NEWSLETTER Christmas 2009

Dear Friends:

It is always my desire to give honor where is due (Rom. 14:7). I thank my Father God for you dear brothers and sisters in Christ. Your precious gifts of support have enabled us to continue with God’s work in this economy crunch.

As we rapidly approach Christmas, I want to wish you and your family a very special greeting and blessing from your brothers and sisters in Uganda- -those you have stood with, encouraged and helped. Thanks you for your love and care for God’s people and may you and your family experience a very blessed time as we celebrate the birth of our Lord.

It is almost unfathomable that I am greeting you for the last month of the year 2009. And what a year God has made it….so often now I think of the words of the Master: “Apart from me you can do nothing.” How validating life in ministry is to those sobering, humbling words.

But without you, there would be dreams and visions without substance; and because of you, people who will roll up their sleeves and take the bull by the horns, we can tell the devil, “We are Still Here.” We will be fighting until Jesus returns, warring like good soldiers, keeping our eyes on the prize. What a team we are and what ground we have taken claim for our God.

Together, we face yet another year, knowing that we have a God and He has a plan, and our well-being and provision are in it! He promised that He would never leave us nor forsake us; that He would be our Shepherd; that we could dwell in the secret place of the Most High! I encourage you to put your trust in God!

In my last newsletter in October, I gave you a brief report about my trip to Uganda and what I was able to accomplish. Again I am so grateful for all your love and support for this ministry. As Christians, we realize that love for humanity is so much more than a spoken or printed word. It is action, and sometimes this action requires personal sacrifice. On behalf of the orphans in our care and the brethren in Uganda, we salute you for the sacrifices you’ve made. But all the glory and honor goes to our God!

The year 2009 was a year of great accomplishments in the ministry. My trip to Uganda was fruitful. I was able to accomplish so much for the 2 months I spent there ministering. But this year, did not end well with me. On November 11, I lost my dearest sister Florence. She was a sister and a dear friend. I will miss her.
Now as we move forward, looking at 2010, we know that each New Year provides us an opportunity to reflect, to evaluate, to thank God for His manifold blessings; and make adjustments and changes for a better future. Our goals will stay the same. We will continue to cloth, feed, educate and raise our orphans. The Good News will continue to reach those who need it. We are also planning to start building our own clinic. This will not benefit only us, but several villages around us. The nearest medical clinic is more than 20 miles away. Our water well needs to be updated and repaired. I ask you to keep these needs in prayer. Remember God is still at work, no matter what chaos we see around us. He is still God and He is still in control, just trust HIM!

My family and I and the brethren in Uganda, would like to wish you a joyful Christmas that is free of worry and anxiety, but full of gratefulness to our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ.

Merry Christmas and a very blessed New Year!

Blessings,

Solome Musisi

September 2009 Newsletter

Dear Friends:

It is always my desire to give honor where honor is due (Rom. 14:7). I thank my Father God for you dear brothers and sisters in Christ. Your precious gifts of support have enabled us to continue with God’s work in this economy crunch. The Brethren in Uganda send their greetings to you.

In early July of this year, the Lord gave me an opportunity to visit Uganda and encourage His people. This was an answered prayer and a miracle. As we all here in the States are facing many financial challenges. There is nothing really impossible with God when we put our trust in Him. I left for this trip very fast as the opportunity opened up for me. Most of you were not informed. As I mentioned before, this was a miracle trip unexpected. But I had prayed about it and left it to God. Praise God He really does miracles.

I am so glad to be back home. My time in Uganda was so fruitful, very busy because I wanted to make every minute count for the opportunity I had received. My last day in Uganda was very chaotic. I woke up with a thought that, I am going to wind up all the things I need to do before I leave to get home the following day. This did not happen. Big riots started happening in the major city of Kampala and the surrounding areas. People in the central district started rioting because that the king was not going to visit a certain place as they thought it would be the case. There was looting stores, burning buildings, destroying major roundabouts, burning old tires in big hips, destroying any vehicle that passed their way, destroying police centers, taking guns from police and shooting them. Then the government brought in the army; machine guns were running like thunder all over the city, teargas was used to calm the crowds. Some people lost their lives. I thought it would be impossible for me to leave tomorrow because my flight was on the next day which was September 11. Praise God, I made it out in the very wee hours of that morning. But I was told that when it was almost day time, nobody was allowed in the city and many people missed their flights out.

Regardless of what took place on my last day in Uganda, the Lord did marvelous things. My trip was so fruitful. I was able to travel to different districts teaching and encouraging many women’s groups affected with the AIDs virus and men as such. Our orphans brought so much joy in my heart as they called me mommy, mommy. I always visit with a treat of candy. For these kids just a simple piece of candy is a great gift. I want to thank the women of my home church who sent them new clothes, learning materials, candies and everything that was sent. These gifts may not be much for each one to have 2 or more of the items given. But to a child who has never seen any new clothes, who does not have a piece of candy regularly, this is so huge to them. We thank you so much all of you who gave. I know that everybody who gave, gave out of their need; because we know what is going on in the economy. But one thing I know God was pleased with your gifts of sacrifice.

