Dec 2014 Update; Story, Youthz News, SOAR Youthz, Ministry News, Missionary News
Greetings from Masaka and Happy 2015!!
It certainly is a Happy New Year! I would normally share this story next month, since it happened on 01 Jan, but I can’t keep the excitement in—William has been baptized! Subsequently going through several Baptism classes over the last few months with Pastor Rogers, yesterday he attended a combined baptismal church service of Tabernacle Church and Nyendo Baptist members. After the service all 11 of us going to partake or assist in the baptism crammed into a sedan car and drove out to Lake Nabugabu. It was a joyous to witness all 8 of the people publicly and openly declare their repentance and love for the Lord, as they emerged from the deep water with a renewal of their life as a Christian. Following we rejoined the others back at the church for a celebration, and of course when Ugandans celebrate they eat—yes with lots of food!! After the feasting we had another church service and an ended the day with the movie, Faith Like Potatoes! What a great start to the New Year!
Youthz News
FHLM 3rd Term School Holiday Programs:
- Monday and Wednesday afternoon Bible Studies kicked off on 01 Dec when had 11 youth join our ongoing study in Genesis and Matthew. We are working our way through the entire Bible by studying the Old Testament on Monday and the New Testament on Wednesday. During this month of Bible Studies God has really met us with amazing discussions and prayer time. There are so many times we felt His presence with us!
- Thanks to our local volunteer craft teacher, Henry, we had two awesome Youth Craft Clinics! The youth had fun at our 1st Craft Clinic on 02 Dec. when they made thread bracelets with their initials on them. On 16 Dec they made sandals out of tires and leather. They turned out so wonderfully! We not only did these Craft Clinics for fun, but also to expose the youth to new ideas that could open up possible small business opportunities. One of the young men, Francis, wants to make the thread bracelets and sell them at secondary school.
- We had great fun at our 1st Bible Trivia Contest on 09 Dec. Pastor Sammy was our MC for the day, as he led the 2 teams through several rounds of Bible Questions. Believe me some of those questions were really hard!
FHLM has hired Alpha & William as “gophers” doing odd jobs for the ministry twice a week. This really helps me out and also gives them some extra living expense money each week, as they only earn about 10,000 to 15,000 shillings .($4 to $5 U.S.) per week as market clothes vendors.
Fun Stuff! We now have a tire swing and a volley ball set! Alpha & William put up the tire swing in the big mango tree in the front courtyard of the youth center and it is being enjoyed by ALL the youth that visit the center. We also made a volleyball set for some youth recreation days. We were blessed with a nice donation to purchase the volleyball net by one of our new board members. So now the youth have some areas to enjoy the beautiful outdoors of Masaka and exercise a bit!
We had a Christmas Movie with a Message Day and Youth Christmas Party on 20 Dec! We all enjoyed watching The Nativity and after discussed the movie. Some of the comments from the youth; “Joseph was a good man for caring for Mary”, “Mary was a strong woman and loved God”. Then we read from Matthew 2. I also want to thank Pastor Sammy for sharing with the youth about…having room in your heart for Jesus….like the inn keeper who gave of what space he had for Joseph, Mary and the future King of Kings! After we all had a wonderful time of fellowship, food and celebrated why Jesus is the Reason for the Season!!
SOAR Youthz News
On 05 Dec David came back from his 1st Semester at Negenda International Academy of Art & Design. On his first night back we all stayed up late listening as he shared about his experiences at school. He also brought back several of his art projects and graphic design projects for us to see.
Rock finished working in Mabel for Dave & Jacqui on 20 Dec and returned to Masaka that evening. His experience living in another town and understanding another culture was so rewarding to him. With the money he earned he is getting his Ugandan passport in hopes of traveling the world!
Faridah finished her 3rd Semester at Uganda College of Commerce in Pacwach on 21 Dec and returned back to Masaka for the Holidays. During her 3 month holiday she will be doing an intensive Internship at Vision Fun, a local micro-finance bank. She is once again trying to live with her family, so please pray for God’s protection, guidance and strength for her.
