Volume 14 Issue 1 P O Box 228 Alma, MO 64001 660.674.2222 www.houseoffriends.

org
These are words you might hear
Abba House children saying today;
however, for two years they endured
attack upon attack of bed bugs. The
beds were saturated with insecticide
multiple times but in short order they
would be back. While sitting out at the
table on the porch of the boys home
one day in December, Sarah Spencer began being bit and it was
soon realized the bed bugs had moved out to the porch. Her
heart rose up with a determination so deep to rid the homes of
these bugs, that had tormented the
children for so long, that she and
Chad set out on a mission to de-
stroy them down to the very last
one. It would be a fight they and
the children would endure for
weeks but there would be victory.

As mattresses were being re-
moved from the home, the Spen-
cers saw that most of the mat-
tresses were either thin, torn, or
soil soaked. Their hearts went out
toward the children. They needed
to be replaced.
Before coming to Uganda
a friend had shared with
them a website,
www.gofundme.com. The
Spencers initiated a fund-
raising campaign for mat-
tresses. In a few short days,
46 people responded giving
a total of $2565 which went
beyond the goal of $1,200.
They were able to purchase
all the mattresses, have
strong, waterproof protec-
tive covers made for each
one.

After seven days of tak-
ing everything out of the
houses, saturating every-
thing with insecticide, go-
ing through clothes and
boiling them, washing
shoes and bedding, going
through books and throwing away those infected heavily with
bed bugs, and cleaning out the rafters of the (cont. page 2)
Sarah, Chad and some of the
younger Abba House children
gather around their new mat-
tresses with protective covers.
Last month, a team of Childrens
Evangelist Fellowship ministers
led a training session in Adilang,
a northern village of Uganda.
Despite the rainy season and a
tight budget, 18 individuals suc-
cessfully completed the training
module, which included lessons
on how to effectively teach the
Bible to children.

The funds for the training ses-
sion were released to House of
Friends through a miraculous
turn of events, requiring team
members to mobilize quickly. Missionaries Jimmy and Katherine
Bodo were ready for the call and assembled a team of three CEF
trainers. They also gathered materials for the course and pur-
chased food materials. Jimmy, a native of Adilang, made the ar-
duous 12-hour drive to Adilang, while Katherine, who is eight
months pregnant, coordinated trainers from her post in Entebbe
and rallied prayer
support.

The training was
held at the church
of Pastor Peter,
Jimmys cousin.
Trainees arrived
every day to inter-
act with the mate-
rial, gaining both
a practical under-
standing of teach-
ing the Bible to
youth and an op-
portunity to con-
nect with fellow
laborers in the northern region. Trainers engaged the attendees
with hands-on activities and through their vibrant enthusiasm for
working with children. (Cont. on page 2)
Article by Alex Bennett
Jimmy Bodo leading a
training session.
Jimmy Bodo and his wife, Katherine, on right, are
working with groups sharing training techniques.
T-Shirt loaded
with bedbugs.
Torn and soiled mattresses
The mattresses arrive!
Sleep (cont.) homesnothing was left un-
turneda deep blow came. When all was
thought to be finished, one of the girls went to
her bed and pealed back some wood . Out came
10 bed bugs. At that moment it was evident
these beds could no longer be used. They
would need to hire a professional welder to
custom make metal beds so there would be no
holes or places these pests could hide and
breed. Time was of the essence and there was
no money in hand.

