FHLM JUNE 2023 NEWSLETTER

GREETINGS:

Greetings from Masaka! Hope your summer is going well! The month of June has blessed us and we praise God for all He is doing for the ministry. Oh, taste and see that the Lord is good; Blessed is the man who trusts in Him! Psalm 34:8

DIRECTORS UPDATE:

Admin Assistant: We praise God that we had seven applications for our administrative assistant position to replace Charles. We decided to change the position from office manager to admin assistant. After the interviews we were led by God to hire Juliet Nanziri, and she started on 7^th June. She has much experience, as she has been working with organizations and ministries around the Masaka area for the last 12 years. She has a diploma in Accounts & General Business Practices and is a strong women of faith. We believe that she will be able to assist the ministry as we grow and move into our future. We ask you to please welcome her to the FHLM Family!

Devotional: As a staff we have always have a time of prayer at the end of our work day, but Shakirah suggested that we also have a weekly Staff Devotional. We have set aside every Tuesday morning for time in the Word of God, and worship. We are also praying for specific topics like the sick, the ministry, and the nations. We have already seen the blessing of unity and understanding from this devoted time as a staff to the Lord.     

Public Holidays: The month of June is full of Ugandan Holidays. On the 3^rd we celebrate Uganda Martyr’s Day. It commemorates the decision of early Christian converts that gave their lives for the sake of the gospel.  On the 9^th we celebrated Hero’s Day which commemorates those who lost their lives in the Ugandan Bush War from 1981 to 1986. Then on the 28^th we had Eid-al-Adha, a Muslim holiday. But since the youth were off school that day we honored the day with a Bible study and celebrated Jesus!    

Workshop: It is always important for our staff to receive training and be updated on better ways to conduct their job. On 6^th June Shakiriah attended an afternoon Parenting Workshop at Willow Resource Centre. The speaker was Claudia from Canada. Shakiriah said that the teaching on the “difference between discipline and punishment” was the most impactful to her along with the teaching from Deuteronomy 6 & 7. Also the question, How is your heart? Helped her.  She said that Claudia taught that we need to walk the talk because our children are seeing our walk. She said that we should lead by example and be role models for our children. Claudia said that we are to involve our children in Bible study reading, and taking them to church. That we ourselves are to practice what we want in our children and they will function better if you are consistent. She ended with these to statements; Speak life into your children and Let love guide your discipline.

Board Meeting: On 10^th June we had a very productive 2^nd Quarter Board Meeting. I thank all the  board members for their continued service and commitment to the ministry. May God bless them!

YOUTH UPDATE:

Back to School: Since they are still on the old secondary curriculum the Secondary 4 to 6 students kicked off 2^nd Term with exams. This includes William, Milly, Immy, and Eddy. The students from Secondary 1 to 3, Pamela, Charity, Ruth, Pius, who are on the new school curriculum will have exams throughout the term. Also William, Milly, and Eddy are candidates, preparing for their national exams come Oct and November so they are going to school 7 days a week.

Leavers Party: When the youth become Secondary 4 and 6 Candidates they have a Leavers Party or now they have adopted the U.S. term Prom.  Both William (S4) and Eddy (S6) attended the party on 10^th June. They said it was a fun day of music, comedy, good food and dancing! 

Kampala Trip/Joshua: I was in Kampala the weekend of the 16^th June. I was grateful and over joyed to attend Joshua’s graduation ceremony on the 17^th. He has officially graduated from Kampala International University (KIU) with a Diploma in Pharmacy. Some highlights from the ceremony are that 2,530 students from the three campuses graduated that day. The chairman of the university stated that KIU is 2^nd in academics amongst Ugandan universities and 7^th in East Africa. The guest of honor encouraged the students with the verse Psalms 37:4. After the ceremony we had a celebratory lunch. It was a blessed day! I first thank God and secondly Joshua’s sponsors for helping him achieve his dream!   

Then on the 18^th I meet up with Oliver, David, and Mable for breakfast before I headed back to Masaka. Oliver and I were able to discuss a few things about the university she has been looking at for upgrading to a diploma. It was wonderful to spend time with them.  

Birthdays: Justine’s Birthday was on 18^th June, so I brought back a cake from Kampala. When Justine returned from work that evening Ruth, and I celebrated her 21^st Birthday with her! She even had a surprise of a birthday card from Oliver and David. It was a nice time!  

William turned 19 years on 26^th June, but we decided to celebrate his birthday on the 24^th since was Saturday and we were all around the Centre. The youth wanted to really “surprise” him with a dousing of water, but it was already a cold and rainy day so we didn’t do it. Since it wasn’t his actual birthday we still surprised him with a lively round of Happy Birthday a cake and balloons!!

General Update: During the month of June the youth’s school, Masaka Secondary, has been having “House Sports Days” on the weekends. Both Milly and Eddy participated in the Cross Country day and ran the 10k. We CONGRATULATE Milly who finished 17^th out of 3,000 students that ran that day. She also participated in the 100 meter dash for her house, Aga Khan.

