FHLM JULY 2026 NEWSLETTER

GREETINGS:

Greetings from Masaka! I hope you all had a wonderful 4^th of July and you are enjoying your summer!  July has been a month of up and downs, but all in all we thank God for His goodness.  “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:

KAMPALA TRIP: From 8^th to 10^th July I was in Kampala. I traveled with Eddy so he could assist me in the purchase and movement of sound equipment; speakers, amp mixer, microphones for the ministry. Then he traveled to university that night. We praise God for availing the funds to purchase these items. Now we will not have to borrow when we have camps, annual events, or programs! I stayed over and the next day was able to meet up and catch up with my friend Sarah and also my friend, Sammy, the National Director of Scripture Union Uganda. It was a great trip and I’m thankful to God for good friends and the journey mercies.   

SOAR Parents/Guardian Workshop: I was disappointed because I missed the workshop on 22^nd July because of a week long illness. But I thank God we had good attendance with all of the SOAR youth parents or guardians in house except for Charity’s Aunt and Immy’s Sister.

This year’s Workshop was again conducted by Pastor Patrick from Scripture Union (SU) Uganda and Immaculate (Immy) from the Masaka SU Office. After the opening prayer from Carol’s Mum, Immy did introductions. Pastor Patrick opened with a scripture from Proverbs 22:6 “Train up a child in the way he should go, and when he is old he will not depart form it.” He said that discipleship begins in your living room, for we are to model our children in what it means to have an appetite for love, and to point the way for them as we walk with the Lord. He stated, it has been said that parenting is not for the fainthearted, but for the strong.

Then Patrick kicked off the 1^st Session with the Three Parenting Pillars; 1) Understanding your child. 2) Protecting your child spiritually 3) Training your child.

The 2^nd topic was Single Parenthood. This was an important session because 98% of our parents and guardians are single parents. He touched on divorce and separation, demise of the husband, teenage pregnancy, adoption, and surrogate motherhood. He assured them that life is not over if separation happens and gave them many pieces of advice on how to deal with absent or ex-husbands, raising a single generation, and dealing with the struggles of the single parent journey.

After lunch the SU Team went into the final 2 sessions. The first was Rising Boys Into Men. Patrick said that every boy carries within him the seed of manhood, yet seeds do not grow strong without nurturing them. That great men are not born by accident; they are shaped intentionally. And raising boys is not a walk in the park. It is a journey of patience, prayer, discipline and vision. When you raise boys, your heart must become even stronger.

The 2^nd Session was Parenting A Girl Into A Woman. Patrick stated that parenting a girl is one of the greatest assignments God can ever entrust to a parent. He asked these rhetorical questions to the parents; Will she become a woman who knows God or a woman who follow every passing fade? Will she become a woman of character for a woman of compromise? A woman of wisdom or a woman of confusion? What kind of woman will your daughter become when she grows up? He said as parents we must start early to see a woman in her even when she looks tiny in everybody’s eyes. A girl is not merely a child passing through childhood, a girl is a woman in preparation.

As Patrick finished his last session, Shakirah finalized the workshop and thanked all of the parents and guardians for attending and for the great training by the Scripture Union team. Then Shakirah addressed the candidate parents on the requirements that would be needed when their child joins university. That the Centre can’t give it all, and as parents it is their responsibilities too to get involved. The parents said they were very happy with the workshop, because it was very interactive and they appreciated the ministry and SU for everything.

RETREAT: On 29^th July the staff and I went to Kako Prayer Mountain for a day retreat. Since we were seeking the Lord that day we fasted to prepare our hearts. When we reached there, we began the session with praise and worship, then the prayer to start the word. Shakirah led us through a word from the book of Daniel 3:1-30. The theme was about Compromising Situations. We discussed these questions; What causes people or Christians to compromise? How to avoid compromising situations?

Then we all went for a prayer walk to reflect and talk to the Lord about the scriptures He had given us. I led the 2^nd session on The Promises in God’s Word To Build Faith, Psalm 119:105. After going through 3 key points: Bible Promises About God’s Goodness, God’s Promises About Being with Us, and God’s Promises About Provision, we had our second prayer walk on some of the day’s prayer points. Then we set off to break our fast and I treated the ladies to a nice, late lunch at Hotel Next.

