Quebec Alive moments

This past week SEMBEQ sponsored a 3-day conference which discussed some of the characteristics of a healthy church.  Mark Dever (left), Senior Pastor of the Capitol Hill Baptist Church in Washington, DC and the director of 9Marks Ministry, was the main speaker.  He was accompanied by three of his associates, Matt Schmucker (center), Greg Gilbert and Jonathan Leeman, each of whom made a couple of presentations.  The conference included eleven presentations and seven Q & A sessions (photo), along with many opportunities for individual conversations over the three days.  The topics revolved around the theme of the church demonstrating the image and glory of God, characterized by expository preaching, understanding the the relationships among conversion, evangelism and discipleship, church membership and discipline, church leadership, and congregational responsibility.  Most of the sessions were attended by 70-100 leaders from the French Baptist churches in the Montreal region.  However, there were some farther away who traveled as much as five hours to attend.  On Friday evening at the conference there were over 250 in attendance, including over 100 youth.  The topic that evening was on the importance and requirement of church membership.  There was great thankfulness for the Lord providing this opportunity and for each of the presenters providing us with challenge, conviction, encouragement, and direction for our thoughts and lives, both individually and corporately.

The main purpose of SEMBEQ’s training is to prepare men for pastoring, church planting  and evangelizing.  However, some of these men might be led by the Lord to go into foreign missions or, as Stephane Gagne did, become one of SEMBEQ’s teachers.  Stephane has come up through the training of SEMBEQ and, more recently, has been working for a Master Degree in Church History under the mentoring and coaching of Michael Haykin.  Michael Haykin is currently Professor of Church History and Biblical Spirituality at Southern Baptist Theological Seminary in Louisville, KY and frequently teaches Church History at SEMBEQ.  Stephane is beginning to work on his Master’s thesis and is planning to investigate the influence of the enlightenment on the church and its implications for reaching out to those in Quebec.  He has taught a couple of the current classes, along with Dr. Haykin, on the Survey of Church History for the combined Granby and Sherbrooke Cohorts.  Stephane teaches with great energy, passion and command of the subject.  Stephane lives in St-Georges, QC with his wife Micheline and their three children ages 15, 13 and 12.  He is also the youth pastor at the Evangelical Baptist Church of St-Georges and has been very active on boards and committees of SEMBEQ.  We praise the Lord for preparing Stephane to teach Church History for SEMBEQ.

The SEMBEQ staff is available and willing to come to your church and give various informational presentations about the Lord’s work in the province of Quebec, Quebec’s specific needs, and how the Lord is using the ministry of SEMBEQ to help meet some of those needs.  We have powerpoint presentations that will be adapted for your specific interests and they can be given as a single presentation of approximately 45 minutes or as multiple sessions during a given day or over several days, depending upon your specific desire.  We have sessions on the History of Baptist Evangelistic Outreach during the middle 1900s, the Vision and Ministry of SEMBEQ, the Cohort Program, and Current Fruit of the Ministry.  Others can be developed.  We are also available to provide biblical messages related to SEMBEQ’s ministry during worship services.  We are willing to come any time during the week.  Free informational pamphlets and documents are available.  If you are interested in learning more about SEMBEQ and ways you can particpate in the Lord’s work in Quebec, contact Doug Wilbur at d.wilbur@sembeq.qc.ca or 315-363-8593 if your church is located in the US, or Francois Lalonde at f.lalonde@sembeq.qc.ca if your church in is Canada.

In the Spring 2008 issue of Quebec Alive we highlighted the amazing work of the Lord in the Evangelical Baptist Church of Montreal-Nord.  At that time we noted that in the Spring of 2006 the Lord gave Robert Charpentier and his wife Jackie a  burden for this church, and Robert committed to begin pastoring there at the beginning of the new year.  They discerned that the congregation was in need of and ready for both leadership and discipleship, and instead of waiting until January, Robert and Jackie began four months earlier.  When they arrived in September of 2006, there were about 30 people.  Robert began serving as their pastor and teaching them from God’s Word about the Good News of Jesus Christ, the need for each one to trust in the saving grace of God through His Son Jesus Christ,  living a Christ-centered life, and developing a burden to witness to those around them for the glory of God.  Jackie spearheaded an energetic Evangelism Explosion door-to-door outreach. By the following September the attendance was averaging around 75 with a high of 96.  By the Spring of 2008, the average was close to 100.  Most of the increase was the result of new professions of faith.  With this growth they had outgrown the facility they were using for their Sunday worship.  However, they have not been able to find a new facility.  There have been several obstacles which have prevented them from securing another location.  The world would suggest that this “bursting at the seams” would deter further growth and even produce a decrease.  Praise the Lord, however, that it is not the world that is in charge, but the Lord Jesus Christ.  Less than a month ago, March 17, 2009, they had six more baptisms and there were 143 people in attendance for this special Sunday worship.  This “bursting at the seams” is not deflating the congregation’s enthusiasm, motivation, and love for the Lord and His people and for those who need to hear the Good News.  Pray that they have strength to wait upon the Lord’s timing for a new facility and that the Lord would allow them to overcome the obstacles and obtain a new facility to accommodate the fruit being harvested.