FHLM June 2018 Newsletter
Greetings from Masaka! Praise God that we are now in a short dry season and I’m so happy that we have beautiful blue skies and sunshine everyday! Grace to you and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ. 1 Corinthians 1:3
Director’s Update:
Unfortunately I was sick with typhoid fever from the end of May until mid June. I was down in bed for almost a week with a bad fever, stomach issues, rash and a horrible headache, but we serve Jehovah Rapha, God our Healer, and I’ve been completely healed. Though not many knew of my illness, but I want to sincerely thank those that did know and diligently prayed for my healing.
I was blessed to be able to go to Kampala for a few days this month and refresh and renew after my sickness. Once again I was spoiled by the Eastham Family’s hospitality, care, and friendship. They treated me to the delights of Kampala; movie at the Acacia Mall, a girl’s day out, and foods I can’t get in Masaka. Lily and I also attended a women’s prayer brunch and I was able to meet some new missionary friends. I praise God for the Eastham’s and I can’t thank them enough for blessing me greatly each time I come and visit.
World Cup Buzz-Masaka town is alive with the buzz of vuvuzela horns! As I move around town, get on Facebook or chat with friends here everyone is a BUZZ with World Cup news! I haven’t been this into World Cup since 2010, when it was in South Africa, but this year’s matches seem to be extra exciting! Opening day of World Cup happened to fall on a Ugandan public holiday so Alpha, William, David (he was home in June), and I cooked up a “special dinner” of pork, matooke, and potatoes….very yummy and of course we watched World Cup matches!! Fun times!
SOAR Youthz Update:
Older Youth- Alpha, Joseph, William and Babirye are doing well. They are keeping up their leadership skills, as they each led a Thursday Chapter & Verse this month and Alpha led Movie Day.
Secondary Youth– Eddy, Oliver, Justine and Joshua are all doing well since 2nd Term began the end of May.
Joshua had two big events this month, his Leavers Party and S6 Biology Tour. The Lever’s Party was held on the 23rd. It is kind of like a prom, were all the Candidates (secondary 4 and 6 students) get dressed up, come to the school for the day, have a lunch, the students entertain their fellow students, and toward evening there is a dance. It was Joshua’s 1st time attending a Leavers Party. He wasn’t going to go but said it was God’s doing that he was there, because he was asked to speak to the students on behave of the Science Classes. He said it was a great honor to do so, but it was the Holy Spirit that guided and gave him the words to speak. He also said he enjoyed the festivities of the day.
The S6 Biology Trip was an Ecological Tour to Queen Elizabeth National Park from 30 June to 01 July. Joshua said that the students studied the conservation of the park, and the different plants and animals. He was very excited to tell me about all the animals that he got to see; elephants, zebras, topi, buffalo, warthogs and many others!
William-lost his paternal grandmother, Nzera Nalubega, on the 22nd, she was 91 years old. She had been sick in May and in hospital, but got a bit better, came home and then was readmitted to hospital on the 20th where she died. She is the one that help raise him when his parents died of HIV when he was a small child, so she was very much a mother to him. Please continue to stand in prayer with us for him and the family. Thank you!
It’s Official!! We praise God that both Joseph & Babirye were admitted this month to Ndeeje University. Joseph will be furthering his studies in agricultural, with a Diploma in Sustainable Agricultural with Extension. Babirye will be going for a Degree in Computer with Secondary Education. As you can imagine they are very excited to be going on to university! They both report on 06 August.
Partner Outreach Day- This is the 1st Month of this new program! God spoke to me about our youth doing these outreaches and giving back to the children that are less fortunate and to that have had to grow up in orphanages because they have no family or have been rescued from horrible family situations. We will be rotating between 3 different ministries each month; Nurture Babies’ Home, Love & Care for All, and Born Like Others.
On the 16th we went to Nurture Babies’ Home. We had a wonderful time with the kidos, singing, and playing games. It was some of our youth’s 1st time doing this kind of outreach and we saw some of their natural gifts and love for children come out! Eddy made a new friend, little Mary. She loved playing ball with him and would only play with him! Alpha led us all in a puzzle game and talked to the kids about how Jesus is the “key” to putting us back together, like the puzzle. When we left the home our youth couldn’t stop talking about the kids and the fun time they had with them.
Chapter & Verse- We continued with our Tues & Thur After-School Bible Studies. We are back in the books of 2 Samuel and John for this term and we are all enjoying learning about David’s leadership and God’s love for us.
Since Movie Day fell on Williams Grands’ burial, we swapped J.A.M. Session for Movie Day and had it on the 30th. This month we watched The Shack a gripping movie that takes you by surprise with its twists and turns. It is based around the abduction and presumed death of Mack Phillips’ youngest daughter, Missy. Mack receives a letter and suspects it is from God, asking him to return to The Shack where Missy may have been murdered. After contemplating it, he leaves his home to go to The Shack for the first time since Missy’s abduction and an encounter that will change his life forever. Many in the Christian community were excited about this movie when it came out last year, but I hadn’t seen it till this May and immediately I knew our youth had to watch it. It is a powerful and life changing movie. Here’s what they had to say about it:
Justine: “We need to always remember that God loves us and is with us. Mack forgot about that and he had to go through the pain of Missy’s death to find out how much God loved him.”
Alpha: “When Mack was in the boat and he kept seeing his problems and the boat start to sink and break apart, it reminded me of the verses in Matthew 14:22-33. But when Peter kept his eyes on Jesus, just like Jesus told Mack to look at Him, he stayed afloat and there was no trouble or storm but peace.”
William: “We have to remember that God is the one to judge others not us. Too many people around here take it on themselves to judge, even in our church.”
Thank you for reading what we have been up to this month and what God has brought us to and through. I also thank you all for your continued prayers, love, care, and encouragement!! You are all such a blessing to the ministry and our FHLM family and I thank you! May God bless you and keep you in the palm of His hand!
Love and Blessings,
Rita
Missionary & Director-Faith Hope Love Missions
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