David &
Debby Smith & Family |
Reaching French-Speaking Québec with the Gospel |
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| About us
NEWSLETTERS
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Dear Praying Friends,
Dear Co-laborers in Christ,
Dear Co-Laborers in Christ, Imagine that you are coming with me for Saturday
morning literature distribution / evangelism. First, you have to dress well for the
cold winter here in Quebec.
There is about 2 ½ feet of snow on the ground.
The temperature is about –20c with a wind chill factor
of –40c. I put on my long
johns, thick pants, nylon ski pants with lining, a turtleneck shirt and
a sweater, two pair of socks (one pair insulated), insulated hiking
boots, my parka-like coat, a neck sleeve, a scarf, a stocking hat, and
headband. Gloves are
very important. I have
wool/thinsolate glove/mittens. They
have fingers with the tips cut off, so I can separate and handle the
literature, and a mitten flap. Are
you ready? When we arrive at the church, there are six to
ten church members. We pray for about a half an hour, for the souls
we are trying to reach. We then sit at a table and prepare literature.
We have good fellowship. We then read a Bible passage for
encouragement and pray once more before splitting up in teams to
go out. You are with me
and two other French-Quebekers. We
only speak in French. We are covering certain sections twice, then we go
back a third time to do door-to-door evangelism.
When we arrive at a downtown apartment area, we begin
distributing invitation flyers and Gospel tracts in each mailbox.
Many buildings have security locks with intercoms.
We randomly press a button, praying that someone will answer and
open the door. We also give tracts to people we pass in the street.
Many will accept the tracts, but many refuse them.
Some will try to give them back once they realize what it is, or
just drop them in front of us. When
one woman asked me what it was, I explained that it was verses from the Bible
that explain how you can be 100% certain of going to heaven. She refused the tract, claiming, “I’m going to heaven!”
(she’s Catholic). As we
witnessed to another couple they said, “Everyone interprets the Bible
differently.” When we
showed them John 3:16, and the woman read it out loud, she exclaimed, “Oh,
I don’t believe that!”
The idea that anyone could know that they were going to
heaven is so foreign to their thinking that they refuse to believe it at
first. Catholic missionaries from France – members of
orders such as the Society of Jesus (the Jesuits), the society of
Priests of Saint Sulpice (the Sulpicians), and the Ursuline nuns – had
helped settle the region of New France (Quebec) in the
seventeenth and eighteenth centuries.
They established a Catholic colony governed by a three-man
council, permanently reserving one seat for the Catholic bishop.
Clergy oversaw all aspects of education, health care and general
welfare. The Jesuits
owned much of the land, and laws were passed that banned
Protestants from residency.
Though the Church today no longer retains civil authority in the
region, its influence is still strong.
Eighty-six percent of people in the province of Quebec are practicing
Roman Catholics. It
is by far one of the highest concentrations of Catholics in the world.
We
thank you for your prayers and support that we might reach the people of
Quebec with the gospel.
Yours
for souls, David, Debby, Sarah, Rebekah & Joshua
Dear Co-Laborers in Christ, Joyeux
Noël et Bonne Année! We would like to share
what the Lord has been doing in our family as we serve
Christ so that you may be able to pray specifically
for each of us. Joshua – 18 months old: He has several friends about his age in the church
nursery: one other boy and four girls.
He is into playing with little cars.
Joshua’s blondness attracts people for us
to talk to. Rebekah – 8 years old: She is in second grade
in French public school. She
is doing well and being a witness to both her teachers and
friends. We have had
two encounters with her teacher, Mme Boivin. The second day of school, Mme Boivin prayed to Mary
before the class went to lunch. When
I went to talk to her about it, she was very defensive and couldn’t
understand how one could pray if not to Mary.
This gave me an opportunity to witness to her and give the
plan of salvation. The second
encounter was a meeting with Rebekah’s teacher and principal.
It was concerning unacceptable material in the reading
book. We were able to
convince them to let Rebekah use an alternative reading book for that
lesson and at the same time witness to them when the
question came up: What is the difference between Catholicism
and biblical Christianity? Pray
that Rebekah’s good testimony continues to impact
those around her and for continued opportunities for witnessing. Sarah
–
12 years old: She is becoming a young lady.
Sarah completed a Red Cross sponsored course for Babysitting
and received a certificate.
She is also preparing to enter French Jr. High next
year. She took exams
to be accepted into an advanced program that concentrates
on use of computers corresponding with the regular school
program. Sarah is also starring
in the church Christmas play.
Rebekah is in the play as well.
Sarah has also been able to be a witness to her friends
and teachers. A
neighbor friend of Sarah’s, Matilde,
comes regularly with us to mid-week prayer services and attends
the Children’s Bible Club.
Matilde has heard the plan of salvation many
times. Pray that Matilde
would be saved. She
comes from a family of strong Catholic heritage.
We also witness to her parents. Debby – has been busy with a weekly Bible
study with Asia, a young lady whom I lead to the Lord.
Debby has also taught in the Children’s Bible Club.
