FHLM JANUARY 2024 NEWSLETTER
GREETINGS:
Welcome to 2024! Greetings from semi-rainy Masaka. We haven’t had our usual dry January or February dry season. We don’t know why but God does! Proverbs 3:5 Trust in the Lord with all your heart, and lean not on your own understanding.
DIRECTORS UPDATE:
Land: We set aside the 18th of January as a fasting and prayer day. In the afternoon the youth, staff and several of the youth’s parents & guardians came to the Youth Centre. I shared how far our Lord has brought FHLM, our vision for purchasing the land and eventually building a permanent Centre for the community of Masaka. Afterwards, we walked the land and prayed over it. As we moved about the land we prayed and claimed it as God told the Israelites that wherever they will step their feet, they will conquer it. We did this for an hour and after joined together for a few worship songs and a final prayer.
I want to thank those that have already inquired about how to donate to the purchase of the FHLM Centre land or have donated.
New Donation Address: If you are sending donation checks to FHLM please note that Shepherd’s Staff has changed their postal address:
Shepherd’s Staff
Attn: Rita Bulegeya/6050
P.O. Box 24174
Knoxville, TN 37933
YOUTH UPDATE:
Eddy: We are very thankful to Eddy’s sponsor for providing the funds to purchase a used laptop for him. This will be a great help to him as he enters university. Eddy has been hard at work trying to obtain the extra funds he will need while at university. We assisted him with gas and the Centre cooker so he has been making cupcakes and selling them at a local shop. The funds from that has given him some capital to purchase men’s dress shirts and sell the on the street with his Dad. He has also applied at Maple Leaf Hotel to help when they have large catering functions. We thank God for his ambition and drive.
Counseling: Throughout the month Shakirah had Tuesday Morning Counseling sessions with the youth. I’m thankful for her one-on-one times with the youth where they can share and open up to her about their lives, issues, and family. These sessions really assist us with understanding our youth and being able to assist them while navigating their teenage years.
YOUTH PROGRAMS:
Centre: We got back to the Centre on 4th Jan after a 2 week break for the Holidays. That morning we had a Staff Meeting to catch everyone up on the youth and the programs for January. Since we came back to a “jungle” at the Centre we spent the rest of the day slashing the bushes, having the grass cut, and cleaning the interior of the Centre.
Prison Outreach: On the 5th we had our first outreach of the year at the Masaka Women’s Prison. The theme was ‘’God Is Doing A New Thing, So Lean On Hope’’ in Isaiah 3:18-19, Joel 2:25, Isaiah 43:1-3, all these scriptures were talking about having hope. The women were so pleased with the word of God given to them by Pamela. After the teaching they interacted with us and asked questions about the message. It was a blessing for us all to ministry to these women.
FIC: The week of 8th Jan was spent in a discipleship training, Freedom In Christ (FIC). Here is the overview of our week:
Day 1 World View: I taught about how we view the world as Christians and the various views of the world. We had some questions like; what are we up against? and How do you make decisions about the future?
Day 2 Big Choices: Again this day we began with a prayer and declaration. We read in Psalm 119:105 and John 14:6, Jesus being the way, the truth and life. We also saw Genesis 3:1… the fall of man, how Eve decided to follow what the serpent had told her and chose the choice of death. I shared about three types of people and how they had to make their choices in life; Natural Norman, Spiritual Sam, and Fleshly Fred. We had a question, are there sins that you keep falling back to? Sins that you cannot seem to stop committing, why do you think that is?
Day 3 Strongholds: The day’s session was led by Shakirah. She started with an explanation and definition of strongholds. We looked at the negative things that are holding us back and/or the things we are told about ourselves that aren’t true. Those things that we took it to be true in hearts like you are ugly, a failure etc.. As we read through 2 Corinthians 10:3-5 and Galatians 5:1 we broke those false statements and lies that the devil gives.
Day 4 Forgiving from the Heart: Shakirah led our final day and helped us learn how to genuinely forgive. We discovered tools to use to forgive those that have wronged us, and also how to forgive ourselves.
Day 5 Steps To Freedom: Our final day of Freedom in Christ is a day were we meet one-on-one with God and let the Holy Spirit speak to us about things we need to remove in our lives. We repent and asked to be delivered from anything that is holding us back from a deeper relationship with our Lord. This day helps us to “sweep out” all the rubbish that has been building up over the years or even in the last year so we can walk in liberty with Christ!
Craft Day: In the afternoon of the 14th we crocheted baby beanies (knit caps) for the babies of the mothers that are at the Masaka Women’s Prison. During our outreach on the 5th we saw that at least 12 of the women prisoners had infants or children up to 3 years old with them in prison. We felt that this was a good way of giving back to them when we have our next outreach there. As the youth were sitting around the table crocheting there was much conversation, joy, and laughter.
Movie Day: On 19th Jan we watched a great movie based on a true story called, Blue Miracle. The movie was about a husband, Omar and wife Becca, that started an orphanage in Cabo San Lucas for street children & youth. They became cash strapped and decided to join the world famous, Bisbee’s Black & Blue Fishing tournament in order to save the orphanage, Casa Hogar, from bank repossession. Their washed-up boat captain, Mr. Wade, tried to cheat to win the tournament, but Omar decided to leave everything to God. On the third say of the tournament Tweety, a little kid who had been praying for the team, joined them on the boat. In the end God blessed them and they won because they had surrendered everything to Christ. All of our youth were very joyful, and excited to see Team Casa Hogar win!! These are some of the lessons learned from the movie:
- Ruth said that we should not stick on the past but allow it to help us in the future. Don’t allow people from your past, like Omar’s friend, to take you back.
- Pius said never give up even when the worst has come. We are not to take short cuts because they won’t allow you to reach your later glory.
- Immy spoke about Tweety, the young kid whom God was speaking to. She said that we shouldn’t limit God because He can provide to us in short period, which we don’t expect. We should also learn to intercede for ourselves and others so as in any situation, we know that Jesus is the answer.
- Pamela said that we should leave the small fish to get a big fish, meaning we always focus on small things yet God has bigger ones coming for us. Let’s not focus on small things and press on high. Don’t rely on your own understanding rather surrender to God.
- Milly spoke about freedom and that the truth will set us free. Another thing is that we should stop compromising our Jesus, we should learn to stick on the truth no matter what situation.
Annual Youth Camp: I will be sending out a Special Edition Newsletter with the camp update.
Group Talk: At the end of every term holiday we have an afternoon talk with the youth. We gather in the compound, circle the chairs around and discuss various topics and the term holiday. This term’s Group Talk was on 31st Jan. Each of us shared how 2023 was to us and everyone shared their best and worst programs. We all gave our overview of our youth camp and ideas for changes for the 2025 camp.
We then talked about our goals and what we desire to achieve in 2024. This time also gave the staff a chance to ask the youth their ideas for new programs and any changes to the current programs. This was a great way to end the holiday.
BELA BULUNGI (GOOD-BYE):
We are excited to see what God has in store for FHLM in 2024! I prayer that He continues to keep you all healthy, happy, and in His grip!
Love and Blessings,
Rita Bulegeya
Director -Faith Hope Love Missions
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