Latest News Report

It is always lovely when someone else says nice things about you. 

I was therefore delighted to receive a copy of the following article written by Rev Dr Ali Green and published in the Holy Trinity Church. Bradford on Avon, Wiltshire. March 2017 news.

Here is a copy:

Home of Peace

Each time I go on holiday I have a house sitter to care for pets and plants – and the sitter gets a holiday, too, in lovely Bradford on Avon. A modest amount of money is generated from this scheme by the organizing charity, Christian House Sitters, run by Ray and Marilyn White. All the funds raised go to a very special family in Kenya.

A Caring Home

This is the Home of Peace, an interdenominational children’s home in which a dedicated team looks after 53 children. The staff of 14 includes the Manager, the Administrator and a Qualified Social Worker. They are overseen by Marilyn on a daily basis. Ray and Marilyn are responsible for all the financial needs of the Home of Peace and oversee the work, monitoring where every penny is spent, under the UK Registered Charity TLC Children’s Trust, and are closely monitored by the Trustees.

Many of the youngsters’ parents have died from AIDS, typhoid, malaria or other diseases and as a result they were left homeless and to had fend for themselves because their home village was too poor to take on an extra hungry child. Some children, as young as three or four years old, were taken from their tiny villages in the bush and dumped in the town of Siaya because the family could no longer look after them. Once in Siaya they were simply left and had to beg or steal to survive.

Thanks to the Home of Peace these children now have a home, medical care and clothing, and they attend a local school. The manager recently purchased two sewing machines and employed a qualified seamstress to make all the children’s play clothes, church clothes, school uniforms and the staff uniforms. She also repairs any damaged clothing – a big longterm money-saver.

Following a major storm last year the home had to undertake a major building project. This resulted in two new boys’ dormitories, two staff bedrooms, a laundry, additional toilets and washing facilities, a new water storage tank and the conversion of a temporary dining room into a permanent structure.

Happy Feet: The children show off their new Christmas shoes

Last Christmas the Home of Peace sent out an appeal to all members of Christian House Sitters and their response allowed the children to get new shoes and underwear and to celebrate Christmas with a special meal. Residents invited local boys and girls to join them for Christmas dinner. These were children who would otherwise not have had a special meal at Christmas.

Help for a Needy Family

A few weeks ago the Home of Peace Social Worker reported coming across a local household that captured her attention. She took a picture of their house and wrote: “It is a nuclear family with five children. Both parents are alive but are living from hand to mouth. My concern was the fourth born girl, ten years old. I was shocked. The mother said she has not been going to school because of lack of food. She seems weak and febrile.

Their homestead is a one-roomed thatched house with a small table sketchily structured at the centre of the room. Nothing to sit on, a papyrus mat spread at the corner as the family bed. They are indeed in abject poverty.”

Home of Peace arranged some emergency food for the family and contacted Children’s Services to see what else could be done.

Shortly after Christmas I received a message from Ray: “I am delighted to say that we have managed to sort out all the red tape and this young girl is now living safely at Home of Peace, getting nutritious meals, having good health care, getting an education and is happy. Her parents are also thrilled.”

You can find out more about the Home of Peace and Christian House Sitters at www.christianhousesitters.com

Rev Dr Ali Green

Our sincere thanks to Rev Dr Green for the article.

God bless you,

Ray

We are part of the registered charity

TLC Children’s Trust

UK Charity number 1156786

www.tlc-childrenstrust.org

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“A Diary of House-Sitting Tails”

I am naturally always interested to read about House Sitting so when I found out about a book called “A Diary of House-Sitting Tails” by Carolyn Slingsby I downloaded a copy from Amazon.

I was thrilled to read about our ministry in this book!

Here is an extract from the first couple of pages:

At the end of November 2008, after living and working in Spain for six years, my husband and I suddenly and devastatingly lost everything, and had no choice but to head back to the UK.

