakos 400 kilometres away. We married on 14th August 1971. She has indeed proved to be worth more than 'rubies' as a wife and mother. Our love for each other has grown over the many years until the present, and we can only recomend to all those who have embarked on such a union to persevere, and patiently work at it to perfection. The blessing thus achieved will be great. Truly 38 years seem like yesterday - though we certainly don't look like that anymore. And now we see Michael our own 3rd child married at last at 35.In February 1972 we travelled to England with one of our younger boys, Johanna Nanjelo, and later that year, in June, the first of our very own children (Steven) was born at Truro Hospital. THEN on our return to Kenya, we moved our Home, and the 28 children, to our present site in Eldoret, to Testimony House, and slowly grew, and GREW unti today! More than 250 have come and gone, and more than 14o in residence right now. MOST of all of us came together on the 29th August to Celebrate and to Remember, and to CATCH UP. It was a GREAT day and we had a truly Wonderful time together - the best ever. During the morning hours we met in the School Hall, all crammed in together, for a Service of Thanksgiving & Remembrance (children past and present, and all our current staff members). We had not advertised, not wanting a big public event, and had not invited guests, feeling this might spoil the sense of 'family', and I think I was right. Many old friends had hoped to join with us but were unable due to pressure of work and other circumstances, and many sent Greetings of Love and Thanksgiving including Francis and Elain WAINAINA first Dad and Mum of Jacaranda Cottage, Harry SPEEDIE who set up the Mechanics Training School we had, AND ALSO Uncle Stan and Auntie Doreen HYDE now in their 80s. Also more Greetings from the POTTERS at Tyndale School, South Australia, and many many others from all over the world.
Wilson Swayi our first boy, who was 14 when I found him, was first to stand and give a very moving testimony of the circumstances of his early life, and the way Testimony Faith Homes brought him to Jesus, and to Salvation. He is now 54, married with one son, working for us after many years in Nairobi. Many others followed him, including Joshua and Miriam Mbithi who were Mum and Dad in Jacaranda Cottage for NINETEEN years, and also Anthony Ndungu, Principal of Testimony School who has just celebrated 25 years with us. There were songs, choirs, encouragements - and then finally the Word of God was brought to us by Moses Ongonga, himself 52, married with two children, and 2nd pastor of one of the biggest Churches in Eldoret with a congregation of more than 4,000. Moses was 14 when he joined us. Many were moved by the Holy Spirit to respond to the Altar Call.
AFTER the Service we all repaired to the School Dining Room where we all sat down and shared a beautiful meal together as a family as we shared and chatted. THEN at 2p.m. we returned to the School Hall for a time of Entertainment put on by the children now resident with us. House by House each family came on stage and gave a presentation to the assembled family.

It was fantastic. Esther had made a CAKE, and this was cut and shared by all. What a Day.

During the evening those who had grown up in respective homes returned to eat once more and to spend time with the family members still growing up there.

SUNDAY morning our usual Service remained in place, only on this occassion another of our Old Boys, Wyckliffe Ondanga also in his 50s spoke to us. Wykliffe came to us when he was 15, and on completing his Secondary Education entered Bible College where he attained a B.Th. He worked for a while with a Christian School, and then also for us, becoming at one point Head master of our Secondary School. He was present with his dear wife Miriam who is also our Nursery School Headmistress. Wyckliffe spoke on the words PRESS ON, and really pressed it home to us all. A most encouraging and motivational Word.

Then Lunch for all the Homes children and staff and old boys and girls before departures. It had been a most enjoyable and memorable occassion. And NOW? Where shall we go from here? Surely whatever it will be, it will be hand in hand with the God that has held our hand and led us for this first 40 years together. We, Esther and I, were especially delighted to have Michael, and his wife Janet still with us, AND Steven, Anjela, and their children, AND our daughter Elisabeth, all with us from England. They had of course come for the Wedding, and stayed over. Wonderful to experience so much of our past with our present. But only a SHADOW of that Great DAY that is yet soon to come, when all those in Christ past and present at HIS Coming, will find themselves instantaneouly with Him AND with one another.

