FHLM JANUARY 2023 NEWSLETTER
GREETINGS:
Happy 2023 everyone! I hope this New Year has been blessed thus far for you all! This month’s verse:
2 Timothy 2:3 You therefore must endure hardship as a good soldier of Jesus Christ.
DIRECTORS UPDATE:
Annual General Meeting (AGM): On 28th Jan we held our AGM at the FHLM Youth Centre. We had a good turnout which included a few invited guests. After the reading of the minutes of our previous meeting and the Annual Report we had a dynamic discussion about several of the points in the reports. We then broke for lunch. After lunch our SOAR Youth, Immaculate (Immy) Nakato, spoke to us about her time in the sponsorship program. She spoke about what the ministry has done for her and how it has helped her to become a different person. By the time she completed there wasn’t a dry eye in the house. We then opened the discussion up for relinquishing of board member posts and election of new board members. Tonny Katumba decided to step down from his post. We will be sad to see him go, but he nominated Emmaculate (Emmy) Kyakwita from Scripture Union to fill his open position. Also Pastor Sam Sombi has stepped down as Assistant Director and Pastor Brian Kibunga will become my right hand for a 1 year’s probationary time frame. I am excited to see where God is taking the ministry with these new members
YOUTH UPDATE:
Joshua: On 3rd Jan. he started his industrial training at Cipla Quality Chemical Industry in Kampala.
Oliver: She was in Masaka until the 11th when she returned to NIAAD for her 2nd Year and 2nd semester of her Fashion & Design Certificate. While in Masaka she shared with me that this is her dream course and she is so thankful that she’s been able to get this far. She said that this semester they will be working with satins, and lace fabrics and making party dresses and fashion dresses. We pray for the best for her and to complete well.
Justine: Since she has completed secondary 6 she decided to work during the 8 months till she starts university. On 27th December she started a job at Bakibule Traders, Masaka Town. She works from Monday to Sunday from 7:30am to 7pm. We are praying that soon her boss will give her Sundays off. Since it is quite a distance from her Aunties home to the work place I decided to have her stay at my home. It has been a blessing for me to have her around home and it is much closer for her to get to work.
Immy: She completed her secondary 4 national exams back in November. We are waiting for the ministry of education to release their results. Till then she is helping out at the Youth Center. We are prayer for her results to be favorable so she can go on to secondary school Advanced Levels.
Eddy: He started Holiday Studies on Monday 2nd Jan. Up until 1st Term starts in Feb. he having additional studies in Chemistry from 10:00am- 11:00am and Biology from 12:00pm-2:00pm Monday-Friday. Then after he attends the center programs. We pray that these classes help him to excel in Secondary 6 and complete his secondary level with high marks!
YOUTH PROGRAMS:
Bible Study: This month we started the book of James. Our most memorable study was on the 25th when we were in James 3:1-18. We had a lively discussion about the untamable tongue. Here are some of the youth’s comments and insights from the study:
- Eddy: Our tongue does lots of things like eating, drinking, tasting, speaking, but when it is damaged it cannot work properly for us or for God. Proverbs 18:21 says, Death and life are in the power of the tongue, and those who love it will eat its fruit. There is power in our tongues so we need to be mindful of how we speak, as not to speak death (curses) over someone.
- Milly: in our movie Ella of Frel, she was bound to what was spoken over her. But through our tongue we are given authority to speak out the power of Jesus’ name and break the chains of curses that bind us.
- Pamela: In verse 18 it tells us that we can sow seeds of peace with our tongue. Let your tongue be a blessing to others and sow good seeds.
- Nathan: “Never be a messenger of your tongue, rather be a master of your mouth”
- TobyMac: “be careful with your words…the tongue has no bones but is strong enough to break a heart”
Life-Skills: On the 6th we had a cooking day were we made chapatis & Rolexes. Then on the 9th Milly and Oliver led the youth through a new crocheting technique. They taught them how to make potholders.
Movie Day: On 10th Jan we watched Ella Enchanted. This movie is fanciful and light hearted, but it does have a good message. At birth Ella of Frell was given the gift of obedience, but this gift became a curse to her not a blessing. Before her mother died she told Ella this, “What’s inside you is stronger than a spell or curse”. These are some of the lessons and take-away things that the youth learned:
- Eddy- Her mother’s love and what she told Ella were stronger then the curse. No one should be forced to do things they weren’t intended. We are not slaves to curses and with love and God’s love they can be broken.
- Oliver- Sometimes people curse us and we give up. But we are to fight. Don’t give up! Break the curse.
- Immy– In this movie there was disunity and segregation because of the government but Ella brought the people together.
J.A.M.: We had a modified Jesus and Me Session on 13th Jan. I say modified because this was the first time that many of the youth had experienced a J.A.M., so we gave them a taste of it and combined it with Worship Day. Eddy was our MC and he kicked it off with a Praise & Worship session. After an amazing time praising the Lord and praying he asked the group a few questions: Where do you find yourself in 5 years? What has God done or changed in you since joining FHLM? And What do you do in your leisure time? These questions helped us all get to know one another a bit more and allowed us all to think about God’s faithfulness and where God is taking us in the New Year.
