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Abitibi-Témiscamingue


Abitibi Outaouais
Geography: The Abitibi region is situated in northwestern Quebec, adjacent to the Ontario border and on the northern route leading to James Bay. It includes a vast network of lakes and rivers and wide-open spaces.
Population: In the Abitibi region a population of 156,000 is centered in the central/eastern sector of the region, and is concentrated in towns such as Rouyn-Noranda, La Sarre, Amos, Senneterre and Val d’Or.
Economy: In the northwest, the principle industries are mining (copper, silver and gold), forestry, and farming. There is also a small manufacturing base.
Ministry: The Abitibi region served as the cradle of the French Fellowship Baptist work in Quebec. From the 1930’s to the mid-1950’s, missionaries, pastors and other brave men and women were persecuted for preaching the gospel in the open air. The opposition from municipal authorities was fierce and well organized. Christians were repeatedly arrested and imprisoned, for a cumulative total of over seven years. After gaining national and even international media attention, municipal authorities relented and granted permission for Christians to present their message in public.

Today, the Abitibi region has French Fellowship Baptist churches in Val d’Or and La Sarre, as well as the remnants of a lapsed work in Rouyn-Noranda.

Please pray for:

  1. The church at Maniwaki under the leadership of Yves and Huguette Langlois.
  2. God’s provision of a new pastor for the church at La Sarre.
  3. The church at Val d’Or under the leadership of Raymond Guérard.
  4. The re-opening of the church at Rouyn-Noranda.

To read more about the persecution pioneer missionaries suffered in the early years of evangelism in Quebec, read Facing Prison Bars, an excerpt from Murray Heron’s autobiography Footprints Across Quebec.