FHLM JULY 2023 NEWSLETTER

GREETINGS:

Greetings and God’s blessings from all of us at Faith Hope Love Missions (FHLM). Wow, the month of July flown by, maybe because it was such a busy month for all of us! These verses are very fitting considering all that happened in July. Philippians 4:6-7 ⁶ Be anxious for nothing, but in everything by prayer and supplication, with thanksgiving, let your requests be made known to God; ⁷ and the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and minds through Christ Jesus.  

DIRECTORS UPDATE:

LC Meetings: During the month of July Shakirah has been meeting with the Local Councilmen of our SOAR Youth. Since each of our youth reside with a parent or guardian it is important for the councilmen of their sub-parishes to have the youth and the family registered and to know that our particular youth are being assisted. Shakirah is also finding out if there are any Parish Development Programs that could assist the parent or guardians.   

Parents Meeting: On 12th July we had a meeting with all of the Parents and Guardians of our SOAR Youth.  We always make sure we are communicating with the parents/guardians, so this meeting was to reiterate our youth policies and update them on a few policy changes that the board has made. We discussed the ministries role and what academic and spiritual needs we meet. We also shared the need for them to be activity in their youth’s lives. It is always nice to meet with the parents/guardians and they are all very appreciative for all the ministry does for their youth. We thank you, all of our supporters for coming along side of us to assist these youth in becoming the future spiritual, business, and community leaders of tomorrow.   

Church Visits: This month we continued with our SOAR Youth Home Church visits. We spent Sunday, 09th July at the home church of Pius, Immy and Justine, River of Life Church (ROL)- Nyendo. We really enjoyed the incredible praise and worship by their team. The guest pastor for the day was Pr. Martin from the ROL branch church in Bugea. His sermon theme was “Prayer; Habit & Discipline”.  He taught on communication between us and God, how we pray, the future, seeking God not people, waiting on God and how prayer gives us power & authority. It was a very good sermon for us. We appreciate the pastors and staff of River of Life Church and what they are doing for the Kingdom of God.      

YOUTH UPDATE:

Oliver: She has been accepted to study for a Diploma in Fashion and Design at Kisubi University– Entebbe. She will be taking “weekend” classes, Thursday to Saturday starting in August. Please keep her in prayer as she is looking for a job to supplement some of her materials and additional living expenses. Thank you!     

Eddy: He has been working hard at school so he can finish his A-Level well. On 14-15 July his Biology Class went to Kasese & Queen Elizabeth National Park on an ecology and biology study tour. Here is what he said about the trip:

“We first went to Kitagata hot springs and we learnt the science mechanism behind the water and the chemicals it contains which help in the healing of some diseases. Then from there, we proceeded to Mobuuku irrigation scheme where they grow rice and maize on the large scale. After there we proceeded to Queen Elizabeth National park, where slept in students center. Early in morning on Saturday, at 6:00am we went for a morning game drive across the park. Here mainly we wanted to know how different organisms, relate with their environment and the vegetation. We also saw many animals, including 3 lions. The UWA game rangers taught us about how different animals relate with their environment. Their habitats, how they feed, how they reproduce, the problems they meet in their environment like diseases. All in all the trip was good and we thank God for his protection.” 

Justine: She finished working at the Hardware Shop on 27^th July. She is taking the next few weeks to wrap up a few personal things and prepare for the start of her university classes in mid-August. 

Exams: All of the non-candidate Secondary Youth; Pius, Ruth, Charity, and Pamela will be taking their end of 2^nd Term Exams in August. Please keep them in prayer for God’s wisdom and knowledge to rest upon them and that they finish the term well. Thank you!

YOUTH PROGRAMS:

Bible Study: This month we studied the small but interesting epistles of 2 John, 3 John, and Jude. We then started the book of Revelation. Though Revelation is not an easy book to understand we felt it important to continue to move through the Bible and rely on the Holy Spirit to give us wisdom and understanding of this book. Here is the Bible Study that God placed on my heart to share with you. As the Holy Spirit moved we were blessed by this study. We read in the book of Jude 1:1-25. Here Jude was addressing the false teachers who had come into a church in Asia Minor. He was warning the believers of their doctrine, of its lack of self-control and immoral behavior. I also shared the background of who Jude was (Mark 6:3) (Matthew 13:5). This is what so others learned:

• Shakirah, said that Jude was writing to the church about the ungodly people who were perverting the grace of our Lord. She shared on verses 6 & 7 about how Jude is telling us about what had happened to those that sinned against God, the wages of sin is death but the gifts of God is eternal life.
• Pamela spoke about verses 7-20 and said many are using their instincts not going by the Holy Spirit. Our faith is a shield so we should keep our faith to be big. Let’s allow the Holy Spirit to drive, not our instincts.
• Pamela also shared on verses 5-12, saying these remind us of what happened to those who were against God. We need to win the spiritual world as well the physical world.
• Immy talked on verse 16, how the devil uses us for his benefit, but God uses us for our own advantage. Also that we are to be careful of the voice we are hearing, as they may not be God’s voice. She also said be careful about those flatters, you need to know who you are in Christ.
• Immy also shared on verses 22-23. She said we are to be merciful to those who doubt, preaching them about salvation.
• Ruth spoke on verse 22 and said we are to snatch the ungodly from the devil and bring them to God by telling them the truth; rescuing them from fire.

