FHLM May 2019 Newsletter

Greetings from Masaka! Well we are in rainy season again! It got hot and dry in April and now it has rained everyday this month. Seasons are changing and it’s hard for the vast majority of people who rely on planting as their daily food source to “predict” the planting times, but we are so THANKFUL that we have rain!

Director’s Update:

Well Jane is back to work full-time and she has brought baby, Elijah, with her. In this culture, as long as the employer allows it, it is not uncommon for employees to bring their babies to work. Elijah has been a joy to be around, but it has been different having a baby in the office. There’s an added bonus, since the youth were on Holiday in May we’ve had many “built” in babysitters! Elijah really loves his Aunt Justine and Uncle Eddy cause they can calm him down very fast when he gets fussy.

Thanks to William senior the Centre is getting secure! He spent 2 days digging post holes and putting barbed wire and boards up in the back of the compound. I’m thankful for his willingness to help out and for his diligent work ethic.

Please continue to pray for Jane’s husband, Febian and his family, as he lost his eldest sister to cancer on May 7^th. Thanks!

We held our 2^nd Quarter Board Meeting on 11^th May. We had a good turn out and I’m grateful for the very active board that we have. They also set a few new policies; Youth Departure Policy and Director’s Mandatory Vacation Policy.

Whilst the older youth were at camp I slipped off for a weekend retreat from the 17^th to 19^th May. It was a wonderful to have days of one-on-one time with my Savoir Jesus. He spoke to me about many things that have been on my heart and also gave me new direction on the ministry’s vision.

Youthz Update:

1^st Term Holiday Programs: This month was filled with daily programs. Our SOAR Youth and others from Aunt Liz’s ministry and some from the community attended. Here is what we are all up too:

Revision/Torturing: Mon, Wed, Thur and Friday mornings from 11am till 1pm Joshua taught the Secondary 4 youth along with the others in Maths, Chemistry, Physics, and Geography. It sure is a blessing to have a tutor in the FHLM Family!

Chapter & Verse: Every Tuesday and Thursday afternoon we had Bible Study. This Holiday we didn’t have a “special topic”, but continued moving through the books of 1 Kings and Acts. We just added Bible Quizzes and topical movies to help the youth better understand what they had been reading and learning.

Board Games remain an ever popular activity with the youth! As soon as they finish up Bible Studies or have “extra” time in their days then they break out Ludo, Uno or Chess! Just a note that we are hoping to get some Board Games donated like Boggle, Monopoly, Scrabble, Twister.

Pen-Pal Letters: As you know our youth are pen-pals with the youth/children of Harlan Christian Youth Center, so on the 3^rd they replied to their letters. This was an exciting activity for our new youth, Hanisha, William and Immy. They all enjoyed writing, creating art on their letters, and making new friends!

Arts & Crafts: Every Wednesday during Holiday we had some type of arts & crafts activity. The 1^st Wed. we put to use the beautiful beads that the Impact Volunteers brought us, and made earrings, bracelets, and necklaces. Our BIG activity was Tie & Dye t-shirts! Uncle Julius led the youth in designing the shirts and making very creative art! Everyone was very surprised to see how their design ideas and color combinations turned out. Then on the last Wednesday Julius instructed them on how to do screen printing on their tie & dye t-shirt of our FHLM logo. They also designed their own “sweetheart” logo stencil for the front of their shirts and learned how to apply them.

Life Skills:  Here at FHLM we love to learn new skills! On the 10th Eddy led us in learning how to make “fancy bread”. Each of us measured out & mixed our ingredients and then kneaded our own bread. After each dough ball rose Eddy showed us how to make them into shapes. The final stage was to bake, not in an oven, but over an open fire. Not only was it a great learning experience but the bread was very tasty!

Picture Collage: Every year at FHLM we redo our picture collage board in 1^st Term Holiday. This board gives us all pleasure all year long as it greets us when we come into the Centre. It is also a great conversation piece for the youth to tell others about their yearly activities!

