FHLM Jan 2020 Newsletter

Welcome to 2020!!—a new year and a new decade!! God is good and gracious for getting us here! Ephesians 3:20, “Now all glory to God, who is able, through his mighty power at work within us, to accomplish infinitely more than we might ask or think.” (NLT)

Director’s Update:

On behalf our entire family at FHLM and Rogers & me, we wish to send a BIG THANK YOU out to the congregation and missions’ team at Impact Christian Church for sending our family an amazing donation! We will now be able to purchase a good used vehicle! I was so overwhelmed when I heard the news! I know we ALL will be blessed beyond measure with this gift of love! I thank you for letting the Lord use you to answer our prayers and for making our lives easier and extra special! God Bless you so much!!!  Psalm 115:14, “The LORD shall increase you more and more, you and your children.” (NLT)

Also a few more of the long awaited Christmas packages finally came and the youth were SO HAPPY to have Christmas again!! Though one more is on the way, so I guess we’ll have Christmas in February too! Praise be to God!  

Both Rogers and I had malaria in January but we serve Jehovah Rapha, God of Healing, and are both on the mend. We thank those that knew of our sickness and prayed for us.       

During December and part of January several people applied for the ministries Social Worker vacancy and after conducting interviews the board has made a decision to hire Grace Mukasiine. Grace has a diploma in Social Work and has volunteered with Scripture Union & Compassion Uganda. She will be a wonderful add to FHLM. Please join us in welcoming Grace to the FHLM Family!! Thank you.     

Youthz Update:

Joshua: Well he had a short holiday break from university and went back right after the new year on 4^th Jan. During his short time in Masaka he helped out around his Mom’s house and also watched his sister’s son. On the 19^th he texted me and said that his results for 1^st Semester were posted and he had passed all of his classes. We both give God all the glory for his performance!!   

Babirye: She spent time before Christmas in Kampala visiting her Mom. During her time in Kampala she was able to set up her Internship at Mukono Parent’s Secondary School. Originally she was trying for an international high school, but her professor instructed her that for this 1^st Internship she is better off going to a Ugandan secondary. The internship will start after 2nd Semester ends in June.  During the three weeks prior to starting back to university she was a God send, as she worked and assisted me with preps for our programs and camp. She has been a blessing to the ministry since coming to us 6 years ago and continues to be! On 26^th Jan. she went back to university for her 2^nd Semester of 2^nd year. Please keep her in prayer. 

Others: All the secondary students are doing well; Hanisha, young William, Immy, Eddy. They all go back to school on 10th Feb. Oliver and Justine received their Secondary 4 National Exam results on the 31^st.  Oliver did ok and has received a 3^rd Grade, so she will be going on to technical school come August. Justine has received a 2^nd Grade, so she will be continuing on with her high schooling in upper levels of S5 & S6.   

We celebrated Oliver’s 20^th Birthday on the 29^th! We celebrated with homemade brownies and lots of laughter. My baby girl has been a blessing to us from day one and we pray that the Lord continues to guide her and give her His courage!

January Holiday Programs:

We got back to the Centre full time on 6^th Jan! We took down all the Christmas decorations and then had a fun day of Board Games!

Then the Holiday Programs kicked in again! From the 7^th to 11^th we had Freedom In Christ discipleship training. Many of our new youth had not been through this course, so it was a blessing to start a fresh and teach again what it means to be free in Christ! We did 4 of the 13 sessions this Holiday; Who was I?, Who am I now? Where do I put my faith? and Worldview. We hope to do another set next Holiday.    

We had our 7^th Annual Prayer, Praise & Fasting Camp-Out from 17-19 Jan. All I can say is WOW! This year we changed the venue to Kako Prayer Mountain and God met us there! It was our best camp to date and we had 35 people in attendance, our largest camp ever. This year’s Theme was “God’s Amazing Love”, Romans 5:8 “But God showed his great love for us by sending Christ to die for us while we were still sinners.” Some of the highlights of camp were Prayer Walk, Bible Study, Praise and Worship and Community Outreach/ Evangelism. We give all the glory to God for during our community evangelism 7 people gave their lives to Christ! On Saturday night before campfire we celebrated the ministries’ 10 Year Anniversary with a cake and words from a few board members. It was a extra special camp but I think the youth’s testimonies say more than I can, so here are a few:

Babirye:  This year I was chosen to be a Camp Facilitator and I felt scared at first. I wondered how I was going to manage these youth, speak to them, and guide them. But because of God’s amazing love, I got courage and learnt a lot from the experience. 

It really touched my heart to see all the youth united together. They mixed up a lot, which wasn’t the case in past camps. The unity really helped the camp to flow in the spirit and God’s love. That was evident during our praise & worship. People engaged themselves in the dance and singing and no one was shying away. Another big thing was the door to door evangelism. My group had two young girls that were surprised to see people accepting Christ. It was their first experience, but they got courage and also started praying for people. Our group was blessed, as we led 3 people to Christ. It was so wonderful! 

Eddy:  I thank God for the good camp facilitators we had because all of the campers were very free with them which made them enjoy camp. I also thank God for the camp theme because it made many of us gain new hope after knowing more about God’s amazing love. I was really blessed by the new location of camp and all the provisions it provided us. It was really a blessing! One last thing, during our door to door evangelism we saw God’s hand upon the people, because most of them welcomed the Word and some accepted Christ as their Saviour.            

The week after camp, 18^th – 23^rd, our youth attended the annual G.R.I.P. (God Revealed In Power) Conference held at Masaka Pentecostal Church. Most were very tired from camp, so they attended Tuesday, Wednesday after our program and Thursday. They said that the pastors for the conference were wonderful. The days they attended the speakers spoke very openly to the youth about sexual purity and their roles as leaders in their families, peer groups, and schools.

On that Wednesday the youth wrote back letters to their Pen-Pals from Harlan Christian Youth Centre. Our youth really enjoy the relationships they have been creating with the children of HCYC. They say it is fun to learn about people that live in the U.S. Than on Friday Uncle Joseph, the baker, came to the Centre and led our Life-skills- Baking Day. He taught the youth how to make queen cakes and mango jam. Of course we did a taste test! But the youth were excited to take a few of the cakes home to share with their family members. What a blessing to be able to give them new life skills!

On Saturday the 25^th we had a SOAR Youth Fun Day Out at Elite Backpackers! We all went swimming in the pool and a few practiced their underwater diving and swimming. It was Immy’s first time to go swimming but she wasn’t afraid to try and picked up on swimming under water very fast! I’m glad we got a day out before everyone heads back to school! What a blessing!

As you have read, it has been an action packed and fun month with our Lord! Psalm 31:19 How abundant are the good things that you have stored up for those who fear you, that you bestow in the sight of all, on those who take refuge in you. As the Lord leads us all into a New Year and another month, I thank you all for your support, love and prayer that you have so generously blessed the ministry and me with. I am so very excited to see ALL the Lord has in store for the ministry in 2020—I feel this is going to be a year of BIG things from our Lord!

Have a wonderful day!!

Love and blessings,

Rita Bulegeya

FHLM- Director