Doug & Cheryl Boisvert’s prayer letter – 9-2013

“concluding that God has called us to preach the Gospel to them.” Acts 16:10 b
Doug and Cheryl arrived back in the U.S. in September, after more than four weeks of teaching and traveling in East Africa. The local men there are taking much more responsibility for the training, and we are able to gradually fade out of the regular teaching that we have been doing. This is exactly what God has called us to do: assist local believers to establish their own training programs, which can operate without outside funding or outside leadership. We have seen this model develop in many of the current teaching sites in East Africa.
On this trip, we were able to participate in an opportunity that might make this an even easier transition: in both Kenya and Uganda, we were able to introduce Dr. Frank Gainer, of Macro-Micro Enterprise Development (MMED), who taught a course on biblical principles for handling money. It was a course that showed local Africans how to organize businesses that could support ministry. This could become a way for our African brethren to locally support their own training programs after missionaries step away from the place where they have been involved. The course was well received, and people in both sites are already beginning to organize shared business ventures in which the schools each receive 18% of the profits!

UGANDA
The Bukeeka Evangelical School of Theology (BEST) was introduced in our previous prayer letters. BEST is moving right along with classes taught in English, completing two of the three training levels. However, the Vernacular classes have been slower to start. One reason for this is that BEST founder and administrator, Pastor Robert Sityo, has been struggling with cancer and its associated chemotherapy treatments. He has given God the glory for great response to the tiring treatments; however, there are still areas on one foot that have not responded to chemo. In October 2013, a husband-and-wife team of physicians in Indiana are donating their time and expertise to remove the tumors, which will reduce Robert’s pain and give him greater mobility. Pastor Robert will be with the Boisverts for a month during the surgery, immediate follow-up, and recovery. Please join us in prayer for the effectiveness of the surgery, the finances still to be raised for the surgical facilities (about $1,000 USD is still needed), and the ministries Robert leaves behind to travel to the U.S. Robert has shared that years ago, he would have had much greater concern leaving all these ministries for so long. But now, with the training of the BEST students, he is much more confident that these ministries have good, solid leadership to fill in for him while he is absent. To God be the glory!

TANZANIA
Well, on the way to Bithinia and Mysia, they received a call. . . (Acts 16).
You may have heard that we expected to travel with Pastor Michael (our translator and co-teacher) and his family for an eight-hour road trip from the first teaching site in Turiani to the next one in Arusha. This turned into a four-day trip due to a broken timing belt in between some of the small villages on the way. We would not have planned, nor chosen, to stop in Kabuku, but God had other plans. After a day of gracious hospitality by Pastor Andrew in that village, we discovered a great need for training there. Andrew is discipling five “Timothy”s who are leading Church plants that have developed from a single village Church. He also shared that there are 20 other Pastors in his immediate area who will never be able to go to Seminary but who are in great need of systematic teaching. Pastor Michael and Doug spent some time talking and praying with this Pastor. They recognized that perhaps God had allowed our vehicle to break down for this very reason. Pastor Michael is now convinced that God desires that he take on the ongoing training—if Doug can assist him in getting it started in January 2014. Cheryl and Doug felt a bit like they were participating in the book of Acts!
Doug taught his last class in the Certificate Program in Arusha, so there will be a graduation this January, and we will move on. One Pastor had been somewhat persistent about requesting training for a group of men about an hour from Arusha. We were unable to accommodate him, so he decided to teach them himself using Tri-M course materials—with good results! Our limitations can become God’s opportunities!

WEST KENYA
Christ Army Mobile School of Ministry (CAMSOM) Certificate Program graduated nine men on September 7. CAMSOM’s founding pastor has five of these men and their wives hosting “Home Churches” in five different sites, with the goal of becoming full Church plants in the future. They all believe that the things learned at CAMSOM made this possible. Wrote class Valedictorian, David Abuti Mboywa, to Doug: “I take this opportunity to thank you, Dr. Doug, and all who supported you to come and equip us in this such great way. I am very grateful for this opportunity to learn, because if it would be other colleges, I would have paid a very large amount of fee, which some of us could not afford. Greet the churches, and appreciate them on our behalf. Thank you, and God bless you in all areas of your life.”
The Certificate in Women’s Biblical Studies should also see graduations in Kenya and Uganda next year.

Mongolia
Please pray for Doug as he leaves for a week and a half in Mongolia, with two fellow Tri-M missionaries, to see if God would have him take on this teaching site as well. Pray for wisdom, discernment, and stamina as he becomes a humble student of the men of this place.

We are blessed beyond measure to be able to represent you among such wonderful brothers and sisters. Thanks for making that possible! We thank God for all of you and look forward to seeing those of you in Columbus, Ohio; Delton, Michigan; and Mishawaka, Indiana in October.

PRAISES
1. Our safe return
2. Seeing Tanzanian partners taking on more teaching responsibilities
3. The opportunity to travel with my colleagues and the possibility of carrying on strategic training in Mongolia

JOIN US IN PRAYER for
1. Alertness for Doug, as he travels 13 time zones after returning from seven time zones in the opposite direction
2. Cheryl, as she cares for all the details while Doug is away
3. Professor Ecuna Jackson, our Ugandan Partner, as he makes major changes to meet increasing needs for training, especially in South Sudan
4. Pastor Sityo’s surgery in October and remaining finances needed

Striving to Serve Christ,
Doug Boisvert, D. Min.
Tri-M Eastern and Central African Director
sent out by Springville Baptist Church, PA

“To this end I also labor, striving according to His working…” (Colossians 1:29)