EVERYONE has gone now, either to their homes, or to College, or School. The Weather remains cool, and for the most part overcast, but little or no rain. Eldoret's river is just a mere trickle, the Country as a whole still in the midst of droubt. The Meteorology Department still warns us of EL NINO rains just ahead, and thousands of people in low areas have already been moved to higher ground to avoid them being swept away in expected floods!!! Will it actually come? No one knows. One anxiety quietened by the expectation of another. One political gaff put out of mind by yet another one - this has always been the way things go from day - and not just in Kenya. We can SEE the world is suffering all together from similar maladies. Any time now we might well expect to see the Man of Sin spoken of in 2. Thessalonians 2 revealed - should we. It rather looks as if the Church of Christ will have been called up to meet the King in the clouds before that happens. But on the other hand we ought to expect such a man to already be standing in the wings waiting to step onto the world stage - we might just have a glimpse of him..............WATCH and PRAY.....the time IS very much at hand.

Finally let me just apologise for being unable to meet my Saturday appointment for the forgoing weeks.......just could not get time with so much else going on in addition to daily routines. From today I hope to be able to be back on track. We trust that if you are one of those reading from us on a regular basis that you will continue to pray much for us. We remain in a time of great need and pressure on many fronts. Attacked and buffetted on many sides, but still alive and standing, and looking ahead into the NEXT 40 years - we must be occupied UNTIL He Comes.

Our Love and Thanksgiving to you all for your love, care and fellowship always in Jesus

John and Esther

Note of Pictures numbered as from the one at top of the page downwards as 1 - 8

1. Elijah Akhahenda / John Green / Evelyn Etchenje - 1969 before we began TFH


2. Group of the first gang of boys - July 1970 = Maseno


3. Past & Present 'TFH Family Members' at the Anniversary Lunch 29/8/09 - 300+


4. Pastor Wycliffe Ondanga urging us to PRESS ON at the 40th Anniversary


5. Some NEWCOMERS, already happy and settled


6. Drakely Cottage Family members on stage to entertain during the 40th Anniversary


7. Tyndale Family outside their house


8. A view of the School

SORRY my Server went off during the day and I have had to delay sending. It may be that on printing some of the pictures might not come down, since I have not had chance to check. I will do so soon and make necessary adjustment if needed. Thanks for patience.

THE WEDDING - AT LAST!

THE DAY DAWNED GREY AND CLOUDY. The lawns between Testimony House and Green Cottage had all been trimmed and then upon them a Wedding Tent erected, and some three hundred chairs placed. There were so many flowers, and just as the Bride arrived so did the sun, together with a few light spots of rain, and then for the rest of the day sunshine and warmth. God surely answered everyone's prayers for a FINE day!

The BRIDE was of course late, as almost all Brides seem to be, but otherwise there were no hitches, and and the Service commenced at about 11a.m. Some seven hundred guests attended - we think! It was probably MORE, since we had catered for 1000 and all the food went! After the Ceremony the Bridal Party went for a brief recess to take special Photographs, and the Guests made for the Receiption Tents which (5 of them) were pitched on the lower lawns. It was a truly delightful and wonderful day, when two young people, loving the Lord, came home to their families to witness and demonstrate that their marriage was made in Heaven and confirmed by God Almighty in Jesus Name .
There were FOUR Groomsmen, and four Bridesmaids in the Party, plus two page boys and two flower girls.. Daryl's young son,, Jesse, was one page boy, and Steven's daughter Tonia was one of the flower girls. MANU was one of the Groomsmen, and also two of our old boys, both pastors ( Christopher Kosgei and Anthony Kiprotich - both twins, but not identical).. Our family was almost complete except for Elisabeth's husband Prem and their two children who were unable to travel at this time from England. In addition Esther's sister and family came up from Nairobi to join in, so we were quite a party on our own side. Michael and Janet are still with us for this week and then will go away for a week alone before returning to the UK. Steven, Anjela, Elisabeth and the children will leave on Monday next. BUT BEFORE they leave we have our LARGER Family Reunion and Anniversary taking place this coming Saturday again. We expect to be a fellowship together of some 500 including old boys and girls visiting. So much squeezed into a fortnight, and not without pressure and even ATTACK from the Enemy who is ever ready to gate crash into one's affairs. Nevertheless we PRAISE the Lord our God, Who has kept us, and answered our Prayers, and effectively demonstrated that He is GREATER than that enemy!

