Ricardo and Ingrid Castro Côte-des-Neiges (Montréal), Québec Current ministry: Ricardo became an elder at Église Baptiste Évangélique de Rosemont in 2000 and was hired as a pastor-in-training in 2002 in view of planting a daughter church in the future. After careful reflection with the church council, they determined to plant a new church in the Côte-des-Neiges district of Montreal. Côte-des-Neiges is the most densely populated and the most multi-ethnic area of the city. The Castros have a burden to reach the students (50,000) and the new immigrants who live in this district where there are few evangelical churches. Ricardo says, “In the Rosemont church, we are seeing more immigrants then Québécois come to Christ in recent years. Three out of four new converts were born outside Canada.” Ricardo is benefiting from the experienced leadership of the Rosemont church as this will be their third daughter work. Also, Ricardo is planning and executing this project with a church planting committee composed of mature leaders. Presently, they are working to recruit 100 people committed to the project by the end of 2006 in view of starting Sunday meetings in 2007. In the meantime, there is a small group gathering for weekly meetings. Family: The Castros have two daughters, Aële and Masha. Spiritual Background: Ricardo and Ingrid Castro’s story spans three continents and includes a large dose of God’s grace. Ricardo was born in Argentina where he witnessed much political and social turmoil. His youth was also marked by personal upheaval as his mother fought, and won, three bouts with cancer. These experiences left him feeling afraid of death and insecure about the future. As young adults, Ricardo and his brother traveled in South America and found work at a television station in Equator. Through their work they came into contact with many people from France, including Ingrid who was visiting a friend. Although they had to communicate using a French-Spanish dictionary, Ricardo and Ingrid decided to marry after a one-month courtship. Ricardo moved to France and they married. Ingrid’s Christian parents were dismayed, but welcomed Ricardo and talked to him about their faith. Although Ingrid was away from God, she often told Ricardo, “I don’t want to spent my whole life away from the Lord.” He did not understand what she meant until he became a Christian himself a few years later. For Ricardo, life in France was very difficult because of bureaucratic obstacles and closed attitudes. He found it almost impossible to get a job. He became discouraged, feeling he could never belong. Ricardo and Ingrid began attending an evangelical church. By God’s grace, Ingrid returned to the Lord and Ricardo came to salvation while reading the Bible. Over the next year, the Castros grew spiritually and prayed for God’s guidance as they applied to immigrate to Canada so Ricardo could have better employment opportunities. They arrived in Montreal in January 1996 and started attending Église Évangélique Baptiste de Rosemont. Within six months they were baptized and well integrated into this large multicultural church. Ministry Experience: Ricardo felt accepted in Montreal as a new immigrant. Both he and Ingrid were able to find good jobs. Yet, while he looked for secular work, in his heart Ricardo really wanted to serve the Lord. Even though he thought it would be impossible, Ricardo finally spoke to his pastor René Frey about his ministry aspirations. He found out that he could begin by taking SEMBEQ courses and serving in the church.