TESTIMONY SCHOOL CELEBRATING!

TESTIMONY PRIMARY SCHOOL CHOIR, under the able direction of Mr. Vidonyi, their conductor, singing a little novelty number entitled 'My Table Two'.    Below the is the Top Class of Nursery School - they will all be in Primary Class One next year.   Below them is a group of other primary kids performing a traditional dance routine. They were all performing on the stage of our School Hall today, part of the afternoon School Concert for Parents during the 32nd Annual Parents & Prize Giving Day today.
This usually takes place on the last Saturday of July, annually.     The Guest of Honour usually arrives at 10.30a.m. and commences a tour of the School with the Management, followed by parents who arrives about 11.      All the School is decorated and there are Class Exhibitions to view.    The 'Walk-around' takes about 1 and a half hours.    THEN there is a Luncheon for the Guest of Honour and party whilst the parents also are given lunch in the School dining rooms..   Thereafter the Concert in the School Hall- packed out again today with the usual four to five hundred parents.     Children (apart from those taking part) do not attend school on this Day having viewed the Concert Dress Rehearsal the day before (Friday).     Its a very busy and demanding day for all School Staff and others of the Administration.   Esther and I together with Daryl MUST attend, and quite a number of others connected to the School and Homes such as Joshua and Miriam Mbithi, County Education and Children's Officers.
THIS YEAR our Guest of Honour was an age mate of mine, who has also been an admired member of our Eldoret Community for many years - in fact he was MAYOR of Eldoret for more than 15 years.  In the photo to the left he may be seen standing next to the French Ambassador in Eldoret a few weeks ago.   A man of personal integrity, and Christian principal, he is still an active and respected member of our local society.
His name is Joseph. K. Lesiew, a man I have really appreciated and valued.   Not a University or College man, but a self informed man who used every experience of life, carefully observed, to build a life abounding in common sense, sound doctrine and regard for his fellow man.      The last time he attended a function here was in 1987 at the 18th Anniversary of the Founding of Testimony Faith Homes.   He was then in the midst of his Mayoral marathon!    I will include an extract here from his 'Speech' given today, in his 75th year.

'Chinua Achebe, one of Africa's most celebrated and renowned writers, said

"When old people speak it is not because of the sweetness of words in our mouths;

it is because we see something which you who are younger do not see"

From what the Lord has allowed ME to see,

I would like to speak to you about a value that I think this generation needs;

a value that can help us begin to restore our society, and even our Country as a whole,

so that it can grow into the healthy, and moral direction that all of us are called to.

This Value in INTEGRITY.

For Integrity to be realised we must begin with character,

because character is essentially a composite of our habits.

Only through integrating certain principles into your basic character can you truly achieve excellence.

One of the most important of these principles is INTEGRITY.

When you are a person of integrity your actions speak for themselves.

Your thoughts are guided by an internal moral compass.

People recognise this difference in you, and more often than not people will be drawn to you

because positive behaviour is very attractive

Unfortunately, in our society today, such an indispensable value has been made to seem

dispensable!

Many of our youth are making wrong decisions.

Many are ending up as drug users, consumers of alcohol, both of which can end up

controlling their lives.

I have seen beautiful young minds wasted and destroyed because of these dangerous addictions,

and it deeply saddens my heart.

We have a responsibility to our children to help them see the preciousness of Life,

and to not take it for granted.

We parents have a need to show our children how fleeting life is; how easy it is to wast it.

Young people need to seize the opportunities granted to them by our Precious Lord,

and to find out what their purpose is in the world,

because each and every one IS created to fulfil a particular purpose.

Each and every one matters.

We matter to God, to our family, our community, and our Country.

Each one of our children is unique.   We should not allow their potential to do good to be drowned out

through following wrong influences. 

LET US STAND FIRM IN OUR INTEGRITY for ourselves and for THEM.

Everything went well.    The day was sunny - only NOW  at 8.30p.m is the Thunder making itself heard again.    Everything went to time and plan.    A very successful day.

And now I must turn to my Message for tomorrow.     It seems I must continue with the Ten Commandments this Sunday - The 3rd  - You shall NOT take the Name of the Lord your God in Vain. For the Lord will not hold him guiltless that takes His Name in vain.      

Our chaplain is in hospital right now having just endured an operation for an Umbilical Hernia.   He has come through it well, and we hope he can be back at home tomorrow.    Remember to pray for Wykliffe Ondanga., and his dear and loving wife Miriam.

And now please forgive me for closing.    There is still a NEED for you to pray for Testimony Faith Homes.

It is not a financial need - even though every day we MUST pray for our daily bread - but something deeper spiritually, and which must soon be resolved and settled.     The Enemy is having a go!    BUT please do not be anxious for us - we are at peace within ourselves.      

God Bless and BE with you all.    Lovingly in His Grace and Mercy

John land Esther & Daryl and Carol.

ONE OF THOSE FROM 'DOWN UNDER' decided whilst with us to go under the Waters of Baptism.    Here he is about to be dipped into our baptistery in Testimony House grounds.   Hesketh Muli standing to his left and Mike Potter to the right.   .     The baptistery itself is just across from the School Hall where we always hold our Sunday Services, and so at the conclusion the Service we all moved out and across to the Baptistery.     It was sunny, fortunately, but the water was still rather cool.    It was a Blessing, and a wonderful opportunity to Witness to the Love and Goodness of God.      Timothy, a student from Tyndale School, is being immersed in this photo;   we believe it will ever be a Day to remember, and to serve as a strengthener to establish his Faith.



