Travis Kolder,House of Friends board member,grew up in a smalltown in North East-ern Iowa. He wassaved at the age of 15 from a life of New Age involvementand witchcraft when his mother wasdramatically healed from a form of lifethreatening cancer. Since that time hehas given his life to sharing the Gospel, planting house churches, and advancingthe Kingdom through strategic prayer and intercession.Travis' first trip to Africa was withHouse of Friends founder and board chair-man, John Gross, in 2007. That trip andsubsequent experiences opened his eyes to both the needs of the nations and the greatopportunity to learn from the believers

there. “The church in the West has a

tremendous opportunity to not only servethe church all over the world, but we havea chance to see what God is doing in theselands that He is not doing in America. Ilove to serve, but I go frequently to havemy own Western ideas stretched and

changed,” said Travis.

Travis and his wife Christy live inCedar Rapids, Iowa where they serve aschurch planters with the Cedar RapidsHouse Church Network. Their vision is toraise up Christ-centered spiritual familiesthat prepare the Earth for the end of theage. They meet with other young familiesthroughout the week for encouragement, prayer, and mission-focused planning for the city of Cedar Rapids.Travis is a Consumer Loan Officer atCollins Community Credit Union inCedar Rapids. He has worked there for almost 5 years. He and his wife Christyhave two children, Ariel and Joel.

Volume 9 Issue 3 101 N. Zeysing · P O Box 228 · Alma, MO 64001

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God's heart for Ethiopia and itsimpact on us as a house of friendstook John Gross, Gizaw Derseh,and Kenton Higgins to Cedar Rapids, Iowa to meet with membersof the Cedar Rapids House Church Network.Long in the making, this trip wasdesigned to build vision for House

of Friends’ initial outreach to Ethiopia this summer. Several Members

of the house church in Cedar Rapids will be joining John Gross andGizaw Derseh to explore a partnership to build orphanages in Ethiopia.This short trip focused our hearts on the mission ahead of us.The whole house church gathered Saturday, February 28

to hear from Gizaw Derseh, an Ethiopian pastor who has moved to America.Gizaw serves as the Executive Director of Ethiopian EvangelicalChristian Association, a network of Ethiopian churches from across theUnited States. Travis had asked Gizaw to speak on what the church inAmerica could learn from the church in Ethiopia. Gizaw shared aboutthe revival that had broken out in Ethiopia during

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Native American Outreach directors, Dale and JeanieRitter, are gearing up for a mission trip to Pine RidgeIndian Reservation to take furniture, appliances, household goods, andspring clothing for the Lakota Sioux. Donations will be received for this trip up to April 15. The trip will be made sometime after the 15th.Alma Jones, missionary, has been a great blessing to Abba House. She has been takingthe children to doctor appointments and check-ing on their needs, making sure they are wellcared for. She reports they are doing well andthat the home has need of the following items:

BlanketsSheetsMattress pads for bed wettersSchool uniforms

Alma Jones, House of Friends missionary, sittingon Abba House porch withthe children during one of her weekly visits.