Brian and I had gone to Spain six years previously in 2002, knowing nobody there at all, and we began totally from scratch. I knew I had to find my feet, so I quickly became resourceful in finding jobs, mainly in the property market. At one time, I helped a company to sell villas and apartments, focusing mainly on marketing, but I had other duties, too. Once, I had to do a complete ‘makeover’ on a property, which turned out to be a total full cleaning and fumigation exercise. The property in question was in a terrible condition, covered in excrement and filth which stank to high heaven; he had kept five dogs there, and hadn’t done much in the way of cleaning! Eventually –after hours of cleaning and sorting –I managed to find a buyer, but it still smelled if you were downwind! It was only months later that I realised why I was so ill after that experience.

We loved Spain and its people, and it was our fantastic church community who helped us through the very traumatic ending to our lifestyle there, when –due to the economic climate –we lost our villa and all our money, and had only forty-eight hours to leave and hand the keys back to the bank.

Our compassionate congregation bought all our furniture, including the wood burning stove and very large satellite dish (which went off on the roof of an estate car!), to raise us enough money for petrol to drive back to the UK. We stored ten boxes, containing our various small everyday goods, in the under-house storage of one of those kind church folk, where it ended up staying for two years!

So, back in the UK and having to start again from scratch, we knew we had to survive and get a roof over our heads whilst we worked out what direction life was taking us in.

This was when God led us to The Christian House Sitters website! We found two separate house sits in France on our way back to the UK in December and January 2008-2009, and so began our ‘Tails of House Sitting’ –adventures and experiences we would have missed out on if not for the traumatic ending of our life in Spain!

The book is a lot of fun and well worth reading.

If you have interesting stories about House Sitting please share them with me.

Would you like a break from your normal daily grind. Time to getaway, relax, renew relationships, rest, have fun and generally recharge your inner batteries.

We can help.

We offer rent-free vacations all over the world and, if necessary, we can also arrange for someone reliable to look after your home and pets free-of-charge while you are away

If you would like to benefit from our service please have a look at the website. CLICK HERE.

God bless you,
Ray

 

Christian House Sitters
is part of the registered charity
TLC Children’s Trust
UK Charity number 1156786
www.tlc-childrenstrust.org

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Visiting Medieval English Towns

I posted this article in my blog a few years ago but felt an urge to re-post it as we now have so many new readers.

I love it when our members take the iniative and write about their experiences. This is an extract from an article that was written by a Canadian house sitter who visited England and was printed in Cathedral Connections.  St Peter’s London Ontario

A UNIQUE ADVENTURE – HOUSESITTING IN MEDIEVAL ENGLAND
By Joyce Hilton

At some point we all think about a dream vacation, especially one that costs little and allows you to enhance your love of Christianity and its history and architecture.

My dream vacation and journey began when I stumbled across a website that promised just that. It was called Christian House Sitters, an Internet based service that brought Christian home owners and Christian house sitters together.

Christians home owners who wanted to take a holiday and needed some one to look after their home and! or their pets while away could apply. The other side of the service accommodated persons who could not afford a holiday but would now be enabled to take a break and see other countries. Their only expense would be the cost of travel and their food.

It was totally Christian based and required everyone involved to have a reference from their church.
The registration cost was twenty dollars Canadian for the year which allowed me access to information about various properties in different countries that required a house sitter.

A couple in Norwich, England advertised for a sitter for three months. I was born in England and wanted to experience the atmosphere of its medieval history and churches. Norwich seemed like a perfect fit! It is a church enthusiast’s paradise. It possesses more medieval churches than any other English City. There is an old saying in Norwich that there are 52 churches for every week of the year and 365 pubs for every day of the day. (My interest was in the former.)

In addition to its great cathedral and the ruins of three other buildings, there are thirty-one other parishes in Norwich that have survived.

I arrived in England in early January of this year and met my awesome hosts who were leaving in the next few days for New Zealand.

Before they left, they drove me to Great Yarmouth, a city on the east coast of England situated about fifty miles away. Along the way, we stopped to look at the ruins of a thirteenth century Augustinian Priory. Even though the walls had eroded to half their size and roofs had long disappeared, you sensed that this was once a holy place and the likely home of earlier saints.

