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Decker’s Diary
on the Mission Field
 
Dear Friends and Family, The three months that I was at Abba House has been hard to put into words. I had many problems with my legs and hip and many problems with typical teenagers, of whom I am learning more about. And, except for taking Abba members up
to the Eddy Reber Home in Katogwe, I didn’t
get a whole lot done of what I had wanted to do during that time. I filled the position again as
Dorm Mom and fulfilled duties such as “supply manager” and “devotion leader.” I went back
and forth with people about what should be done to fix the dining room & kitchen project, I  judged and judged again what to do to finish the missionary quarters, and I felt like I lost control over what to plant in the garden. The garden has been converted to growing mostly cooking bananas, cassava and sweet  potatoes. Its soil seems best for those things and a new plot closer to Abba House has been opened up and is being worked up to plant the vegetables needed to spice up the menu at the Home. It will be easier to maintain nearer to the Home and the food produced will be exclusively for Abba House. Perhaps because of the pain I had experienced in my body, the kids seem to
irritate me a little more than on other trips. I’m sure it was pure “teenager”— 
a  bit rebellious, cantankerous, and superior. Some that went home for Christ-mas break came back with ideas that they had gained from outside the secure Abba House situation
 — 
and mostly, away from the Word of God. Some-times, it almost made me want to just go home. But when I was released from
the hospital, I was met by Abba House escorts, including the “leader of the  pack”, Henry, and a quiet and very much to herself young lady, Irene. The  pastor’s wife said that Henry was almost going to leave the home without per-
mission to come and visit me at the hospital and after that time, I saw a side of Henry that shows real concern for others
 — 
a healthy helping attitude.
March 2013
Things were pretty frustrating and al-most boring this trip until a doctor found a  blood clot high in my left leg. Then things got exciting and I spent three nights
 
in a Ugandan hospital. The food was good and the bed more comfortable than the one I have at Abba
House, but I was very glad I didn’t have to
stay longer than I did. In Ugandan culture, when someone is in the hospital, a friend stays alongside the patient
 — 
often sleeping on the floor next to the bed. I did not have someone stay with me
 —it’s not my culture— 
and if I had, I probably would have worried more about her health and well being rather than the other way around. I was able to get to the toi-
let by myself and so really didn’t need anyone
to help except perhaps to scout out things that
weren’t supplied— 
like drinking water, a towel, a pillow and toilet paper. I was admit-ted on Thursday night, January 31; and though I asked and requested various people, our
ward’s bathroom did not receive toilet paper
until Friday afternoon. I had requested the
 pastor’s wife, Deborah, to bring toilet paper
when she came to visit on Friday; but because of an abnormal, torrential rain, she could not come until evening. But, when she came, she came with three rolls! Then I was rolling in the richness of having toilet paper! Aha-- the little things in life
 —that’s what makes the
world go around.
Barb Decker
 Hospital Experience in Uganda
I will support Barbara Decker’s work on the mission field with House of Friends in the following way.
  ___ Barbara Decker Mission Support (Monthly) $_________(One Time Gift) $________  ___ Abba House Project ( ) Multi-purpose dining/kitchen $___________ ( ) Missionary Quarters $_________  ___ Mission Trip Expenses to Uganda $_________  ___ Please send information on sponsorship of __child __worker.
 All donations are tax deductible. Please write checks payable to: House of Friends and send to P O Box 228, Alma, MO 64001 Thank you for caring!
 New Garden Plot 
 
Grace (right) from Abba House sits with Pastor Busulwa at a wonderful meal supplied by Pas-tor Valentine and his wife who operate the Eddy Reber Home Eddy Reber Home children giving a presentation to our  Abba House mission group.
 Attitudes 
 
 
 Blessed by Visitors 
 
Construction of the missionary quarters did get underway and hope-fully soon I will be able to give my room back to
the boys’ house and the
next dorm mom. The missionary quarters will have a separate kitchen within, for my cooking option. I have shared in their food for one and a half years, but my body does not like it much anymore. They use a lot of cooking oil and fry a lot of things. I have also lived one and a half years without a refrigerator, a real toilet, and a sink, all of which I am desperately hoping for in the missionary quarters and not only just for me but for others that come to serve or visit. House of Friends is still receiving donations for the completion of the missionary quarters. We still need a septic tank and the iron sheets for the roof, which are the most expensive. Then the basic
house will be done and we’ll need just the luxury items
such as windows, doors, fixtures, and appliances. In February, we had very important visitors from far and farther away. We had visitors from Colorado and from Alaska who have  blessed the home in many different ways. They brought toys and games, Bibles
 — 
all the same version so we can all read together in de-votions, balls
 — 
 basketballs, soccer balls and dodge balls, and shoes--much needed shoes! They also brought bed sheets for everyone and diatomaceous earth to control certain pests in the houses. But, more important than the material stuff, their witness for the love of God for every single person, no matter who they are in life, is what the children of Abba House remember. The visi-tors also put faces and a hug into the understanding of what a sponsor is to them.
 
I want to thank first and foremost my prayer partners and warriors who have uplifted me several times during my time in Uganda. And also thank anyone and every-one so much for responding to setting up a medical ac-count for me through House of Friends. The time spent in the Ugandan hospital only came to about $400, includ-ing the syringes and needles that they used on me, but the doctors here in the U.S. are quite a bit more expensive, even without a 3-day stay in a hospital. I am continuing to get my blood monitored which puts to myth the decla-
ration to me about having “thin blood,” because it is a
struggle to get it to a thinness with which the doctors are satisfied to letting me go back to Uganda. Sometimes three months is plenty of time for a mission
and sometimes it’s not. I was almost ready to come home
until the time that I was packing to do so. During my recuperation, Alice came in to help me. As she was mop-
 ping my room, she said, “You have done so much for us, now it’s our turn to do something for you.” And as I  prepared to go, all the kids sent “a hug” along with me. I think that to be able to speak into a child’s life is proba-
 bly the greatest reward I can have for doing what I am doing. Perhaps that was exactly what I was supposed to do this time instead of completing a project. Thank you all as well for your involvement of speaking into the lives of the Abba House children. May God bless you all.
Love to all, Barb Decker
   B  a  r  b  a  r  a   D  e  c   k  e  r ,    M  i  s  s  i  o  n  a  r  y    H  o  u  s  e  o  f   F  r  i  e  n   d  s    P   O   B  o  x  2  2  8    A  l    m  a ,    M   O  6  4  0  0  1
 Missionary Quarters 
 
Wall in the new living room of the missionary quarters. Stacey and Denver Urlaub of Alaska surrounded by the contents of 10 suit-cases brought from the cool of Alaska to the warmth of Uganda.
Thanks and Closing Thoughts 
 

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