However, I was quite unable to service the Blog on Saturday or even later, and it looks very much as if the same will occur this week. I must thus ask your kind indulgence and patience as I try to recover my normal routines enough to settle back into my Saturday appointment.

WE are all WELL, and strong in the Lord, BUT we do have need of your prayers at this time both in respect of our material AND spiritual state. We know the Holy Spirit will guide and direct those prayers. I had personally hoped that I might hand over the bulk of my administrative responsabilities at this time to the one who will follow me - but at present that seems still unable to be. I had also thought of taking some time to return to the Uk to visit and personally share about the ministry here, but that too is on hold since I do not have anyone able to stand in my place as far as the running of the Children's Homes are concerned although the School is strong and well cared for. Still all is not lost by any means, as I remain well and energetic enough to carry on for some time yet. Perhaps next year the situation will have changed. But it is something to pray about, and I will appreciate your fellowship.

God Bless you all, and little by little the many events and happenings of these two busy weeks will filter through as I continue to share and write week by week.

Love from us BOTH - John and Esther

WHERE HAVE ALL THE TREES GONE?

A THOUSAND BILLION (Kenya Shillings) TO BE SPENT ON TREES -Thus reads the Headline in last Wednesday's Daily NATION! - 'The Environment Ministry is set to roll out a Ksh.1.5 trillion climate change response investment plan to be implemented over the next 20 years! Under the plan, 35,000 schools, 4.300 women groups and 16,350 youth groups will be involved in a major campaign to plant trees!'

A bit of 'shutting the stable door after the horse has bolted'. As long ago as the commencement of President Daniel Arap Moi's regime there was a drive to plant trees - with himself often shown to be in the lead. An annual Tree Planting Day was introduced and observed initially with great fervour only to slowly tail off. And in any case with hundreds of thousands of trees being supposedly planted, the forests still reduced and even disappeared over the ensuring years right up to the present. NOW the Country faces immense food shortages due to the vanished Rains, causes apparently by the lack of forests. SUDDENLY out goes the Cry ' ALAS! ALAS! Our Forests have gone! Well no one has ever tried very hard to stop them going. For the sake of greed and avarice the people have been sold down the river.

Of course it IS good to plant trees, no matter what has gone before, but even so, it may be too late to prevent hardship and even death due to current and increased famine caused by failure of the harvest. Trees do not grow overnight, and then again it is important to plant the right kind of tree, those that are conducive to drawing rain, and to conserving the undergrowth. Many of the RAIN FOREST trees that have been cut down in recent decades took hundreds of years to grow. Most have not been replanted to date. Where trees have been planted, (for paper production for example) PINE has been planted which has little or no affect on the climate for good. It will take years - a decade or more - before any appreciable difference will be felt by a present action to plant more trees. Very desperately RIGHT is the decision to PLANT, but will there be water while we wait for the trees to GROW?

AND OF COURSE, we cannot be SURE that trees WILL be even planted, or that the determination to ongoingly do so will not flag as it did under President Moi. Kenya is great at saying what it finally fails to DO. Well GOD does not have to have trees to provide us with WATER, but again not so many are looking to Him, these days, to do the impossible.

PRAY THAT THE DECISION TAKEN WILL BE IMPLEMENTED. PRAY that the imagination of our people will catch on, and the national response will rise up and carry it through. WE have been planting trees through this year already, and plan to continue.

IT IS RAINING IN ELDORET!

For the last week we have experienced fairly heavy thunderstorms.

But the Eldoret River is still almost a trickle.

