FHLM March 2019 Newsletter

Director’s Update

Greetings from Masaka! Praise God the seasonal rains have come and broken the heat! Now everyone is in their gardens preparing the land for this season. We too have started preparing for the new season. Young William has been in the front garden planting corn and also clearing out Jane & Febian’s soy beans and kale from last season. We are blessed to be able to provide land for our youth and others to grow food.

On 5^th March we lost, Wesley Forde, one of the founding missionaries in Masaka. He had faithfully served the Lord since he was young, and when he came to Uganda in his 50’s he dedicated the next 25 plus years of service to the community of Masaka and throughout Uganda. Though we are sad for the loss, his wife, Jackie, made sure that we celebrated his life in the week after his passing. The banner that hung in the church at his memorial service said it all, “We celebrate your victory not your death”. He is with King Jesus now! John 11:25-26  Jesus said to her, “I am the resurrection and the life. He who believes in Me, though he may die, he shall live. And whoever lives and believes in Me shall never die. Do you believe this?”

I was off to Kampala on the 21^st for a weekend of r&r and a catch up with friends. I hadn’t seen the Easthams’ or the Dodzweits’ since early December of last year, so it was such a blessing to see them all. I stayed with the Easthams’ and was blessed with Lily’s amazing cooking and their wonderful hospitality. I also spent an afternoon with Sarah Dodzweit and her son, Benji. Oh my, has he grown and he is so cute!! Anyway, it was a joy to see friends, fellowship, catch up and hit my “re-set” button. I’m truly blessed to have such amazing friends!

It’s that time of year again, when parents take their Secondary 6 leavers on university visits and FHLM is no exception! On the 27^th Joshua and I spent the day in Kampala visiting Makerere University, and applying for admission. Makerere has always been his first choice but since it is a government university and it has very high admissions. That said he wasn’t able to apply for the medical course that he has dreamed of since he was young, but we did do admission and we’ll keep praying to see if God guides us to other universities and the best options for his next step in life.

Youth Update

Back to Success was held on 02 March. Aunt Faridah had a full house this month, as we now have many secondary students. She started off reviewing the physics homework from last month. Eddy received a prize of sweeties and a slinky for being the first one to turn in his homework!

This month Faridah again focused on physics. She explained how physics is part of our everyday life that is why we need to understand it. It is found in business, the electricity we use, the charcoal & fires we use to cook, etc. She then discussed the basic concepts of physics and asked, “What is Force?”  Eddy gave the definition then she quizzed them on the definition. She then went into the 9 types of forces and what they are, do and gave a demonstration of each force. The students are always blessed by the knowledge that Faridah imparts to them.

We had our monthly Outreach to Nurture Babies’ Home on 09 March and it was Immy and Hanisha’s first time to visit. When we arrived the children were taking their afternoon snack so I gave the new girls a little orientation and brief on the home. They were surprised that some many children didn’t have homes. It was good to see Justine stepped up this time and led the songs with the children. Though it was Immy’s first time she willingly jumped in and helped with songs. After songs it was time for Alpha to tell the story of Queen Esther; 5:1-7. He had several of the children and Justine stand up and hold signs representing characters in the story. He taught of how even though Esther was an orphan she was given much favour by God and used to save her people. He said that each of the children before him are special to God and He can use them mightily, just as He did with Esther. Next Oliver stepped in and led the children in a balloon game to help them learn the day’s memory verse; Romans 8:28 “And we know that all things work together for good to those who love God, to those who are the called according to His purpose.”  After the game we all gathered in a circle had a song and I closed in prayer. God has certainly blessed us with youth that are becoming leaders to their young brothers & sisters. He is a good God!

Home Visits: It is always important to me to see where our SOAR Youth live and visit their family or guardians. This not only helps us to see their environment and know their challenges, but also visits establish relationship. On 04 Mach I went to Hanisha’s home and visited her Aunt Doreen, whom she lives with. Joshua and I went to visit Immaculate’s home on the 18^th. She is living with her eldest half-sister’s family. It was so good to finally meet her sister Olivia and niece Aisha. Aisha is 3 years old and has cancer, but the day we saw her she was in good spirits. I’m thankful for knowing that despite the situations our youth come from, that they at least have some family surrounding them.

