July/Aug 2011 Newsletter

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Volume 11 Issue 2 101 N. Zeysing P O Box 228 Alma, MO 64001 660.674.2222 www.houseoffriends.org

For the vision is yet for an appointed time, but at the end it shall speak, and not lie: though it tarry, wait for it;

because it will surely come, it will not tarry. Hab. 2:3

Dominican RepublicIn 2007 John Gross, foun-der of House of Friends, made his first trip to DominicanRepublic (DR). It had been a 17 year wait after feelingGods call to that Nation.While on the House of Friendsmission trip taken July 23 to July 31, 2011, he met two

other men with significant happenings17 years agolearned out of simple conversations. One is a pastor in theUSA who was called to ministry 17 years ago. He was inDR working on a special mission project. Another wascalled to take the Gospel to the roughest part of DR bycaring for the poor 17 years ago. He introduced the teamto a Haitian pastor who had been ministering to around 50orphaned Haitian children,between 2 and 12 years of age,displaced there after the Haiti earthquake in 2010. It ap-pears House of Friends, through John Gross, has now beendivinely connected to them for Kingdom work, in variousways, on behalf of orphans and widows in the Dominican

Republic. How awesome is our God!

The purpose of this team was to pioneer a Womens andChildrens Abuse Center that will eventually make wayfor a Childrens Home. The Lord was setting up Hisdivine appointments. While eating at a local grocery storecafeteria, Morenothe teams local ministry contact andguide throughout the tripspotted the Presidente of thecity of LaVega, where the Lord has guided House ofFriends (HOF) to establish the Kingdom work. Morenoapproached him and made introductions to the team. Ameeting with the Presidente (Mayors chief assistant) wasscheduled. When the time came for the meeting, a parkingplace could not be found and when they finally got one, it

caused them to run 8 minutes late. Gods favor was withthem. The Presidente arose when they arrived and ac-knowledged their lateness. Not giving any excuses, theteam apologized and the Presidente was quick to overlookit. Upon sharing HOFs desire to establish a center to helpmeet the needs of widows and orphans/street children, the

Presidente responded with What can we do to help? Doyou need a building Upon the teams departure, thegovernment officials were to decide what they might do tohelp. We are awaiting further discussions between ourcontact, Bolivar (Moreno) Reineso and the mayors officeof LaVega to learn what they will offer.

DominicanRepublic MissionTeam, Left to right:Ronnie Machado,John Gross,Dianna Gross,Joyce Johnson,Pam Plattner (HOFBoard Memberand DominicanRepublic OutreachDirector.)

Top right: Team praying over city of LaVega, location of future HOFDominican Republic Outreaches. Bottom left: HOF main ministry con-tact, Bolivar (Moreno) and Damaris Reineso and their children . Other

pictures of food distribution to widows.

The group below are members of New Jerusalem Churchwho have caught the vision of ministering to orphans andwidows. The HOF team presented Spanish Study Bibles,tracts and theGospel comicbooks, pro-vided throughdonations, tothe leaders ofthe church. Thechurch leadershave committed

to pray for ourDominicanRepublic minis-try to widowsand orphans,evangelism andnight and dayprayer. Afterthe team re-turned to Mis-souri, the pastor(cont. next page)

A beautiful setting on a mountain overlooking LaVega has become the place desired for the Dominican Republic or-phanage. A home and some small buildings already grace the land. Property is expensive there, but..OUR GOD is aGod of possibilities. He likes for us to ask for big things because we will then know it was not our doing, but His. All

agree this is the ideal place. So please join us in prayer for Gods miracle! The property is owned by four men.


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VISION (cont. from front) Moreno with members of theirfamilies went back to the mountain top location which wehope will become the future site of the orphanage, to prayover LaVega and the locations for the outreaches.

Ronnie Machado

of Kansas City,whos parents livedin the DR at one time,shared his story ofbeing part Cuban andpart Puerto Rican. Hegrew up hearing thestories of their time inthe DR. He shared

with the New Jerusalem Church Gods goodness and planfor their nation. The congregation was encouraged to reachout to the orphans and widows of the landfulfilling

James 1:27, ...help and care for the orphans and widows intheir affliction and need They had not received thisunderstanding before and immediately reached out tothree widows in their own church by blessing them withfood and help.