WILL IT RAIN ON MICHAEL AND JANET'S WEDDING DAY?

We hope not - so far the pattern seems to give sunny mornings and afternoons.

We have just a week to get all things ready, with many family guests both from Kenya and the UK staying with us, and as many as perhaps 500 or more on the Day!

Looking forward very much to having so many of the family with us for once!

YESTERDAY, August 14th it was our 38th Wedding Anniversary!

This photo was taken on Valentine's Day this year. We took ourselves out for lunch yesterday, and rejoiced to be able to look back on happy years. Oh yes, of course, we had our 'days' but it is true to say that God was wonderfully with us to help us grow in understanding, appreciation, and love for each other. JESUS has been the binding strand in our threefold rope of marriage. With Him we have experienced so much, and in Him we have become strong. I was reading recently that the current average number of years for a marriage to last is between 5 and 7. One might think it was worse as one moves around and shares with others. And of course the Marriage rate is declining, and more and more are just living loosely together without a great deal of commitment, with little to prevent leaving at will. Distressing news when one realised how MUCH can be gained from seeing marriage as something especially beneficial and precious. It needs a little WORK. A little patience and forbearance, and some forgiveness along the way - but oh my - with perseverance comes gladness of heart, security, and confidence. I also read that couples who have been married 31 years or more have still come to divorce! Amazing! Surely God, who joined the first man and woman together, and took them through what must have been a long and variably tested marriage, is able to keep ANY couple together, His intention and plan being that they should never separate, but grow in Grace. To all those who with us may still be labouring in their Marriage, we re-state the fact, that it needs to be a 'Labour of Love' and that it is worth whatever it takes.

Keep up the Good Work brothers and sisters. Advertise your marriage, look for the best in each other, Encourage young people by your own example in and by Marriage. Let God BIND together in Love so that things can NEVER fall apart. It is the Will of God.

John and Esther

THIS WORLD IS NOT MY HOME!

A VIEW OF THE CITY OF WELLS in Somerset, England. I probably visited Wells first when I was about 11 or 12 years old. It left a lasting mark upon my memory and is an integral part of what is, for me, the nostalgia of my Country. BUT at times, as a Christian, one can be made to feel it is somehow not quite right to let the land of one's birth mean more than the Kingdom of God. Thus the lyric that tells us 'This world is not my home, I'm just a passing through', which no doubt is aligned to Hebrews 13v12 and 1.Peter 2v11 where we are told to see ourselves as having 'no continuing city here on earth, but as seeking one that is to come' and again to reckon ourselves as 'strangers and pilgrims' in our earthly lives. Why get so 'attached' to the world around us - and as one might follow this line of reasoning, it will question the whole idea of national pride and identity. Yet I feel that like it or not our 'earthly' roots and origins have a lot to do with the people we become, and are. Forty years AWAY from England somehow has not managed to dim or cloud the 'idea' of England, or of being English!! CAREFUL Green, we must not seem to be racial or 'True Blue British' by any means, That would be very politically incorrect. Away with England and St. George, away with Trafalgar, King and Country - away even with Christ and Christendom.

I remember well, as I walked first the streets of Wells that sleepy summer day in Somerset; I remember the sense of 'for everlasting' that assailed me as I felt the warm sun upon my bare young arms, and gazed at sights that took me back in time. Not as crowded then as now, but still quietly busy, without the noise and inordinate clatter of today's world. Not so much traffic either, and one could still smell the aromer of the many bakeries and coffee shops. A piece of England that surely would never change. HAS it changed I wonder. When I first saw the west front of the Cathedral, I just felt overwhelmed by its beauty and grandeur, and I have always felt ever since that it was one of the most joy filled places I had ever entered.

In 1983 - the second and only other time, I visited Wells, the Cathedral was undergoing Restoration. It was also full of little booths (as many other Cathedrals are) given up to trade and bric-a-brac. I left feeling the emptiness of what before had been such a fullness. BUT of course life must go on. Wells was busier but still with the ability to confront you with the mystique of the past, and the sense of an almost eternal sameness. It still evoked an 'unchanging' England that identified with infinity, and with all our long historical past................You see! I am not so much a nationalist as a romantic.