PRAISE REPORT & PRAYER REQUESTS:

EBOLA: On 16^th July Uganda had discharged its last confirmed Ebola patient. Then after the World Health Organization (WHO) waiting period, on 28^th July Uganda was declared Ebola-free. We praise God for answered prayers!!

PRAISE: We praise God for His healing this month! He has healed Pamela, myself, and Ronnie from sickness.

CANDIDATES: Pius, Charity, Ruth, Mark and Daisy are all candidates this year. They will all be sitting for National Exams in October and November, but before then they have Mock exams in August. Please stand with us in prayers for them to perform well. Thank you! 

SOAR YOUTH UPDATES:

PAMELA: She has contested for Academic Prefect at Timothy Girl’s High School and won by a land slide! She will now take over from Ruth’s tenor, as she has held this prefect position for the last year. This is a great leadership position to hold.

BIRTHDAYS: We celebrated Mark’s 17^th Birthday on 7^th July at the Youth Centre after our Tuesday Bible study. We had a few rounds of Happy Birthday and then he and Stuart cut the cake, as Stuart’s birthday was on 1^st July. 

Aunt Shakirah’s birthday was on Sunday, 26^th July, so we sent her well wishes! But on Tuesday after Bible Study we celebrated her life with balloons, cake, and a few joyous rounds of Happy Birthday!   

PROM: Since Pius and Mark are both candidates they were able to attend Prom on 18^th July. Nowadays proms here in Uganda are much like a Junior/Senior Proms in the states with a red carpet, fancy decorations, photos, a dance, and a nice meal. The only difference is that it is held at the school during the day. Pius said the highlight of the day was when the Headmistress got onto the dance floor and showed her dancing skills.   

IMMY: On the 23^rd Immy headed back to Kampala International University (KIU) for the start of her 2^nd year and 1^st Semester. We pray that God continues to avail His wisdom, and knowledge as law school is not easy. 

MDD: Both Carol and Comfort are part of MDD (Music, Dance, & Drama) at Masaka SS. On the 28^th they attended a special practice where they participated in dance, songs, and a skit that they will be part of when the “House MDD Competitions” take place. We are happy to see them being part of extracurricular activities.

YOUTH PROGRAMS:

VISITATION DAY: On 4^th July Shakirah, myself, and Pamela’s Mum, Happy, headed out to Kaswa to Timothy Girl’s High School visiting day.  They had Music, Dance, and Drama (MDD) competitions along with a fashion show from each house.  The MDD theme was based on Psalms 23, so we were treated to some great entertainment! Both Charity and Pamela participated on their house teams, while, as Academic Prefect, Ruth was busy registering parents and visitors. 

Afterwards we had a yummy catered lunch and chatted with the girls. It was lovely to have Pamela’s Mom with us, so we gave her a tour of the school. I’m thankful for her, as she is one of the few parents/guardians that truly shows interest in their child’s education and well-being. 

At the end of the day the judges announced the house winners and Ruth’s house, Rebecca House, was number one! The girls were so excited because not only did they win bragging rights, but a whole cow for a BBQ!! 

DEBATE DAY: While I was away in Kampala, Shakirah and Juliet led the Saturday program on 11^th July. The Debate Motion was ‘’Boarding schools are better than day schools.’’ The debate started with an opening prayer and Ugandan national anthem. The proposition side had Pius, Carol and Ronald. The opposition side had Mark, Comfort and Stuart.

Some of the points the Proposition side gave in their opening arguments for boarding school were:

• Exposure to school time through consulting teachers
• More exposure to different cultures
• More protection than in day school
• Exposure to school programs
• More study time and focus
• Fewer destruction
• Having morning and night preps and study times
• Discipline and routine
• Fixed time for waking meals and study
• Enough time for revision and you can’t be late to school
• Access for counseling
• Leadership skills
• Peer learning and study groups
• Exception from home conflicts

Then Opposing side then had a chance to rebuttal with these points:

• Pupils get enough time to relax
• At home learners are cared for and they get a good balanced diet.
• They get freedom to attend church, have parental love
• Day school is cheaper than boarding school
• They get good health care at home
• Day students are stronger and more self-driven
• They gain a strong family connection
• Have flexibility and real world exposure.
• Boarding offers temptation to youth—thus performing badly in class and hurting their character

When they counted the points the proposition side won. But all the youth were winners that day because days like these are wonderful for teaching the youth public speaking, and critical thinking, along with active listening and teamwork.

