FHLM SEPTEMBER 2026 NEWSLETTER

GREETINGS:

Greetings from Masaka! We praise God for answering our prayers, as the rains have finally arrived, and what was dead and burnt is coming back to life! Psalms 65:9-10 You care for the land and water it, You enrich it abundantly……You drench its furrows and level its ridges, You soften it with showers and bless its crops. (NIV)   

DIRECTOR’S UPDATE:

CENTRE UPDATE: We have stayed at our location in Bwala for 8 ½ years. Over those years we have encounter many landlord issues, but by God’s grace we have overcome them. That said with the recent notice from one of the landlords to vacate the premises by December and the fact that we are seriously out growing the building, we have made the prayerful decision to move to a new location.  Over the course of a few weeks Shakirah, Babirye, and I searched for rental houses. We finally narrowed the search to one and have inspected it. We have been negotiating rental rates, but the landlord is still sorting out rental rates. Please pray for God to soften her heart to reduce the rate and for favor in all our renovation requests. Also for the Lord to provide the funds for the increase in the monthly rent. Thank you! 

VISITOR: From 2^nd to 9^th Sept my brother, Rob, visited me and the youth here in Masaka. Over the course of his week stay he was able to experience more of my daily life by going to the central market to buy produce, the wholesale shops & supermarkets to see what is offered here, and see the chaotic driving conditions & our bad roads. He also attended several of our Centre Holiday Youth Programs and interacted with the youth, who enjoyed his stories and pictures. We also had a little overnight getaway at Lake Nabugabo Holiday Centre for some R&R and chill time by the lake. All in all it was so lovely to have him around, catch up, remanence, and laugh together.       

TEACHING: I was blessed to be given the opportunity to teach the secondary youth Sunday school class at my home church, Masaka Full Gospel, on 13^th Sept. I spoke to the youth about “The Danger of Temporary Labels”.  How these days youth are pressured into performing well at school, fitting into certain crowds at school, and seeking out followers on social media. I asked them several questions about labels and expectations they are given. Then shared about how it is dangerous to base their self-worth on these things. We read from Colossians 3:1-3 and their memory verse was verse 2, Set your mind on things above, not on things on the earth. (NKJV)  

SOAR YOUTH UPDATES:

COUNSELING: Each week during holiday Shakirah had individual counseling sessions with each of the SOAR Youth. This time of counseling allows her to develop trust with the youth as they share their concerns, needs, and family issues. She also advises and prays for them and their families.  

CHURCH VISITS: When my brother was here we attended Masaka Full Gospel Church on 6^th Sept, the home church for Ronnie, Mark, Daisy, Juliet, and myself. That Sunday the Alumni of the church’s Child Development Center (CDC) ministered to the congregation.It was wonderful to hear their testimonies of how far the Lord has brought them, from orphaned & vulnerable children to successful adults. The teacher of the day shared on Overcoming The Limited Mindset. The speaker’s 3 main points & verses were; 1) Background Forms Your Mindset Ephesians 4:21-23, 2) The things you know will define what you think 1 Corinthians 13:11, 3) Be Transformed 2 Corinthians 3:18, Romans 12:1-2. I was thankful to have our youth and my brother in attendance for such a transformative service. 

On 20^th Sept we visited Bridal Church where Carol attends. She teaches in the children’s church and we were treated to a song by the little ones she teaches. The sermon was about God’s Mercy taken from Luke 7:11-17.  It was a lovely service.    

BIRTHDAYS: Both Carol and Daisy’s Birthdays were on 10^th Sept, but we celebrated on 08^th Sept after Bible Study, with a cake we had made the day before. We also had balloons, joyous rounds of Happy Birthday, and some cake on the face! It was a fun time and a big surprise for Daisy!   

BOT: Beginning of term (BOT) started this month with Timothy Girls HS heading back for the 3^rd Term of school on 12^th Sept. I took Ruth, Charity, and Pamela back in the afternoon. Then they officially started classes on the 14^th.    

Also on 14^th Sept Masaka Secondary School started 3^rd Term. Pius, Mark, Ronnie, Comfort and Carol all headed back for their final term of the school year. We pray for all of our youth to have a successful and safe term!   

HOLIDAY YOUTH PROGRAMS:

WORSHIP DAY: The youth and staffkicked off the month on 2^nd Sept with a wonderful time of worship and prayer! Carol, Pius, and Charity led the praise songs. The Pamela and Comfort ushered them into deeper worship with beautiful songs. Everyone shared testimonies of how the Lord has been moving in their lives.

