Robert and Jackie Charpentier Montreal North Current ministry: Robert and Jackie Charpentier began serving in Montreal North in the fall of 2006. The church had been without a pastor for a few years before the arrival of the Charpentiers. Robert says, “Sensing the desire of this small congregation to reach out with the gospel of Christ to a needy, underprivileged neighbourhood, we decided to answer the call to pastor the church in Montreal North. We pray that God may use us to bring an encouraging word to this group of faithful believers and to preach salvation to the surrounding community.” Jackie, who has always been active in her local church, is personally involved in evangelism, training and encouraging believers at Montreal North. Family: Robert and Jackie were married in 1971. They have four adult children, ages 23 to 30, and three grandchildren. Spiritual Background: Robert first heard the gospel at age 17 from his high school friend, René Frey—the same person who eventually became his pastor and his brother-in-law. Robert attended church meetings for over a year before yielding to the truth of God’s Word and giving his life to the Lord in June 1965. Jackie’s father, William Henri Frey, was a pastor in Switzerland and then with the Fellowship in Montreal, Quebec and her mother, from Toronto, came from a family with Christian roots going back seven generations. Jackie jokes, “You could say I was born between two pages of the Bible.” Jackie became a Christian as a young child. She was baptized at age 13, in the same service as 18-year-old Robert Charpentier. At that time, Jackie had already noticed Robert, but to him she was just the little sister of his friend René. Almost five years later, Jackie’s prayers were answered when Robert finally looked her way. They soon became engaged and they married in 1971. Ministry Experience: Since his conversion Robert has been involved in many aspects of Christian service. He’s served in a variety of roles, including youth leader, Sunday school superintendent, worship leader, and elder. Robert enjoys teaching the Word of God and is much appreciated as a speaker for camps, couples conferences, and other occasions. Robert and Jackie also served as Directors of Ministry at Camp des Bouleaux for four years, spending their weekends and summers at the camp, three hours north of Montreal. Robert has been teaching at the high school level at Emmanuel Christian School in the Montreal area since 1975. He will continue teaching while serving the church in Montreal North on a part-time basis.