BIBLE STUDIES: Since the book of Matthew is full of life lessons and important Biblical concepts we decided to break each chapter up so we can thoroughly teach the Word. Throughout the month of July we read from Matthew chapters 5 to up to the 14^th verse of chapter 7. The study on 07^th July was great because all the youth, including Eddy were in attendance!

We began with an opening prayer from Comfort, then we each read Mathew 5:21-48. Aunt Shakirah led and gave an explanation of the chapter. She broke the texted down into 6 sections and related them to the Old Testament Laws: 1) Anger/Murder Exodus 20:13 2) Adultery/Lust in Exodus 20:14 3) Divorce Deuteronomy 24:1 4) Vows/Oaths in Exodus 20:7 5) Revenge Exodus 21:23-25 6) Loving enemies Exodus 23:3-4. As we compared and contrasted the OT law to how Jesus elaborated on them more, we saw how we need to take measures to remove anything in our lives that lead us to sin. Here are points from our discussion:

• Comfort said that we should accept our mistakes and ask for forgiveness.
• Eddy said that all sins are equal and we all sin. God’s ways are not our ways. We all keep trying everyday
• Aunt Rita said that the hand that sins is the hand of compromise. Be different and walk the other way.
• Comfort said that you must be comfortable with what God gave you.
• Pius said that we should be careful when swearing some oaths because some oaths do not end with our generation but end up affecting our descendants.
• Juliet shared from Isaiah 66:1, comparing it with verse 34. It is not good to use God’s name in our oaths. We shouldn’t misuse God’s name. We should know how big our God and show respect to Him.
• Ronald said that these days people take God for granted.
• Aunt Rita said that eye for eye, basically saying we should not revenge, but give those that wrong us back positively, in a good way.
• Eddy shared from 1 John 4:5-6 and said that God is love and whoever loves, loves God. You have to first love your sister and brother.

MOIVE DAY: On 18^th July we watched Sarah’s Oil, a true story set in the early 1900’s about a young girl, Sarah Rector who had inherited a piece of land. She believes there is oil beneath the barren land she is given in Oklahoma Indian Territory. But greedy oil men discover the land had oil and wanted to take it from her and kill her. She leaned in to God and her family, who both fought for her. Though she won a court battle to maintain control of her oil-rich land, her enemies didn’t give up and she stayed strong too. It was till when she finally won the battle and her enemies saw the oil, she was telling them all about. After the movie, we went into the lessons learned.

• Shakirah said in the movie we saw that everything in life has value; spiritual value, moral value and economic value.
• Ronald shared about persistence and said that Sarah persisted on her dream, so no matter the challenges we have to also persist.
• Ann said that we should not give up in situation.
• Carol said that we should put God first in everything we do.
• Stuart said that we should be risk takers if we want to achieve our goals.
• Juliet said that we should be strong and courageous and as determined as Sarah was.
• Shakirah said that we should stick on the truth no matter what.
• Babirye said that faith gives strength to overcome discrimination because your background doesn’t determine your future.

OUTREACH:  After taking the lunch on 25^th July we went to the Masaka Women’s Prison. The theme for the outreach was Forgiveness. We thank God that they received us very warmly. Aunt Shakirah was the moderator and greeted very one. The Comfort begin the program with an opening prayer. We had a nice praise and worship that was led by Carol and Babirye. Then Ronnie shared from Ephesians 4:32 and Genesis 25. He said we should be the first to forgive, then God will also do it for us, but if we resist, we will not be forgiven too. Then Pius supplemented with the story of David as a boy. Each of the team then shared a short word or a testimony. Afterwards the women gave several comments about the teachings. We took gifts of baby clothes for the mothers with 8 babies, and soap for the others. It was a nice afternoon with the women and we felt joy there, which was a blessing.

BELA BULUNGI (GOOD-BYE):

Please pray for continued health, safety, and provision of our Lord for our FHLM family and board, the youth that come to the center, our supporters, donors, and the country of Uganda. Thank you and may the Lord continue to bless you and keep you all!

Love and Blessings,

Rita Bulegeya

Missionary & Volunteer Director -Faith Hope Love Missions

reetsindiego@yahoo.com