Visit to a new church.

On Sunday I had the privilege of preaching at a church I have never visited before. Lovely people and a really warm reception.

As I introduced myself I naturally mentioned that although Marilyn and I are officially retired we are kept busy with:
Christian House Sitters,
TLC Children’s Trust,
Home of Peace Children’s Home in  Kenya
and my preaching engagements. 

After the service as we enjoyed tea and coffee the church secretary and the church treasurer both started asking me a lot of questions about the work of TLC Children’s Trust and our involvement in the Home of Peace.

I explained how we got involved in Home of Peace almost 7 years ago and how Marilyn felt God leading her to take on the responsibility of managing the home and finding the funds to support the children and staff. This was a real step of faith as we live on a state pension and needed to trust God to supply the needs for these dear children.

I told them that at the time we already ran Christian House Sitters but took the decision to give 100% of all income from that ministry to the work at Home of Peace Children’s Home.

We also set up a registered charity (T.L.C. Children’s Trust) to raise the funds to keep the home running.

It was great being able to share briefly how God has blesses this ministry. It is really exciting to see what God has done.

If you are interested you can read about it on the TLC website.

www.tlc-childrenstrust.org 

The home is now officially registered with the Kenyan government. We have been able to make amazing changes to the structure. The home now has a qualified live-in social worker, a farm, electricity, good accommodation and the children are doing really well at school.

One of the people that I was chatting to asked me what percentage of donations we receive are held back to cover our running and local admin costs. I delighted in being able to say ZERO. Marilyn and I together with our Trustees take responsibility for those expenses. All gifts are used in Kenya. But we closely monitor how every penny sent out is used. We get detailed receipts, photographs of items purchased etc and Marilyn or I are in daily contact (at our own expense) with the home.

Please can I ask you to pray for these ministries.

• Pray for Christian House Sitters that we will get the right sitters and the right houses listed. This is a fantastic ministry to people all over the world enabling them to enjoy vacations that they may otherwise have found difficult to afford. www.christian-housesitters.com
• Pray for TLC Children’s Trust that God will continue to give us wisdom and to provide the necessary funds. It is often a real test of our faith as we send out money on the 8th and 22nd of every month and we simply do not have enough sponsors to provide what is needed. www.tlc-childrenstrust.org
• Pray for our 55 children at the home, for the staff and for God’s protection on them.

Thanks,
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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Wonderful, Exciting Progress.

As most of our regular readers will know Christian House Sitters donates 100% of our income to TLC Children’s Trust a registered charity that runs a Children’s Home in Kenya for really needy children.

Here is a brief video showing how far this home has progressed.

If you would like more information please look at the latest newsletter which can be found on the TLC website www.TLC-Childrenstrust.org/update.htm

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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Frustrated …….but Trusting God

I was feeling frustrated when a friend sent me the following Christian poem by Bryan Miles.

Why was I frustrated?

I will tell you after you have read the poem. I trust it will bless you as it blessed me.

 

Frustrated by Bryan Miles

When the words don’t flow out smoothly
And I fumble for a line
When I tap my fingers on my desk
Like a rhymed pantomime
When I scratch my head till my scalp gets sore
Gnaw my pencil to the lead
I take another dose of Your Word
And nibble on daily bread
There’s so much gold on every page
But it takes some digging in
I find myself deep in thought
In scripture up to my chin
So much to learn, so much to chew
So much to peck and glean
From Your Word to my heart
From my heart to pen
And the treasure in between
In between each written word
There’s a bright and shiny gem
I try to convey the wisdom I’ve learned
And share it all with them

Sometimes it seems so easy
The words pour out so fast
And other times much like today
My brain is at half-mast
Frustrated, I come to Your throne
I bow my head and pray
I could never do this on my own
Without Your guidance there’s no way

Some people call it writer’s block
If so, it’s there for a reason
But nothing blocks Your presence from me
You’re here for every season
Every season of my life
Has taught me quite a bit
I can thump my pen again and again
But I’m never going to quit

Frustrated, so I seek Your face
It causes me to think
Your Word flows true
When I dwell on You
It fills my pen with ink…

So why was I frustrated?

Because of our work with the Children’s Home in Kenya.
These children rely on us for all their food, clothing, education, accommodation and medical expenses. These are children who would otherwise be homeless, living on the streets, stealing, begging and often starving to death.
We know God called us to this work.
We know He is in charge.
We give 100% of the income from Christian House Sitters to this work.
We give every spare penny of our own rather limited income to this work.
But there are simply never enough funds for the actual basic needs let alone the extra things we would like to do. Not lavish extra things just simple things like a new dormitory and some extra blankets for the children, etc. But before we can even look at those we need the basics such as money for food, school fees etc.

But as I said there is just never enough.