AND WHAT has stirred all this up this week. Why the funeral of Harry Patch, a man I remembered seeing once or twice on TV, but whose life and importance had quite escaped my real notice. Harry Patch! A very 'ordinary' man, said his friend Jim Ross at the funeral. The last man left from the English Trenches of the 1st World War. A man who went almost unknown for the next eighty years of his life until he wrote a book, and bared his heart about WAR, and his own personal taste of it. I have not read the book yet. I WILL read it.

I watched the Funeral on SKY tv - who managed to effectively interrupt their LIVE broadcast to spend 30 minutes on the Bank Rate - Almost sacrilege, but true to the average trend as far as national and spiritual interest is concerned. I was greatly moved in my own soul as I watched - saddened not to see and hear ALL that had been arranged as part of the day. QUITE amazed and surprised to see a 1000 souls come to give respect INSIDE the ancient walls of Wells Cathedral, walls that had stood so long to witness centuries of worship, and public testimony to a shameless Love for God. Surprised to see men and women (admittedly more of them over 50 than otherwise) not just attending to WATCH, but in the majority it seemed to actually open their mouths to SING, and to PRAY, many with tears in their eyes, and obvious evidence that they BELIEVED in GOD! I was touched with spiritual PRIDE that there are of my Countrymen. still some that have not turned their backs on the 'Old Ways' of the Land. NONSENSE! I can hear some say it. I forgive you! MANY have visited us here to say England is a GODLESS land, and that the hearts of the people have gone a whoring. BUT, I caught a glimpse, just a glimpse perhaps, that all is not lost. A REMNANT is still standing there in the shadows. We must not become like Elijah at the Mount, and believe in total loss. God always has His witnesses. I was witnessed to at Harry's Funeral. Thank you Harry, and thanks too to all those that put that Service together and made it happen. And what about WAR? Am I for it or against it? Would I say with Harry it was not worth it ? I was born in 1940. I had little knowledge of the 1st Great War until I myself was an adult, and no part at all in the 2nd. BUT I have inherited a kind of 'feeling' about WAR from those childhood days when the 2nd Great War was ending. I too have wondered in my latter years if our fathers would have thought any of it was worth it. I have wondered if we have today what we thought we had THEN, to die for. ARE we a better Nation I wonder. How DO we see ourselves - diluted perhaps, ashamed of our heritage, our history, and our faith not really bothered perhaps.

HARRY said he did not fight for King or Country - he just did what he was told. No doubt a good many others might say the same. BUT some DID fight for what they believed in, and many of them DID believe in England - and the King. Is that too trite...too ridiculous? Yes, today I think it would be. For the most part I do not see RESPECT either for England or the Queen. Respect for ANYTHING is hard to find. BUT men and women GAVE their lives - there has to be a reason if any of it is to mean anything. Harry felt there was and is NO reason.

When I was a much younger man in Bible College, I spend part of my holidays in a small Nursing Home for the elderly as a male nurse; basically to earn my Fees. This Home was known as Pouchlands Hospital in Sussex, and had at one time, many years before, also been a Work House for the destitute and homeless. One night when I was alone on night duty on the male ward, I heard a man start shouting and crying.. 'I killed them, I killed them! Oh dear God, I am a Murderer -condemned!' There was only very subdued lighting in the ward and more than forty beds.

I could still hear the man sobbing as I walked down trying to locate him. I had been warned about him by the Matron. "You might get disturbed by Jack - he's a 2nd world war veteran, and gets disturbed at night at times. Just ignore him and he will quieten."

I had found him. I had known him of course from when I was on day duty, but he had never spoken to me. A man of about 68 I would say, unsmiling, without visitation. Tonight, my first night on duty I found him awake and still convulsed with sobs. I was 25. I found it strangely upsetting to see this elderly man so disturbed. I put my hand on his shoulder. He shrugged it violently from him.. "Don't touch me...you don't know me..I'm a killer." he said between clenched teeth and snarling lip. I sat on the edge of his bed. Tell me about it. I said.

