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| Current
ministry: |
Since his conversion, Royal has had a growing burden for the francophones of eastern Ontario. He is a Franco-Ontarian himself, born in the Ottawa area. Today there are an estimated 240,000 Francophones in the area between Ottawa and Cornwall.
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| Family: |
Three adult children and grandchildren.
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| Spiritual
Background: |
Royal spent 23 years in the armed forces as a career military man. After a term in the infantry, he taught physical education in the military. When Royal first heard the gospel, his heart was unreceptive to the things of God. He says, "My love for the world and the things of the world blinded me and I was unable to grasp the message of salvation. However, after seeing remarkable changes in the lives of my brother and sister-in-law I developed a growing interest in the message they tried so diligently to share with me. They persevered and little by little my understanding grew. It was really their changed lives that spoke to me and not their words."
Royal borrowed a Bible from the library at the Military College and read it every morning before work. The Word of God became increasingly attractive to him. He eventually went to a weeknight prayer meeting at a local church. He returned the following Sunday morning and again on Sunday night. That Sunday evening, May 1, 1977, he received God's salvation by grace.
His life was transformed. Even Thérèse hardly recognized him. By the grace of God, on May 7, 1977, Thérèse also came to the knowledge of the Lord and received His forgiveness. Since that day, Thérèse and Royal have been involved in ministry in various capacities.
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| Ministry
Experience: |
After retiring from the military, Royal worked for six years as a physical education teacher in a Christian school. He became a pastor-in-training at Chicoutimi where he served for five years. Then he went to Baie-Comeau on the north shore of the St. Lawrence River, to a church founded as a daughter work of the Sept-Îles church. Royal was the young church’s first full-time pastor. During his stay of five years, the church became organized and was recognized as a Fellowship Baptist church.
In May 2000, Thérèse and Royal began searching for God's direction because they sensed it was time to leave Baie-Comeau. The Lord surprised them when their house sold in one day and within a month, they had clear plans to move to Cornwall, Ontario to establish a French language church there.
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