Chad and Sarah had been told it was not a
good idea to try to raise funds through the go-
fundme.com site more than once during the
time they were serving in Uganda. But with the
need so urgent and great, they had no choice
but to try raising funds this way again. So out
went the plea on January 1, 2014 and within
days, 39 people responded with $3,020, again
going beyond the goal of $2,500. The welders
did a great job of sealing up all holes and grind-
ing down rough places, leaving it impossible
for bugs to hide and propagate.
The whole process took lots of focused, hard
labor. All the kids pitched in. It also became a
time of team building and family building.
Tiffany Ninemires team from Kansas arrived
in the midst of the clean up and pitched in to
help. That was a tremendous blessing too!
All is back in order. Now! Abba House kids
are at rest as they sleep, thanks to Chad and
Sarah Spencer who persevered; and with the
help of the Lord, the children, the care givers,
and a mission team, a great victory was won
over the bed bugs.
Chad Spencer checking out the new welded beds.
A joyous, yet peace-
ful, scene of Dorcus
sitting on her new
bed with her friend,
Hope Spencer.
Northern
Uganda(cont.)
Katherine reports,
People in Adilang
have a great desire
to be taught. I am
so blessed by their
turn out because it
was a short notice
and then they have
started experienc-
ing rains. But still
they are ready to be
taught.

With the training complete, the Adilang missionaries believe that much fruit
will come from the trip. They are working on assembling a committee to follow-
up. They send their gratitude to all who supported the trip through funds and
prayer. We join our brothers and sisters, praying that the Word of the Lord will
run swiftly and be glorified in the northern part of Uganda. Training of this nature
is particularly needed as the region holds a ready harvest of children.
Church leaders in attendance entering
into the activity being taught.
In 2008, House of Friends came
along side Grace Global Impact
Ministries in their vision and mis-
sion of physically and spiritually
caring for orphaned and destitute
children in the Entebbe, Uganda
area. Our mission was to help in
providing food, shelter, and an edu-
cation for the children in a chil-
drens home setting, with the
ultimate goal of the homes becom-
ing self-sustainable.

House of Friends, along with Global Impact Relief (an Indiana mission group
who are involved with the New Life School Abba House kids attend) have begun
to make changes by initiating measures to be more Kingdom of God focused. We
are helping the Uganda ministry in developing a farming operation which will
grow the food needed for the homes and the school on the grounds as well as to
sell what is not needed, generating income for the much needed improvements and
other expenses of the home. The
Kuwl Farm Project has been
launched to begin working toward
this goal.
Kuwl is a Hebrew word that is
loosely defined as sustainable. In
this project Pastor Richard
Kaaya of Grace Global Impact
Ministries shares the vision of this
Kuwl idea which will move the
whole Abba House project to be-
ing self-sustainable. He and his
family have a large acreage about
two hours away from the homes
and a portion of the land has been set aside for this project.
With funds provided by House of Friends and Global Impact Relief, the project
was begun with the purchase of 47 nanny goats and the building of a covered shel-
ter and pen. A young man has also been hired to watch over them and give them
medicine should any have need of it. Pastor Kaayas plan is to start with 100 nan-
nies to be the seedbed for the project. The plan would be to (continued on page 3)
2
Kuwl Farm
(cont.) increase the
herd over the next
few years as the
first steps for New
Life School and
Abba House to
become self-
sustainable. Pastor
Kaaya says, Goat
farming doesnt
demand a lot,
unlike agriculture
which demands so
much to start.
Once this part of
the farm project
becomes stable, crop farming will be added. Pastor Kaaya has
requested funding for 50 more nannies in order to get the first
phase of the project going strong.