As the team was walking down a street in LaVega, theyspotted this little shack on the side of a dwelling. Upon inquir-ing of Moreno if it was a place someone actually lived, he re-sponded that one of the New Jerusalem Church leaders, hiswife and three children have lived in this one room extensionto his parents home for many years. Compassion traveledthroughout the team. Upon leaving Dominican Republic, thefunds that had not been spent while there were given to

Morenohalf to help pay for his expenses in continuing tomeet with government officials, and the other half to buymaterials to expand the one-room home. We were sent a pic-ture showing concrete blocks purchased to add two rooms.

TravisKolder, HOFBoard Member,headed up a

mission team ofthreehimself,Chris Sawyer ofIowa, andJoshua Hulmeof Kansas City.

Travis re-ported that theteam first went

to Katogwe where the Lord released several messages in-viting the believers in that church to draw closer to Himand know Him as their Father. The team prayed for a small

boy the first night and the Lord healed him. He was seenplaying with the other children the next morning. The peo-ple of Katogwe sel-dom receive outsideinteraction andwere greatly en-couraged by the

teams visit. Theycontinued to meetinto the eveningafter the team left.

Several different

messages wereshared with thechurches in En-tebbe. The team challenged the churches not to be compla-cent with the current revival that is happening in Uganda. Itis not uncommon to see a crusade happening on a random

street corner in En-tebbe with many peo-ple showing up to lis-ten. Travis said, TheLord used our preach-ing to call for more

brokenness among thepeople for their owncountry so that Godwould continue to

draw those who dont know Him. In each place where theteam ministered, therewere those who re-ceived a measure of

healing or deliverance.While in Entebbe

the team spent time atAbba House orphan-age. They took gifts forthe children, playedwith them, toured thefacility, and discussedprojects that will maketheir living situationbetter in the longterm. Travis commented, Youve never seen a group of kids

so happy to receive a soccer ball or a jump rope! These kidslove Jesus and we were encouraged by their heart for oth-ers. They even prayed for the orphans in America while wewere together . Im always humbled by the example of faithand love these orphans show me!

During the teams second week, they traveled to Adilangin northern Uganda. This was the city where the former Suda-nese refugee camp was located. Pastor Peter, the man whoinvited the team to Adilang, met with them and explained thesituation the region faces. The camp is now inhabited byUgandans who were severely affected by Joseph Kony andthe Lord's Resistance Army. Joseph Kony has killed more

than two million Africans and his murderous exploits beganin this region. Because of this, the physical reality of theirsituation is bleak and their spiritual climate is oppressive.Many people still suffer under the memories of Kony's pres-ence. The region also suffers from lack of rain and many ofthe people are turning back to demon worship to try and bringrain and prosperity to the region.

The second day the team shared with the leaders of thechurches that gathered, what they felt was the Lord's heart forthe region. Josh, who had been feeling called to start workingwith Sudanese refugees in this area, charged the people withGod's heart for the region, saying that when the Lord sends

him back, he will help the people to do what God is alreadyempowering them to do right now. Chris shared about a trau-matic experience in his life and God's power to heal thehearts of those who have endured painful (cont. next page)

A favorite game for allkidsthe chase.!

Teampictured

with Pas-tor PaulBusulwa,Ugandaministrycontact. Travis

Chris Josh


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A celebration of 17 birthdays took place at Abba Housefollowing the arrival of Barbara Decker, agricultural mission-

ary. The childrenwho had birthdaysbetween January andJune were those hon-ored at the party.Each one received agift and all enjoyed aspecial lunch and

birthday cake.July and Au-gust birthdayswill be cele-brated beforeBarbara re-turns home.

The children are enjoying more variety in their dietssince planting of the gardens last year. Here they aredoing theirpart of theharvestingand gettingthe beansready to

cook.Agricul-

tural mis-sionary,BarbaraDecker,says thatUganda isa dry beanculture, soeven the Kentucky pole beans, as well as the othergreen beans are shelled like peas and just the seeds are

cooked. To try to convince them that the whole bean isgood for eating, Barbara ate a lot of whole raw beans infront of them. They soon caught on and the beans gofarther now.

Lots of eggplants and pole beans as well as cassavaremain in the garden. The onions and tomatoes did notdo so well. The garden has been a great blessing as theprices of food have gone up considerably. A 100 lb. bagof corn meal flour, which used to cost $25.00, now costs$40.00.

