Volume 9 Issue 7 101 N. Zeysing · P O Box 228 · Alma, MO 64001

660.674.2222

www.houseoffriends.org

Dale and Jeanie Ritter lead a team of four to Pine Ridge Indian Reservation on June 18through 25, 2009. Barbara Decker of Alma,and Danielle Robertson of Malta Bend,Missouri joined them in taking a truck andtrailer load of household furniture and goodsto the reservation. Each were involved invarious special projects while there.The road trip to the reservation proved to be very eventful. The car broke down andrequired a layover and repair work in Nebraska. The break down ended up being a blessing with a big discount on the repairsand the night lodging costs cut in half by theowners of the motel who are Christians. Mostimportantly, new friends were made.Our team arrived at the reservation just before two other mission groups arrived atthe mission to work as well. The team pre- pared the living quarters for those coming.A YWAM group of youth from theChicago area arrived just in time to helpunload our cargo of 84 boxes of clothes, personal needs and household items as wellas furniture, appliances, and other miscella-neous goods. It was a beautiful picture of the body of Christ from different states workingtogether for a common goal

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showing careand support of our Native Americans in their plight of poverty.Dale worked on carpentry projects and therest of the crew helped with getting the mis-sion store restocked with the newly arrivedmerchandise. Several Lakota Sioux crafterscame in with their beautifully made jewelryand beadwork.

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I first met Gizaw Derseh in January at a smallEthiopian coffee shop in Kansas with House of Friends President, John Gross, and Sean Hughley. We were exploringthe idea of traveling to Ethiopia to start an orphanage. The conversa-tion covered coffee, Ethiopian history, and how Gizaw came to theU.S. After the discussion, Gizaw asked if we had any questions. My

first question for Gizaw was this: “What's God doing in Ethiopia?”Without missing a beat Gizaw said, “Come and find out for yourself.”

Fast forward six months. Seven of us from Missouri, Kansas, andIowa landed in Addis Ababa to meet up with Gizaw and his daughter,Bethlehem. We took Gizaw's offer and came to see what God was do-ing. We were also looking for men and women interested in takingcare of widows and orphans. We had all come as part of House of Friends, and because of that we believed God had a special purpose for Ethiopia as described in Isaiah 18:

“Listen, Ethiopia land of fluttering

sail that lies at the headwaters of the Nile, that sends ambassadors in swift boats down the river. Go, swift messengers! Take a message to atall, smooth-skinned people who are feared far and wide for their con-quests and destruction, and whose land is divided by rivers...at [the end

of the age] the Lord of Heaven’s Armies will receive gifts from this land

divided by rivers, from this...people, who are feared far and wide for their conquests and destruction. They will bring the gifts to Jerusalem,

where the Lord of Heaven’s Armies dwells.”

Shortly upon arrival, we met with leaders of several churches. In or-der to protect these individuals not much can be said or shown, but thework they are doing is bringing multitudes to Christ. We learned muchabout the spiritual condition of the country and how these focused indi-viduals have both endured much opposition and seen significant pro-gress in spreading the Good News. We also discovered that the enemywould throw a lot of attacks our way in the form of physical set backs.Our response to these attacks would determine our level of victory later.Probably the greatest example of God displaying His power in themidst of setback was on our trip to Bahir Dar, a city on the coast of Lake Tana. Our intent was to stay several days and meet with believers.To reach the city we had to travel through the Blue Nile Gorge, a placenot unlike the Grand Canyon, which is divided by the Blue Nile(Remember Isaiah 18?). We had almost crossed through the gorge whenour van broke down. The van driver caught a ride to the next city, but

we were stuck as a team in “the middle of nowhere” for several hours.

We did happen to break down next to a tiny village of less than tenhouses. Aroea and Kevin Knox, Sean Hughley, and Dan Zachariastook the opportunity to engage the children of the village throughgames, fun, and prayer. We even had the opportunity to give Bibles andshare the gospel with some of the older children. And while the chanceto minister to the children touched us deeply, it was only the beginningof the miracle behind breaking down.

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By Travis Kolder, HOF Board Member

Ethiopia Team member left to right

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Brenda Carr, John Gross, Dan Zacharias, Aroea Knox,Sean Hughley, Kevin Knox, and Travis Kolder.

HOF outreach team left to right

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Dale Ritter, DanielleRobertson ( with mom and dad, Lou Ann and Monty)and Barbara Decker. The truck and trailer with goods is inthe background. Jeanie Ritter is not pictured.

