Kenya
My husband and I visited Testimony in 1991 and were unforgettably touched by not only the great love shown for all the children living within the homes by John and Esther and Joshua and Miriam (who were the two sets of house parents at the time), but also by the living act of faith through which the Homes survived. Their warmth and love has stayed with us ever since, and it is a great privilege to be able to tell others about the work they are doing.
What are Testimony Faith Homes?
Testimony Faith Homes are now four different homes, each house having parents who care for the many children in their care as their own family. Testimony also has a school which provides for the educational needs of their children, and also for children from the surrounding areas.
The first home began in Maseno (Western Kenya) when John Green, a British Expatriate working with ‘Trinity Fellowship’ in Kenya, came across two orphaned and destitute brothers in need of help. John took them in and cared for them, and soon more children came in need of help. Although John had not come to Kenya with the idea of commencing a home for children, he believed God was directing him to set up an orphanage. He wrote at the time: ‘I had a definite Vision before my eyes and was already started along a road previously unimagined in my wildest dreams. The Vision was to see a Christian orphanage begun, preferably in the form of cottage homes. Together with these Homes, a School was to be built…’
TESTIMONY HOUSE was the first of the cottage homes and started in August 1969, in a small mud cottage in Maseno Hospital Compound. Now the homes are situated in Eldoret, in the Rift Valley. Starting with the two boys mentioned above, it slowly increased in numbers until reaching a population of around 40 children at any one time. In 1971 John married Esther Iguru, and it became possible to live as a real family. In 1975 a second Home was opened. Testimony now has 4 homes and a school.
John and Esther Green saw their mission as being a real Father and Mother to the children God brought to their house. They felt that children who had lost both home and parents needed to have them restored. Thus Testimony House would become home to incoming children, and John and Esther the parents. When their own children were born, they became part of the whole ‘family’ and all stayed together, totally integrated and living as far as possible at the same level. This is how all the 4 homes have been set up.
The Nature of the Work
Testimony Faith Homes is a Christian Ministry, but not a religious one. It is not aligned with any particular Christian Denomination or Persuasion. It was felt from the onset that the Homes would depend on God alone and that it would demonstrate what Faith in God Alone could produce and for this reason they do not solicit funds or apply for financial assistance from any public body unless invited by the body to do so.
John writes: We are able to SEE the ‘evidence of things hoped for’ in the (FOUR) Children’s Homes and the School, that came into being as a result. The daily provision and upkeep of hundreds of boys and girls are all a clear miracle of His Providence. The Houses that have become Homes to so many, and the School Buildings have themselves become the Substance and Evidence of things hoped for even before they were seen. Yet it is also true that this was not attained or experienced without often Trial and Testing, and at times even Opposition. Human anxiety, fear and even desperation have often assailed us, yet we have always seen the Deliverance and the Answer to our prayers break in upon us to save us. We have suffered abuse, criticism, false accusation, loss of friends, material poverty, and even human disappointment even as hinted at by Paul in 2.Corinthians 6v4-10. In all the suffering we have been also able to experience the JOY of His Undertaking for us, and His Fellowship with us. At times walking through a seemingly endless desert on what might have been the ‘monotony’ of survival rations, there could be distress, BUT to SEE His Presence walking with us – to SEE His Hand provide for our daily life and hope – has been a miracle to us in itself. We ever bare in mind Deuteronomy 8v1-20.
John Alexander Green Founder / Director
30th June, 2004
World Families and Testimony Homes
In 2005, I approached John and his wife Esther and asked if I could set up a WFA project for Testimony Homes, as a way of supporting the work they do. As with all our projects, WFA does not interfere what so ever with the running of their work, but merely transfers the money donated by people wanting to assist Testimony Homes to them, and shares with others about their work so that those who choose to do so can assist.
There are no individual child sponsorships available though this project, but sponsors for the project itself (i.e. Testimony Homes as a whole) or one off donation of any amount, are welcomed, and are used towards education and other needs for the children. Gifts to Testimony Homes can be sent to WFA by a cheque made out to WFA, with a note attached to say it is for Testimony Homes in Kenya. 87% to 100% of all donations are sent to Testimony. WFA takes a maximum of $8 from any donation of over $60 to assist WFA in bank transfer costs, newsletter production and other office expenses. Sponsorship of the project is a minimum of $62 an annual quarter which can be paid by cheque or through direct debit.
For more information about Testimony Homes please contact:
Dani Potter on DaniPotter@tyndale.sa.edu.au or 08 8283 0728;
or
Sandi Petersen on rspetersen@optusnet.com.au