FHLM APRIL 2021 NEWSLETTER

Greetings from Masaka! Praise God the seasonal rains have started! I hope you all had a blessed Easter!  John 11:25-26: “Jesus said to her, ‘I am the resurrection and the life. The one who believes in me will live, even though they die; and whoever lives by believing in me will never die. Do you believe this?'”

          Director’s Update

Easter: Easter weekend was spent at Rogers & my home in Ssenyange with many of the FHLM youth. We spent all day Saturday preparing for Easter luncheon and baking yummy treats. Though Sunday morning was rainy we woke with joy knowing that He Lives! That afternoon after church 15 people gathered for lunch at the house to celebrate the life of our resurrected Lord Jesus Christ! We were even given an extra blessing when Joshua came back from university and surprised us all!! Our God is so good!      

Time Away:  I was able to take some Holiday time the week of the 12th. I got away to Kibale National Park in western Uganda. This fulfilled a “bucket list’’ dream of trekking through the forest to see chimpanzees in the wild. God not only blessed me with that, but also gave me time to regroup, and refresh, as I spent hours walking through the forest, reading His Word and praying. It was an amazing time of reflection surrounded by God’s beautiful creation. Thank You, Jesus!

Grace Resigning: It is with sad heart that we are seeing our Social Worker, Grace Mukasiine, leave FHLM. She has only been with the ministry for 14 months, but in that time we have come to value her ideas and care of the youth. She has decided to pursue an upgrade of her credentials to a degree in Social Work. Since she will be schooling she will not be able to work for FHLM full-time. We wished her the best by giving her a Going Away Party on the 24^th. It was a lovely, but sad send off as we will all miss her. We pray that God’s gives her a bright future. She will be missed by all!

That said, we ask you to join us in praying for a new Social Worker and that God brings us His best choice.

center happenings

Youth of the Month: We started a new Youth Program to appreciate one of our SOAR Youth for the “little extra” that they do around the Centre and for the other youth. In April we appreciated both William and Hanisha. Thanking William for all of his extra work with the rabbits in March, Giving credit to Hanisha for coming early to the Centre cleaning sandals, sweeping, sometimes mopping, and making beautiful program signs on the black board. The extra that they both have done has been a blessing to both Grace, I and the other youth!

Rabbits: The rabbits are doing well now and we were blessed to have Cleo’s daughter, Chloe, have another litter of babies. This time around she is doing well breastfeeding and caring for her little ones. By the way, only one of Cleo’s remaining babies that were taking to William’s village survived, but she is now back with us at the Centre.    

We also have had people come to purchase 3 of the black and white rabbits. This money will go back to William for his father’s medical expenses, as he has been the one so diligently caring for the rabbits. As you can see, this project is starting to become a cottage business for William. Once he gets a wider market, like some of the local hotels, in which he can sell at higher prices a percentage of the revenue will go back to the ministry for expenses incurred. What a blessing to so many! Thank you for your continued prayers for William and the project.  

Bible Study: This month being Easter our monthly theme was Salvation. Willy and Eddy kicked off the month by asking us, What does Salvation mean to you? We read from Mark 16:16-19 & Ephesians 2:1-10 and all discussed how salvation starts with believing and how we are made alive with Christ. Eddy said, “These verses show us what life we used to live and be like, but God’s mercy through Christ saved us.” 

The following Tuesday Grace and Oliver’s theme for the day was, What do you do once you are saved? They then guided us through Titus 3:1-1. Oliver said, “These verses tell us to do good things, be obedient, and serve our Lord. Also they show us that we should remind each other how to behave and who to honor.”  

We ended the month with Benita and Rita sharing about how our Salvation leads to Victory over sin and death.  Hebrews 2:14 & 1 Corinthians 15:54-57.

What a blessing this month’s studies have been to us all! I’m thankful to see our youth grow in the Word of God and be able to openly share all they are learning. 

Movie Day: On the 10^th we had a “Double Feature”. We opened the day with a Veggie Tales cartoon, Dave and the Giant Pickle, a parity on the Bible story about David and Goliath. The main theme of the cartoon was:  “I Am Special”. It helped us see that we are God’s chosen people and that God is bigger than our fears or any situation. We have to remember that God made us, like David, special just the way we are and with God’s help we can do BIG things!

