John and Lise Francis Chibougamau, Quebec E-mail: johnedfran@gmail.com Current ministry: In June 2007, John and Lise began a new chapter in their ministry when they moved back to Chibougamau, a mining town they left in the mid-1980s when they started training for foreign missions. John was the founding pastor of the church in Chibougamau in the 1970s. In recent years the church, located about 10 hours north of Montreal, has dwindled to a small group. John says, "Lise and I have felt God's call to return there and see what we can do to help the church grow again.  We would appreciate your prayers as we take on this challenge. We will also be in a helping relationship with four churches in the Saguenay-Lake St. John area (a 3-4 hour drive from Chibougamau), three of them are currently without a pastor." Family: John and Lise were married on May 26, 1973. They have five adult children: Annie, Samuel, Richard, Daniel and Mélodie. Spiritual Background: John is the youngest of five children in a nominally Protestant family. While in high school in Montreal, far from his home in the Lake St. John region, he began drinking heavily. On a lark, he went to Westmount Baptist Church on a Sunday morning. During the service God spoke to his heart, assuring him of His love for him. For the next six months he attended church twice every Sunday, and Friday youth nights. John began to re-examine his beliefs, but he continued to drink heavily. One Sunday night, he was confronted with the contrast between a loving God and his own hate-filled heart. A month later, after graduating from high school, John agreed to go for a weekend visit to Quebec City with the young people from the church. John says, "At the Evangelical Youth Centre, I came under the conviction that Jesus Christ was truly risen, and He totally broke down my resistance." The following day, John tried to explain to a believer what had happened to him. "You'll think I'm crazy, but yesterday Christ came into my life and I was born all over again." The believer smiled and explained John chapter 3 to him. Immediately after his conversion John realized that his hatred and bitterness had disappeared. He also decided to avoid alcohol. Lise grew up in a Roman Catholic home in Sorel, Quebec. When she was 13, Lise's father purchased a Bible and began to read it to prove his recently saved brother wrong. Yet as he read, he became more and more convinced that his brother had something. Later a Brethren evangelist visited the family. In time, Lise gave her heart to the Lord, and was baptized. Lise's family was the first family in the Brethren Assembly in Sorel. After a severe illness at age 17, Lise became more serious in her walk with the Lord and she decided to attend Bible school. Ministry Experience: From the moment John surrendered his life to Christ, he was never able to focus on any other ambition than to share Christ with others. He studied at the Institut Biblique Béthel for three years, and then worked with Acadians in New Brunswick for two years.  John met Lise at Béthel and they were married in 1973. John was a pastor-in-training with Gabriel Cotnoir in the Lake St. John region, and later became the first pastor of a new church plant in Chibougamau, where he stayed for eight years. John felt it was important for Quebec churches to become involved in missions. As he prayed for this, he became convinced he should go to a foreign field. John and Lise joined FEBInternational and served in Spain from June 1985 to June 2003. Then from 2004 to 2007, they served on a church planting team with Daniel and Marie Marcoux in Boisbriand, north of Montreal. Lise has worked alongside John in all the churches where they have served. She has been involved in organizing and teaching Sunday school, Christian social work, evangelism of children, and speaking to women's groups.