Both Ruth and Mark were the day’s preachers and they shared on the theme ‘’Finding Comfort in the Lord.’’ They read the following passages as they taught everyone; Psalms 4:8, 2 Timothy 2:13, Matthew 8:23-28, Romans 8:28-31. They ended this beautiful day with a song and closing prayer from Pius.

LIFE TALK: On 3^rd Sept we had an interesting program where Shakirah and I taught about our personal time lines and family trees. Shakariah shared that creating personal timelines and exploring family history are foundational life skills. They help you build identity, develop critical thinking, and provide back ground on how past events have shaped your present and future. Learning these skills helped us connect our personal life story to the broader historical and cultural stories of our family and community. She then shared from 1 Samuel 7:12. Then I explained how to draw a personal time line.

After making our timelines Shakirah shared what a Family Tree is and how it is a visual chart that maps out lineage, ancestry, and relationships between family members across multiple generations. It helps show Cultural Connection (Genesis 25:21. Genesis 32:22-32, and the Resilience of the older generations in our family. She said that knowing this can provide valuable coping skills for our own lives.  I then explained how to make a Family Tree and drew a visual. It was also good to have my brother around so he could help me fill in some of the “blanks” of our family tree.

Lastly both Shakirah and I shared about “How To Overcome Generational Curses” by doing spiritual mapping. We shared how to pray to break free from them and shared a few verses; Lamentation 5:7 John 8:36, 1 Chronicles 4:9-10.

DEBATE DAY: On 4^th sept the youth of C2C ministries came up to the FHLM Youth Centre anddebatedthe Motion: “Technology Has Done More Good Than Harm”. The youth of FHLM were the PROPOSERS and C2C were the OPPOSERS.

Here are a few of the PROPOSERS POINTS.

• Technology has saved lives. A pregnant mother in the village can call an ambulance using a mobile phone during time of giving birth and it reaches in time hence saving lives.
• Technology can be used for study purposes. Students use internet to make research easily, what’s app study groups, zoom meeting for online lectures and some people do online courses.
• Technology has improved on businesses through use of mobile phones to promote business on Facebook, WhatsApp, and Instagram among others.
• Technology connects families and communities globally. Someone in Uganda can communicate with someone in America using phones and laptops hence making communication easy.
• Technology has led to creation of more jobs hence reducing unemployment. For example, online jobs, television presenters, radio among others.
• Technology has led to improved security. Use of machines in banks, cameras, tracking devices, finger prints among others.
• Technology also helps people with disabilities to engage in business and also study online.

Here are a few of the OPPOSERS POINTS.

• Technology has led to pride in society.
• People have become dumb because of technology. They turn to their devices for answers and references.
• It has led to moral decay and spread of evil. Gossip, pornography among others. Ephesians 4:29.
• It has led to addiction, obsession, and loss of self-control leading to spiritual laziness. 1 Corinthians 6:12. 1Corinthians 9:27.
• Technology has also led to social isolation. Hebrews 10:24-25
• Due to technology, culture has been destroyed i.e., poor dressing code seen on social media.
• Privacy has become harder to protect because of technology. (Cameras National ID information is everywhere on the system)
• Misinformation spreads fast. Content creators post wrong information using technology.
• Technology has led to family and social breakdown.
• Because of technology, there is loss of productivity.
• Technology has also led to insecurity. People hack computers and steal peoples secrets.

BIBLE STUDIES: This month we studied Matthew 9:18-38 up to Matthew 11:20-30. My favorite study of the month was on 8^th Sept for three reasons, one that my brother was with us, two that all the youth were in attendance so it was a lively study, and lastly because we were in holiday we had time to “dig deep” into the Word. After we read Matthew 10:1-28 I ask everyone about a few new vocabulary words that they needed to understand from the text; Disciple, Apostle, and Persecution. Then Aunt Shakirah shared an overview of the passages; (verses 1-15) Jesus Calls the Twelve Disciples, and (verses 16-28) Jesus prepares the Disciples or Persecution. Here are some of the comments and lessons learned from the study:

• Babirye said that if you make it in life don’t become proud but still listen to God’s voice. We should also follow the following steps, prayer, word of God, good mindset and humility.
• Pius shared about verse 5 saying that our God is an organized God and He has a plan for our future.
• Juliet read from Joshua 1:9, God gives us courage and his presence always goes with you.
• Ruth elaborated on verse7 saying God’s presence is always with us; we should not do it on our own but knowing that He is with us.
• Shakirah discussed verse 16….be as wise as serpents. Why?, because they have a defense mechanism. Rob supplemented and said he hadn’t thought about it that way, but in America we have a flag with a saying on it….”don’t tread on me”. We need to endure persecution!  
• Charity then summed up the chapter and verses 22-23 by saying people are going to hate us because of the gospel. As a believer even our family can hate us, but we need to live for the Word, stand firm, and don’t leave it or you will perish.