After lunch we watched our “Feature Film” God’s Not Dead. This is what a few of the youth learned from the movie:

• Justine: Philippians 1:12 says, “the things that have happened to me have actually turned out for the furtherance of the gospel.” This is what was happening to Amy. Though she was diagnosed with cancer and was going to die, she realized that God had a plan for her to get saved and be changed. Also the old lady, though she was sick and couldn’t remember she still praised God. Her simple life was a better life than her sons who was perusing the world.     
• Oliver: The professor hated God for what had happened in his life. But we shouldn’t hate God for what we are or for what we have went through. We shouldn’t blame God but accept the truth that has been given us.
• Millly: Josh stood firm for what he believed. He stood up for God! Josh did not take things for granted and He was serious about his faith. It was good to see how he taught the other students as he leaned on God, not man, for strength.  

Craft Days: On the 17^th and the 24^th Hanisha led the group by teaching us how to make a Star Flower. The 1^st day they cut out of boxes 30 diamond shaped forms. The 2^nd day they started sewing on fabric to the diamonds. Each “flower” has 5 diamonds and then to make the flower they are sewn together. Most of the youth were only able to get 3 or 4 flowers completed, so they took the remaining home to work on.  Thus far it has a lot of work, but by next month’s craft session each flower will be sewn together to complete a beautiful star.  It has been a blessing to see the youth teaching other youth a productive skills.

Career Talk: In keeping with last month’s Career Guidance, on the 21^st Aunt Joyce from Ajabu Tours and Travel came to the Centre to talk to the youth about a career in Travel. She really shared her life’s journey and how her dream of becoming a lawyer was changed because God had another plan for her life. She shared this verse, Proverbs 16:9 A man’s heart plans his way, but the Lord directs his steps.  She shared how important it is to be flexible and to adapt as God gives you “stepping stones” for life. To always be respectable, serve others with dignity, and be hard working as you walk your journey. She said she learned that while working in the hotel and restaurant business, because working with that mindset allowed her to be blessed by God. Some of her frequent costumers were the ones that God used to ordain her Destiny, and bring her to the U.S. While in America she was able to start Tour & Travel School. But what God mostly did for her while she was in the U.S. was to show her that she was loved by Him! During her stay she said that the people that she was staying with “loved the lies out of her”. All the lies that she had believed about her family, what people had said about her growing up and that she was a poor Uganda were healed because God took her out of her comfort zone and grew her!  She told the youth that God wants to change their story so don’t take your opportunities for granted! Have a determined heart to accomplish your Dream and know that God has Chosen you! He’s chosen Joyce to be the owner and operator of a travel and tour company.

What a BIG blessing this talk was to the youth. We thank Joyce for her time and for loving our youth and ministry.

SOAR Youth Update

Featured SOAR Youth: Eddy Hategekamana  is 19 years old and the middle of 8 children. He just completed Secondary 4 National Exams at Masaka SS. He is exceptionally bright. His best subjects are Math, Chemistry, Physics along with Food & Nutrition, and Computers. His Father has a chronic illness and back issues from an accident, but he is trying to provide for the families’ basic needs by selling second hand jackets at the local street market. Eddy was recommended to us by the Masaka Municipality due to the family situation. He loves playing football, baking & cooking and riding his bike. He desires to become a Food Scientist. Eddy’s Sponsor passed on so we are now in need of a FULL TIME SPONSOR for him of $30.00 per month. If you are led to assist him please contact:  reetsindiego@yahoo.com

Secondary Youth:   Both Justine and Immy continue with their school studies 7 days a week! We are thankful that they are getting a bit of a break on Saturdays and only going to school for half a day. That has allowed them to come visit us at the Centre and also participate in the Saturday Afternoon Programs. It has also given me a chance to meet with them to discuss how their studies and families are doing. 

Since it has been over a year since the 4 remaining Secondary youth, (William, Hanisha, Milly, & Benita) were in school they are eagerly anticipating their return to school at the end of May. We have been blessed to have Eddy, now a Secondary 4 Vacest, at the Centre to teach them on Monday and Thursday afternoons. Since Eddy has just completed S4 the essential subjects are fresh and he can tutor them on what they will need when returning to school.  This is certainly a blessing to the youth!  

Both Babirye and Joshua are “plugging away “at university studies. Unfortunately some of their lectures are still being done via Zoom. But all in all campus is good for them.   

William had a BIG blessing this month from his sponsor, a new bike! He is so grateful for this blessing and thankful that he can now easily get back and forth to his uncle’s home.      

bela bulungi (good-bye):

As you have read April was a blessed month! We thank the Lord for all of the joy, protection, provision and love that He sent to the ministry and all involved in April. I pray that God is blessing you with the same. Until next month may the Lord bless you and keep you!

In His Grip,

Rita Bulegeya- Director

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