Two local nonprofit organizations headquartered in Elizabethtown, Friends in Action (FIA) International and Milandila, will host events in May. FIA and Milandila are currently partnering to make impacts in Uganda.

Milandila's board of directors will host a Mother's Day meal and flower sale at Alliance Church of Elizabethtown, 425 Cloverleaf Road, on Saturday, May 10, from 7 a.m. to 1 p.m. Readers are invited to contribute funds by purchasing a hot dog meal, baked goods, and flower bouquets.

All proceeds will go toward raising $20,000 to expand Milandila's Family Center in Uganda. Those who would like to contribute but cannot attend the event may donate at http://www.milandila.org. Readers may also contact Milandila's director of partnership development, Shannon Medich, at 717-514-4356 or smedich@milandila.org to learn more about participating in a mission trip themselves.

Friends in Action International will hold its fourth annual Community Fun Day and Mission Expo at its headquarters, 3950 E. Harrisburg Pike, Middletown, on Saturday, May 3, from 9 a.m. to 2 p.m.

The event will feature WJTL's "Kid's Cookie Break" from 9 a.m. to noon. It will also include a Forgotten Friend Reptile Sanctuary show, a bounce house, a candy cannon, a barrel train ride, and construction and excavating equipment. Food from Peter's Chicken BBQ will be available for a donation.

Attendees will have opportunities to learn about the ways FIA ministers to unreached people around the world. The event will feature a hand water pump, kid-friendly activities and crafts, and the Mission Expo.

In addition, members of Milandila's board of directors will be on hand to share information about its work in Uganda, and a children's activity will be available.

Admission is free. To learn more, call 717-546-0208, email nicolemiller@fiaintl.org, or visit https://fiaintl.org/community-fun-day/.

FIA exists to support mission organizations around the globe by using construction projects to further frontline Gospel efforts. In February, the organization sent a volunteer team of local tradespeople to begin the first phase of an expansion project for Milandila's Family Center.

Milandila's Family Center assists hundreds of abandoned and mistreated single, teen, and Muslim Ugandan women and their babies through pregnancy support programming; prenatal and postnatal care; resources for labor, delivery, and aftercare; lactation and child care education; ultrasounds and lab services; counseling; and home visits. "Milandila" is a word adopted from the Baganda tribe in Uganda. It means root, foundation, or the beginning of something. Milandila Community Missions is rooted in the Gospel of Jesus. Through relational evangelism and discipleship, Milandila presents the Gospel through conversation, counseling, and discussion-based Bible teaching.

Last year, Milandila assisted more than 100 women and had to turn many more away due to space restrictions. Founder and executive director James Tumwesiigye envisioned turning an abandoned water bottling facility into an expanded ministry space. Previous office, warehouse, and factory space could be renovated into a birthing clinic, church, educational programming center, pharmacy, laboratory, and life skills training area. Tumwesiigye had the vision but lacked the knowledge and manpower to make the transformation possible.

So, FIA's volunteers stepped in to replace ceilings and roofing, walls, plumbing and sewage systems, electrical wiring, windows, doors, cabinetry, and water tanks. They also painted and tiled floors. FIA's approach to construction is to include villagers in projects to pass along profitable trade skills and foster relationships between the missionaries and the people to create conversational opportunities to share the Gospel.

The team's efforts during the first round of construction allowed Milandila to host its first educational prenatal class for more than 100 women in one of the newly constructed areas.

The transformation that can take place due to the classes is demonstrated in the life of a Ugandan woman named Abbo. She grew up in an environment of strict religious beliefs, and her pregnancy led to her abandonment by her unborn baby's father and Abbo's being shunned by her community. Alone with no work or resources, she turned to Milandila. Whereas she previously thought that God was approachable only through her good works, she now heard the Gospel message of forgiveness through God's grace.

Another team of volunteers from Community Bible Church in Marietta is slated to continue efforts on a second phase of construction in June. In addition to the installation of bathroom essentials, crews will work on a parking area, plaster exterior walls, lay flooring on a courtyard and teaching area, and finish electrical work.