WE HAVE BEEN BLESSED in having ALL the Team with us.  Students, Staff, and others have each one been so outgoing towards us all, that it was tough to say farewell finally on Thursday morning.     As I shared last week, many have been engaged in making a new and bigger COW HOUSE, and MILKING Station for our cows.  We built the first one in July 2011 using a woodshed, and a little spare ground space near the new Allotment in Testimony House Garden.      EARLIER that same month Tyndale School Team for 2011 had built the Poultry House in Jacaranda as their main project for that year.    It was the year we all felt the Lord urging us to become more self supportive food wise, and we had laid down two plots (one in Testimony and one in Jacaranda) for veg.
Soon after Tyndale left we decided to commence a small dairy as already described.      THEN in mid 2012 Testimony School decided to expand their teaching space and to also build a Pool.;       By then we had FOUR cows and two calves (a heifer and a bull).        Just before Tyndale returned this year we had moved the cows to Jacaranda into a temporary enclosure without any shelter or milking station.     SO a good number of the Team took up the challenge to provide this lack with the result shown in the photo included here.        Regretfully we lost one of the four cows through a sickness.    The rest are flourishing and greatly delighting in their new facilities.        If I can manage to do so I will try to include a few photos just to remind you all of the scope of this agri-development over the last two years.    To preface this let me also give a Time Schedule of this development as it came to be
2011 -  July -  Cultivation of TWO plots of ground for growing vegetables for the Homes.
                       Building of Poultry Houses for 200 broilers and 200 layers
                       Both with the aid of Tyndale School students and staff.

                       Erection of small cowshed and milking bay for ONE cow in Testimony Compound
            Oct -   Purchase of two more cows,   -    Also one calf born.
                       Crops in the Allotments now being harvested.    Layers beginning to lay eggs!!!

2012 - Apr -   Started a Bakery with intention to supply School and Homes.
                       2nd calf (bull) born.     4th Cow purchased.

2013 - July -    Everything still running well.
                        NEW Cow Shed and milking station built by Tyndale School Team.

We had thought to save money in commencing these projects, and by also diminishing manpower here and there.      Definitely money has been saved in provision of our own milk, eggs, chicken meat, bread and vegetables, though regretfully the steadily rising cost of other basic commodities and foodstuffs has more than compensated, so that expenditure is still higher than when we began.   ALSO the cost of the FEEDS for both cows and poultry have increased.     BUT of course it would have been EVEN HIGHER if these innovations had not been made.      We rejoice in the leading of God's Holy Spirit in inspiring us, and in the welcome help and support of Tyndale and also our own children and staff.
However the management is proving quite demanding.    We have had to take back  manpower initially laid off in other quarters, to cope with everything.    TWO in the Bakery, and TWO in the Gardens, PLUS a Cow man and a Poultry man.    Income and Expenditure on all projects together still able to balance out even with a small margin of profit.     Still very worth while in every way.

Here we have a view of some of the cows and offspring!

Also a glimpse of the Jacaranda Allotment with maize growing well and the Poultry House in the top left corner

To the left the new Green-house which  finally yielded a bumper harvest of tomatoes.

To the right  the first batch of Broilers happy and contented though not free range.  We eat a lot and sell some.

To the left are some of our Layers (about 160 eggs per day) now slowing down and ready to be replaced.   We eat most of the eggs and sell the rest.   Very good they are too.    Again these are not free range but they are mainly contented.     As long as they have enough air, food, and food for curiosity they seem more than satisfied.     Sad they never see an egg hatch though!    

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And lastly the Bakeries bread!    They bake about 100 a day to satisfy daily needs for the four Homes AND daily School Break Refreshment for the School.      We hope to soon be able to extend the Bakery and sell to the locality as well.     Super bread.    We bake on CHARCOAL in big charcoal ovens.   But the cost of this fuel is becoming more costly day by day;  we hope to find a suitable ELECTRIC over of suitable size soon.

To manage and supervise all of this takes quite a lot of time and energy.    

We are now looking for someone to come and MANAGE it full time.     This will need someone able to supervise staff, standards, and purchases of Feeds and Baking Supplies.     Please pray we find someone of good Christian Integrity.

LAST WEEK,  I promised some photos of the Swimming Pool dedication.   Here are a few.  It went very well indeed, but we have still had some teething problems with the Engines that drive the pumps.   Seems to be sorted now, and the pool is being used by the School and even others ( THEY have to pay if they are from 'outside' - i.e. the general public.)

About 200 parents attended, seated under the tent, and about a third of the students from Primary and Secondary all seated at the side.

Below, in the second photo you can see a good view of the new Academic Bloc, and some of the 

students taking part in the events standing to the left

outside the dressing rooms.

Mike Potter and I were sitting at the Shallow End - you can see the back of our heads.

We felt it was a good beginning, and it will certainly be a well used facility, and we hope an encouragement to sport in general.    So far the largest Pool in our area, and we hope to see many Schools  come and use it for Competition.    Who knows, one day a World Champion Swimmer might begin from here.   Certainly our lady Coach hopes so, herself a onetime Olympic Team Member.

WELL this must be all for this week.      All is well with us.    We are with God.    We hold His hand, and look to HIM.       God Bless you all.    Rejoice in all you see being accomplished here - you are each one a part of it ALL.

John and Esther & Daryl and Carol

HELP FROM DOWN UNDER!

