Just got back from spending 3 hours at the college. We made 5 new contacts... all who claim to believe in Jesus... but none who understand what it means to have a personal relationship with Him.  Could pray for Vanessa, Stephanie, Marie-Stella, Alex, and Arian?

 We ended up discussing Jesus and the Bible for close to two and a half hours (instead of the 45 minutes that I had planned).

 The original presentation (Did Jesus really exist?) went over somewhat okay. But after it was over people began asking every question under the sun. Finally at one point I mentioned that I don't think that most people reject the truth of Jesus because it is not true, but because it bothers them and their lives.  Everyone in the room was completely in agreement with that statement.

 Everyone said they would be back next Wednesday.

 Thanks you for your prayers.

-Rob

(Below): Here we are, Rob and Jacob, (Jacob taking the photo) buying 100 new chairs for the new church!

(Below):  The Art Gallery we are renting. The meeting hall is in the left wing with the small, high windows.

(Below): A closeup of the Art Gallery (it is also a center to teach the arts, as well as help at-risk youth through the arts)

(Below): Rob and Constance hanging out in the meeting hall/art workshop 

Below: The meeing hall/art workshop (before we set it up)

(Below): After... everything is set up for Sunday morning. What a change, eh? Compare the above and below photos

(Below): Zac (left) and Jacob (right) practicing guitar

(Below): First Sunday morning service in the new location! 38 people attended.

(Below): Another photo of Rob preaching

(Below): A meeting room transformed into a nursery... thanks to foam squares.

Our outreach to the local college is starting up and we are very excited about it. After speaking with several other churches in town, there doesn't appear to be any other ministry targeting these 2,000 or so students.  Here is the publicity we will be handing out in the context of relationships:

TRANSLATION:  "The Lounge"

TRANSLATION: 

"Every Wednesday from 1pm-2pm in the classroom D-122" (It is a free period for all students)

• "A place for discussion"
• "A place for reflection"
• "A place for coffee"
• "A place for truth"

"Jesus exists"

It is 8:15pm Sunday evening and we just spent the last hour walking through the plan of salvation with Carole (a guy) and Denise (Martine's aunt and uncle). It was so clear, so blatant, and it seemed very much as if they comprehended it (at least in a conceptual way). They understood that it is a free gift, they understood that we are sinners, they understood that Jesus paid the penalty even for the worst of sinners. We walked through the Romans road and then camped on Ephesians 2:8, 9.

They were open and receptive, but not quite ready to take that last step. They weren't ready to make Jesus their personal Savior, at least not yet.

Please pray for Carole and Denise Turcotte, that their lives would be radically transformed by Jesus Christ.

Yes, this is an old beer commercial. But is a cool 60-second introduction to being Canadian and Canadian culture (albeit, English-Canadian).

Evangelism by a non-Christian philosophy professor

ABOVE: this conversation took place right behind these bicycles

Last week Andy and Nancy Spohrer and Ken and Arlene Flurry  came and hung out for a couple of days (we are accountable to them in the World Venture chain of command so to speak). They reviewed our ministry, gave some much appreciated church-planting pointers, walked us through some paperwork, and encouraged us a ton. It was a great and encouraging couple of days.

               Checking out a fountain in downtown St Jerome

               Above: Caleb, Constance, Rob, Ken Flurry

               Above: Caleb and Ken Flurry

               Above: Caleb and Ken Flurry

               Above: Andy Spohrer

               Above: Nancy Spohrer

               Above: Arlene Flurry and Caleb

               Above: Ken and Arlene Flurry, Caleb, Martine, Constance, Rob

I (Rob) just got back from prayer-walking with Jacob in downtown St-Jérôme.  Everytime we prayer walk we end up speaking with someone about Jesus (go figure).

We ended up in the middle of a group of six students: Jonathan, Cedrick, Mélane, Jonathan, Gabriel, and ???. We talked about life, video games, then Jesus. But before Jesus, Jacob asked the brilliant question: "Are you even open to the truth?" 4 out of 6 said yes. The thought went like this: "I basically want to live a happy life, I don't really care if something is true or not. I'd rather live in ignorance and be happy than know the truth and, perhaps, be less happy."

Three of them said they would be interested to at least hear why we follow Jesus (giving a more complete explanation than what we gave this afternoon). We're going to meet up with some of them next Wednesday at 1pm at the local college to explain it. Could you pray for us?

Photos: the local college in downtown St-Jérôme (in French it's called a "Cégep")

Sunday morning (September 30th)

We sang, partook of the Lord's supper, went over our core values, and looked at what it will take to put on a Sunday-morning service October 14th (which will be our first official Sunday morning). The service was held at one of our core group member's homes (since we have not yet found an adequate meeting place).

Above: Arriving

Above: Tobie practices our worship-set

Above: Rob goes over our core values with everyone

Above: Partaking of the Lord's supper together

Above: Jacob (left) walks through some of the tasks we need to fill

Above: A time of prayer

Above: Food!

Above: Amélie and Christelle enjoy a hotdog