It was the first step in my quest to visit ancient holy places.  I left realizing that I was a part of a much larger faith community, one that transcends countries and history.

~~~~~~~~~~~~

So if you are thinking of going on vacation let me briefly remind you how we can help you. Remember we operate worldwide. So wherever you are this applies to you.

You can register as a Home Owner and that means we will make your house details known to our large list of sitters all over the world and they will then be able to contact you and offer to look after your house and your pets free of charge. Registration as a home owner is free. There are no charges.

You can register with us as a House Sitter. That will mean that you get access to all the houses that are made available, all over the world, for 12 months. If you like what you see you can contact the owner and apply for the house. All houses are rent free. registration as a Sitter will cost £25 per year. All the money will go through our registered Charity to support needy children at Home of Peace Children’s Home in Kenya. For details about the home CLICK HERE. Note 100% of income goes to the Children’s Home Marilyn and I personally cover the cost of running Christian House Sitters.

You can register as both a Sitter and as a Owner.

TO REGISTER VISIT OUR WEBSITE: CLICK HERE  (www.Christian-Housesitters.com)

God bless you,

Ray

We are part of the registered charity

TLC Children’s Trust

UK Charity number 1156786

http://www.tlc-childrenstrust.org

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Where would you like to go? Rent-Free

I am often asked what sort of houses are available through Christian House Sitters and where they are located.

It is a really hard question to answer as the list changes all the time but to give an idea here is a selection of SOME of the houses available today on the site. Remember these are all offered Rent-Free.

NOTE I am not listing all the details for each house just some key points.

ENGLAND
The house is situated near Cliveden, Near to Burnham Bucks but on the border of Berkshire near Maidenhead and Windsor

The house is large and has 6 Bedrooms,.

Downstairs rooms including lounge, dining room, playroom, breakfast room and kitchen. The breakfast room is equipped with an Aga and usual kitchen appliances including Microwave, Washing machine and Dishwasher.

 

GUILDFORD
It is a large detached house set in a very quiet part of Guildford on the edge of a large area of countryside, but within easy access of the town and train station. The Guildford to London train takes just 40 minutes.

We are close to a number of National Trust properties and just 10 minutes from the famous RHS Wisley gardens.

Guildford is a very picturesque town with its own cathedral castle and many beautiful surrounding places of interest for all tastes.

The house comprises a large lounge, dining room, study, conservatory, kitchen and utility room alongside a double garage.

Upstairs are 4 bedrooms (1 double and 3 single)and 2 bathrooms ( 1 en suite) one of the bathrooms has a bath also.

The kitchen has a microwave, dishwasher and good storage space whilst the utility room houses the washing machine.

The lounge has a TV and the Internet connection is available along with the telephone.

FRANCE
4 months in a rural situation, it is quiet & clean with no near neighbours.

Near St Antonin Noble Val

There is a large garden, acres of woodland & meadows, fantastic walking from the door & loads of places to explore, local markets, ancient villages, stunning scenery.

 

CANADA
Saskatoon
Located just 5 miles west of the city on an acreage.
5 bedrooms
Two baths shower and jet tub.
Kitchen fully equipped with microwave oven stove washer dryer.
We will make available a vehicle.
Wifi
TV and satellite

 

NEW ZEALAND
Gisborne
Our house is situated in an elevated position about 5 km from the city centre, overlooking the hills and the sea in the distance. The town is about 45 mins brisk walk. We have three beautiful beaches within five minutes drive of the house.

There are one double and one single bedroom, and one bathroom with shower and bath.

The kitchen has hob, oven, microwave, dishwasher, toaster, sandwich toaster, slow cooker, wok, washing machine.

Our car will be available for sitters to use while they are here.

AUSTRALIA
Melbourne
We own a beautiful brick attic house, with spectacular landscape gardens, our backyard is a mini tropical paradise, a place for relaxation, reading or just enjoying the ambiance.

We live in sunshine, Melbourne, Vic Australia, in a quiet family orientated pocket of tree lined streets, that connect to a wonderful park, which has a bike, walking trail, and a place all the locals meet up with there canine friends, It is a very friendly community.

Our house is double story with living area on lower level, bedroom with ensuite on the top floor, and fully equipped gym room to use at leisure.

USA
Spanaway, Washington