TWENTY FIVE YEARS AGO,  Dani (top centre) and her husband Mike (just below her) came to Kenya to teach in a private School in Nairobi (Cavina School).   They were young, not long married, and a friend of ours put them in touch with us.  They arrived for a brief break in 1988, and have been coming ever since, adding a family member as God brought them along.    They have all become a very precious and special part of our personal family, AND also a part of Testimony Family as a whole.    A DYNAMIC mixture of fun, drive and energy, not to forget artistic talent.
They left Kenya and returned to Adelaide, South Australia in 2000, and Mike became of Head of Tyndale Christian School where he has been ever since.   BUT Kenya was not out of mind, and in 2002 Mike brought a party of students and staff to get acquainted with Kenya and with US.    They have been coming ever since in '04,  '06,  '08,   '09,  '10,  '11,  '12, and now this July with a new party of 38!   Amazing interest, and support from every visit, and always a great demonstration of hard work, good will, and friendship.     A Blessing for all of US, from the smallest to the eldest (guess that's me).      And the dedication and commitment all underscored by the huge effort made to actually get here.     Each student has to earn their own air-fare and cost of their keep by having out of school jobs for at least a year before they can afford to come.   They EARN their own finance AND manage to have something to GIVE and leave behind for us.    This began mainly with Testimony in mind, but over the years Tyndale School, its staff and students have also expanded their interest, love and practical help to NEW LIFE HOMES in Nairobi and also NEEMA Children's Homes   run by Miriam and Joshua  Mbithi here nearby in Eldoret.
THIS time round their main project for US has been the building of a new Milking Shed for our four cows.
In 2011 we had started a small Dairy, on Testimony House compound, but due to the creation of the Swimming Pool, it had to be moved to the Jacaranda Cottage Compound, just opposite Tyndale Cottage.
It was quite an undertaking to build this structure and the team really THREW themselves into it.    Some were also doing some interior re-decoration in one or two of the Homes, and other needy jobs.
They were also able to attend the Official Opening of the new School Swimming Pool.     Mike gave a short keynote address, and the function was attended by a good number of parents, we all enjoying various items and demonstrations put on by students from Primary to High School  in the pool.     This happened about 11am on the 11th July.  
TOMORROW we shall be having a Baptismal Sunday Service, and four or five are to be baptised in water, two among them being members of the Tyndale Team.   Wonderful.

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THE WEATHER, has not been too sunny, but not too bad, and the rain has mainly been at night.    Not SO cold either.   Thank you Lord.      The Homes are now FULL with a population of 140.    A few may be leaving still, by the end of the year having completed College, and expecting to find employment.    The latter is a growing problem as no new job opportunities are being created and more and more are joining the prospective employment force - mainly to end up unemployed.

At the end of June/ beginning of July we were going through one of those 'Storms on the Lake' situations.  We had Jesus securely with us of course.......but there were moments when we had that 'sinking' feeling quite strong upon us.      What JOY then when suddenly all was made to be calm again by the supply of most of our long awaited needs - Thank you to all who have so wonderfully responded to the prompting of Father's Holy Spirit just in time to not only LIFT us UP, but to once more remind us of where our help comes from.

In 2011 we had felt to do without individual COOKS in each of the four Homes.     Initially we decided to just have ONE central Kitchen and then distribute the food to the Homes.     This was part of an initiative on our part to reduce running costs by diminishing staff.    THEN later we decided to let the House Mothers in each house be the COOK in their own homes, and thus restore to each home that homely family joy of aroma and and fellowship in the kitchen.      It has worked, but on the other hand we found that for some it was too heavy a duty to cook AND clean for an average of 36 kids.     SO from next month we will return to our original position and each Home will have its own cook for five days of the week, and then at week-ends Mum and some of the senior children will help cook.

I have been having problems with my computer over the last month, and last week I was prevented from putting up a Blog as I usually do..       ALSO I have been trying to commence a Prayer Sheet that I can send out by E-mail and ordinary post bi-monthly.      My first attempt was a disaster, but it seems that the second one was successful so I hope to be able to make it a regular posting.      I must also apologise for being rather behind in acknowledging gifts received via AENON Trust.     Hope I shall be up to date by the end of the coming week.    HOWEVER a number of e-mail letters are being returned and so I would kindly as you to make sure we do have your LATEST mail address.

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NEXT WEEK I will endeavour to put up some photos of the new cow shed and the Opening of the Pool.

Tyndale Team will be leaving us on Thursday after a two week stay.     And I will include a photo of them all here, taken on the steps of the School Hall.   We have enjoyed their fellowship, and have appreciated their hard work AND their outgoing friendliness to all the children.    Parting IS such sweet sorrow - but they will be back next year, though most of them will never have been before.       

I am sitting at my desk looking once more out across the lawn towards Testimony House.   The afternoon has proved a little dank and cold -everywhere seeming to have a rather 'grey' look.    The BIG Mahogany Tree is shedding its leaves, and one or two flutter down onto the grass, already littered with dozens of such leaves, golden and crinkled - somehow the scene and the atmosphere has made me remember a few lines from the poem by John Keats - 'La Belle Dame Sans Merci'

'The sedge has withered from the lake,

and no birds sing.'

Well, of course, we have no lake and no sedge, but the 'feel'  somehow conjures up the scene, and the BIRDS are strangely silent as well.

God Bless you all, and keep you close to HIM through the coming week

John and Esther & Daryl and Carol

NOTHING BUT THE TRUTH!