GULU:

It was such an exciting day, when we drove the 640 Km from Kampala to Gulu and back. This is in northern Uganda. Almost 3 ½ years ago, I joined a very young couple, who had left their safe district to go and help the people terrorized by the Lord’s Resistance Army led by Joseph Kony a cultic man. I know most of you know what has been taking place in this area. You have seen news clips, dvds reporting on the saga of the people of Gulu, which has been happening for the last 18 years. The people of Gulu have been leaving in government camps for all those years but now are starting to get back to their villages. They fled their villages because of the brutal killings and abductions of this evil group. This group was killing and kidnapping young boys and girls to become soldiers. It has been such a terrible experience for this district. But now I am so excited to report that a lot of the children who were rescued and went through our rehabilitation programs are now leaving a normal life. This also includes many women and men. It has been a great challenge and still is to help these people to rebuild their lives again. We have many programs to help them rebuild skills and children to go back to school. This needs a lot of your financial help.

TESO:

Teso, is a district in north eastern Uganda. This northern region is one of the poorest with rampant disease and hunger, aggravated by periodic droughts and crop failure. It faced so many floods in the past 2 years, which washed off all the good soil. So they can’t produce food and a lot of people are feeding on leaves or just too much to go through and they end up committing suicide killing their entire families. It is a very bad situation. I know things are not so good here either; but if you look at the suffering of the people in the poor countries around the world, you have to be so thankful for whatever you have. Pray and intercede for the suffering of these people. God loves everybody. He is just waiting and looking for people who can be His voice, His hands and His feet.

KIGAYA ORPHANAGE:

We now have 120 children in our care. I praise the Lord for all of you who are so committed to feed, clothe, and educate these kids. The Lord sees your good works and He alone who sees in secret will reward each and every one of you for your love and commitment. I was able to take as many as 20 of our kids to the doctor’s visits, one of them was seriously sick and admitted at the hospital. You will be able to see some of those pictures. Our new friends in the Netherlands helped us to do that, and also built new school desks for our school. We need to build our own clinic because of the expenses. Most of these kids need regular medical attention. Our goals are still the same, we will continue to preach the gospel, educate, clothe, feed the poor, visit and encourage the sick and bring hope to the hopeless. We also want to build more buildings and we need a 4 wheel drive vehicle to do the work in these bad roads.

NEEDS:

This ministry survives on the support of people who are touched to help. We are not a big organization, but our hearts are huge than the small group we are. We have touched many lives and will continue to do so as long as there is need anywhere the Lord sends us. I know a lot of you are going through a lot of financial struggles, but I am asking you to pray and see what the Lord puts on your hearts to give.

FAMILY:

I personally never tell you what is going on in the family. God has been good to us all the time. Although we have many needs, it is very hard to personalize our needs to you. God has been faithful to sustain us. This time, I am asking you if you could help me financially. I have been running a small cleaning business, but as you know now the economy is bad, I have lost so many clients. This was my great source of income. It was good to me, because it never tied me down. I could go do ministry anytime while my partner carried on. But these hard times have put me in a big debt. I am praying and trusting God to help me in whatever way you can. I also want you to pray for me in need of another car. While I was in Uganda, my son’s old car engine blew out. He goes to UCLA medical school. He drives back and forth, from school, work and home. So now we have only one car to share. Pray for a miracle to happen for this need very soon.

I also I want to let you know that I am starting a small business of selling handmade products from Uganda. Some of you in the past have bought baskets which women in the rural areas weave. I have encouraged many women to weave again especially those affected with AIDs as you will see in the pictures. They also make paper necklaces. These small projects are a great help in bringing hope into their lives and also in paying for their children to schools. The baskets range from $25-45 even more depending on the sizes and styles Necklaces range from $12-35 or even more depending on the materials used and styles. Bracelets from cow’s horn, earrings, prayer mats. Shopping bags in different sizes used for groceries or books which can be used over and over. Handmade leather sandals and those made out of old tires. These have been used in Uganda for a decade and they last. There is so much more. These products are all paid for and the money given directly to these artists. Fair-trade practices are used. Help this project and we will be able buy from them and help them live a better hopeful life.

I know time and space does not allow me to write more, I hope you have enjoyed this report of ministry. I want to thank you so much for your generosity. A dvd will soon be available to any who wants to watch or share.

Blessings,
Solome Musisi

Click here to download printable newsletter with pictures (615kB).

Solome Musisi - Uganda Missions - Project Haven
Field Address: P.O. Box 33768, Kampala, Uganda (East Africa)
U.S. Address: P.O. Box 940367, Simi Valley, CA 93094-0367
Telephone: 805-527-9911
Fax: 805-526-5557
Email: go2projecthaven@yahoo.com