After our discussion we took a Bible Quiz on Matthew chapter 9. It was great fun to see if we could recall what we had been studying over the last few weeks. 

BAKING DAY: We had a fun day on 7^th Sept spending the entire day baking cakes and cookies!  We were split into two groups, one group made two cakes, a lemon and an orange cake, and the other group made oatmeal butterscotch cookies. This was a big learning experience for our new youth, many whom had never baked before. Carol and Stuart said they learned a lot from the older youth! After completing the orange cake with icing sugar and American flags, we enjoyed eating it! The other was kept for both Daisy and Carol’s birthday party and the cookies were kept for our Bible study snack.

GENERAL YOUTH PROGRAMS:

BIC: On 10^th Sept Brothers In Christ (BIC) had an outreach to Child Restoration Outreach (CRO). Since it was guys only, we had Ronnie report on the days’ events. Here’s his report:

We, the Brothers In Christ team, visited CRO. This is a place which helps street kids, mostly boys. We went with Uncle Ambrose. When we reached Auntie Grace, who works there, talked to us about the boys and explained how they can be hard. At first it was difficult to preach to them, but by God’s grace we managed to share the word of God with them. Our theme for the day was “Separated For A Purpose”, from Leviticus 20:26. We also talked to them from Galatians 1:15, Jeremiah 1:5, and Romans 1:1. Tom, a past street boy, who was with us shared his testimony with the boys.

After we shared we saw some changes in them. A few of them asked us to pray for them and 6 accepted Christ. They also asked for some churches to pray from, so we gave them names of a few churches. In the end we became friends with them. It was a good experience for us all and Auntie Grace also asked us to come back next term holiday.     Written by Ronnie Lubega—FHLM Youth Representative    

SCIENCE QUIZ: When I asked the youth about new program ideas Stuart suggested we have a Science Quiz Day. So on 19^th Sept we had our first ever Science Quiz afternoon. Several of the youth from C2C joined us and they made two good teams; Genius and DIY Sicence.  We kicked it off with Biology & Human Body questions and ended with General Science questions. It was such a thought-provoking program that the youths asked to have this program again. They also said that, we should also deal with other subjects like Geography and History. By doing this, the youths get a chance to learn subjects in a new and interesting way. It was a fun day with lots of learning, joy, and laughter were had by all.   

MOVIE DAY: We ended the month with a thriller drama movie on 26^th Sept, Disciples in the Moonlight. The movies premise is about the United States banning the Bible and replacing it with a government-approved version. A reluctant leader, Nate, heads up a team of seven Christians intent on smuggling Bibles to underground churches throughout the Midwest.  As the team risks it all, to get the true Word of God in people’s hands, they encounter danger around every corner. Some scriptures from the movie; Ezekiel 22:30, John 11:25, those who endure at the end will be victors. Here’s the lessons learned from the movie:

• Ian said that these days there are drug traffickers’, weapons traffickers’, and human traffickers’, but this movie shows that we as believers need to be people that share the Word of God to a fallen world. We have a privilege to carry our Bibles, so don’t hide them, show your faith!
• Joshua said that we should be proud of who God has made us to be.
• Shakiib said that we should be creative when sharing the Word just as the disciples, they wrote scriptures on their jackets.
• Babirye said that being a follower of Christ is not enough, you must go an extra mile and put your faith into action. Also this movie shows us that unity among believers is very important.
• Carol said that we should trust in the Lord. Know your identity and don’t compromise.
• Junior said that we should stick on the truth and persistence in our faith.
• I said that martyrs stick on the truth like Stephen in Acts 7.
• Juliet said that the cost of discipleship also needs wisdom and surrendering.
• Pius said that we should be with team work, for selfishness leads to destruction.
• Ann said that we should have faith in God, as He can make away where there’s no way.

BELA BULUNGI (GOOD-BYE):

As you have read September has been full-on! But we are so thankful to God for His provision, care, guidance, and protection in all we have done. We pray that all the seeds that have been planted this month remain and are well watered to grow and change each individual they were planted in! May God give you all a blessed October.   

Love and Blessings,

Rita Bulegeya

Missionary & Volunteer Director -Faith Hope Love Missions

reetsindiego@yahoo.com