ALL THE CHILDREN IN THIS PHOTO, together with all the abandoned, destitute orphans in our world, are victims of disobedience and disregard to the LAW of GOD.     And do not jump up and say that I am speaking as a Christian bigot.   I am speaking as a reasonable observer of the world we live in.     The Koran, the Vedas, and indeed ALL the Religious holy books basically AGREE with the Bible when presenting GOD's idea of what is Good and Bad.   FORGET God, Who and What He is, then we dilute our ideas of Right and Wrong, and our moral and ethical standards begin to get 'watered down' and even turned inside out.       Look at these kids.  Just a small sample of millions - the product of violent quarrels between their parents, adultery, murder, fornication, family disputes of all kinds, and even ethnic bitterness.   Maybe just one per cent of those in my photo lost their home and parents due to what we might term 'natural courses' such as sickness.            WE all live in a world just as LOT lived in his with his wife.  Lot had actually chosen his spot!!    They did not always admire the society they lived in, but they more and more put up with it, got used to it, and even compromised with it for the sake peace and comfort.   (2.Peter 2v8)Lot vexed his soul with it all at times, but was still loath to leave, and his wife looked longingly back to what she was leaving.     Neither prospered in the end since their eyes were not on God but on the world around them.   Read their story in Genesis 19.   These two are often talked about in church as examples of weakness and worldliness -yet in truth TODAY, they could be part of a growing majority.     Remember again that, their world included, and became judged because of, Sodomy!!!


IN EVERY CLASSROOM of our School hang the TEN COMMANDMENTS, and on a regular cycle teachers and others will refer to the effect of these Commandment on our society today.    We have youngsters from godless families who never attend church.   We have -in our School - children from Muslim, Buddhist, Hindu and other Faiths as well as Christian.     Their parents all strongly support us BECAUSE we are setting before their children a strong Moral and Disciplined backdrop to life.      It makes a difference NOT TO FORGET what is real TRUTH about Right and Wrong - Truth that every child ever born has been enlightened by - if only dimly - through what we term 'Conscience'  (the candle of God searching us out).    WHEN that little candle flame of awareness of Right and Wrong is confronted by that same truth, in any form, it WILL grow and prosper.      BUT when it is enveloped in willful ignorance and the darkness of this world, it can become put out.............   Thus with world animosity against all that is RIGHT in the real sense of that word, we are all poised on the edge of an Abyss.....OR as Ezekiel says in chapter 7 of his great and wonderful book -

'And the end has come!   The end has come  - (the end - after sleeping so long)  awakes against you.    See it has come.....'    Ezekiel 7v6.

It is worth spending time with Ezekiel -his words are so relevant even in this present time.   Esther and I, plus our houseparents are reading a chapter every morning at present, as we meet for prayer - early before breakfast.     It is a WORD resounding with Warning - Warning and Prediction of His Coming to Judge the World.     It is a book that demonstrates and describe,s so TERRIFYINGLY, of the completeness of God's Wrath and Judgement.
And, as one reads, one begins to realise the Wonder of what Jesus Christ obtained for us when He gave up His life for us on the Cross - SUCH, Forgiveness!    Such GRACE!    Such Loving Kindness.    SUCH A FULL SALVATION!

This Sunday in our Morning Fellowship I shall begin again (for the 9th time since I began) to set forth the Commandments of God to our children.      It is FIVE years since I last did so.    Without the KNOWLEDGE of God's WAY for us, we will never SEE our need of forgiveness;  never realise desperately enough how helpless and hopeless we are; we will never see our Saviour and open our heart and mouth to CRY OUT to be SAVED!    The LAW, the 10 Commandments of God, is our Schoolmaster to lead us to SEE our need of CHRIST if we want in any way to fulfill God's Purpose in creating any one of us.      Pray for me dear friends, that I may still be used as a prophet - a preacher - a messenger of God; even to those who in the church!!!    Pray for me also that I might still 'feel' after God in all my ways, and not be led by my own feelings instead, and that He will help me to be courageous for His Sake in all my ways.

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ESTHER AND I,  have just become Grandparents once more!      Our son Michael and his wife Janet received their firstborn son on Friday, 28th of June during morning hours.      The babe waited unduly, and eventually had to be induced.    Not an easy time for them, and after the birth, Janet continued to bleed and be in pain so that this caused a little anxiety again.      BUT as I write the Lord has undertaken for them all, and Janet much better, and babe doing well.     His name is LIAM ALEXANDER GREEN.     We, Esther and I, are both very happy and excited.     Thank you AGAIN, Lord for your Goodness to us all.

We now have FIVE grandchildren in the UK, and three with us here in Kenya - Daryl and Carol's children.

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On TUESDAY this week we had our usual fortnightly Meeting to discuss Finance, and other Management matters (Esther,Me,Daryl,  PLUS Anthony Ndungu, our School Principal, and Okoth Otieino our Treasurer).          We were quite desperate for funds as we met at 10a.m. our time,   but at 11a.m. our Bank advised us that funds had arrived..........Oh Father !     What perfect timing yet again; what cause for Praise, and WHAT relief.          

We also had to discuss the two boys suspended a while back and to review our decision.   Both the Ministry of Education AND the parent had hoped to change our minds.   However we felt, on further review that this was a necessary action on our part, and that although sorry for the students involved, and for their parents, we could not be seen to do less in front of those whose lives had been libellously harmed and the student body, which carefully observes the standard of our discipline, hoping to find a loophole to take advantage of.

We also decided to make provision for EARLY RETIREMENT for one of our  Cleaners, Mary MUGO.       Mary has helped with domestic chores both in the Homes and in the School for the last 28 years.    She will be 60 this year, and due to Retire at the end of December.    However, for the last few years she has suffered progressively from Diabetes, and now find she cannot easily cope with her duties.    She has been a good faithful, and hard working person all her life.    She will now leave her duties this week, but we shall continue to pay her until the end of December when she will be able to draw a little pension as well, to help her along.

Finally we noted a need to put a Security Camera at the new pool area,  provide for 12 emergency lights in the School to accommodate regular power cuts during evening study for the School Boarders, AND to renew bedding in Drakeley Cottage.

