To the Streets of Montréal with Love
Stand on any downtown street corner in Montréal, Québec, to see people of all cultures hustling and bustling to their next appointment, next class, next meal, next fix. Many would see only a blur of faces, a moving mass of humanity. BCM Canada missionary Tony Schaapman sees a mission field ripe for harvest. As Jesus looked upon Jerusalem and was moved to compassion, Tony’s heart is to see Montréal’s inhabitants turn to the Savior.
Tony Schaapman was a carefree 21-year-old Canadian hitch-hiking through Europe when he began questioning any purpose for his life. Returning to Canada, he met a Christian who introduced him to Jesus Christ. He felt a compelling responsibility to share this Good News with perfect strangers in his city, Montréal. After attending Bible school, Tony worked as a woodworker for ten years until the Lord called him to ministry as a full-time evangelist. He met his wife Kornelia, a child care educator, when he went to France to become bilingual for ministry.
Tony is now entering his fourteenth year of ministry as a street evangelist reaching all ages and people groups in Québec through a wide variety of visual presentations in streets, parks, schools, door to door, and churches. Evangelism is in his DNA, he quips. “Give me five minutes and I’ll develop a relationship with a perfect stranger, then share the gospel with them.”
Opportunities to witness on the streets are endless. Many are searching and willing to dialogue, hungry for a spiritual encounter. Still, they are disillusioned with the portrait of Jesus painted for them through the media or various religious backgrounds. Many have turned to psychic hotlines for guidance and direction. New Age philosophies appeal to masses of people more willing to pursue a counterfeit “discovery of the inner self” than be accountable to a Creator who loves them deeply. Those identifying themselves as Roman Catholic are often non-practicing, and Québec has fewer believers than Cuba.
With such diversity, it is important to know where people are concerning spiritual things. One effective way Tony has learned to discover this is through surveys he conducts in subways, parks, and streets. People are asked questions like, “What is the purpose of life? Have you ever read the Bible? Who is Jesus Christ, and what was His main mission?” This year alone, over six hundred surveys were taken. Answers to these questions become springboards to further discussion.
Just as Jesus didn’t send his disciples out by themselves, Tony does not work alone. Ten to fifteen consistent volunteers accompany him in door-to-door evangelism and street ministry. Over the course of this year, he’s had 10-12 groups that have joined him either for a week or weekend to share the Gospel in the open air through surveys, tract distribution, preaching with the aid of the sketchboard, drama, and endless one-on-one encounters. Sometimes he involves younger groups in practical service with a local mission to serve meals on the street or at a soup kitchen.
A young man named Costa had accepted Jesus as Savior while watching a Billy Graham evangelistic program, but knew no other Christians. Working at a store as security guard, he noticed crowds gathering around Tony and his sketch-board. Curious, he walked over to check them out. From then on, he would come each day during his break to listen to the message and talk to the team. Soon he began attending Tony’s home church.
Seeing Costa grow in his faith has been one of Tony’s greatest joys. Today, Costa is using his own gift as an evangelist, sharing in his workplace and helping people locally to develop a passion for missions. Costa also serves as a team leader each year for a one week mission to children on a First Nations reserve near Sudbury, Ontario.
Geoff Wright preaching in Montréal.
Tony has had opportunities to train others as well in evangelism. A young Bible College student named Dwight came with a team to work with Tony for a day. Catching the vision for open air ministry in Montréal, he shared his excitement with a young man named Geoff Wright from his church in Maine. Both have spent summers training with Tony. Dwight is currently at Word of Life in Sherbrooke, Québec, learning French so he can carry out the Great Commission. Geoff is working to save money so he can return and study French as Dwight is doing with the goal of being a church planter in Québec.
Over this past summer, Tony reports that approximately forty people made a profession of faith. While visiting a friend in Montréal, one young lady from New Brunswick heard Tony’s sketch-board presentation on the street. After female team members spent over an hour sharing with her, she prayed to receive Christ. Upon her return home, Tony made contact by phone, asking if her desire to find God had been met, and could he refer her to a local church. She was enthusiastic to find a place of worship where the Bible teaching was in line with what she’d heard on the street that day.
Attempts to follow up are not always successful. As in the parable of the seeds, some grow and flourish, going on with the Lord. Others do not. Tony’s primary focus is in casting his bread upon the waters, presenting the plan of salvation. When someone indicates a decision to follow Christ, he then turns them over to the care of the local church. This side of heaven, Tony will not know the end results of his seed-sowing, but he leaves it in God’s hands.
Tony’s time on the streets with his teams has not been without interference. But in true Canadian “live and let live” fashion, their presence is not generally troubled by opposition. The odd ill-informed law enforcement officer may try to shut down their efforts. But Tony has learned that meeting with authorities face to face to explain what they’re doing on the streets and build rapport with them helps as a preventative measure.
Tony has also learned to deal with poor weather conditions. These are not allowed to become a deterring factor. As Ecclesiastes 11:4 says, “Whoever watches the wind will not plant; whoever looks at the clouds will not reap.” Whatever the forecast, rain or shine, teams head out, trusting God to provide shelter or overhang if needed, a good location, and lots of people.
To keep his ministry effective, Tony also knows the importance of keeping his own walk with the Lord vibrant. He does so through personal reading, prayer and fasting, Bible study, preparing for pulpit supply, and meeting with other men on a weekly basis. That initial, compelling desire to share the gospel with complete strangers, to see a lost world come to Christ, continues to burn in his heart today.
Tony sums it up much like the apostle Paul long ago, “ ‘Woe to me if I do not preach the gospel’ (1 Cor. 9:16). I commit a great sin if I do not share the Good News with my neighbor.