I feel frustrated when I look around and see people spending vast amounts on things that are really not essential. Often wasting money. Yet when we make an appeal hardly anyone seems able to afford to do anything to help.

We are blessed by having some wonderful people sponsoring a child at £20 per month.

We are blessed by 2 people who can’t afford that amount but regularly give £5 per month. God bless them.

We are blessed by occasional large gifts.

But the grind goes on and on. The home is at a critical point right now as we explained in our last newsletter (Click here) and we need God to touch hearts.

 Please join us in praying.

Please ask God if He wants you to give (No gift is ever too small) or if He wants you to ask your church, friends or family to help. All the details can be found on our website (Click Here)

I may be frustrated but I know God is in control and He will provide even though at times it seems many of His children are not willing to hear His prompting.

He will never fail?

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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Is praying practical?

 

A friend recently posted on Facebook asking people to pray for Kenya as many Christians there are having a really hard time.

I agreed that prayer is needed but added.

While you are praying for Kenya please also ask God if he wants you to do something practical. You can help feed and look after vulnerable children at a Christian children’s home in Kenya. See http://www.tlc-childrenstrust.org

I was pounced on because someone thought my comment suggested that prayer is not practical.

That was not my intention. I believe God has commanded us to pray and that He hears and answers prayer.  So to help clarify my meaning I replied as follows:

Praying is very practical!!!

But frequently God also expects us to act. See James 2:17 and John 14:15. In Joshua 7 where we have the account of how the Israelites were in trouble. They were in danger of being destroyed. Therefore as their leader Joshua did the ‘spiritual’ thing. He called a prayer meeting. You can read his sincere heartfelt prayer in verses 6 to 8. Oh how he prayed. He tore his clothes and he cried out to God for help. In fact we are told that he remained in prayer the whole day.

Was God pleased?

No!

God responded by saying Stand up! What are you doing down on your face? Verse 10. God said you don’t need to pray you need to obey. You know what you have done wrong. You know that there is sin and disobedience in the nation.
Stop praying and start obeying. Then I will be able to bless you.

In the light of this I suggested that the person also read  James 1:27 “Religion that God our Father accepts as pure and faultless is this: to look after orphans and widows in their distress and to keep oneself from being polluted by the world.”

That is one of the reasons why we run Christian House Sitters. It enables Christians all over the world to have a vacation that they may not otherwise have been able to afford and all the income goes to looking after vulnerable children at a Christian Children’s Home in rural Kenya.

So may I ask you to do something practical  in addition to praying?

Have a look at the 2 websites.

Ask God if He wants you to benefit from Christian House Sitters. http://www.christian-housesitters.com

Ask God if He wants you to help us provide for these needy children. http:@@www.tlc-childrenstrust.org

Then do what he says.

Finally please tell your friends, family and church.

Last week one lovely lady had a stall at a craft market selling things that she had made and then she gave the proceeds to TLC Children’s Trust to help the children. This is a picture of her stand. We say a big thank you to her.
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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God at work ‘ behind the scene’

I love hearing stories of how God works ‘behind the scene’

 Recently a new couple joined Christian House Sitters and asked us to help them find someone to look after their rather lovely home.

Great that is what we are here for. But it was very short notice. They needed a suitable sitter very soon as they were booked to go away on vacation.

 When they contacted me they sent an additional note explaining the short notice. It said;
“It is last minute so we appreciate that it may not be possible to find someone at short notice.
My daughter was going to look after the house and pets but her sister is now coming back from New Zealand and so they both want to join us on vacation.
Our postman (name removed) who knows us and our dog told me about your site as his sister (name removed) uses your service It was a God- incidence conversation!”

 God moves in mysterious ways.

 One of our members told her brother about Christian House Sitters
The brother happens to be the postman serving a family who need a sitter.
They happen to get into conversation.
The postman remembers what his sister said and tells them
Praise God.

If you are needing someone to look after your home and pets or if you are interested in a rent-free vacation don’t wait to be told by your postman have a look at our website www.christian-housesitters.com

God bless you,

Ray

 

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Urgent Prayer Request

I normally try to post something interesting every week.

I have not posted for 2 weeks but hopefully this will help you to understand the reason.

MARILYN

As some of you will know Marilyn (my wife) has been fighting for her life for the past year. After being passed around a number of different consultants she eventually got to see the professor of surgery and he has discovered that when she had an operation three years ago for an ileostomy it was not done correctly. They left the damaged colon in place and this has caused major problems. The professor has said that after all this time rectifying it will be extremely difficult and there is no guarantee of success. However he has agreed to perform the surgery to remove the damage and to try to fix a number of the other problems. This will take place on Monday, 23rd of April at the Royal Surrey County Hospital in Guildford. Please pray for both Marilyn and the surgical team

HOME OF PEACE

Christian House Sitters exists for two purposes.