Just a little glimpse into the many things that go on in a week here.

On WEDNESDAY I took myself off to the dentist for a root filling of a long painful tooth.    Went quite well, and it has now quite settled.

On THURSDAY Daryl and I attended a Probation Meeting in the District Headquarters.   This is a special meeting that addresses matters related to helping probationers, concluding their 'time', not to find themselves back in Court.      A voluntary Revolving Fund has been set up which seeks to help some in starting a small business or some other self help enterprise. It has worked well, and TFH has from time to time also donated a little in order to increase the numbers assisted.      The money is loaned individually to those cases that have shown worthiness, and is gradually REPAID by the Borrower over an agreed period, then to be relent to someone else.

On FRIDAY it was the Annual General Meeting of our Board.   This is a fifteen man/woman Committee that meets quarterly and officially stands as our Management Board.     Fourteen are Christian men and women from town.   Some are teachers, accountants, lawyers, doctors, hoteliers, and Lecturers.    And ONE is a Muslim.       He came to be on our Board in 1974.   He was then a Municipal Health Officer and had shown us much kindness and spiritual encouragement.     He is with our Chairman the longest serving member of our Board.    Esther, Daryl and I are also Members, part of the 15.

IN BETWEEN children, staff, and visitors coming and going all day, sometimes well into the evening still.

Eventful, busy, and sometimes just a little tiring for us who are well over 60  -   Oh, there is only ONE of us so far, and that is me.        But I am well and doing well -perhaps too well, as a rather meddlesome old man at times.

OUR LOVE to you all.    We do not forget any one of you, knowing that you also have busy days and are challenged more than we know.      This is life.     We need to have care of each other always, and to pray for each other whenever the Spirit stirs up our memory of each other.

God Bless and be with you through this week

John and Esther & Daryl and Carol

      

WHY NOT TAX THE AIR WE BREATH?

CERTAINLY LIFE ON PLANET EARTH IS BECOMING NO JOKE because of worldwide increasing TAXATION!       There is little doubt, as one reads the papers and watches TV news, that internationally governments are progressively finding new ways to fill their coffers via Inland Revenue - TAX..
You will all know of Joshua and Miriam Mbithi's trauma with the Kenya Revenue Authority, where two dedicated Kenyans engaged in caring for HIV babies and infants are being hounded to pay Kenya Shillings eleven million. (approximately eighty eight thousand pounds sterling).     They themselves have no personal income,working virtually as volunteers, and often in need.    All for the love of God and of the unfortunate and destitute children of the State which in liable to provide the care themselves without charitable intervention.      And in doing so are now expected to PAY the Government for the labour of assisting them.      And not the Mbithi's only but ALL Charitable works and ministries are being threatened, including ourselves, with the same determination to extract funds from donations given for the poor of the Country.     Does anyone cry SHAME?     I have not heard any!
INDEED Kenya is even now considering increasing VAT on essential commodities.    Increases that will impoverish the general population even more, reducing many to penury and perhaps near starvation levels of  existence.     A step that will definitely lower the standard of living for the majority.Let me insert here part of an article from The STAR printed on the 19th June this year.

Kenyans Mobilise Against Taxing the Poor

On a side street in Nairobi's bustling neighbourhood of Shauri Moya, Gaisal Ngila shouts to street vendors, motorbike taxi drivers and pedestrians - 'Do you know taxes are increasing in Kenya?'     He is trying to drum up opinion against a new Bill currently in front of Parliament.  The Bill seeks to apply a 16% VAT rate on basic commodities that have remained un-taxed until now.  These to include Rice, Bread,Maize, Flour, processed milk, and sanitary pads!... ...............many worried citizens are worried about the Bill's impact on their already meagre incomes.     'I am not really working.    Sometimes I do casual labour washing dishes and clothes' says Julia Njoki, a mother of four.   'If they add tax to maize bread and milk I will not be able to buy anything.'

The current average wage for the non-skilled majority in Kenya is often seven thousand shillings or less in a month.    (approximately Fifty-six pounds sterling a month).         Few such families can afford, even now, to include MEAT in their diet,which amounts mainly to maize flour and vegetables.      The general prospect is not promising.
Reading another article found in a Readers Digest published in South Africa in 2004 I was interested to read the following-

GARTH ZIETSMAN a statistician with a major South African Bank states that an average South African worker toiled from January 1st to April 30 just to pay his or her year's Tax - approximately 31.7% of the working year paying taxes alone.   Stated differently all the money spent by governments is taken in taxes from the people.   It is mainly the salaries of the cabinet, parliamentarians, provincial council members, civil servants, the army, police, teachers, judges, magistrates, city councillors, municipal official, health workers and all the other people on the government payrolls that swallow up the first 116 days of earnings of the entire nation.  AND you thought your children were your only dependents.........   !!                                         ............At some stage the increases become an intolerable burden on a country's productive citizens and reduce their capacity and will to produce goods and services.       ............... .................Government expenditure was declining in the '90s but has increased again in the last three years.   Even worse, government has promised to increase its spending even more in the near future, so get ready to pay higher taxes.    This is an unfortunate prospect considering that freedom from excessive taxes encourages people to work harder, produce more, and hire more workers..'