The Kitchen/Dining Hall Project has been slow due to the
original faulty construction and having to tear much of it down
and using what was available to at least reconstruct the kitchen.
The kitchen has been in use, but not without its challenges. We
do not have a stove inside the kitchen so a fire is built on the
floor. With the walls enclosing the kitchen, many times smoke
remains in the kitchen because of the way the wind is blowing
or not blowing.
It is not a
healthy situa-
tion and the
walls are be-
coming black
from the smoke.
To alleviate the
situation, we
need to build a
stove, which will be made out of concrete and have four burners
and an oven, and then vent the smoke to the outside. The cost is
approximately $1700. The firewood would be put under the
burner holes of the stove and therefore be a hotter fire and take
less firewoodwhich will be savings in the long run.
With a hotter fire, the current potsmade of aluminumwill
not take the extreme heat. Also, the pots are in bad condition.
One has a hole in the bottom, another has the sides broken off,
others have been patched several times and are
thin and black. Sufficient money came in to
buy two new aluminum smaller pots for now to
help see the cooks through until a stove is built.
When the stove is built, larger stainless steel
pots will need to be made and should be
long lasting. The cost of the new pots is
also included in the stove/oven price.
Chad Spencer and family donated the
wood for picnic-style tables and benches for
the dining hall. He, with a little help from a
couple of the older boys, constructed them.
One thing yet remainsthat is to finish the
dining hall with a roof and
partial sides like a shelter
house in the U.S. This will
require approximately $8000 to
complete. It is sometimes dif-
ficult to give a set cost because
of the constant fluctuation of
the exchange rate.
Pastor Kaaya with the goat herdsman.
Kids from the community and Abba House join together in fun and
Christian instruction..
The focus of Youth Camp this year was on walking in wisdom and de-
veloping godly relationships.
Denver and Stacey Urlaub, Loving the Majesty
Ministries of Healy, Alaska, made a return trip to
Abba House early this year and brought the blessing
of school shoes for the children donated by the won-
derful families of Healy. Shoes do not last very long
for Uganda school children and are always in need.
The Urlaubs also spent several days loving on the
children and gave four of Abba House boys an op-
portunity to serve at a conference they were holding
in Mukono.
Denver helping the
children with their new shoes.
Grace, Julius, Emmanuel, and William
with Urlaubs on ministry trip.
Smoke filling
the kitchen
Cooking in
the kitchen
Pots still in use
Kitchen and
dining
area
3
SolomeAge 9,
Father deceased and
mother bedridden.

Care Sponsor/partner
$20 per month
Education
$35 per month


AllanAge 15,
Father destitute,
mother deceased.

Care Sponsor/partner
$20 per month



DerrickAge 10,
Abandoned by
parents.

Care Sponsor/partner
$20 per month



FaridahAge 16,
Parents deceased

Care Sponsor/partner
$20 per month
Kitchen/Dining Hall:
Project Need
Cement 4-burner cooking stove/oven/pots $1,700.00
Finishing of Dining Hall $8,000.00
Missionary Quarters:
Project Need
Finishing tiling floors/kitchen cabinet, plastering
outside the building and painting $1,000.00
Mission Team beds (bunk set w/mattresses) $300.00
Farm Project:
50 Goats $70.00 per goat
Shoe Fund: $20.00 per pair
The children need new durable black leather shoes for school
twice a year due to foot growth and daily wear and tear.

INVESTING PRAYERS
Pray for the Lord to provide the funds needed in Uganda to
complete the kitchen/dining hall and missionary quarters, and
for child sponsorships, school shoes for the children and goats
for the farm project.
Pray for those trained in the Word of the Lord in northern
Uganda to sow it and reap a great harvest of children for the
Lords Kingdom.
Pray for the Lord to guide House of Friends in advancing His
Kingdom through our opportunities to serve in Uganda, Do-
minican Republic, Ethiopia and among the Native Americans.
Pray for the provision and the preparations of a team going to
Uganda in June.



The missionary quarters is
coming together nicely. The walls
are mostly finished with concrete
and the tile flooring is being in-
stalled.

The kitchen continues to have
the finishing touches added with
an open shelving area built around
the sink and a small kitchen island
constructed. The kitchen island
was something new to the mason,
but He is doing well with coming
up with something that will work.

The missionary bedroom is
finished with the exception of
paint, curtains, pictures and throw
rugs.
Dominican Republic
We continue to provide a monthly
feeding program for displaced, or-
phaned Haitian children who have
been taken into homes of Christian
families, who have financial limita-
tions themselves. A follow up trip is
planned later this year to determine
the next steps we will be taking to
reach out to the street children and
poor of Dominican Republic.

Native American Outreach
Dale and Jeanie Ritter made two
trips to Pine Ridge Reservation
within the last seven months. They
continue to take furnishings and
needed items to the reservation and
provide labor for projects being car-
ried on by our partners, Lakota Hope
Ministry.
Shelving behind island
Kitchen Island
Missionary Bedroom
Finished walls
Ethiopia...Funds are sent quarterly to help widows and their children.
4