The House is in Spanaway, Washington (state). By auto: one half hour South of Tacoma, one hour South of Seattle, 45 minutes from SeaTac (SEA, Seattle-Tacoma International Airport). The home is 4 years old. We are 3 minutes from a small shopping area (Safeway supermarket, Starbuck’s, restaurants, etc) and less than 15 minutes from a large mall with hundreds of businesses between here and the mall. We are about an hour from the entrance to Mount Rainier National Park. Our church is 2 miles and less than 5 minutes away

You could be enjoying a rent-free vacation in one of these or one of the many other houses that we get all over the world.

Also if you need someone honest, reliable and with references to look after your home and if necessary your pets while you are away. Even if you are not in one of our houses. We will help you find someone free-of-charge.
Have a look at our website www.Christian-housesitters.com

God bless you,

Ray

We are part of the registered charity

TLC Children’s Trust

UK Charity number 1156786

www.tlc-childrenstrust.org

WordPress are adding adverts to blogs. They are not always shown but if there are adverts on this page please note they were not placed by me, not approved by me and do not imply my recommendation

Why did you do it??

Motives Matter .

As I was thinking and praying about what to put in my blog post this week I felt strongly that I needed to talk about our motives.

I resisted after all this blog is supposed to be about our ministry called Christian House Sitters where we help people all over the world to enjoy vacations that they could not otherwise afford.

But the more I resisted the stronger the urge to tackle the topic. So I am hopefully being obedient in writing this post and I trust it will be a blessing to you.

Some time ago I wrote a book called Balancing Your Life Effectively which looks at how God wants to be in control of all the different areas of our lives. The Physical, the Emotional, the Social and the Spiritual. My aim was to make it really practical and simple to follow. No heavy theology.

One of the chapters deals with the question of our motives so I am going to quote an extract.

You go to church every Sunday, in fact you not only attend the Sunday services you also go along to the mid-week prayer meeting and the bible study group. Good!

But may I be so bold as to ask you to examine your motives. Why do you attend all those services? Is your attendance due to a sincere desire to have fellowship with the family of God and a heartfelt yearning to know God better, or could it be that you go for purely social reasons? You have no other friends and if you miss a meeting you feel lonely. Could it be that last time you missed a service the pastor phoned or called to find out what was wrong and as a result you are too embarrassed to ever miss again? What are your real motives?

What about your bible study? You may have a strictly disciplined programme of personal bible study. Good!

But once again what are your motives? Is it because you believe the bible to be the inspired word of Almighty God and as a result you are studying to learn how He wants you to live. Is it that you want to learn more about Him in order to please him? Or could it be that you are motivated by something else? I know many people who study the bible in order to show off. In order to be able to boast of their bible knowledge. In order to be able to quote verses and thereby demonstrate their ‘super spirituality.’ What are your motives?

Do you witness to your faith in Christ? I sincerely hope that you do.
We are clearly and specifically commanded to go and tell what the
Lord has done. But why do you witness? Is it out of obedience to the Lord? Out of a heart filled with gratitude to God for His blessings to you? Are you motivated by a realisation that without Jesus there is no hope for a lost mankind? Or are you possibly motivated by pride?
You want people to know that YOU are a ‘soul winner.’ Could your motivation be a desire to ‘notch up another spiritual scalp?’

In 1st Samuel chapter 16 verse 7 we are told that The Lord does not look at the things man looks at. Man looks at the outward appearance, but the Lord looks at the heart. Jeremiah chapter 17 verse 10 puts the same thought this way I the Lord search the heart and examine the mind.

Obviously God is interested in what you do but infinitely more important to Him is the motivation behind your actions.

Pause for a while. Examine your life. Think about the ‘good’ things in which you are involved. Ask yourself honestly why you are involved.
Examine your true motives and as the Lord reveals impure motives confess them to Him and ask Him to give you those motives which will enable Him to say Well done good and faithful servant.

If you are interested the book is available to download or to purchase a copy from any branch of Amazon. NOTE All profits will go to support the Children’s Home in Kenya through our charity TLC Children’s Trust. “Balancing Your Life Effectively” The ISBN number is 978-1503209718

God bless you,

Ray

Christian House Sitters is part of the registered charity

TLC Children’s Trust

UK Charity number 1156786

www.tlc-childrenstrust.org

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Be blessed and be a blessing