Since her youth, Barbara Decker, anagriculture missionary serving many yearsin the Central and South Americas and ashort stint in Africa, has been interested inour Native Americans. While at her home base in Alma, Missouri, she decided to lenda helping hand on a mission trip to the PineRidge Indian Reservation in South Dakotawith Dale and Jeanie Ritter, House of Friends Native American OutreachDirectors, the end of June. They were also joined by Danielle Robertson of MaltaBend, Missouri.When Barbara returned from the trip she

said, “What I saw on the reservation would

be what I would expect to see in any one of the third-world countries where I have been.But to see the Native Americans the waythey live and have their being in the U.S.A.hurts me. I saw a few similarities betweenthem and the Jews. The Jews were exiled,

first to Babylon and then to the “outer parts.” The Indian nations have also been“exiled,” first to productive lands and then

later to unproductive lands. They struggle toguard their existence. They are a proud people who have been put on welfare andthey have become co-dependent and

complacent.”

Barbara saw that many Indians hangaround the mission base at White Clay, Nebraska, two miles from Pine Ridge. Mostof them visit the local tavern and are drunk by the afternoon.Aside from some manual labor at themission, Barbara was able to minister to

some of the locals. “I met Willie,” Barbarashared, “who told me, „If one of my kidswould say to me, „Daddy, please sober up,‟I would. But they won‟t. I know they wish itand I know they want me to, but they won‟task me to.‟” So Barbara planted a seed inWillie‟s mind. She said to him, “That‟s the

way it is with our Father God. He knowswhat we need and He knows what we want,

but we have to ask Him.” It is Barbara‟s

prayer that somewhere, sometime, in astupor or out of it, that those words will sink in and that Willie will ask God for help.Barbara also met Norma, who has adegree in Psychol-ogy. Norma told her that there is a lot of

“New Age” on the

reservation. NewAge talks of God being in everythingand it fits in withtheir ancestral beliefs of praying tothe deer before theyhunt it, praying tothe tree before they cut it, and praying to thewolf, bear, eagle, or turtle for their virtues. Norma has returned to her people to teachthem about themselves and to teach thechildren their language. Most importantly,she teaches them about Jesus and aboutJewish roots in Jesus.

Norma

ETHIOPIA...

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cont.)

By the time our driver returned, it was clear we wouldno longer be able to get to Bahir Dar that night. Instead, we traveled another hour to Debre Markos and spent the night. We experienced another night of significant spiritual warfare, but we were assured by the Lord that the breakdown had set the stage for unseen victories the rest of the trip.When we awoke, those traveling with us had remembered they knew of awoman in Debre Markos whoowned a school and had a heartfor orphans. When we arrived atthe school we were met byFasika, the owner of the school building. There were a number of children attending and theyflocked around Brenda Carr,Bethlehem Derseh, and Kevinand Aroea Knox. While the kidswere enjoying their company,several of us spoke with Fasikaand shared the vision of startingorphanages in Ethiopia. Itquickly became apparent that this was a divine appointment from the Lord.Fasika was renting the property to a school, but had canceled the lease ,sensing the Lord was about to do something new. She later explained thatten years earlier she had been told the Lord would send Americans to helpher start an orphanage and that our vision of Abba House was a fulfillmentof that word. Many of us sat stunned as we realized that we would not have been here had our van not broken down the day before. We had stumbledinto a plan that was much bigger than our own.We continued north to Bahir Dar, then to Gondor to see some of Ethiopia's most historical sights. The final days of the trip were spent inAddis Ababa finishing up work with different individuals we previouslymet. We had some time for shopping where we encountered two boys sell-ing gum on the street. They were about eightyears old and had no shoes. Recog-nizing a chance to share the love of Jesus, Sean and Kevin took them to buy shoes. The first shop theystopped at tried to sell the shoes atextremely high prices. An Ethiopianwoman, whom we did not know butsaw what was happening, recog-nized the injustice and took Kevin tofind a place that would sell shoes at afair price. We were able to purchaseshoes and socks for the boys and escortthem part of the way home. All of us were touched at howmuch God worked to show us His love for these boys.Later that night, during prayer, the Lord gave us aScripture that we believe is a promise for the city of AddisAbaba and Ethiopia,

"Go up and down the streets of Jerusalem, look around and consider, search through her squares. If you can find but one person who deals honestly

and seeks the truth, I will forgive this city,”

(Jeremiah 5:1). We believe we found a woman who dealshonestly and seeks truth, the sort of person Jeremiah was describing, and because of that, God is looking to give significant mercy to Ethiopia.