Recently world media reports that governments worldwide are going to increase tax in the coming months.
Is it necessary?   Is such increase justified.......Consider Kenya's parliamentarians and senators demanding higher salaries - and they WILL get them one way or another - and the proletariat will PAY whilst taking a lower standard of living themselves.      It was this kind of selfish, greed motivated attitude to deprive the French nation of bread two hundred years ago - they finally rebelled with disastrous results not just for themselves but for the world.     An increase of 16% on our basic expenditure on food and essentials will increase our monthly outgoings by more than 200,000/-.         Many charities are already closing down.  
What will happen to Kenya's poor when the majority of the free help and aid channelled through charity is forced to be taken somewhere else?     Will the Nation find the shortfall and fill the gap?    It is very unlikely -  the poor will be poorer,     Many will not survive.      It is going to be a world wide experience.   Woe to the World.

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SOME THREE WEEKS ago I wrote about some boys in our High School who had maligned three or four of our Teachers through the Internet and on Face book.       Out of about SIX who had conspired in this matter TWO (the ringleaders and chief perpetrators) were expelled.      They had finished their Course-work for their final year in High School, and have two months left for Revision before sitting for their examinations.     Though Expelled they have been given permission to return to sit their Mock and Final exams and additionally provided with all text books they need for revision.        I had hoped it might not have had to come to this myself, but the damage done has been ongoing with one of the teachers having her marriage almost destroyed, and the other two feeling quite demoralised.      The facts of the matter as reported on the Internet were all proved to be false, including photos that had also been published in support of the text.  We were able to trace the Web Page Owners and had it deleted.

To have the boys back in class would have meant to loss of at least two of the teachers who were victims; they would have found it untenable to teach the culprits of the case equably.     To have boys back in class would have meant that any student could virtually get away with anything.    School discipline and respect for staff would have slumped, and morally none of our parents would have been able to trust the management to deal effectively with such unethical behaviour.

The Department of Education feels we have acted in an 'imature' and incorrect manner.    They feel every child has the right to learn, and that NONE should be expelled without their permission.    We acted without asking what they thought, and they felt slighted - although we did later carefully present all the evidence of the case and explained our position, and the reasoning behind our opinion.      The Director of Education merely said (to their face) that our teachers were 'imature, and should grow up' and that the so called crime was no worse than 'writing graffiti on a toilet door.'    We were admonished and reminded that the Right of the Child came first, and that indeed it was what was best for the child that should came before consideration of the adults feelings.

Apparently discipline had no place in the objective judgement of the Director.       However she refused to DIRECT us to reverse our decision, only strongly urging us to do so.      We have not done so, and have little intention of doing so.    

A SERIOUS kind of week, but we all continue well in the midst of rain and coolness.

During the next week I will be writing to those of you who may have sent a gift to us over the last two or three months.       I  may also be sending a monthly Prayer Letter via E.Mail to all those whose address I have no record.      The BLOG may still continue, but some may not have time to accessing it and it may be  easier for some of you to just pick something up from your mail.

Our continuing Love an good wishes to you all from us all

John and Esther & Daryl and Carol.

COMINGS AND GOINGS!!

SINCE AUGUST 1969 there have been constant 'Comings and Goings', Arrivals and Departures from Testimony Faith Homes.
As with any Family there will be new arrivals, and eventually they will grow up and move on and away.  The ebb and tide of family life.      For us, there seem more that COME than those that GO,  but in fact no one stays for ever.      THIS current year has seen fifteen come IN and nine go OUT.
This week, on Friday, we had a Farewell Fellowship at Jacaranda Cottage for two of their 'family' that have now left the home and are living independently!      Usually each home likes to have a special time to say farewell to any of its members leaving.     We spend time singing, encouraging, praying and sharing cake and soda.     There is also Presentation of a Bible and a Gift of ten thousand Kenya Shillings to each one leaving.      Always a good time of real family fellowship - a little emotional at times as well.
On FRIDAY we were say goodbye to FAITH KIVITHE and DENNIS ASIEVERA.
FAITH came to Jacaranda in 1991, when she was just a few months old.  She had been abandoned in a hotel in town;  no one ever came forward to claim her, and no one was ever traced in efforts to find out more about her.     She was truly orphaned and destitute.     Joshua and Miriam Mbithi were the Mum and Dad in Jacaranda Cottage at that time, until 2003, and since there were vacancies in their home at Jacaranda, Faith was taken there.     Faith was a quiet and rather introspective baby and child.    She did not smile a lot, and was almost too serious and 'old fashioned' and 'staid'in her attitude and personality.        I often wondered, as she grew up, what she would do, so severe and strict she seemed to be.     But she was a well behaved, helpful person, and although not brilliant at School she was studious and attentive to her lessons.   Suddenly in the midst of her teenage she began to come out of her shell, so to speak, and to blossom.       She chose Early Childhood Education as a career, and amazingly the strict, severe, and unsmiling girl has become the teacher ALL the small children seek after.       For the 22 years of her life Jacaranda has been her only home.    For the ten years since Joshua and Miriam left, Joseph and Beatrice Rop have been parents in the home, and she has formed a close bond with them as well.      There were a few tears on Friday Night, but no sense of insecurity about her.     With Jesus, her Saviour, beside her she has gained strength and peace.    She is working locally.   She is not lost to us.   She will be calling in for sure......God Bless you daughter!
DENNIS came to Jacaranda Cottage in 2001, ten years after Faith.     he was from another town more than a hundred kilometres from Eldoret.    He was just thirteen years old, older than we usually allow children to be admitted to us here.    But his need was very special.   One fateful night in April 2001 his father rose up and killed his wife and most of the family without any apparent reason or provocation.     Dennis was one of those that survived, but it was considered urgent to remove him from the area for his own future safety.         Dennis had no smiles on his arrival, and was a silent and lonesome boy.    On the other hand he was keen to learn and at school and applied himself to study.
On leaving High School he took a Course in Accountancy, and is now employed locally as a Stores and Procurement Officer.     He has grown up and away from the trauma that brought him to us, and has become a smart, responsible young man of 25.      He leaves many 'family' friends behind him,and we know that he also will be visiting what took time to become a home from home, and a refuge in a time of storm.  The Lord be with you, our son.