Little by little, through the early hours of that long night, Jack told me how he had entered the war as a Regular Soldier. He was a crack shot, and he was an assigned sniper whose duty it was to pick off those of the enemy before they could themselves kill. He often did so before they even saw him, or were able to defend themselves. Some he shot in the back. It was all in the call of Duty. He just did what he was told - just as HARRY PATCH did. And afterwards, when the war was over, and he continued to live, he lived on with the memory and the GUILT of what he had done. Nothing could expunge it from his memory, and right up to that momentous night he was haunted, hounded, hunted down by the thought of each and every man he had killed so precisely and so well. He made my hair stand on end during his recital.

BUT at the end I found he had some faith imparted to him as a child in Sunday School in an Anglican Church. But how could God really forgive him. He could not believe it. BUT I COULD, and by morning Jack also came to believe it for Himself, and he slept. He opened up like a flower - but not for long did we enjoy the sight for the Lord took him within the week.

oooooooooooooooooooooooooo

Attending TWO weddings today. One a Christian Wedding and the other a Muslim Wedding. Very interesting, and both parties friends of the Homes for many years now. I should say that Esther, Many, Helen and Daryl are attending. I am not. This week I have been battling with a heavy 'flu (NOT Swine flu) and still coughing powerfully! Yesterday my right leg began to present signs of the problem I had last year when I had a trapped nerve. Not SO painful so far, and I can move around, but still not very restful. Just the Enemy having a go.

DAYS are flying by. School IS only partially shut as we still have extra tuition for some classes continuing. So plenty to do still. Jesse Renata seems to be recovering well, and has now been accepted to Train as a State Enrolled Nurse. She is very excited.

Two more Sundays left to announce the Banns for Michael and Janet's Wedding on the 22nd, and then a week later the 40th Anniversary is scheduled to take place. We expect at least 300 guests on the 29th to Celebrate. A great deal to do and arrange. We need your prayers that the weather will be great, and that all the needs will be met.

THEN - the first week in September - SCHOOL will begin AGAIN. Life NEVER stops. And each DAY brings us NEARER to the Coming of the Lord Himself. Oh Glory! Oh HALLELUJAH!

Love YOU ALL. Keep on Watch....

John and Esther

HANDLING AUTHORITY & POWER

IN 1986 I wrote, 'ARROYA SWEEPS INTO POWER'. Last Saturday she died of Cancer in the Philippians where she had been President. She was 76. She came to power on the wave of Revolution, and the ousting of the MARCOS duo. A couple very like King Ahab and Queen Jezebel!

A 53 year old housewife in a yellow dress, Cory swept to power on a wave of popular euphoria. She served her elected terms and then stepped down in line with the provisions of the Constitution.

COMMENT from Manila over the last few days from those who knew and worked with her, reflect their opinion of her as a woman and a President.

'What a great gift the Lord gave us in her -

and what a great gift she WAS!'

'She was the 'moral compass of the Nation.'

She loved the truth and honesty

when others would not.

A POEM has been put together from quotes from her own public speeches , and I will include here just a few verses from it -

I just do whatever it is that I believe I should do;

Regardless of the risks to my life.

I would rather die a meaningful death,

Than Live a meaningless life.

Faith is not simply a patience

That patiently suffers until the storm is past.

Rather it is a spirit that bears things

With blazing, serene HOPE.

In Cory Arroyo we see a woman of POWER who was not corrupted by it! Yet we have to admit that we have seen many come into power as Heads of State worldwide, and few of them have gone uncorrupted. As Lord Acton, a famous historian of the last century once wrote -

'Power tends to corrupt, and absolute power corrupts absolutely.' This has become a well known maxim, but I wonder how true it is? Certainly the MISUSE of power corrupts, and when power is absolute then its misuse will corrupt absolutely. BUT surely power is not, in or of itself, corrupt? JESUS, for example, had absolute power over all things. It was given to him by God the Father. This Absolute power did not corrupt HIM! There was and is not the shadow or even the suspicion of corruption imputed to Him. WHY? How can this be, if Lord Acton is right in his assumption about power? Obviously it is not POWER that corrupts, but the one wielding it. Power can only tempt an already corrupt mind and heart to GREATER corruption. God is NOT in any sense at all corrupt, and therefor POWER and AUTHORITY in His Hands cannot be used to corrupt ends.