YOUTH PROGRAMS:

Church Visits: Since each of our youth attend different churches around Masaka City we thought it a good idea to attend each other’s churches once a month.  On June 25^th we kicked off the 6 month program by visiting Hilltop Church where William, Pamela, Aunt Juliet and I attend. We called it FHLM Sunday because we were also blessed to have Uncle William as pastor for the service. Uncle William is a past FHLM SOAR Youth who is a Deacon at Hilltop Church and has a diploma in electrical installation. It was a lovely Sabbath Day!    

Bible Study: This month we have been studying the book of 1^st John and we were able to complete it. As the Holy Spirit moved, this is the Wednesday evening study in 1 John 3:1-24 really stood out to me.

• I explained that the chapter as a whole talks of love, and how we should bear a Christ like character. Also that our self-worth is based on the fact that God loves us and calls us His children. That as we grow in Christ we should start to resemble Jesus.
• Immy– (verses 7 & 8) Some situations in life can lead us astray, but if we lean into God He will rescue us. We should not give up for we can overcome them with God’s love and trust in him. Ruth– (verse 6) When we are guilty we need to repent through Christ and seek righteousness. And we are all sinners so we need to check ourselves.
• Immy –(supplement verse 6) that God can’t let us into sin forever. When we have the Spirit of conviction we can learn from all God has brought us through.
• Charity- (verse 13) We have challenges and there are times when you feel like the world is over you, but when you are with God there is hope and comfort for you.
• Pamela– (supplement verse 13 & 1) The world doesn’t like the truth, and not all the world understood Jesus. We have to be with hope that will makes us to stand firm. It will always purify us. Cain didn’t love himself, but God gives us confidence and in Him we can love others.
• Ruth– (verse 18) Love is one of the fruits of the Holy Spirit and we are to take actions in those fruits.

Bible Quiz: On the 17^th Aunt Shakirah led the youth in a Bible Quiz. The two teams were given great questions like which type of weapon did David use to actually kill Goliath, who destroyed the tower of Babel, What does magi mean?, What did the mother of Jesus and Magdalene have in common?, and other biblical questions. They also had had a “rapid fire” round where a member from each team was given a verse and whoever found it and read it out first got the point. In the end Team Eddy won, but all the participants were given sweeties.

Movie Day: On the 24^th we watched an oldie but a goodie, Queen Of Katwe. This true story based on the life of Phiona Mutesi narrates her journey from the ghetto of Katwe, Kampala, Uganda to a fulfilled dream of going to school and buying a house for her mom and family. This was all possible after she meet Robert Katende and he taught her chess. They both realized her incredible ability to play the game. This rags to riches movie showed us that we should not lose confidence in ourselves, by thinking of the past. Also that we should not allow fear to drive us away from our destiny.  After the movie, we all talked about the lessons we learned. Here are what some of the youth in attendance had to say about the movie:

• Pamela said that we should know where we belong other than where we stay. There’s fighting and patience for us to reach where we stay.
• Milly learnt confidence and hope from Phiona.
• Ruth said in everything we have to take step. Start on what we want to be to change situation.
• Pamela supplemented that Phiona was sacrificing and surrendering because of fear but we always have to sacrifice to others, she learnt how to change, not lose hope.
• Eddy stated that in this life we all grow from different backgrounds but we should not rush to good life via short cuts like Phiona’s sister Night did. Keep on moving and sticking on what God has for us.
• Charity said that Phiona had patience and confidence and because of that she succeeded. Night (Phiona’s sister) wanted quick things and ended up in a mess of being pregnant.
• Milly supplemented that sometime we listen to many voices, Phiona was a good friend to Night but Night wasn’t with her mum, Phiona listened to a good voice of her mum.
• Immy said when Phiona went to Russia she became prideful, forgetting her home background. But no matter where we get to in life we should never forget where we came from.
• Winfred said that we are to never give up no matter what. The pain today leads to happiness tomorrow.
• William stated that we are to watch the words we talk speak out. Avoid speaking negative things about our life and speak good things about our lives.
• Ruth said that though we come from different backgrounds we are to know who you are and focus. Remain focused and in case of any loss, focus on the coming profit.
• Pius said that Phiona had a belief that one day she would win and her life would become better. She never left her family despite the hardship so we are to not to leave our family because they are of great importance.
• Precious said that Phiona became a woman of inspiration to the people and children of Katwe.

BELA BULUNGI (GOOD-BYE):

As you have read it has been a nice month. We are thankful to God for His provision, protection, and all the things that He has taught us throughout the month.  We are also grateful for all of you and for letting God use you to support and encourage us. May your July be full of God’s blessings. 

Rita Bulegeya

Director -Faith Hope Love Missions

reetsindiego@yahoo.com