Simon and Guylaine Bélanger Cowansville, Québec E-mail: simon.guylaine@b2b2c.ca Current ministry: Simon and Guylaine are church planters in Cowansville, a daughter work of the Église Baptiste Évangélique de la Haute Yamaska in Granby. The cell-based church in Cowansville started Sunday meetings in February 2003. The church has approximately 30 members and Sunday attendance hovers around 45 to 50 with the children. Simon says, "We’ve had five or six new conversions in recent years, which adds a lot of life and excitement to a church our size." All church members are involved in one of four cell groups. A cell church is based on principles of multiplication and constantly training new leaders to take leadership of new groups as growth occurs. There are already two pastors-in-training working alongside Simon: Eric Leblanc and David Warner. Eric is a francophone from Quebec, while David is an anglophone from British Columbia who also speaks French. The population around Cowansville is a mix of French and English. The church has given David the mandate to develop an English-speaking cell group, and eventually, to start an English church in the area. Family: The Bélangers were married in 1991. They have three children: Matthieu, Emmy, and Catherine. Spiritual Background: Simon grew up on a farm under strict, god-fearing parents. In 1986 at age 17, he joined the Canadian Armed Forces. Simon says, "I had a lot of freedom, but as I accumulated experiences in the world, the great emptiness in my heart grew and I began to lose interest in life." Simon’s friend, Stéphane Gagné (now pastoring in Saint-Georges-de-Beauce), told him how God had showed him he was lost because of his sin and how Jesus had saved him. Despite his skepticism, Simon followed Stéphane’s suggestion and took a moment to say, "Ok God, if this whole story is true, show me!" Soon after, another friend told Simon about his conversion in virtually the same words as his friend Stéphane. On September 16, 1987, just a few days after being transferred to a military base near Quebec City, Simon was invited to the home of a man everyone in his unit tried to avoid. Simon recalls, "Supper lasted about 15 minutes and the monologue that followed seven hours! During that time, he hammered into my heart the idea that God loved me and sent his only Son to the cross to save me." On his way home late that night, Simon remembers, "The Holy Spirit spoke to me in such a real manner—it was as if he was sitting in the passenger seat. For the first time in my life I was convicted of sin, convinced that I was lost and I pleaded with God to forgive me, to save me." The next day he woke up a new man and his life was never the same. Guylaine attended a Baptist church with her mother from the time she was 11 to the age of 14. (Her family situation was difficult because her father was an alcoholic. He did not respond to the gospel until two days before he died in 1998.) Then in May 1986, when she was a college student, she had a serious car accident that made her realize that death can come at any time. She was in a state of shock for three days. While reading the Bible she understood she was lost because of her sins. She says, "That day I gave my life to the Lord Jesus and I have never regretted it. Now I have a peace in my heart that only God can give." Ministry Experience: After his conversion, Simon joined the French Baptist church in Quebec City and began searching for God’s will for his life. In 1989, following a Sunday sermon he had a firm conviction God was calling him to full-time ministry. Despite his desire to serve, Simon struggled with his calling because he felt "unworthy and not qualified for ministry." The Lord reassured him through Exodus 36:2 where God called "every skilled person to whom the Lord had given ability and who was willing to come and do the work." Following military service, Simon spent one year as a servant-in-training at the church in Granby. Then he went to college to obtain a diploma in nursing. The Bélangers moved to Fermont, a remote mining town near the Labrador border where Simon worked in health care and then at a mine. While working, Simon served as a servant-in-training in the Fermont church for four years. In 2000, after the pastor moved to another ministry, Simon was asked to take over as pastor.