A suitcase of special

made dresses made its way

to Uganda in June. Every

girl enjoyed receiving one of

these dresses made by the

loving hands of seamstress,

Connie Franks, of Ohio.

Here, Scovia and Best aresporting their new garments.

Enclosed is $_______ for Abba House project(s)

__Kitchen/Dining Hall Project #1

__Gutter Rainwater Collection System Project #2Entebbe

__Gutter Rainwater Collection System Project #3Kamuli

__Construction of Abba House 3 Project #4Entebbe

__Well Solar Project #5Entebbe

__Missionary Quarters Project #7Entebbe

__ Enclosed is $_______ for greatest needs.

__ Enclosed is $_______ for ____________

__ I would like to sponsor a child.

__$45 full __$20 child care __$25 education

__ Please send me sponsorship information.

__ I will pray for House of Friends, please sendme information for prayer.

Please complete and return this response device if you would like to join with us in any of the above mentioned ways. All donationsare tax deductible. Please write checks payable to:House of Friends and send toP O Box 228, Alma, MO 64001.

Thank you for caring!

Extending a hand of friendship and care for special needs.

Most of the Abba House children thanked sponsors,

through House of Friends, for the love shown to them

from so far away. Here are some things the children

have shared.

Hope thanks you for the nickers (underwear), be-

cause we didnt have.

Jacky said when she came to Abba House, she was

too small and now she is bigand going to school.

Peace said she found God at Abba House and gotsaved and also learned English. She is in first grade

and though she thought she would be 24th in her

class, is actually eighth.

Grace thanked the pastor for planning for so many

children and that through the efforts of HOF and the

garden that, although he is sometimes lazy, he

knows that he will have power for his future.

Emmanuel said that because of his sponsor, he is

free of the burdens he had in his home and he can

study and he feels like he is now in a loving family.

UGANDATEAM (cont)events. He sharedabout God's abil-ity to turn a pain-ful situation intosomething thatcan strengthenothers in theirpain. Then hecharged thechurches of Adi-

lang to find healing for their pain and bring healing to thosewho haven't found healing for their trauma. It was a powerfultime that ended with the believers who gathered bringing theirhurts and pains to Jesus. The power of Jesus touched manywho were present. The team left shortly afterward, but heardlater that the meeting continued on until about 8:00 PM thatevening because they were so blessed by Jesus.

Meeting with church leaders of Adiilang.


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We have learned that due to a change in district

borders, Kamuliwhere our Eddy Reber Memorial

Childrens Home is locatedis now known as

Katogwe. Please make note of the change so when

we report on the orphanage in Katogwe, you will

know which one we are referencing.

Children in Eddy Reber Home

Katogwe

wearing new shirts broughtto them by the Uganda Mission Team.

The price of concrete and building materials have risenin Uganda, so the price of all of our projects will behigher. Based on funding received and the extreme needfor a new kitchen, the Kitchen/Dining Hall Project wasgiven priority. Originally it was to cost $1,500 for the en-tire project. With the prices going up, that amount onlycovers the concrete floor. The picture above was taken onAugust 12. Thank you to the donors who made this por-

tion of the project possible.

Jesus invites us, Ask and it shall be given you ; seek and you shall find; knock and it shall be opened to you. Matt. 7:7 Please join us in praying that the needs and opportunities before House of Friends will be answered as Jesus desires.We invite you to request further information for prayer.

PRAYER REQUESTS Pray for the provision of land and a building to begin the work of caring for women and children in the Dominican

Republic. Pray for God to bless the prayers and ministry of the New Jerusalem Church in DR. Pray for Gods direction and timing for the ministry He wants to establish in Adilang, Uganda. Pray for healing of the

people from trauma. Pray for provision of finances and favor to complete the special projects in Uganda. Pray that all the children and staff workers at the Abba Houses grow in grace and knowledge of Jesus and be led by

the Spirit. Pray for more intercessors to undergird the House of Friends ministry.

We are looking for prayer partners. If God is calling you to join us in this way, please indicate that desire on the responsedevice area on the reverse side of this page at the bottom, tear the device off and return to:

House of Friends, P O Box 228, Alma, MO 64001.

HouseofFriends

POBox228

Alma,MO64001

NH

July/Aug 2011 Newsletter

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