Masaka SS Visitation Day was held on 16^th March. Apart from our two secondary 4 girls’, Justine & Oliver, the remaining 4 students haven’t done mid-term exams yet so we had no reports to pick. The girls did pretty well with their exams but Justine excelled in History, Maths and Commerce. That said we spent some time walking around the campus seeing where each students homeroom classes are and visiting the school club demonstration tables. Both young William and Hanisha were highly interested in the Biology Clubs’ demo of a rat diction and the homemade microscope. They both said they want to join the club. We also visited the Food & Nutrition Club, in which Eddy is a member. At their table we purchased some of the fancy bread that Eddy and the others had made. It was very tasty!! After spending a few hours at school we all talked to town to have lunch. It was such a fun day!!

On the 20^th I went for my monthly visit to Timothy Girl’s High School for their evening Fellowship and I taught on “Boundaries”. I spoke to the girls about how our attitudes, beliefs and values can be influenced by the friends we keep, but if we set good boundaries for ourselves the influence that friends have can be positive. I also talked about setting boundaries with the opposite sex and how they can control their behaviour and choices when it comes to boys. Helping them to know that they are “Worth the Wait” and are God’s children, His Princesses, and that God loves them beyond measure. 1 John 4:9. I’m blessed to teach and to know that each month God will be reaching about 300 young girls with the Word of the Lord!

This months’ Movie Day was held on the 23^rd and the youth watched Queen of Katwe. Since I was out of Masaka Joshua has written the following about the movie: It was such a good movie and educative that each and everyone got what to learn. The movie was really understood by the students. The first student to respond was Hanisha. She said that the one should always risk, like Phiona, on what they want in order to get it. Immy said that she learnt that when she is grown and successful she would not forget the people that helped her to achieve her dream. Just like Phiona helped out her Mum and family. Eddy said that you should be passionate of what you want in order to get it. Also that if God does anything for you just believe that He can do it for you, because He loves you and you are someone to Him. So never feel worthless. William said that you should love what you want then it will become easy for you to achieve it.

We ended up the month on the 30^th with a fun day of Arts & Crafts! We were once again blessed by Uncle Julius who taught us all about tie & dye! We then put what we had learnt into practice by each making our own tie & dye pieces. We each cut out our desired shape of fabric and wetted them down. Next some of us used the folding method, while others used the spiral and pinching methods. After deciding our method we applied our colours and then put them outside to dry. I was amazed at the beautiful designs that we all came up with! After drying we mounted them on plywood, as a tie & dye collage to hang in the Centre. It was such a learning experience for us all and all the youth agreed that we should do more tie & dye in the term holiday.

Prayer Requests:

Please pray for monthly sponsors for our two new SOAR Youth Willy, and Hanisha. Willy is now Residential, so that means that he will need at least $35.00 per month. Hanisha would need between $25 to $30 per month for tuition and requirements. If you are led to become one of their sponsors please contact me at reetsindiego@yahoo.com or visit the web-site at www.faithhopelovemissions.org and under Support/Donate click on SOAR Youthz School Sponsorship. Thank you!

Please pray for Pastor Darren Hall’s upcoming visit to Uganda from 06-26 April. He will be in Masaka from the 18^th to the 26^th teaching the youth at our Annual Good Friday Fun Day and also preaching with Rogers at the church in Bulayi and at a Conference in the village of Kibinge. That the Spirit lead him, protect him and for God’s wisdom to guide him and us during his time in country.

Please pray for my visit to the U.S.! I’m praying about visiting in Sept & Oct. That God speak to me about the dates for travel, that He provides the funds for all the flights and that He guide me to the churches, organizations and people that He would like me to speak to and share with.

As you can see it has been an amazing month! I thank all of those that made these blessings possible!!! In return, may the Lord richly bless you! Have a wonderful day and may God bless you and keep you all!

Love,

Rita Bulegeya

Director-Faith Hope Love Missions