FHLM July 2020 Newsletter
Greetings from Masaka!
I hope you all had a wonderful 4th of July and you are enjoying your summer as best as you can despite the COVID 19 restrictions! “Rejoice always,pray without ceasing, in everything give thanks; for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus for you.” 1 Thessalonians 5:16-18
Director’s Update:
Unfortunately, most of July the Centre was without power, as UMEME, was working on the power lines in Bwala, the area in which the Centre resides. Since my laptop battery is no longer functioning without a power supply (despite replacing it last year with a “fake” one) I had to find tasks to do around the Centre. Among other things I made a new program schedule, cleaned out the storage area, and reorganized the cabinets in the office. Also my friend, Liz, is moving to a smaller home so she has donated many craft books, novels and educational materials to us. This “blackout” also gave me time to reorganize our Centre Library. God had a plan and no matter our frustrations, He ALWAYS works out things for the good!
This entire month the Ugandan government has been bringing in Repatriation Flights. Each week there have been flights coming in from all over the world bringing back Ugandans and Legal Residents to Uganda. These are people that have been stranded abroad when travel restrictions went into effect on 18th May. Of course this has pushed the quarantine numbers and also the cases numbers up. Currently Uganda has 1,140 confirmed cases, 1,028 recoveries to date, and 2 deaths.
The Ugandan President Museveni addressed the nation on 21 July and slowly, slowly the country is easing restrictions. These are the measures that he released:
- Boda bodas to carry one passenger only as long as the driver and passenger have masks
- Arcades (define: An arched, covered passageway with shops or stalls on the sides and was a precursor to the shopping mall) are now able to be opened with major restrictions. This has allowed thousands of people to return to work.
- Salons are now open with the restrictions of masks/shields and temperature monitors.
- The curfew was also loosened to beginning at 9:00pm and to end at 5:30am.
Unfortunately, schools and churches/places of worship remain closed, along with our borders and the international airport for departure flights and general incoming flights. All the other restrictions remain in place, including only 4 persons in a private vehicle.
Despite the restrictions we are enjoying being together at the FHLM Youth Centre and loving the new programs. Here is what all of the youth; Hanisha, Benita, Milly, Immy, Eddy, Justine, Oliver, Joshua & Babirye have been up to this month…….
Youthz Update:
Home Grown Teachers: Throughout the month both Babirye and Joshua have become our teachers for our “Centre Learning” days. Babirye is teaching general computer skills and she has also been conducting timed typing tests. We made copies of typing tests and the youth are learning how to do keyboard finger placement and memorizing the first row of the keyboard. Joshua has been teaching Maths, Chemistry, and Physics on Monday & Wednesday afternoons. He is also leading the youth in discussion and understanding of problems and concepts that they are having difficulty understanding during their revision time. It is wonderful to have the older youth impart the knowledge that they have received and impact the growth of the younger youth.
Oliver: Pre- Lockdown she was taking computer training lessons at a local tech centre. We were so happy when the president opened the arcades and she was finally able to resume her classes the week of the 27th! She is training in both Basic & Advanced Word and Excel lessons, so she can obtain a certificate of completion.
Young William: Unfortunately he is still in the village with his family. As I noted last month, the district that he lives in is still in a lockdown status. This means that NO public transport is running in and out of the district, so this makes it very difficult for him to come back to Masaka. But he hopes that by August he’ll be back! Though he’s not physically with us Aunt Grace and I are staying in weekly phone contact with him and his grandma. Both he and the family are doing ok, but please see the prayer request below. Thank you!
New Friday Programs:
On 3rd July Aunt Grace shared with us a power point presentation about Environmental Conservation. She also discussed with us about simple ways that we can impact the environment by not using plastic bags, changing our view on burning rubbish, and educating family & friends. Afterward she taught us how to make paper bags out of old sheets of paper, newspapers, and sugar papers. She also helped us to see that recycling paper this way could become a small business venture for us and our families.
On the 10th Uncle Alpha led a Life-Skills Session on Decision Making. This is a very wide topic but he summarized by highlighting a few main points. He asked the youth “What is decision making?” and they all had spot on responses. He than discussed “Types of Decisions” and went into an in-depth explanation of integrity, formation of friendships, peer resistance, and accepting correction & discipline, along with expounding on the 7 steps to effective decision making. He also discussed with the youth how important it is to find a Mentor. Luke 2:52 “And Jesus grew in wisdom and stature, and in favour with God and man.”
Then on the 24th he led a Life-Skills Sessions on Character. He asked the youth “Does Character Matter?” And they all had very interesting responses. He then discussed the different types of good character and the core ethical values such as respect, responsibility, honesty, fairness, caring and self-control. Lastly he shared on how important it is to build a Christ-like character. 1 John 2:6: “Whoever claims to live in him must live as Jesus did.”
On the 17th we were finally able to work on our Annual Picture Collage! Normally we do it in May, but with the lockdown we had to wait. We had great fun looking through the picture memories for May 2019 to May 2020! We cut, pasted and placed all the fun pictures of our times together on the board so each day as we come into the Centre we can see all God has blessed us with!
One of our favourite programs is our Prayer Time. Each afternoon we have a team of two youth lead our time with praise & worship and prayer. This is developing the youth’s strength in prayer and growing their confidence. This time has been so powerful and such a blessing lifting up each other, the sick, the countries, the ministry, and our sponsors to the Lord!
Rabbit Hutch: This month Uncle William has been in the process of constructing a rabbit hutch for the Centre. Raising rabbits will be a new agricultural project for our youth to take on the responsibility of raring animals. Of course these rabbits will be for consumption for our youth’s families and also for a small business project. We hope to start it by August. Thanks be to God for William’s engineering and building skills!
Prayer Requests:
I have a personal prayer request, for my Mom, Patti Fouts. She had Non-Hodgkin’s lymphoma 26 years ago and this month she was diagnosed with it again. This time they have found it in her lungs and arm pit, as a stage 2E. She started chemotherapy and all the symptoms that accompany chemo have affected her. I ask for your continued prayers for her recovery and for God’s peace to be with her.
Babirye’s Mum, Jane, has been very sick with chronic asthma and continuing back pain from an old injury. She is now on the mend but please continue to keep her in prayer for complete healing and restoration. Thank you!
Young William’s Dad, John, spent most of the month in hospital in Kampala. He has some kind of neurological disease that gives him tremors and sometimes seizures. The family has spent so much money on CT scans, hospital stays, treatment, etc over the years but to no avail. This last treatment in Kampala FHLM helped out, as they have no more land to sell. John is back in the village now, but he is still weak. We ask for your continued prayers over his condition, provision for the family and for complete healing. Thank you!
As you can see God has made a “new normal” for us and we are very happy for all He is doing for us and in us! Please keep praying for all of us here, as we pray for you. Thank you! Have a Blessed day with our Lord!!
Love you all!
Rita Bulegeya- Director
Faith Hope Love missions (UG)
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