Debate Day: On the 1^st we kicked off July with a very lively and sometimes heated debate between the youths.  Our motion for the day was, “OLD CURRICULUM IS BETTER THAN NEW CURRICULUM’’. The Opposers Team for the Old Curriculum were Eddy, William, Milly and Immy. The Proposers Team for the New Curriculum consisted of Pius, Ruth, Charity and Precious. I was the judge, Shakirah was secretary, and the time keeper was Aunt Juliet. The teams jostled back and forth making valid points for their arguments of the motion. After each team member presented their points we ended the debate and the secretary had to air out the winners. Each team was judged according to order, points, and smartness. In the end the winning team was the proposition side. It was a day of knowledge, learning, and fun!

Visitation Day: On 8^th July we had Term 2 Visiting Day at the SOAR Youth’s secondary school, Masaka SS. When I arrived at the school I ran into two of our “Old FHLM Guys”; Mukisa Rock and Robert Twinomunjoni. They are now guardians to some youth that attend the school. It was a blessing to see them now being “parents” and helping other youth attain their academic dreams!    

As soon as our youth arrived we split up in teams of 3 and begin going to the classrooms of the youth to obtain their report cards and to talk to their class teachers.  After we took a few group photos we left for lunch at Elgin Restaurant. It was a nice day!

Guy & Gal Talk: On 15^th July we had Aunt Emmy and Uncle Precious from Scripture Union Masaka at the Centre. The youth broke up in to groups of guys and gals and they discussed various topics like love, academics, and family. I didn’t sit in on the groups so the youth could be as “free” as they wanted to be with their facilitators. It was also a time of counseling and this allowed the youth to ask and receive answers to their deep personal questions.

Outreach Day: On 22^nd July we went into Bwala, the neighborhood surrounding the Youth Centre and visited three elderly families. The Bwala’s Assistant Local Councilmen, Julius Tusingire, accompanied us. This was a follow-up of the elderly ministry we did last November in the same area. This time we were able to reach some homes that we missed last year. We are called to love God and love people so we put that love in action and cleaned their compounds, fetched water, and washed a few dishes. Though the three homes we visited were Muslim, most of the elderly women accepted to be prayed for and we also shared about God’s love and hope.  

This is what Shakiria said about her group’s experience: I went with Eddy, Immy, and Charity. We went to the house of an old woman, Nabakooza Saudah, and we preached to her and cleaned her utensils and compound. She was so happy and when we were leaving her house she gave us avocados to take. Then we prayed for her and the grandchildren.

Movie Day: On 29^th July we watched a movie based on actual events called, The Unmiracle. The story centers around how a small town reacts to the drug overdose of the most popular girl in school, Kayla. Seven interweaving storylines explore different journeys toward Jesus’ love and redemption. This story line shows us that we can keep hope alive when there is no reason to. This movie also shows high school teens who are up against drug dealers and broken homes. Its message is that you are not alone and that Jesus is present. It is a powerful movie to teach our young adults about integrity, peer pressure, courage, honor and Faith. Here are some of the comments and things that our youth learned after watching the movie:

• Pamela- When we U-turn, God encounters us in different ways, as we see how Kayla and Dean’o turned. We born again people should not be influenced by the world, but rather we are to change the world like Arin changed his friends and he didn’t compromise his faith.
• Precious– Arin didn’t do what his “enemies” did to him. They bullied him but he didn’t retaliate but rather loved them. Fear God and the world will be giving testimony about you.
• Ruth- We should not sit on the gospel, plant a seed of gospel to different people. Encourage them on what would Jesus do (WWJD).
• Eddy- The title of the movie ’’un miracle.’’ It seems a funny title but I learned that it’s us who’s against God not God against us. It is because we ask God why a lot and our flesh is always wanting more. But we are to be faithful. When we are, God makes bad things into good—that is the miracle! The movie points out that we have to be lost before you’re found. The bad things God allows to happen to us is how we receive the miracles like Kayla’s mum. She was complaining but in the end found God again.
• Immy, supplemented when God is testing us, he wants us to learn something out of it. Learn also how to pray, nothing is permanent.
• Pamela- We should learn to utter out the truth we know. We sometimes allow the lies to cover us. Let’s not allow fear to drive us from our truth. Let’s fight very hard to air out the truth.
• Charity- We should take responsibilities in our actions, like Arin. He preached to his friends to open their minds to see the truth in God.

BELA BULUNGI (GOOD-BYE):

As you have read it has been a nice month and we give God all the praise and glory for His blessings to the ministry! Please pray for continued health, safety, and provision from 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! May God continue to bless and keep you all!

In His Grip,

Rita Bulegeya

Director -Faith Hope Love Missions

reetsindiego@yahoo.com