Doug & Cheryl Boisvert, March 2012

Dear Praying Friends – as in Philippians 1:3, I often smile with joy in my spirit when I write that greeting! Thank you for making God’s work a priority in your life— which includes praying for us and God’s work through Tri-M Africa.

Doug and Cheryl have just returned from two different times “on the road.” We left our Kokomo home on December 14, 2011 and other than for a seven-day “intermission,” did not return until February 16, 2012. Much was accomplished in those two-plus months of travel. Over the Christmas holidays, we were able to spend some time with our daughter Katy and her family in Texas, helping Doug’s parents get settled in their Florida wintering spot, and attending our Tri-M annual meeting.

January and February were spent in our three teaching sites: Uganda, western Kenya, and Tanzania. Enjoy the blessings of God’s marvelous work there as we share some of the highlights and situations God was orchestrating:

UGANDA AND B.E.S.T. The Bukeeka Evangelical School of Theology in Uganda is progressing well. Doug taught two courses in one week, while the two Ugandan leaders used Doug’s tri-M courses to teach either the week before or the week after Doug. This has accelerated the training process to the point that we are now anticipating a good number of students graduating in August 2012! They will receive their Bible certificate, which is the first step toward working on a BA level program in the future.

We are now beginning to offer the courses in the tribal language of Luganda for the village pastors to feel more comfortable studying with us. This vernacular training will be a crucial step in filling a big hole in pastoral training in Uganda. Pastor Robert is hoping that this first graduation will be a way to show that this is a legitimate program, attracting village pastors who were not able to study in english, but who so desperately needed the training.

The women are moving ahead as well, with Sarah and two women from Cheryl’s class teaching Cheryl’s courses in their rural village church plants. This was scheduled to occur immediately after Doug’s week of teaching. Excitement is growing among the women as these truths are taught with much progress being made in biblical thinking and their ability to handle the scriptures.

Pastor Robert completed the first round of chemotherapy which has eased his pain and almost eliminated the tumors, especially on his feet and legs. Uganda has no equipment to evaluate the success of the treatment, so now they are just waiting for physical signs to surface before continuing the stressful second part of chemotherapy. Please continue to pray for this dear saint and his wife, Sarah, as they continue to serve in the midst of these many unknowns. They are examples of seizing opportunities and doing what they can, when they can. “Thank you” for those who have contributed toward the first chemo round, and those who are making the second treatment possible.

WESTERN KENYA We moved on to western Kenya to teach with Pastor Thomas at “stage Jesus.” The women commented during the week that if this teaching continues they are going to be a strong church! we also spoke with local pastors who were convinced that this training had to be expanded beyond themselves. They were taking steps to attend a pastors’ meeting in March and to challenge the village and township pastors to come.

One pastor observed that they have more and more unemployed young men looking for something to do. he commented, “We need to challenge these men to consider that maybe god is calling them to reach out with the gospel and plant churches that will faithfully hold to God’s truth.” By offering these materials, pastors can disciple those young men, and pass on their burden to others. This time in Kenya, Doug was impressed at how many pastors and church planters were visiting Thomas and referring to themselves as his “sons in the faith.” (Thomas is the one with the dream of releasing an army of trained men into Kenyan villages.) He has already started using these training resources with those who cannot attend. Praise God that we can be a part of God’s work there!

TANZANIA We returned to Arusha and were pleased to see many pastors returning after attending our first teaching time in September 2011. Doug found out later that even Pastor Michael, our local organizer and translator, was pleasantly surprised to see so many of the pastors from the biggest churches return. Many have had some Bible school training but have never received training in a way that they could replicate in their churches. This reinforced to me that the men desire not only training but also the course materials that they can use in their own discipling and training of future church planters.

Pastor Michael had already been in contact with Doug about a second teaching site in Morogoro, Tanzania, in his hometown area. it’s a nine-hour road trip to get there, but Michael assured us of the great need there for Bible training. While we were planning that extra week for our return next August, we also had two other pastors requesting very passionately for teaching to begin at two other sites that are in equal need to get something like what Tri-M has to offer. all these men are in agreement that Tri-M is only assisting them in starting a local training program that they can carry on. We need wisdom from God to evaluate if and when we might be able to expand into each area. As Pastor Michael summarized, “If God is in it, of course we cannot wait or delay!”

Both Cheryl and Doug taught their course on biblical marriage. We have many stories of culture intersecting with biblical standards for husband and wife. Sometimes these were colliding head on with each other. In just a short time it became quite clear that God’s plan for marriage is elevating for both men and women. When we have only culture, tradition, or experience to influence our thoughts or habits, we will become degraded and much less than God intends. We are praying that the men and women we teach will see the difference clearly as they review their notes and cling to God’s truth so they can enjoy their marriages before the Lord. We recognize that it may not be easy or received with joy by others. The culture tends to be harsh, brutal, and extremely intolerant of those who depart from traditions. They may even suffer great persecution for it. so please pray for them!

MEET PASTOR PAUl, from TANZANIA On the fourth day of class, this pastor stood to his feet with both a question and testimony, but he gave his testimony first: “I am a Maasai man. We are trained that to be a man means to be head of the house. We are also taught that this means that we must rule with fear in order to have our wife and children respect us. So we beat our wives and I beat my wife. But I did not just beat her— I would leave her bloody. I thought I was doing what i was supposed to do.

“My wife became a Christian before I did. I saw a change in her, but I continued to beat her. Then one day, I went out behind the hut following her beating, and I could hear her crying and praying—for Me! she was praying ‘Lord, it was by your wounds that I was healed. Please use these wounds to heal my husband and bring him to You. Do not let anything that I do get in the way of his salvation.’ This smote me. But I did not stop beating her—in fact i beat her more. But each time I did, I went behind the hut to listen to her pray for me. This continued to smite me.

“One day her pastor came to our house. I stayed to listen, and that night he led me to the Lord. We began to change, and I no longer desired to beat my wife. Little by little this stopped, and there were other changes, too. But we didn’t understand why and didn’t really talk about it. Eventually I became a pastor. But it wasn’t until I took this class that we began to understand! I have been taking home the notes each night to share with my wife what I learned. Both of us have been weeping, praying together, and thanking God for working in us. Until now, we knew we had changed, but we didn’t know why. But all along it was God! He was working in us and changing us! Now that we understand, I know how I can talk about it with my people, and we have something that we can teach to others to give them hope.”

Please know that you made this change possible! aren’t you eager to someday meet Paul and his wife in heaven? (The Boisvert Update is published bi- monthly as a service to interested friends and supporters.)