How the Conders became Foster Carers:

Circa 1991we had recently returned to the UK following ministering in Romania in 1990 and having adopted an abandoned baby girl who was facing being taken into a Romanian orphanage we took on another challenge.

Lesley and I with our two young boys were living in a two-bedroom apartment in Surbiton where we already were short of ample living space to accommodate our new member of the Conder family.

Nevertheless, Lesley had read in our local newspaper where Richmond and Twickenham Social Services were advertising for Foster Carers. Lesley made enquiries and I clearly recall when a lady from Social Services came to visit us to begin the assessment process to see if we were suitable candidates to foster children.

I recall the lady who came to see us to conduct our initial interview and after viewing our living accommodation said “I think you will make good foster parents BUT where would the foster children sleep?”

This lady could see that Lesley and I were sleeping on our sofas in the living room, our two boys had a bedroom, and our newly adopted daughter Rebecca had her own bedroom. I said to this lady I know a man who can help us that would enable us to increase our living accommodation. This must have seemed a very strange response but because I had witnessed God’s amazing grace and provision for the previous two years, I was sure the Lord would somehow make it possible for us to change our living accommodation so we could begin Fostering.

Bottom line is that we immediately put our apartment up sale with an Estate Agent called LORDS who agreed to put it on the market for around £90k and we began looking for a house with multiple bedrooms.

With a very limited budget and looking for another miracle, we came across a derelict house in the Kingston upon Thames area. This particular property had its windows boarded up and it had been standing empty for many years.

Although it had 5 bedrooms, which was just what we needed however, it needed full restoration inside and outside. We soon discovered that this property belonged to the local council, and if we were interested in purchasing the property we were informed that we had to put in a sealed bid as there were other people who also wanted to buy this property.

We had never experienced such a method of buying a property so we prayed about how much we should offer. I recall the Lord gave me a specific amount which was £90,110,00. SOMETIME later when all the bids had been made, the Council informed us that our bid was accepted as it was the highest and they also said our bid was very close to the next highest. So, we thanked God for His guidance in purchasing this property.

However, we also needed another miracle as we had a buyer for our apartment, but the buyers bank valued our apartment at around £30,000 less than we were asking which meant we would not be able to purchase the derelict house which in turn meant that we would not be able to Foster any children.

So what happened next? The buyer of our apartment said that despite what her bank said, she going to proceed with the purchase as she was determined to own our apartment. I am sure you would agree that this was a most unusual purchase for most people would have put in a lower offer, using what her bank had valued our apartment at as leverage. But for some reason she didn’t. Thank God!

Therefore, we were able to proceed with the purchase of the 5-bedroom house. I have video of the poor state of the house where you can see we had quite a project on our hands to make it habitable and fit to begin fostering.

We were blessed to have a dear brother in Christ help us to restore the house as he was a qualified Master Builder. John is his name. As you will see when the video eventually gets featured in a future episode of my Life Stories this dear John certainly had his work cut out and it took many weeks for him to get the house somewhere near completed.

At this point I would like to share a real miracle with you. The house was at a stage which was acceptable to Fostering and Adoption at Richmond and Twickenham Social Services whereby we began our 13 years of fostering vulnerable children.

We had our first foster child come to live with us and builder John was snagging, making good the small items that needed finishing off when suddenly, our American style washing machine stopped working.

These particular washing machines are huge and suitable for very large loads. John made enquiries as to where and how much we could buy a new one. He found a supplier where he could buy the washer and the matching dryer which also would suit the needs of our ever-growing family. The cost was £1,200.

We did not have anywhere near that amount of money. That night Lesley and I went to bed early, and I was saying to the Lord “It’s about time someone bought us a new washing machine like when we bought a needy family a brand-new washing machine when theirs broke down. I then fell asleep. Whether I was dreaming or seeing for real, I could not tell at this moment in time. I was walking down the stairs and as I turned into the hallway, I saw this complete stranger standing in the hallway. This stranger was smiling and had the most beautiful face. It had the softness and gentleness of a woman and yet had the strength and hardness of a man. This facial combination was uncanny but so striking. I spoke to this being and said, “Who are you?” No reply other than giving me a huge smile. No idea why I suddenly said to this being “You’re an angel” The next thing I was conscious that this being had vanished but not before I said something to him, “You know something that I don’t know” Don’t ask me why I said that because I couldn’t give you an answer.

I am just sharing this rather bizarre encounter. What follows next will begin to make sense. When Lesley and I got up from sleeping I went to the place where I had encountered seeing this being which was also next to the front door. I shared with Lesley and our two guests who were staying with us from Romania. Christy and his wife. I was describing this being I had met in the night, and I gave such a good description that Christy’s wife made a good drawing of the Angel.

I noticed that there was an envelope lying on the floor that had been put through our letterbox, so I picked it up and opened the envelope and lo and behold there was a cheque inside for £1,000. There was no letter inside, but I could see that the name of the person and the name of his company was on the cheque, and I knew this person from when I worked for Cornerstone Church Bromley as he and his wife both attended that church. The irony was I knew this individual did not like me. (Just one of those things eh) I decided to phone him, and I said to him something like “I just received a cheque for a thousand pounds from your company and it has your signature on it. I know you don’t like me, and I am intrigued as to why you sent me this money.” He said, “We were praying as to whom we should give financial support too and we made a list of the names we would send money to and quite frankly Howard your name was not on the list, but the Lord said I should send you this money.” I thanked Michael and said that their gift was so timely, and it was going to help pay for a new washing machine.

I was so excited, and I went to the bank straight away and met with the Bank Manager whom I told about the visit from the Angel and how the funds came in to buy the much needed washing machine. What I saw next was the first time in my life I have ever witnessed, I saw a tear in the eyes of a bank manager.

I rushed home as I wanted to see John the builder and tell him the good news and that it loos like we are now so close to being able to afford the new washing machine. Arriving home in walked John the builder and I was sharing all about the encounter with the Angel and the arrival of the cheque for a thousand pounds and John said, “That’s it then, I will buy the American washer and dryer for £1,000 as I am not going to argue with God, for the price should have been £1200.”

If all that doesn’t strike you as a miracle, then I guess all my experiences I have shared to date and possibly those that I have yet to share, will also be falling on deaf ears. 

This washing machine and dryer served us well and helped us to care for over 130 children, some of whom were with us for several years and others for only short periods of time. Those 13 years of fostering added so much to our lives and to our own children some of whom may also go on to be foster parents in the future. Who knows? God knows.

By the way we did move one more time to a seven bedroomed house which features in our next adventure which was to include fostering more children and where I started producing Christian programmes which were broadcast on a secular network owned by BET, Black Entertainment Television on the London Interconnect.

I apologise for my poor grammar etc as I am dyslexic, nevertheless I trust you can make sense of just how the Lord God can move heaven and earth if we believe.

#fostercare #christian #miracles