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EVANGELICAL Christians celebrated the 400th anniversary
of Quebec City this summer, by distributing more than 400,000 copies of the
Gospel of John.
The outreach, called Quebec Espoir 2008, was
spearheaded by Aujourd’hui d’Espoir (Hope for Today), a
parachurch organization affiliated with the Fellowship of Evangelical
Baptist Churches in Canada (FEBC).
By the time the initiative was over, said some
participants, people on the street were responding, “You’re
everywhere!”
The outreach began in June, with distribution of the
gospels in the outlying areas, as far away as Chicoutimi and the Saguenay
Valley, and moving into the centre of Quebec City by early August –
reaching every home, in an area with a population of 1,073,000.
The gospels were accompanied by invitations to an
ambitious series of events held July 31 – August 10. The organization
rented the entire campus of Francois-Xavier Garneau junior college.
Organizers created a festival environment, with musical performances,
face-painting and kids’ clubs. This location also served as the
headquarters for the outreach, from which teams were trained and sent out
to distribute more gospels.
A half-dozen youth teams were also sent out to do mime
presentations in parks and on downtown street corners.In the evenings, the
organizers rented the 1,300-seat Albert Rousseau Auditorium in another
nearby college, Ste. Foy. Musical and dramatic programs were followed by a
20–minute gospel presentation.
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All evening events were broadcast on the internet, and
local cable TV channel Telemag. The evening concerts were emceed by Karo
Vallee and Rejean Joly, hosts of the local Christian cable program Aujourd’hui d’Espoir.
People could respond to the gospel presentation in person, on the internet
or by phone.
– Jim Coggins
September 2008
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