I get a lot of emails and most are trying to sell me something so end up in the spam folder. But one I get almost every day is from a man I have never met. His name is Pastor Tim Burt and he sends out a daily email called Fresh Manna.

Today’s was a real blessing so I emailed him and he gave me permission to reproduce it in my blog.

I hope it blesses you as much as it did me.

Fresh Manna from Pastor Tim Burt

As Christians, we are given a life-long assignment which is described in 2 Corinthians 5:19 NLT that says, “And God has given us the task of reconciling people to Him. For God was in Christ, reconciling the world to Himself, no longer counting people’s sins against them. This is the wonderful message He has given us to tell others.”

God’s Word also teaches us that we should all use our God-given gifts and abilities—not only to help people to come to know Jesus, but to also serve others in His behalf. The Apostle Paul in speaking to people who have financial affluence wrote: “Command those who are rich in this present world not to be arrogant nor to put their hope in wealth, which is so uncertain, but to put their hope in God, who richly provides us with everything for our enjoyment. Command them to do good, to be rich in good deeds, and to be generous and willing to share. In this way they will lay up treasure for themselves as a firm foundation for the coming age, so that they may take hold of the life that is truly life.” (1 Timothy 6:17-19)

 

Paul teaches the affluent that when they are using their gift of financial affluence that God has given them to help promote the gospel and as a means to build the church, they are serving God and others and building a reward— “Laying up treasure for themselves as a firm foundation for the coming age, so that they may take hold of the life that is truly life.”

 

This exhortation isn’t just to financially affluent people. This truth and exhortation is for all Christians at all times. When we use whatever God has given us in gifts, talents, and abilities to serve others from a pure heart and motivation of love, will be building our future—“a firm foundation in the coming age.” We do have another life to live in the world to come. It sincerely will be the life God intended for us to have. It will be without the curse of sin and defilement that sin has brought to this world. When we help others know Jesus and when we serve them, we lay up rewards for the next life. We also help them come to really know what life on earth here is about—the love of Jesus to redeem mankind—“…that they may take hold of the life that is truly life.”

 

One last thing to think about. Our personal character runs deep (good or bad) and is rarely changed until someone makes a life-style change in their thinking and actions. That is most often motivated by God, or the threat of something such as health issues or financial problems. When someone does make that change and stick with it, it changes their character over time. This is how God helps us experience true life transformation. He motivates us through His Word and asks us to make it a core value we live daily. When you take up the attitude of serving others as a life-style because the Lord tells us to, it will bless your life in more ways than you could have ever imagined—and produce eternal rewards!

 

Never give up serving God and reaching others with His love. It is “…taking hold of the life that truly is life.”

 

In His Love,
Pastor Tim Burt
http://todaysfreshmanna.wordpress.com/

 

May I suggest a couple of really simple ways in which you can bless others?

As you know we run 2 ministries.
TLC Children’s Trust provides for all the needs (accommodation, food, clothes, education, medical care, etc. ) for 52 very vulnerable children in rural Kenya. You can read more about it on our website CLICK HERE.
You could pray for us and for the work
You could tell your friends, family and church.
You could consider sponsoring a child.

 

Christian House Sitters is our other ministry and makes it possible for Christians all over the world to enjoy vacations that they could otherwise not afford. You can read more about it on our website CLICK HERE.
You could consider becoming a member and allowing us to bless you while you bless others.
For example:
When you next go away from home why not let us arrange for a Christian family to stay in your home looking after your home and your pets free of charge
You could also register as a Sitter and bless others by looking after their home and pets while at the same time enjoying a lovely rent-free vacation. We have houses all over the world.

 

God bless you,
Ray

Christian House Sitters is part of the registered charity

TLC Children’s Trust

UK Charity number 1156786

www.tlc-childrenstrust.org

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A Christmas Blessing

It is almost Christmas.

Life is hectic.

Shops are crammed with people spending money that they often can’t afford.

It is good to pause and reflect on the real meaning of Christmas and I am thankful to Gateway church for producing this video and making it freely available.