Movie Day: On 11^th May the youth watched Africa United, a story about three Rwandan youngsters, Dudu, Fabrice and Beatrice who travel to an audition for the football World Cup opening ceremony. But when their journey takes an unexpected turn, the trio find themselves in grave danger. Then they decided to walk three thousand miles to get to the world cup and along the way they pick up two more youth that join their adventure. Here are some of the lessons our youth learnt from the movie.

1. We should not lose hope when chasing for our dream although many problems may come but we should stay courageous and put our faith in God.
2. We learnt that working as a group, like all the youth in the movie, is very important because everybody on earth needs each other.
3. We also learnt that leadership comes from God because we saw Dudu as the manager in the group when he was the shortest and youngest. This showed us that God doesn’t look at the outward appearance but looks directly in our hearts.
4. We also learnt that everything that happens to us happens with a plan so we should not lose faith because of a certain situation but know that God has the plans to prosper us.
5. We also learnt that we should wish our friends to succeed in life because we saw Dudu working tirelessly for his friends, although he was HIV positive. (Compiled & Written by: Eddy Hategekimana)

Foundational Workshop: Over the years of attending “born again” or Pentecostal churches in Uganda I’ve noticed that believers have never been taught Basic Biblical Foundations, so on the 13^th I taught the youth just that. We did a “deep look” at the Lord’s Prayer Matthew 6: 9-13 taking it apart verse by verse and discussing why Jesus taught us to pray this way. Afterward we did a little game to see if anyone could recite all the books of the Bible. Eddy did over half which was pretty good! Then I shared with them about each book of the Old & New Testaments. We discussed how they are broken into sections i.e. the books of the law or the gospels. I shared some Bible history and how it is God breathed (2 Timothy 3:16-17). We ended with a teaching on the Apostles Creed and why we should know it as our statement of faith. I then gave them small handouts of the Lord’s Prayer and the Creed so they can memorize them.

Camp: The older SOAR Youth; Joshua, Eddy, Oliver and Justine attended Soweto Youth Fellowship’s Encounter Camp from 17-18 May. This year’s theme was “Completed in Christ”. Though it rained most of camp they still enjoyed and said that they learnt much. I’m thankful that we have the funding to send them to camps like this that further their walk with Christ.

Family Visit: On 21st May William (Willy) and I travelled to the village of Kiserekete in Koterya District about 45 minutes form Kalisizo town to visit his family. We spent the morning getting introduced to his siblings, and large extended family. Then we all sit in his grandmother’s house and she told us of how and when his father, John, became ill and narrated some family history to us all. After William’s Grandpa led us all through their garden of bananas, citrus trees, and field of beans & potatoes. He was so very thankful for all we have done for William, so he blessed me & William with sugar cane, oranges, avocados, matooke, and even a chicken!  William’s Grandmother is a pastor at a local church so when we were done walking the gardens we went to see the church. We ended this special day with yet another blessing of a very delicious lunch! What a wonderful, God fearing family William has been blessed with.

FHLM Family Fun Day: The day was held on the 25^th and we didn’t let the sprinkles of rain dampen our day! We enjoyed great food that our youth prepared, had fun with games and praised & worshiped God for giving us such a lovely day! It was a blessing to get to know our SOAR Youth’s family members a little more. Thank you Jesus for these families and for the day!

Back to School: Well the 1^st Term Holiday is over and all of the secondary youth; Oliver, Justine, Eddy, Immaculate, William, and Hanisha, headed back to Masaka SS on the 27^th for their 2^nd Term. The 1^st week started with exams so please keep them in prayer for that and for them to have a wonderful 2^nd Term. Thanks!

Prayer Requests:

• Please continue to pray for William and Hanaish as we still need school sponsors for them. If you feel led to sponsor them please email me at reetsindiego@yahoo.com. Thank you!
• Please pray for the funds for my plane ticket to go to the U.S. on Furlough in Sept.

As you have read it has been a “full” month! We’ve learned much, laughed much, loved much and without you, our supporters none of this could happen. I thank you for impacting these youth’s lives, and helping to transform them into people that will influence their communities and the Kingdom of God!!  Have a blessed June!

In His Grip,

Rita Bulegeya-Director Faith Hope Love Missions