Youth and children’s ministry in Quebec is like a sleeping giant. In years past, this giant stood tall and proud, thanks to the faithfulness of local youth leaders, the tireless acts of divisional youth secretaries and flourishing corps programs for young people. Over time, however, this giant received crushing blows in the form of the Silent Revolution, limited resources in French and the loss of personnel. The result was a devastating decrease in youth ministries.

But this sleeping giant is beginning to stir again.

God is working in our division, and he has major blessings in store for the young people of Quebec. One way that he has been nudging our sleeping giant is through our divisional camp. This summer, our camp is poised to make a huge impact for Christ in this largely secularized province. For some kids, our camp may be the first time they hear about Christ. Our goal is to turn the hearts of a whole generation back to God.

We are also increasing the number of French camps this year by offering not only fresh-air camps at Lac L’Achigan but also week-long day camps through local ministry units. We hope these day camps will kick-start children’s ministries at the local level by inspiring corps people to reach out to kids in their communities.

This September, the divisional youth department will take on the responsibility of training youth and children’s leaders in individual ministry units. This will take place over a three-month span and focus on the leadership qualities, roles and action plans needed to place leaders in specific corps and communities.

In Montreal’s inner city, a new training school will host young people from across the territory, helping them improve their French language skills and engage in local ministry. The school will ground emerging leaders in the Word, help them explore God’s calling and develop their ministry style and gifts.

We praise God for what he is doing now among the youth in Quebec and for what he will do in the future. It’s exciting to see this sleeping giant arise and retake its place in the salvation war.