We often talk about unreached people groups when we talk about the work of TWR. But when you think of unreached people groups, who do you think of? You might think of people who live in rural and remote areas in countries around the world, but did you know that the people of Quebec are considered ‘unreached’? The province of Quebec has the largest people group in North America unreached by the gospel – less than one per cent of its population would consider themselves Christians.
Religious attendance in Quebec has been in steep decline since the 1960s, when the Catholic Church lost much of its power over education, health care and social services. Since then, Quebec has developed a much more secular society.
For 15 years, TWR has been working with Aujourd’hui l’Espoir, reaching out to the people of Quebec with a message of hope. The ministry in Quebec is challenging, but we have seen how effective media can be in sharing the gospel. Many people wouldn’t visit a church, but will happily listen to a programme on the radio or online because it can be done in privacy. This presents great opportunity to use media as a powerful tool for communicating with people who have a spiritual void in their lives.
In addition to media programmes, we have the privilege of connecting churches and pastors with listeners and viewers who are open to Christianity. Before the restrictions of the pandemic, these churches and pastors were visiting listeners in their homes, sharing Christian materials with the people of Quebec and encouraging them to commit their lives to Christ.
Today we share three testimonies from recent home visits in Quebec:
“The first time I visited one of our listeners, she wanted the book, Final Destination, but she didn’t want a visit. I respected this desire. The second time she called, she wanted to have a second copy of the book for her son. I took it to her and we had a nice meeting, and she had several questions. We answered her questions with the Word. This lady has a very strong Catholic background, but she seems really open to the gospel.”
“I met an 81-year-old gentleman, who is very alert and searching for spirituality. He is very interested in the programme The Living Word and likes it very much. He downloads the programmes and listens to them offline. He is a person with a very strong Catholic background and had been a member of a Catholic order. We had a great time and I answered his questions with the Word of God in hand.”
“I was very well received. I presented her with the plan of salvation for 20 minutes. I told her that I didn’t want to disturb her for too long, but she insisted that I continue. She said that I didn’t bother her at all, and that she had plenty of time. She showed me that she already had a New Testament and the devotional book Our Daily Bread. At the end, I asked her if she was ready to pray for forgiveness of all her sins through Jesus, and she said ‘yes’ without hesitation. We prayed together and she said, ‘Today, November 19, I ask you, Jesus, to take all my past, present and future sins and thank you for carrying them for me on the cross.'”
Praise God for the ministry in Quebec! Join us as we pray for the pastors and churches across Quebec who are connecting with and visiting viewers and listeners. We ask God to open and transform the hearts of the people of Quebec with the good news of Jesus.