BUT MANKIND IS CORRUPT by reason of his fall from Righteousness. His mind is no longer pure and free from selfish motive but generally given over to it. It is the selfish ego, the fallen nature of Man that is untrustworthy; he can no longer be trusted with power or authority since he is himself self deceived and corrupt. He is not righteous, and will not hold power righteously.

IN THE BOOK OF 1.KINGS chapter 21 there is the story of Naboth, who owned a vineyard (a farm) that King Ahab lusted after. The farm had been in Naboth's family for generations, and he had no wish to part with it, and he refused the King's offer to buy it from him at any price. AHAB was unhappy about it, and sulked and went off his food until his wife - Queen Jezebel - asked him what was wrong. On hearing the whole matter, Jezebel said to King Ahab -

'Dost thou now govern the Kingdom of Israel?'

And she proceeded to tell him how to use his power to obtain from Naboth what he wanted - unrighteously. Thus lies were invented, a trap set, a murder committed - and Ahab got the farm! Does this sound familiar? The KING had ABSOLUTE power. He could fix the Courts, the Judges and Magistrates, and make the LAW say whatever He wanted, even when it was a lie.

Of course we all have power in some way or another. It is in our power to love and to hate righteously or unrighteously. As the Chief Guest of our Parent's Day last Saturday His Honour Mr. C.G. Mbogo asked ' Have I done what is RIGHT - have I acted righteously'. It IS possible to achieve at least some measure, perhaps even a progressive measure, of righteous living in our lives IF Christ has come to LIVE in us. What is impossible for us to achieve ALONE, can be achieved when GOD is with us!. Perhaps then, in some measure, God was with Cory Arroyo? Possibly. Jesus said - you shall know them by their fruit! Was He saying you will know a Christian, a Jew, a Moslem - NO, I don't think so. Jesus was not trying to make comparisons. We can know if a man or woman has something of God in them by what comes out of them. BUT we may not know for sure if GOD owns THEM as His child - his family possession - or not. Many WILL say that they have done godlike or godly things, yet He will declare that He does not KNOW them because they were in effect serving their own interests more than His, even when doing acts of so called good! Something to think about carefully. As our Guest said again on Saturday - 'We should take account of ourselves' To be truly righteous we will have not to go with the crowd, not bend the rules, not compromise with lies and dishonesty. To stand out can be costly.

An Anglican Bishop recently asked -

'Why is it that everywhere the Apostle Paul went they had a Revolution,

but everywhere I go they have a cup of tea?

Paul did not blend in, HE STOOD OUT!

On his first missionary journey, the stoned him and left him for dead.

On his second one they threw him in prison.

How did he handle this?

He prayed and praised God till every door in his prison opened.

Child of God, the word for you today is -

GIVE IT ALL YOU'VE GOD - and KEEP PRESSING ON.

It is RAINING - and School has closed for the August Holiday. A quiet morning. I can hear the children laughing in the garden, and also a few Great Green Ibis having a conversation whilst searching for Worms and beetles. It is cool but not cold today. And now I must seek the Lord for a Word for Sunday. I am speaking this week.

Thinking of you all. Keep in prayer for us. Our daughter Jesse Ronata that lives in Testimony House has been quite down and unwell recently. You may remember that she is HIV positive. Her blood count is good, and she has not seemed affected by the virus in any way, and doctors have not yet felt the need to prescribe special drugs for her. But she has now bee diagnosed with a peptic ulcer. If you have a moment just lift her up in prayer.

Love you all in Jesus Name. Lift up your Head - let the King of Glory IN.

John and Esther