ON WEDNESDAY we admitted four children from a single parent family of nine siblings.   The Mother is still living in great squalor in one of our town's satellite areas.    She is about 40,un-married and having born nine kids.      She is at this time having the youngest at her breast, and another of two years, together with a 13 and 17 year old boy.     They have until now ALL resided together in a small room of some 12'x12' without running water, electricity or sewer line.       The case was reported to us as one of gross poverty rather than neglect or cruelty.    Since then the Mother has been medically prevented from bearing further children, and we have agreed to relieve her immediate burden in caring for the four of her children now being admitted.      Other parties will assist her with food and later when the baby has been weaned, steps will be taken to help her find employment or some way to support herself.    Perhaps then, if the need seems apparent, she will have her children returned to her.     She will of course have access to her children whilst they are with us, but they will not be able to return residentially to her, or even visit her until her material and moral situation has improved.
TWO of the children are in Jacaranda Cottage.    The are June aged 9 years, and her elder brother Meshram aged 11.    By Friday they had already settled down and seemed happy and glad to be with us.    The other two are in the Drakeley Family - they are brothers Ronnie aged 7 and Brian aged 5.   They too seem happy and without any trace of sadness       All had their heads shaved in order to get rid of lice when they arrived - you might not immediately recognise the girl amongst them.  (top right)
AND SO  as some were leaving other were arriving for an indeterminate stay of  what ultimately will be years.   The beginning of a new chapter in their lives.       And so the Ebb and Flow goes on.

from top left - Meshram,  June, Brian, and Ronnie

IT CONTINUES TO RAIN OUTSIDE, drumming on our iron roof loudly - temperature at 65f  still COLD for us here,     Most of the children just now home from Saturday lessons at School and inside their respective homes.        Real JUNE weather!!     Might go on to September!!!   Daryl has been called away to Nakuru for the afternoon on business and Esther and I have just come in from celebrating the 50th Birthday of one of our Danish missionary friends. Whilst I attempt to complete this week's Blog, Esther is now in the kitchen putting a cake together for tomorrow evenings Prayer Fellowship which will be in our little house this week.    About 30 brothers and sisters attend for prayer and fellowship.    Wonderful times of spiritual encouragement and oneness in Christ.

Life goes on.    Right now it goes on whilst we are to all intents and purposes facing bankruptcy!
Don't be alarmed.      There is nothing you can do for us that we might be saved in time...................
God must have arranged it all long ago - ours is but to wait.  To WAIT and yet to also GO ON, and as we go, HE will provide and undertake for all our need.      This is always how it has been for us since we began.     God does not change.       How Long, Lord?   How long?     We may often, all of us, be heard to ask that question in times like these 'seige situations'.      Perhaps not for long.    The Evil Power comes strongly upon the Church of the First Born, and we wait for and expect the coming of the KING soon.      Somewhere I read recently that a Messianic Jewish Rabbi has said the Messiah must come soon - before the end of the decade.   He says that He should come within the generation started in the year Israel was declared a State once more in 1947 - a generation generally calculated to be 70 years in Jewish thought.      Do WE wait for and expect HIM to come more than the answer to our petty needs and aspirations? Do we want HIM more than the healing, the deliverance, the modern miracle?      Will we be ready when HE comes;  will we be hungering and thirsting for HIM  more than the relief of our material problem of the moment.?          Oh COME Lord Jesus.      Surely these ARE the days of LOT - we have arrived in the midst of them SUDDENLY, when even 73 years ago they were considered inconceivable.................SUDDENLY He IS coming - WILL come and arrive......
Have mercy on us.\

Our continuing thought and prayer on the behalf of each and every one of you.    We labour together = let us together receive the Prize with JOY/.

John and Esther & Daryl and Carol

MORE GRIT IN OUR FEED

I WILL NEVER ACCEPT THAT TWO MEN OR TWO WOMEN LIVING TOGETHER CAN EVER BE CONSIDERED AS BEING MARRIED, as God intended or meant it to BE!   I cannot see how it can be understood or seen to be Marriage!  To wipe out what has been known and accepted civilized social behavior for thousands of years is without sense or sensibility!    It is just degenerative misuse of free will and determined ignorance.
The British Prime Minister has said that 'same sex 'marriage is to be 'accepted' practise in the UK,  and that we should now address the problem of how to keep married couples TOGETHER!     He is concerned with 'BROKEN' marriages, and their growing number.     BUT does he have any chance of finding an answer, since it is obvious he does not regard the Word of God on which successful society is built.

I found this broken egg photo interesting!   Mainly because of the fragility it demonstrates - but is it, or should it be used to demonstrate marriage?       Marriage has become an 'institution' that in one way or another the 'christian' world (godly or otherwise) has followed.      BUT not all marry in a RIGHT spirit, or for a right reason.     My own 'parents' split up when I was ten years old.     My dad was a heavy drinker, and physically abused my mum almost every night.   He was the only bread winner, and he spent it all on booz.      It was a difficult and unloving relationship.       She finally got up one morning and left.      She took me with her......Much later I was to write -

'My Mother often asked if I thought she had done right,

to leave her husband, and if I felt hurt because of it.  She was always worried about it in her heart.

Then I would say to her that everything was alright - 

and that God wanted her to be happy anyway.