May it be a blessing to you.

 

God bless you,

Ray

 

P.S. Still looking for a present?
What about my latest book which is available worldwide from Amazon or as a Kindle download

We are part of the registered charity

TLC Children’s Trust

UK Charity number 1156786

www.tlc-childrenstrust.org

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Balancing Your Life Effectively

Hi

This is an unusual post. But then on this blog what is normal? We have such a wide variety of topics that we cover.

Today I will not be talking about Christian House Sitters.

Instead I want to tell you about a new book that is available from today.

Many years ago when I was training Christian Counsellors I put together some notes on Christian Commitment. After numerous requests I edited them into a book based around Luke 2:52.

The book was a tremendous blessing to many and we received emails and letters from all over the world.

But that was 10 years ago and things change so by popular demand I have revised, updated and generally improved the original. It has been re-published as Balancing Your Life Effectively. (A Practical Guide to Christian Commitment)

I believe it will be helpful to both new Christians and to everyone who wants God to be in control of all areas of their lives. (Physical, Mental, Social and Spiritual).

It can be used for personal study or for small groups.

It is now (from today) available worldwide through Amazon as a printed book and as a Kindle download.

All profits will go to Home of Peace Children’s Home in Kenya (See www.tlc-childrenstrust.org)

Please make it known to your church, friends and family.

“Balancing Your Life Effectively”    The  ISBN number is 978-1503209718

To order it in
USA   Click Here
ENGLAND Click Here
GERMANY Click Here
SPAIN Click Here
FRANCE Click Here
ITALY Click Here
OTHER COUNTRIES. Use local Amazon

God bless you,

Ray

We are part of the registered charity

TLC Children’s Trust

UK Charity number 1156786

www.tlc-childrenstrust.org

WordPress are adding adverts to blogs. They are not always shown but if there are adverts on this page please note they were not placed by me, not approved by me and do not imply my recommendation

Faith Filled Family

We are continuing our mini-series reproducing articles about Christian House Sitters that have appeared in the press around the world. This week we feature another article from America.

The following article appeared in the American Magazine Faith Filled Family on the 26th of January 2012

 

******

 

Ray White was born in South Africa. His wife, Marilyn, moved to South Africa from England at eleven months of age.

They now live in England but they have seen the needs of the people in this region, and their heart is to help Christian work in Africa. .

Their organization, Christian House Sitters enables them to support a children’s home in Kenya with proceeds going towards this charity.

Faith Filled Family: How did you come up with the idea for Christian House Sitters?

Ray: When we retired, we had very little money as it had all gone into the work of the Christian Counselling Ministry so in order to be able to have a good vacation we needed to find an alternative to paying full price. We heard about a Secular House Sitting organization and registered and ended up in a house in France for 3 months. It was a wonderful experience but we found it a bit lonely as we knew nobody and could not find a church. Also the home owners who were not Christians left some statues and things around the house that made us feel uncomfortable. Marilyn said that the next time we should use a Christian organization so we searched and could not find one anywhere. Marilyn therefore suggested we start one which we did and the result is Christian House Sitters.

Faith Filled Family: It is my understanding that you two started this ministry on your own. Would you please explain what the CHS does?

Ray: We seek to help home owners and house sitters find each other. People can register as a Sitter, an Owner or as both. If you register as a home owner we help you to find a house sitter to move into your home while you are away on vacation. They will look after your home and pets for you free of charge and in return they receive a rent free vacation in your home. So as an owner you save money by not having to pay anyone to look after your home and pets. You also have the security of knowing that your home and pets are being looked after by a responsible Christian.

If you register as a house sitter you get to travel and stay rent-free in lovely homes all over the world rather than in expensive and often characterless hotel rooms.

How does this work in practice? When you register as an owner we list your house details (without the specific address) on the restricted section of our website that can only be viewed by registered sitters.

We also email all registered sitters drawing their attention to the listing.