Babirye has been happily enjoying her school holiday and spending most of her time at the FHLM Youth Center participating in all of our programs.
During our Board Meeting of 13 Dec, the board members unanimously voted to bring both Alpha and William into our SOAR School Sponsorship Program. The board members have seen the young men’s growth in Christ, their commitment to learning the Word, their diligence and their character in the last several months and feel it right to bring the guys into this program. So a BIG Welcome to the two new guys!
Ministry News
On 13 Dec we held our 1st FHLM Board meeting with our new members. It was a brief meeting, but many of the programs and projects for 2015 were discussed. After the meeting we all attend our 2nd Annual Board Member & Partner Christmas Party! We had great fun, food and fellowship which included a test of our Biblical Christmas knowledge with a Christmas Trivia Quiz and joyous time of singing Christmas Carols
Prayer Request
Please pray for our upcoming Youth Prayer Retreat Camp-Out that will be from 16-18 Jan. Our theme this year is from Isaiah 64:8 But now, O Lord, You are our Father; We are the clay, and You our potter; And all we are the work of Your hand. I ask for you to keep all the 25 youth that are attending in your prayers; that God will meet them during the few days we are at camp and that they will be shaped by our Lord.
Missionary News
Christmas in Uganda!! Well it is unique in that we don’t celebrate on Christmas Eve, it is reserved for cooking and preparing for the feast on Christmas Day. Also unlike western cultural Christmas Day here is all about the food and not much emphasis on giving presents. However, with our family, I have introduced Christmas Socks, which Rock and David can’t wait to open on Christmas morning. As for our Christmas Day, well I have to say all 11 of us feasted on the amazing food of chicken, pork, matooke, mashed potatoes, green beans etc. After we rested our bellies a bit while enjoying a drama put on by of few of the youth. Christopher donned a Santa hat and passed out our “grab bag” gift exchange. It is always fun to see what random items we pull out–it always seems to fit our needs. Than it was time to enjoy all the items we baked on the 23rd; five different cakes, Christmas cut-out cookies, and chocolate chip cookies. Wow! Of course after all that eating we needed to digest and what better for the digestion than laughter. Francis, Alpha, Babirye, Christopher and Sylvia put on a few more dramas and comedies and I laughed until my face hurt! Than the Christmas Carols commenced for hours—what a great day!!
Wedding of the Year! On 26 Dec I left for Kampala to prepare for my dear friend, Susan’s Wedding. As you can imagine the day was spent running around with the other bridesmaids at the salon for pre-hair dos, nails, and purchasing those last minute items that the bride had on her list. The day ended very late and the 27th began very early, 3am to be exact. When all 8 of us arrived at the Salon at 5am to finish our hair and get dressed for the day’s events we were met by TV cameras from Uganda Broadcasting Center (UBC) filming a segment for their program Platinum Weddings! The church service was held at the beautiful and historic Rubaga Cathedral. After the 2 ½ hours service the wedding party was whisked away in five white BMW SUVs, by police escort, to take pictures and have lunch at Hotel Africana. After several hours of taking pictures and doing interviews for UBC we arrived at Kokolo Airstrip for the reception. I was amazed when we arrived at the size of the tent and as I peered from afar I realized we were all being viewed on two big screens in the tent for all the guest to see—ahhh any funny move would be seen by all. The wedding parties made our grand dancing entrance into the tent and were seated at the head tables. After a few speeches the MC asked me to get up in front of all 1,000 guests to say a speech. I thank God that He guided my words because I was nervous, but it all helped when I called Rogers up to the stage too. That said the night went on in grand fashion and I was just so blessed to be a part of Susan and John’s big day with so many joyous memories!! I wish them a lifetime of love and happiness!
As you can see December was full of many amazing days, love, and time with family and friends! We thank all of you who made our Christmas a special one and all of you who continue to support us with prayer, encouragement and donations. We LOVE you all! May your 2015 be blessed beyond measure!
With much love and appreciation,
Rita
Director FHLM
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