ANYWAY?   No, not anyway, not by ANY means.

But I had still to learn that.

Certainly God wants us all to be happy,  BUT there is no real happiness apart from HIM; 

outside of HIS Law of Love.

And my mother was never happy either.

HER marriage had lasted about 14 years.   That 'eggshell' took a bit of cracking - but it did crack!

Recently I saw a marriage of 17 years crack open.    The husband had been -maybe continues to be - unfaithful for many years.     Suddenly the wife got up and left him, AND her three kids.     What a mess - both say they are Christian, and that they had loved each other once, and meant their Wedding Vows as binding till death.  Yet the ties that bound them did wear thin, and finally, at least for one of them, they snapped.        In Kenya today this occurs more and more frequently - even within MONTHS of marriage.      What IS wrong with our 'eggshells' - don't they have enough GRIT?

JESUS, the Messiah, said there was something of prime necessity that any follower, disciple of His needed to do.     He or she needed to LOVE ONE ANOTHER, JUST AS HE HAD LOVED THEM.

The Disciple has to LEARN how to LAY down his/her life for the other.      MARRIAGE, I believe, is the crucible in which we LEARN about love and loving from God's point of view.   OUTSIDE of marriage we may still have some licence to come and go in our human, general, relationships with each other - but NOT SO in marriage - in Marriage we BIND ourselves, in front of God and Man, to our partner - for life.     We lay down our life, let go of its rights and privileges for the sake of the other.

THIS is NOT easy, humanly - it may not humanly even be possible!    BUT WITH GOD, nothing is impossible - and SO, if Christ be IN us, then we may receive from HIM the power needed to lay down our lives - even as HE received power to lay His down for US -for me. and for YOU.

Men and Women are always full of excuses for themselves; what they allow, what they cannot bear, what they cannot give up!   BUT none of mankind are created to do or be what they themselves determine; we are created to do God's Will.      If I come to understand this, then GOD will and does give me POWER (in and through Jesus Christ) to achieve it.

I can be stubborn and insist on doing what I want - or I can submit to God and lay down what I want in order to do what HE wants.        I learn this in Marriage, and can demonstrate it in Marriage.

'If a man would saves his life - or seeks to save it - he loses it, and destroys it.

BUT, if HE destroys his own life, gives it away, suffers the loss of it,

THEN HE WILL SAVE IT

This is the Law of the Kingdom of Heaven, and we are here and alive to LEARN it.    Marriage is to be one of the ways we may learn about it.     Esther and I will say of our own marriage relationship - it has not been easy; it has suffered hardship, sorrow, even hurtfulness along the way.  BUT it has endured and lasted for the 42 years since it began, and NOW we can say truly, that we love each other more and more.      Whilst that is true for us, then there is hope for the rest of the world.   But it is founded on the ROCK of God's LIVING WORD,and in DOING what it says.

I am sure, if you read this, you will have many things come to mind (humanly) in the way of mitigating circumstances, and compassionate grounds, to argue the case for desertion, separation, DIVORCE.     Moses was given a reason for permitting  Divorce -but JESUS still put it clearly when HE said, that from the Beginning it was NOT meant to be like that.      That it was because of the HARDNESS of Man's heart, that it was allowed.         Yes it is always our human, self-righteous, unforgiving, HARD and unyielding heart/mind that causes us to DESERT and GIVE UP on each other.     A clear indication that we have a deficiency in our diet......we are not TAKING in and DIGESTING God's direction for our lives.    THIS is the 'grit' we need to make the 'egg shell' of our Marriage STRONG and ENDURING - the 'GRIT' of His Love, loving another through Jesus in us.

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NOTHING OF GREAT IMPORT to report or write about this week.      The RAIN has returned - just as we were filling the swimming pool with water!    The skies grey and overcast, and the temperature quite cool in the middle f60s  -  yes I know that WILL sound quite warm, but here at the Equator it can FEEL quite cold even.     We are entering the Winter Season here now.     Life, by His Grace and Care, has gone quietly and uneventfully on.     We know His Eye is upon us, as it is upon the Sparrow.

We often feel as if we are in another world, here within our compound, and as we pursue the daily routine of our work and ministry.     A small group of men and women, boys and girls barely noticed in the World at large.      BUT Jesus is in our hearts and He walks and talks with us, as He does to others everywhere.

Well the building works have now ceased.      I told you much earlier that is is the SCHOOL that has been building with the help of the Bank.       Four new Classrooms for the Secondary School section of the School, with a new Library AND a hostel for 60 boarding students - all in one.   THEN at the same time provision of a Standard size Swimming Pool which is hoped to be used by other schools as well as our own, since it the ONLY one still in working order in the whole district open for school's to use.        It has all cost a packet of money, but it well supported and encouraged by the parents of the the children (not ours of course) that attend.    Indeed School parents have once again this year renewed their determination to permit the Homes children (140 of them) to all attend the School FREE.      We had built the school with this in mind, but we have always sought the good will and agreement of those sending children in from outside on a Fee Paying basis.

What next?       Well maybe not much.      On the School side they will seek no further expansion in the next decade.     On the Homes side Repair and Maintenance and Refurbishment all demand constant attention, our daily bread being the main focus of our prayer.      But, one day, we hope to renew Jacaranda Cottage which is full of defects and recurring material problems.    The Lord knows, and He knows the future.      Many of us feel time is running out.......We watch more intently now than ever before.    We Watch and we pray............and we Thank God for what we are enabled to DO and for every young life we are able to reach and touch for the Kingdom of God.

The LORD, who will soon return, be with you all, and Thank you for your fellowship always.

John and Esther & Daryl and Carol