She is currently preparing costumes for the
Christmas play. Debby also has a full time job (along with the rest of us) of
taking care of Joshua. David
–
I have completed teaching Genesis in our third
semester of Bible Institute.
All the students were very successful.
They are preparing to be leaders and preachers
to eventually start their own churches.
Next semester I will be teaching the rest of the Pentateuch,
and O.T. Survey. We
met a man last week during literature distribution.
Benoit was unusually open to listening
to the plan of salvation. He
explained that he has a Catholic background (as do about 98% of
people here). When he asked
what religion we were, I explained that religion
is man’s efforts to reach God.
What we wanted to share was a relationship
with Jesus Christ, God’s plan to reach man.
Pray for Benoit’s salvation. Thank you for your continued support and
your prayers in these days and months to come.
Thank you for the joy of laboring together
with you and with the Lord.
David, Debby, Sarah, Rebekah & Joshua
Dear Co-Laborers in Christ, I
had a very intense four-hour encounter with a couple
of Jehovah’s Witnesses. Frédérique,
a young man I led to the Lord, who is excited about serving the Lord by
defending his faith, asked me to come to his house to help him witness to these
cult members. Frédérique says he
sees himself as a soldier going into the enemy camp.
This is why he invited the J.W.s over.
I went to protect Frédérique from being confused by them, and to show
him how to witness to them. I kept
the conversation centered on the deity of Jesus Christ
and salvation by grace through Christ alone.
After presenting God’s plan of salvation from the Bible
several times and refuting their false doctrines,
they were still spiritually blinded by Satan.
I finally told them it was fruitless at this point to continue, so they
left. This is the front line of spiritual
battle. The Jehovah’s
Witnesses are a great hindrance to the spread of the Gospel in Quebec.
People often put us in the same category as the cults, because
practically all they know in Quebec is Catholicism.
Catholicism is synonymous with their French heritage and culture.
Frédérique is in the army and recently left for a 6
month tour in Bosnia. I am doing a
Bible correspondence course with him via E-mail. Debby is doing a weekly Bible study here with his wife, Asia.
Frédérique and Asia are expecting a baby in the spring.
Please pray for them during this difficult time while they have to be
apart. Pray for their continued
spiritual growth. We have begun our third semester at our Bible
institute. I am teaching Genesis,
because it is the foundation for the rest of the Bible.
The Lord has blessed us with young two young men who are called to
preach. We have ten students
enrolled in L’Institut Biblique l’ONDÉÉ de la Capitale. We are currently trying a different approach to
literature distribution and door-to-door evangelism. We distribute gospel literature to the same sector for two
weeks in a row. Then on the third
week we begin covering that same area with door-to-door evangelism. The people are then already familiar with us by our
literature. We have had some good
results from this. An older man
named Emmanuel was in our services as one result of this evangelism.
Pray for continued results from these contacts.
Along with Debby and the kids, we together wish to
say our most heartfelt thanks to you for your prayers, your love and your
support of this ministry. Thank you
for the privilege of being “laborers together” with you and the Lord.
Yours for souls,
David, Debby, Sarah, Rebekah & Joshua
On April 20-22, 2001, the eyes of the world will be on our city
when the 34 democratically elected heads of government from North, Central
and South America and the Caribbean will gather right here in historic
Quebec City for the Summit of the Americas, 2001.
They will be meeting just a few blocks from our church building.
As you watch the news, and get a glimpse of the capital city of
Quebec, please remember to pray for the people of the
province of Quebec and this ministry.
Old Quebec City is a walled city. This
impressive 4.6 kilometer-long rampart encircles this last fortified city
north of Mexico. Two historic conferences, in 1943 and 1944, were held here
within these walls at the majestic Château Frontenac, and were attended
by Winston Churchill and Franklin D. Roosevelt.
Quebec City was probably chosen for this Summit of the Americas for
these security reasons. More
barricades and fences have been added to completely enclose the security
perimeter. Police
are preparing for violent protests at the Summit of the Americas.
There are reports that between 10,000 and 20,000 protesters will
flock to Quebec City for the summit where leaders of 34 countries will
work toward a free-trade deal. Police
say that some protesters and groups pose a “real threat” to the summit
and police must be ready to deal with them. They say the “democratic rights” of peaceful protesters
will be respected. Over 6,000
police officers will be on hand to protect people outside the security
perimeter as well as the 16,000 delegates and up to 3,000 journalists
inside. The
Quebec government has rented a giant video screen for the summit, which
will be erected next to a convention center where delegates will meet.
The screen is similar to the one in New York City’s Time Square.
It will be used to tell the world that Quebec is a nation that
wants to become a sovereign country.
Ottawa turned down Premier Bernard Landry’s request to speak
formally at the summit because he’s not the leader of a country.
But he says his government will use all means available to get its
independence message out. ·
Please pray for God’s
protection over our city as well as the delegates & others attending
the summit Again,
thank you for your prayers & support, which helps take God’s
life-changing Word to Québec! Yours for souls, David, Debby, Sarah, Rebekah & Joshua
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