Larry DeArmey communicates background and requests for prayer as they gear up for the fourth session of the School of Missiology in Chad.
The first two sessions of the program laid a solid foundation, but this third course, taught by Mike Yoder, brought focus to the reason for the existence of the Chadian School of Missiology - a missionary vision to reach the unreached of central Africa.
"Mike Yoder's teaching on the global missionary movement brought a new understanding to these men as to what God is doing in Chad in a larger context. At the end of the session they read together a wonderful biography of the life of Samuel Crowthers, the first African bishop of the Anglican Church and ‘father of Nigeria.' The resulting interaction with the students allowed them to address some misconceptions and prejudices that they carry as a result of lack of an understanding of the historical context for missionary work in Africa."
A writing project is usually assigned at the end of the session. The students were divided into four groups consisting of three members each.
Larry continues, "All of their work was interesting to read, but the group that was most fascinating for me was composed of men who in the past had as their mentor the now deceased Samuel Dadje. Two of the men told me, ‘Samuel is not dead for his vision lives in our hearts'. They prepared a map of Chad that for their report which indicates major unreached people groups within Chad and beyond its borders touching four countries that the men desire to see penetrated with the Gospel of Jesus Christ - Central African Republic, Sudan, Libya and Egypt.
As we enter year two of the school, we need your prayers in several areas:
"Pray for Dr. Augustin Hibaile from the Central African Republic as he teaches the session in September. His theme is Spiritual Leadership. The 12 men in the program are among our key Chadian leaders, but they need to see leadership through the lens of the Bible and not that of their culture.
"Pray for the spiritual and physical health of all involved in the school - students, professors and leaders.
"Several of the men have some pretty significant health issues that they are facing, and life in close contact with others for one month becomes a challenge for all.September is especially difficult as we will be in the midst of the rainy season, and there are a lot of related diseases that will plague us.
"Pray for the financial challenge that confronts the men as they attend the program every four months. To date they have been faithful in paying their small fee, but it is very difficult for most of them. Pray that their faith in God's provision will be firm.
"Pray that God will meet the financial challenges facing our program for September. In addition to the current operating expenses, this is the first time that we will be covering the expenses of the visiting professor. This will add a couple thousand dollars to our budget. At present we do not have the money in the account to cover the projected expenses for September.
"Undoubtedly the most gratifying aspect of this past session was the enthusiastic response of my associate director and President of the Churches, Betelmbaye Yerima. He perceives the school as the key element in the well-being and development of the ministry in Chad. I sense both the privilege and the great weight of responsibility as the director of this program."