We seek to enable Christians around the world to enjoy a vacation and at the same time save a lot of money. We are always encouraged when we receive messages from our members saying how this service has blessed them.

We also exist in order to support the children at the Home of Peace children’s home in Kenya.

Marilyn is responsible for this home and is in constant contact with them. She has managed to keep this going even though she has been so ill. She now needs to urgently get 60 children sponsored at £16 a month.

The Kenyan authorities are complaining that we are taking so long to get enough sponsors and have contacted us demanding that something be done soon! Because of Marilyn’s health we have been able to stall them for another month. If we cannot show to children services that all are sponsored the unsponsored children would have to leave the home to the streets to fend for themselves. This is not logical but these are the rules set by the Kenyan authorities.

We have sponsors for the 20 youngest children but not for the other 60 children. God has faithfully provided for the monthly needs through gifts but we do need to be able to show the authorities that we have regular sponsorship for every child

Once we have all the sponsorship we can put in the official application for registration and then they will allow us a further 12 months to build the other facilities that will be needed such as more dormitories, kitchen dining room etc to bring things to the required standard. Once the children are sponsored funds for building facilities etc will be able to be taken from gift that come in and the fees paid by members of Christian House Sitters.

Please could you ask your church, woman’s work, youth group etc if they could prayerfully consider sponsoring a child at £16 per month

At the moment we have 74 of our children who are in school and this is so important for their future. They are doing very well.

Up-to-date news about what is happening at the home can be seen on our website. CLICK HERE.

If you feel that you cannot help to get a child sponsor then at least please pray for Marilyn as she has to shoulder this responsibility.

The sponsorship can be arranged directly through the website CLICK HERE or by direct bank transfer. Contact me if you need any details.

God bless you and thanks for your prayers,

Ray.

Praying Hands by Ashley Reece

We are continuing our periodic series of articles by published Christian authors in which they tell us a little about themselves and also suggest some vacation reading for when you are next housesitting with Christian House Sitters.

Today we feature the work of Ashley Reece

Ashley Reece was born and raised in Detroit, MI to her parents Pastor William Reece & Angela Reece.  She In December 2010, she founded blessedfyi.com.   Blessedfyi.com is an online Christian magazine for youth.  Ashley attends the Blessed Community Baptist Church in Michigan.  Her father Pastor William C. Reece, Jr. is pastor. 

Ashley write:

My parents instilled in me at a young the importance of believing and following Christ.  As a preschool teacher, I learned that many children had no idea about praying.  Some also had no idea about Jesus Christ.  That bothered me and I feel that everyone should not only know about Jesus, but also praise and worship his name.  I’m a firm believer that Christ is the only way we are able to wake up and live each day.  He is the only one that makes all things possible in our lives. 

Strong Little Praying Hands-Christian Prayer Book for Youth

By: Ashley D. Reece

The Lord had placed on my heart last year to write “Strong Little Praying Hands”.  I’m a strong believer in Christ and if I did not have him I would not be here today.  We all have had trials and tribulations.  I’ve been lied on, mistreated and unemployed.  I woke up some days and had no idea how I was going to make it.  Jesus was all I had and sometimes you have to be at your lowest to get closer to him.  I prayed everyday and every night.  I remained faithful and did not give up.   The Lord answered my prayers and he is still blessing me.  “Strong Little Praying Hands”, is a prayer-book for children.  Prayer allows us to communicate with God, and children should learn the importance of prayer early on in their lives.  This book contains twelve prayers and twelve related bible verses.  While reading this book, children can recite prayers that relate to their everyday life and learn bible verses about praying.  I want the youth to know that they can pray to God about anything.  They should get in the habit of praying daily and not just when they need something in their lives.  We should pray when we’re happy and sad.  We should pray when things are going right in our life and when their going wrong.  I’m a witness that the Lord will continue to bless and protect us if we believe in his word, follow his commands and pray.  

Strong Praying Hands-Christian Prayer & Devotion Book for Everyone

By: Ashley D. Reece

Since Strong Praying Hands for Youth was published, I decided to write a book for adults as well.  Strong Praying Hands is a Christian Prayer & Devotion Book for Christian’s all over the world. Great for readers who want to grow closer to Christ, learn about topics that affect us every day and how to handle them with the guidance of Christ!  The book contains prayer, related bible verses, and discussion topics.  Some topics discussed are gossip, friendship and more.  Praise God, pray, read & learn at the same time!

Both books can be purchased at http://ashleydreece.com

Or Amazon.com

To find out more about how you can enjoy a rent-free vacation through Christian House Sitters or to ask us to arrange for someone to look after your home and pets while you are away please visit our website

CLICK HERE

God bless you,

Ray