Kevin, a team member, said this about the trip: “My heart was changed

so much by being there. It wasn't only the poverty, the street kids withoutadequate clothes or shoes, or the families living in mud huts that moved me;it was the tangible spirit of God that was prevalent the entire trip. It was Hisreassurance that He was in control and in all things; that He orchestrates our paths, and our being there and our involvement in that time was noaccident. The language of the people, the beauty of the land and the sense

of gratitude from everyone we met has affected me. I'm changed.”

Through the whole trip we were challenged to become more like Jesus,and more focused on showing God's heart to the poor. We believe morethan ever that God is moving in Ethiopia. I want to invite you to continuewith us on this journey and help us extend mercy to the orphans andwidows of Ethiopia. We will continue to give updates about our activitiesthere and chances for you to get involved. You can check out our photo journal athttp://www.flickr.com/houseoffriends by clicking on the Ethiopia 2009 icon. I learned much about how God is moving in Ethiopia, andthough I can't tell the whole story, if you want to see it, I will extend to you

the same invite Gizaw extended to me: “Come and find out for yourself.”

Children at the school and potential location of thenext Abba House.

Left

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woman of justice; Below

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Kevin fitting shoes on boy, & thetwo boys with new shoes & socks.

The impact of the Ethiopian mission trip led by HOF board member, Travis Kolder, continued in Kansas City. At HopeCity on Monday night, July 20th, John Gross shared about an encounter on the streets of Addis Ababa in Ethiopia. Heencouraged the crowd that comes out every Monday night for prayer and worship and a fellowship meal in the inner city,that the Lord would do the same thing here where the need is so great. As usual a great night followed as everyone lingeredin prayer and the meal was put on hold. The inner city ministry HOF partners with is Hope City (www.hopecitykc.org).On the following weekend John spoke at a Youth Conference at the Nazarene University hosted by the EthiopianEvangelical Christian Association. The Director of this fellowship of churches is Gizaw Derseh who also hosted the HOFmission trip to Ethiopia. John has been working with the local youth group for about one year and has been overwhelmed

with their spiritual maturity. This event had youth from several cities. “The maturity of these youth, combined with theunity they have with one another, makes them ripe for revival,” John says. “These young people are hungry for God.”

During the conference ministry time, they filled the alter as the Lord ministered to them. The website of the Ethiopianministry House of Friends has been working with is www.eecaweb.org.

John Gross sharing at the Youth section of theEthiopian Conference in Kansas City

The answer is children. Childrenlove to eat funnel cakes; and as youread on, these particular funnel cakes provide security.Everyone gets involved when itcomes to the House of Friends 4th of July fundraiser in Alma, Missouri. Doyou love funnel cakes? We do and sodid the crowd that gathered on theevenings of the two-day 4th of Julycelebration. Board members, donors,volunteers, intercessors and office staff joined efforts to make the fundraisingevent a big successA total profit of $1,433.66 was real-ized and will go toward building asecurity fence for the children at AbbaHouse in Entebbe, Uganda. We still havea need of $1,250 to finish the project.Thanks to everyone involved for our greatsuccess, and most certainly including our patrons, who enjoyed the delectable treat.

Phyllis Wyatt and Pam Plattner seem to be in perfect harmony pouring their batter whileMarie Kalebaugh prepares to take out her finished funnel cake.Left

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Behind the scenes, to get the funnel cakebatter ready for the first customers, were C W and Betty Browning (married over 65 years). With helpfrom youth to seniors, the needs are met.

HOUSE OF FRIENDS MINISTRY STEWARDSHIP

We would like to share with our contributors that House of Friendshas the sincere belief that the scriptural principles of tithing extend to

the ministry‟s income. Therefore, it is the policy of House of Friends

to tithe from that which is received in unrestricted funds to charitablemissions which have similar purposes. A tithe is not taken from thosegifts given to specific projects or for sponsorship.

PINE RIDGE

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continued)

In most cases,selling these items is all the income theyhave beyond the $420 per month that thegovernment provides a family.Help was given by our team and theYWAM youth team in planting thegardens and cleaning up the area throughtrash pickup.This trip continued to build trust andfriendships between the Lakota Sioux andHouse of Friends. All the team membersministered one on one to many of thestreet people

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giving encouragement and praying for them.While there, the team met another group. This Christian mission group hadconducted prayer walks on the reservation previously. On this particular trip, theyasked the Indian Council what they coulddo to help the reservation. They were toldthe reservation did not have a Detox Unitand would like to have one built. Thegroup agreed to see that one was built.Those plans were solidified with theIndian Council voting to make seven acresof property available. Soon they willreturn to start the building process. Theywill be joined by other Native Americansand Amish people from several states.There is a possibility the Ritter's willreturn as well to help.