FHLM Feb 2018 Newsletter
Director’s Update:
February is the month for celebrating LOVE and what a better time than to share a verse about God’s unconditional love for us all. But God demonstrates His own love toward us, in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us. Romans 5:8
The weather was really HOT the first three weeks of Feb which is typical for Feb., our hottest month. Then on the 17th the rain began and it started cooling down, so rainy season is upon us.
Time Away: After being in Masaka since Nov and mostly between home and the office, I was able to get out for some r&r the weekend of 09 Feb. It was great to visit friends in Kampala, be in a different environment and just renew and refresh my mind body and soul! I had lunch with my dear friend, Sarah Beale-Dodzweit, and saw her growing “baby-bump”. I also got to spend time with my friends, Lily & John Eastham and their family. What a lovely weekend!
FHLM 1st Quarter Board Meeting was held on 17th Feb. We read the minutes from the AGM that was held on 02nd Dec and reviewed the minutes from an emergency meeting we had in Feb. about the building. With that done we were ready to move on to new business and much of our time was spent discussing the pending move and reviewing the lease. All in all it was a productive meeting and I thank our ever diligent board of directors for all their expertise and wisdom.
The BIG MOVE! The week of 19th found us getting ready and packing for the big move! We ran into a few snags that caused much “unexpected” expense, but our Lord is our provider and brought us through. Joseph and Henry spent 4 days painting the rooms at the new center beautiful, cheerful colors in preparation for all the joy that God is going to bring us in this location!
Also since we were notified on the 23rd that the Masaka area would be out of power for “scheduled line maintenance” for 2 days, we canceled J.A.M. Session that was to take place on the 23rd. Instead, we opted to all go up to the New Office for a visit, cleaning session, and prayer time. It was so good to have everyone invest in making the new place theirs. Our move-in day was on the 27th! After shifting 2 packed truck loads of things we spent the remaining day cleaning floors, unpacking boxes, arranging & hanging things. We are so blessed to be in our new space and thank the Lord so much for our new home! May He always reign here and may His Kingdom expand through the works of our hands and feet! Please pray for continued provision, guidance and wisdom from God in ALL we dream of doing here!
Youth Update:
New School Year: 05th February was the start of 1st Term for 2018! This year Joshua is in secondary 6 (senior) in high school, Justine and Oliver are in secondary 3 (freshman), and Eddy is in secondary 2 (8th grade). Both Oliver & Justine were “re-streamed”, so they are now in the same homeroom class. This is great for them! They all started back with high expectations for the New Year!
Babirye, and Joseph are still in their school holiday vacation. Babirye did a month internship at the FHLM Office doing computer work, running errands and learning the ins & outs of office work. She received her national exam results on the 21st and they were very good! She will have her choice of professions, so we started researching universities for her to attend in August. She is looking at a career in Secondary Education or Journalism & Mass Communications.
Joseph was busy during the month working on cultivating and irrigating sweet potatoes, cassava and bananas on his grandma’s family land. He also earned some money music training, teaching 3 people on the keyboard and also painting the new youth centre/office. His national exam results are expected to come back in March.
Alpha continued with his work study program and right now there is an emphasis on photography. It helped to have David around Masaka the 1st week of Feb. and he was able to take Alpha on one of his photo shoots. Alpha helped out with the lighting and learned a few photography techniques. It is so nice to see how David is mentoring Alpha and helping him prepare for his new career. The week of the 12th Alpha once again attended a National Scripture Union training in Kampala for S.U. Volunteers. We also started researching technical schools for him to attend in May or August.
William continued working on his grandfather’s land in expectation of the rains. He also started working with UMEME, Uganda’s main electricity distribution company, as an apprentice until his National Exam Results come out. But unfortunately they were only paying him 5,000 shillings & lunch (about $2.00 U.S.) per day for 11 hours of work, so he has quite. When his exam results come out sometime in March, he will be able to obtain his Certificate of Practice from the Electricity Regulatory Authority and work independently earn much, much more money.
Chapter & Verse: We continued our weekly Tuesday and Thursday Bible Studies in 1 Samuel and John, which are both very rich books of the Word.
Movie Day was held on 17th Feb and this month the youth watched Sunday School Musical. Since it was the same day as our Board Meeting I had Joshua lead the “after movie discussion”. This is what Joshua wrote up about the movie:
People appreciated the movie, because it was an empowering and educative movie. They (the youth) said that the movie reminded them that they should not give up in any situation and they should be helpful to others. They also said that we should allow things that we don’t deserve to go to people that are more deserving. Because of a certain indecency in the movie where one of the choir groups were considered to have won the trophy but because another group was the best, they surrendered the trophy to that group. And also they said that we should allow other people to give their suggestions in meetings and other places. One of them said that we should struggle to be creative as people in the movie were. They said many things about this wonderful movie and I can’t remember all, but thank you. –Joshua Kakeeto
February was another packed and exciting month for us! We are looking forward to ALL the Lord has for us this year and beyond. I hope you know that we pray and thank God everyday for all of you that lift up FHLM with prayers, support and love. May you all have an amazing day and may our Lord bless you and keep you!
Love and Blessings,
Rita
Missionary and Director Faith Hope Love Missions
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