BURRILLVILLE – At nine o’oclock on a Sunday morning in September, Marc Lamoureux carries a seven-foot-tall wooden cross painted with splashes of red paint, and is speaking about God.
Lamoureaux is standing on the sidewalk across from a Dunkin’ Donuts at a busy intersection in Pascoag. The street preacher is invigorated by the slight breeziness and strong sunshine as he strives to get noticed by people walking by or gawking from passing vehicles.
“God Bless You!”Lamoureux joyfully shouts to every person he sees. He says people are moved by seeing the cross. It makes them think about God.
Most people looking at him keep right on going; some slow to a crawl to take a better look. A few honk their horns in approval or support.
One woman passenger in a slow-moving vehicle shouts back: “God Bless you!” A few minutes later another woman in another car says the same to Lamoureux. Every so often, someone beeps at him.
He says he, “feels the love” when people say, “God bless you,” beep, or even buy him a coffee or a bottle of juice.
The street preacher is pleased; he wants, “to tell people Jesus loves them; he’s coming back soon; go to church or get into the Bible at least.”
“We will see Jesus in our own time,” says Lamoureux, “People around the world are having dreams of the second coming [of Christ].”
He got the idea of carrying a cross from Deejaydaphne Jansen. She’s in Australia; Lamoureux connected with her on Facebook as she chronicles her adventures carrying a cross. She wears a tank top with the words “Jesus died 4 U.”
Thus far, at least 67 people are carrying crosses around the world, says Lamoureux, including in Australia, a country currently under severe and controversial COVID-19 lockdown.
About the current conflicts in American society Lamoureux says,“Politicians can’t fix it. Only Jesus can. The Bible is the owner’s manual, the repair manual.”
Lamouraux knows about repairs. He says he’s a good picker: he can take someone else’s trash and turn it into treasures, such as fixing a small appliance or salvaging another throwaway and bringing it back to useful life.
He has revived his life, having fallen on hard times at one point losing everything. Now back from the abyss, he’s energized and reaching out to give others a spiritual hand pointing Heavenward.
Lamoureux lived in Burrillville for several years where he was a hairstylist. Multi-talented, he also paints, draws, and plays and teaches guitar. He’s now residing in Woonsocket and taking his ministry from the northern part of the state to the southern. His plan is to take the word of God town-to-town across Rhode Island, from Woonsocket, all the way to seaside Narragansett.
He believes destiny brought him to the ministry. Early in life while living in California, he was approached more than once by preachers on the beach. Two Lamoureux believes were angels because they looked like they stepped out of the Bible and they asked him if he believes in God. Later, he says, they where nowhere to be found, mysteriously disappearing.
Another time a street minister shouting, “hallelujah!” at passersby asked him if he was going to be a preacher.
“I always felt like I was doing something wrong. Now, with the cross, I don’t feel that way anymore,” Lamoureux said.
Lamoureux is a spell-binding storyteller who built his own cross. He’s also building a following, both in person and online.
He calls himself prophetic. Right before Covid shut down the world, Lamoureux had advised a local church to create an online presence. Then the order came to shutdown, churches included, and the grateful people of the local church told Lamoureux he is, “divinely sent,” because they could keep their parish intact, at least online.
Lamoureux says he had a visionary dream: he was on his porch and countless people were there for his ministry.
For now, he doesn’t have a church.
“My ministry is outside the churches,” he said, noting that should he one day have a church space, “I would pull everyone to the microphone and hear miracles from the people.”
Lamoureux will also have music.
“Music drives out the demons,” he says. “King David had to play the harp for Saul to drive out the demon.”
“My last name means ‘amore’- love. My first name, Marc, means strong defender of the faith, and in the Gospel mark jumps in, gets into the message, the scripture,” Lamoureux said.
Closed churches will not deter the dedicated Christian. He will preach anywhere – on his porch, in his yard, and on the streets carrying his seven foot cross. If this sunny day is an indicator, charismatic and energetic street preacher Marc Lamoureux’s ministry attracts attention and will continue to flourish.
Marc was a good friend of mine when he lived in so. california.. if anyone has any contact info on him I’d like to reconnect with him.. rrubio44@gmail.com