After our Q & A we had a word from Pamela. Her theme was: How do you (walk) move through the spirit of God? She read from Jeremiah 17:9-10 She asked us if we kill all the 5 senses, what do you remain with? Spirit and heart. But the heart is deceitful Ezekiel 36:26-27. She reminded us that the Word is alive and it’s up to us to use it, walk in its promise and in the spirit. We are not to let our flesh take over us. It’s up to us to choose (decide) to make our flesh God’s temple and to reveal the spirit that is in us and walk in it!!!
After I read the poem The Creation by James Weldon Johnson and we closed in prayer.
YOUTH CAMP:
Camp Prep: The week of 16th Jan was spent preparing for our youth camp. As youth leaders the SOAR Youth selected the team and the responsibilities they were going to be in charge of. They also practiced the drama that was going to be used for the Community Evangelism. This year’s preparations were made much easier with Charles and the SOAR youth’s help.
Camp: From 20-22 January we held our 9th Annual Prayer, Praise & Fasting Camp! I say it is annual because I’m not counting the 2 years that we lost during the COVID lock-down. Three years ago God laid this theme of being a Soldier For Christ on my heart. Because of COVID it we didn’t have camp and it was delayed, but finally the Lord allow it to take place in His timing and camp was powerful!!
Day 1: All 37 of us departed the Youth Center about 10am for Kako Prayer Mountain. After arriving and getting settled into our dorm rooms we had orientation and met with our facilitators and teams. This year’s team names were: Grace Gang, Reborn Soldiers, Conquerors, Soul Squad. Then Auntie Jovia and her youth volunteer, Everest, gave us all a Visual and Object Lesson on the Full Armor of God (Ephesians 6:10-18). From there we went straight into Auntie Grace helping us understand what Quite Time is. We then put our understanding into practice with our own Quite Time lesson in 2 Corinthians 10:4 & Ephesians 6:11-18. After we had a prayer walk to meet with God about what we had learned. About 6pm we broke our fast for the day and then prepared for dinner and the nights activities. In the evening we had a wonderful session of Praise & Worship and Prayer. It was a memorable 1st day with God!
Day 2: We were up by 6am for Morning Glory in which Uncle Alpha led from Jeremiah 1. By 8:30am we were in our teams for Bible Study that focused on our theme verse, 2 Timothy 2:3-4 and the Virtues of a good soldier of Jesus Christ. I joined the Bible study team of Reborn Soldiers which Uncle Charles and Uncle Rajab led.
Around 11am we set off into the community for an Elderly Outreach. Each of the 4 teams meet with an elderly family and helped wash clothes, clean, wash dishes, and even dig in their gardens. After we prayed for them and gave a few gifts of sugar, rice, soap, and combs. One of the groups in which I was helping found the son of the elderly women laying on a mattress in the compound. His entire leg and knee were badly swollen, and he couldn’t even walk. He had been in this condition for 3 days, so we anointed his leg with oil and prayed for healing and for his family. After he said he wanted to accept Jesus as Lord and Savior, so I led him in prayer. PRAISE REPORT: We followed up with his condition and within 5 days God had completely healed him, he was walking again, and he was thankful for the miracle!
From 1pm-4pm we went to Kako’s Trading Centre and had Community Evangelism. Our youth drama team put on a skit about soldiers that were carrying the heavy burdens of the world. Many of the soldiers gave up and went back into the trappings of the world, but one stayed as a Strong Solder and gave his burden to Jesus! It was a powerful drama that led 4 young men and 1 lady from the community to Christ! We praise God for using us to grow His Kingdom!!
Though we were fasting the youth still had energy for team games! After several games Team Reborn Soldiers won the overall competition. Congrats to them! In the evening we broke our fast, prepared for dinner and our campfire! At campfire we sang songs and many of the youth gave testimonies about camp. It was a blessed night. Oh and I can’t forget, we roasted marshmallows and had a Ugandan version of S’mores.
Day 3: We delayed a bit because of a massive thunderstorm, but by 7:00am we started Morning Glory led by Uncle Rajab who taught on Joel 3:9-13. He said, “We are to Wake Up Church because we need an End Days Army!” After we prepared for breakfast and our Sunday Service. We were blessed to have Pastor Julius Kintu and his lovley wife, Martha, as our camp pastors. Julius led us through service “recapping” all we had learned during camp, with 5 Points: “I know my worth, I am not a commoner”, “I have what it takes to fight”, I need to stay equipped as a soldier of God”, “I need to know my enemy”, ‘’I need to protect my dignity as a soldier”. This teaching really put a “seal” on all we had learned over the weekend. After the word he asked the facilitators and leaders to come forward so we could pray for any youth that desired prayer. Before we knew it all of the youth were standing in line for prayers. Many were sharing deep things that they had been battling with and they were asking for deliverance from them. The Holy Spirit fell and this was an amazing time, as many youth were set free from chains that have been binding them for years!! I praise God for ALL He did in this camp!!!
BELA BULUNGI (GOOD-BYE):
January was a month full of amazing blessings from the Lord! His hand of deliverance and provision was upon us and I am so thankful to Him for His faithfulness! What a way to start 2023! I can’t wait to see what more He has in store for us all! May the Lord bless you all with His abundance in this New Year!
In His Grip,
Rita Bulegeya
Director -Faith Hope Love Missions
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