Sitters then decide which houses they are interested in and click an enquiry button. That automatically sends the owners their details and their profile info. Then it is over to the owner to make contact and decide which application they like best, check references and arrange the sit.

Faith Filled Family: How can someone sign up for either being as an owner or sitter?

Ray: It is really very easy. All they need to do is visit our website www.Christian-housesitters.com and click on the link to register. They will be asked for their name, the name of their church and minister and for some information about themselves. As long as they are members of a recognized Christian Church we will accept them as members. We also write to the named minister informing him or her that these members of the church have joined CHS.

Faith Filled Family: Can I be an owner and a sitter? What about paying, if I am both would I still pay the sitter fee?

Ray: You can register as a sitter, as an owner or as both. Registration as an owner is FREE. Registration as a Sitter is £25 per year.

Faith Filled Family: How does a sitter gain access to the houses available and the timetables?

Ray: When a sitter registers they select a password. This enables them to login to the members section of the website and see details of all available houses. From here they can also notify home owners of their interest in a house. Also whenever any new house is listed with us we send an email to all registered sitters giving them the details and reminding them that if they are interested they should login and contact the owner.

Faith Filled Family: What advice do you provide for both parties?

Ray: On the website we have a number of sections to help people. These include:

Tell Your Sitter, Advice to Sitters, Suggested Agreement and also more general info under “House Sitting Explained” and under FAQ

Faith Filled Family: How many countries has your ministry been extended into?

Ray: At the moment we have active members in Canada, USA, Argentina, New Zealand, Australia, South Africa, Portugal, Spain, France, Holland, Germany, Italy, England, Scotland, Ireland and Wales

We are also looking into expanding into other areas as well.

Faith Filled Family: I would think this is a fluid ministry in that owners and sitters are changing. Is this true?

Ray: Yes and no. Many owners remain with us and use our service every time they have a vacation.

There is no limit on how often they can ask for a sitter. We also have many sitters who renew their membership every year. But naturally there are some owners and sitters who do not remain with us and there are also always new people joining.

Faith Filled Family: I understand that the benefits from the sitters’ fee go towards a particular charity. Where does it go?

Ray: 100% of this money goes to support homeless children at a Christian Children’s Home in Kenya.

The cost of running the site is covered by us so all income goes to these needy children. You can read more about the children’s home at www.christian-housesitters.com/kenya.htm

Faith Filled Family: Please explain how and why you chose your beneficiary?

Ray: When we first started we decided that we wanted to support Christian work in Africa because of our personal experience there. Initially this money went to a Christian Organization in South Africa.

Meanwhile our church had been helping a Children’s Home in Kenya. For various reasons the church could no longer afford to continue this financial support and after much prayer we decided to take it on as our project. The work had not been run very efficiently in Kenya so Marilyn, who is experienced in business management, set up a strong accountability structure with herself as the leader. She appointed local Christians to run the home on a day-to-day basis under a local leadership team.

But all major decisions need to be approved by her and she also makes certain that the money is properly accounted for and used wisely. She has had contact with local officials and the home has been inspected by both the area Chief and the District Commissioner who expressed their delight in how well it is being run.

Faith Filled Family: The Home of Peace Children’s Home in Kenya; how many children are cared for at the home?

Ray: This varies slightly but we normally have between 80 and 85 children who would otherwise be living on the streets, begging or stealing to stay alive. We provide them with accommodation, food, clothing, medical care and pay for their schooling. This is all done in a strong Christian atmosphere. As a result we are seeing lives transformed.

Faith Filled Family: You have explained that Home of Peace Children’s Home in Kenya Is supported by the CHS. Does the ministry cover all expenses?

Ray: At this stage we are their only financial support. Over the past 12 months we have built them 2 toilet blocks (before this they had to use a field which we felt was not satisfactory), we have built a nursery room for the younger children, and we have got additional beds for the children. They now all have bedding and mosquito nets and we have been able to keep them in food, medicine and clothing. It is often really difficult and each time we send out money it is an adventure in faith asking God to supply but He has never failed. If we had additional funds we would love to improve the facilities, build some more dormitories, turn our temporary kitchen into a real kitchen, etc.

