FHLM June 2020 Newsletter
Greetings and heartfelt prayers go out to all of you and the U.S.! As John Dickinson said in 1768, in the Liberty Song: “Then join hand in hand, brave Americans all! By uniting we stand, by dividing we fall.”
I’ve been praying for unity, forgiveness, peace, healing, repentance, restoration, and love for the U.S. and for all God’s people. “If my people, who are called by my name, will humble themselves and pray and seek my face and turn from their wicked ways, then I will hear from heaven, and I will forgive their sin and will heal their land.” 2 Chronicles 7:14
Director’s Update:
Uganda Slowly Opening: June 1st marked our 75th day of Lock-down and another Presidential address by His Excellency Yoweri Kaguta Museveni. On 04 June the government allowed public transport; motor coaches, coasters, mini buses, and taxis to resume again, but at 50% capacity. Regrettably boda boda passenger transport is still suspended. But they did open up shopping malls so more people can get back to work.
Sadly the schools were not able to open for the Candidate Students; Primary 7, and Secondary 4 & 6. They stated that the government is not yet equipped to provide COVID rapid tests and face masks to the 1.5 million candidate students. Therefore, they are holding off opening schools for another 30 days. This means Eddy will still have to wait another 30 days.
He also added an additional 21 days Lock-down to the 25 border districts with no transport movement into or out of them. This means that young William must remain in the village with his family, as they live in the boarder District of Rakai.
On 22 June the President addressed the nation again. After a two-hour speech he only released 2 restrictions; private vehicles can now have 4 persons including the driver in them, and 20 of the border districts are now out of lock-down and able to have transport etc. Unfortunately William’s village district is still in lock-down since many of the COVID cases come from their border.
All the previous restrictions remained in place and he said if you don’t have to go out or have compromised health please stay home. Naturally as we opened up our cases numbers began to spike currently we have 859 confirmed cases, but 794 are now recovered, and 0 deaths. We praise God for all the recoveries and no deaths!
God is Moving: Umar, one of my boda guys and friends, asked me for a Bible the other day. He and I have talked a lot about Jesus over the last year. I put him on our ministry WhatsApp page and he’s been listening to the music I’ve been posting and commenting on the verses and teachings I’ve been putting on. Then he publicly asked for the Bible last week. Praise God! Please continue to pray with me that he will come to know Jesus as his Lord and Savior.
The Centre: At the end of May and first part of June I prayed a lot for God’s wisdom, should we open up the Centre before the schools open? Since transport is opening and some of the youth can return to Masaka, should we resume a limited schedule? How will we all get to the Centre with no boda transport? I asked God a lot of questions and also had Pastor Sam and a few of the board members praying.
During the time of waiting on God’s answers I prepared the Centre for a possible opening. For the safety of us all I purchased a hand washing station and 15 pairs of sandals (flip-flops). We have everyone take off their shoes at the door and put on sandals as a safe guard. This is already a common practice in Ugandan homes, but we hadn’t been doing it at the Centre.
As we prayed the Spirit moved and we heard from God to open the Centre on 22nd June. Since the government has not “officially” opened gathering places and COVID-19 is going to be around for a while we were given our “new normal”. We are open limited days; Monday, Wednesday and Friday from 11am till 4pm. We have done this mainly for our secondary youth to continue their education. From 11am-1pm they Revise Books. Then from 1pm-2pm we break for lunch, that the ministry provides and it is brought to the Centre for them. From 2pm-3:30pm we have Distance Learning. The youth will pick a subject, History for example, and we will show a YouTube video, have discussion questions and detailed teaching on the subject. Then from 3:30pm- 4pm we have prayer time. As the government restrictions ease up we will modify our monthly schedules. We are blessed to be together again and my heart is overjoyed with the sounds of our youth talking, laughing and fellowshipping together again!!
Youthz Update:
Milly is back from the village of Buchulo, as is Aunt Grace from the village of Lubumba near Lukaya. That means all of our youth but William are back! Praise God! We thank God for the testimonies the youth have and that He has kept them all healthy, and safe.
Eddy: He and I continued with meeting up on Mondays for cooking and the transfer of his S4 papers. First three Mondays of June we made different things; Amish cookies, chapatis & samosas with Joshua and pizza & sauce. The day we made pizza he brought half home for the family. He texted me that evening and said that his brother, Elvis, was so happy for the pizza! Eddy said, “He has been seeing pizza only on TV, but today he got to taste it. Elvis was so amazed and appreciated so much!” He also said that the rest of the family appreciated for all the ministry has done for them during the lock-down. Eddy’s Dad is still unable to work properly because all the weekly market days around the country are still shut down. His dad is trying to work by putting his second hand clothes out on the street illegally each day between 4 & 5:30pm to try and get some money. Please keep the family and especially daddy, Teonest, in prayer. Thank you!
Immy: She was the furthest away from Masaka in the village of Musa in Mpigi District. During her time there she had some challenges. On the 11th she came over at 12:30pm and stayed till 5pm. We had lunch together and had a big catch up. She said it had been almost 2 years since she was in the village. Her Mom has still been fighting sickness both physical and spiritual. She said that her mom is much better but the people in the village do a lot of witchcraft against her. When she is not well or suspects witchcraft then she prays and also calls a pastor to pray over her. Immy said that her brothers are very against being born again. Whenever she is reading her Bible or talks to them about Jesus or faith they abuse her. But on a good note she said her mom was trying to spoil her since she may not be back to the village for a while. Please keep Immy, her mother, Jane, and her brothers in prayer. Thank you!
Justine: She was in the village of Kabale-Bugonzi in Kulungu District till the 22nd. Long story short her Aunt was going to stay in the village. When we found this out me and the board members were praying and looking for housing for Justine. We checked with another organization, but they are changing their residential policies and I kept asked God for guidance and His will to be done concerning this big matter. Then we heard back from her Aunt on the 20th that she decided to move back to Nyendo/Masaka to live for the time being. Praise God for answered prayers!
We continue to thank you all for maintaining your prayers, love, and care for us all! Many of you are such an encouragement and a blessing to me and the youth. Thank you!! May God bless you and keep you in the palm of His hand!
Love and Blessings,
Rita Bulegeya
Director-Faith Hope Love Missions
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