Jean-Pascal and Jeanne Besrest Baie-Comeau, Quebec Current ministry: The Besrest family moved to the Baie-Comeau region on Quebec’s North Shore in the summer of 2005.  At that time, the congregation of about 20 people had been without a pastor for five years. Under Jean-Pascal’s pastoral leadership the group more than doubled in the first year. Before the arrival of the Besrests, the church members were rather discouraged and considering closing the church. Cleo and Huguette Leblanc, resource persons with the Fellowship French Mission, were instrumental in encouraging the church through several extended visits in 2004-2005 and preparing them to call a new pastor. In August 2006, the church hosted an exciting evangelism camp under the auspices of Aujourd’hui l’Espoir. In this town of 25,000 people, hundreds of people heard the gospel for the first time. An estimated 20 people made professions of faith during the camp and the believers were left with the interesting challenge of following up 200 new contacts. Family: Jean-Pascal and Jeanne were married on May 27, 1989 and have five children: Gabriel (June 12, 1990), Alexandre (January 8, 1992), Esther (November 16, 1993), Virginie (May 14, 1997) and Olivia (October 18, 1998). Spiritual Background: Jean-Pascal was born in a non-practising Roman Catholic family. His parents emigrated from France eight years before he was born. He first came into contact with the gospel as a teenager through the testimony of a childhood friend. He began reading the Bible and grew in his knowledge of Jesus Christ, and in the realization that he was a sinner. The same friend invited him to a church service where he heard the gospel clearly presented for the first time. He writes, “When the invitation came to go forward to receive Jesus Christ as Saviour and Lord, I felt propelled forward by a mysterious power. Kneeling in front, I felt a deep sense of peace and joy, unlike anything I had ever felt before. I had the conviction God was welcoming and forgiving me. I had eternal life!” Jeanne grew up in the practices of the Catholic religion with her family. However, her parents separated when she was 17 and this led her to question the values her parents had taught her. She rejected religion and rejected God. For the next five years, she tried to find happiness and satisfaction in what the world had to offer, but eventually she admitted to herself that she was unhappy and empty. A Christian from her workplace invited her to an evangelical church. She was touched by the zeal she saw in the believers. Six months later, Jeanne attended a Christian conference. There, she understood God’s plan of salvation and felt her need for a Saviour. She says, “I understood that God was adopting me. Nothing could separate me from His love manifested in Jesus Christ.” Jeanne began reading the Bible and attending church meetings. From the beginning of her Christian life she felt a call to serve the Lord. Jeanne and Jean-Pascal met four years later, when he was already a pastor. Ministry Experience: Soon after becoming a Christian, Jean-Pascal became involved in various aspects of church life. He served with a youth group and began to teach from time to time. He clearly remembers the day he felt God calling him into ministry. He says, “The conviction to take training to become a pastor has not left me since that day.” Jean-Pascal attended Bethel Bible Institute and Acadia Seminary. He also took some SEMBEQ courses. He served for 9 years as a pastor with an Associated Gospel church, then 12 years in Saint-Jean-sur-Richelieu with a French Fellowship church before responding to the call to go to Baie-Comeau.