Faith Filled Family: If someone desires to donate to the Children’s Home, how would they go about doing so?

Ray: They can do that from our site by clicking the donate button or by sponsoring a child. Full details are at www.TLC-childrenstrust.org

NOTE FROM RAY. Some information in the article about the children’s home is now naturally out of date but the current information can be found at www.tlc-childrenstrust.org/update.htm

God bless you,

Ray

We are part of the registered charity

TLC Children’s Trust

UK Charity number 1156786

www.tlc-childrenstrust.org

 

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Christians have keys to free worldwide lodging

I am continuing my mini series reproducing media reports on the work of Christian House Sitters.

Thank you for the very encouraging response.

We have so far had an article from Canada and one from England so here is one from the USA

Christians have keys to free worldwide lodging.

WASHINGTON, January 5, 2012 – Are you a member in good standing of a Christian church anywhere in the world? If yes, you have the keys to free house stays and/or house and pet care while you are away. In a world of rising vacation and holiday travel expenses, this can be great news.

At non-profit Christian House Sitters (CHS), you can register as a house sitter – one who stays rent free in homes around the world and cares for pets and premises – or home owner – one who provides the premises and receives free caretaking – or both. Member registration in the sitter category costs 25 British pounds a year and all proceeds go to charity. Home owners register for free.

And there’s more good news besides free vacation stays. CHS founders and managers Ray and Marilyn White donate all membership fees to the Home for Peace ministry in Kenya for orphaned children.

Why Kenya? The couple both have personal and ministry roots in Africa. Marilyn was born in England but grew up in Zimbabwe and South Africa. Ray also has roots in South Africa, where he grew up. Johannesburg is where they met and married. Now semi-retired in the UK (West Sussex), they manage CHS and continue other ministry endeavors. There’s more about their professional backgrounds and hearts for the Kenyan children on the CHS website.

Ray and Marilyn founded CHS a few years ago after they did a two-month house sit in France. The Whites advise home owners how to qualify house sitters, but function primarily as a connection site for members who are connected to a recognized Christian church.

“We cannot guarantee to find you a house or a house sitter, but we can list details for people who choose to join the service,” said Ray White. Privacy is also a hallmark of CHS. White said they do not disclose member information beyond what they receive for publication on the site. One house now on the CHS site is available in St. Antonin, France for three weeks in February. A German Shepherd and three goats come with the four-bedroom property. Houses in Australia, South Africa, England, Wales and Canada are looking for sitters.

Though CHS participation is pretty much on the honor system, the ministry has many satisfied members who have cut costs for their personal travel as either house sitters or home owners who rely on other members to care for their homes and pets while they are away.

“We live in a ranch style three bedroom house located in Tacoma, Washington and we have one cat,” said John, a CHS home owner member. “We worry about leaving the house unoccupied when we vacation so on finding Ray’s service we decided to give it a try.

“We contacted CHS one week last spring, and in a few days we had received applications from eight families who all wanted the house” he continued. “We chose a Canadian couple. The couple supplied us with two references from their local church fellowship and we checked them out. We then spoke with them a couple of times by telephone and agreed to the details. They did a magnificent job of looking after our home and our cat. We now consider them friends, and later this year we will again be contacting Ray for a sitter so we can go to Calgary and visit with our sitters, Helen and Roger.”

CHS can be your new ticket to 2012 travel around the world. Check it out as a way to reduce travel expenses for trips around the world!

Read more of Ruth Hill’s columns at Contemporary Christian Travel in the Washington Times Communities.

This article is the copywritten property of the writer and Communities @ WashingtonTimes.com. Written permission must be obtained before reprint in online or print media.

NOTE Reproduced with permission from Ruth Hill. Washington Times

To find out more visit http://www.Christian-housesitters.com

God bless you,

Ray

We are part of the registered charity

TLC Children’s Trust

UK Charity number 1156786

www.tlc-childrenstrust.org

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