by Russell Mackay as told to Barbara Tucker

Russell Mackay is planting a church partially made up of new Chinese Christians—but he isn’t in Hong Kong or Taiwan. Some of his members speak a Nigerian dialect—but he’s not in Nigeria. Metro Baptist Church has members from China, Malaysia, the Philippines, Zambia and South Africa—but it’s not even close to any of those countries.

Russell and Lisa Mackay are working in the thoroughly modern, thoroughly cosmopolitan and multicultural city of Vancouver, Canada. The Mackays have been serving in Canada since 1994, when they began working with People’s Baptist of Kelowna, also in British Columbia. Since the beginning of Metro Baptist Church in May of 1999, they have had people of 30 different nationalities visit the church services.

Vancouver is a densely populated city of almost two million on the western coast of Canada. It is a city that has seen explosive growth in recent decades, especially from immigrants who come to the city for its beauty, progressive attitudes, and good economic prospects. As one website devoted to tourism states, “The country around Vancouver has some of the world’s best scenery—majestic rocky peaks, alpine meadows splashed with wildflowers, sky-blue glaciers and turquoise lakes, tumbling rivers and emerald-green valleys, rugged coastline, abundant wildlife, and cities surrounded by or facing the mountains.”

But a thriving economy in a beautiful natural setting—what is commonly called “the good life” by so many—can have spiritual disadvantages. As Agur prays in Proverbs 31, “Remove far from me vanity and lies: give me neither poverty nor riches; feed me with food convenient for me: Lest I be full, and deny thee, and say, ‘Who is the LORD?’” Russell explains, “The Canadians are busy making money and getting ahead. Sunday is a day for leisure or family outings or sports activities. They typically do not have time for God because they feel like they are doing okay on their own. Canadians are open with the amount of money they make but very private about their religious beliefs. In the Canadian culture you determine to dig in and work hard as the Lord builds a church.”

Russell and Lisa arrived in Canada to begin missionary work in April of 1994. New missionaries often face seemingly insurmountable adjustments and obstacles. This was not to be the case for the Mackays, since English is the language of British Columbia and Russell is a native Canadian himself. He was reared in Ontario. His family came to Christ not long after Pastor Wilbur Unger knocked on their door and invited them to church.

A few thousand miles south and west, in Texas, a life partner was being prepared for Russell in the home of a pastor in San Angelo. Lisa’s father led her to the Lord when she was nine. Both Lisa and Russell surrendered their lives to Christian service as young people and those decisions led them to prepare for ministry at Oklahoma Baptist College in Oklahoma City.

The busy social and spiritual life of college brought them together, and they were married in 1991 and finished their schooling in 1992. They have been blessed with four children, who keep them busy with homeschooling, piano recitals, new discoveries, and the adventures of growing up. The children are Adrianna (9), Erin (7), Austin (5), and Tyler (3). The Mackays are careful to include family anecdotes in all their prayer letters, an addition that lets supporters know that family is the center of their lives and that Christ is at the center of their family.

Russell and Lisa have found that breaking through to the hearts of the Vancouverites, whether native or recently arrived (the Chinese immigrants alone number about 240,000), requires a long-term commitment to forming relationships and to using flexible methods to reach new groups of people. Russell is using Bible studies with small groups of immigrants. A few Chinese or a handful of Sudanese will gather to learn the Bible and get extra practice learning English. Russell and Lisa have seen several come to the Lord through this small group ministry outreach, one where the attendees can feel comfortable to ask questions without knowing English fluently.

Russell has found this an exciting ministry “to take God’s Word and teach folks who have never heard of Adam and Eve or Abraham or Joshua or Acts or Hebrews.” Small group ministry does not end there, however. Russell uses a similar small group approach to train believers after their initial confession of faith in Christ. The Mackays use a 26-lesson discipleship program designed to ground a believer in the basic doctrines of the Christian faith. As a new Christian goes through these lessons, he or she becomes grounded and is able to help another convert go through them as well. Furthermore, if a young Christian, or even a seeking unbeliever, is having trouble with doctrines he is hearing from a cult or is confused about some .phpect of Christian teaching, the small group gives him a secure place to talk it through with a mature believer.

Flexibility and a desire to use a creative approach to dealing with Canadians were involved in the way that the Mackays opened the doors to Metro Baptist Church in April of 1999. Several Independent Baptist churches in the Vancouver area coordinated a five-day series of meetings with special music, messages, and refreshments. Dr. Earl Jessup, president of Baptist Church Planting Ministry of Rosemount, Minnesota, helped with this project. The meetings were preceded by a mass literature distribution of 50,000 copies of the Gospel of John and Romans with personalized invitations to the meetings, and by advertisement in the newspapers. The support of other established churches lent credibility to Metro Baptist in the community.

Metro Baptist Church has grown from the 17 original charter members (in October of 1999) to a high Sunday morning attendance of 95 and 134 for a VBS closing program. Throughout the two years, Lisa and Russell have seen a consistent trickle of visitors of more than 30 nationalities. A church service might have Muslims or Buddhists or Hindus coming to hear the Gospel for the first time, which is both a mighty responsibility and an amazing opportunity for the Mackays. Even the unchurched North Americans in attendance might be hearing the Gospel clearly and openly for the first time, since we live in a day when simple knowledge about the Bible can’t be taken for granted.

In watching God build His church through them, Russell and Lisa have tried to have a balanced ministry for all age groups. There is a Keenager program for folks over 50. Monthly gym nights and activities draw teenagers to let off energy and then hear the Gospel. Vacation Bible School is an attraction for children and then their parents. Twenty children were saved through last summer’s VBS, and God has given them the opportunity to see men and women of varying ages and backgrounds become believers—a way to grow a healthy church where there is truly neither Jew nor Gentile, neither bond nor free.

Russell and Lisa have been joined by Shawn and Leslie Beliveau, missionaries sent by Victory Baptist of Londonderry, New Hampshire. The Beliveaus are heading up children’s and teens’ ministries and participate in other.phpects of Metro Baptist Church.

Russell states, “It is our goal at Metro Baptist to be a self-supporting church. This means we must have families grounded in the faith and involved in giving. It doesn’t happen quickly here. In my opinion, a church is not fully established until the people are in their own building and are no longer renting a facility. This gives credibility and stability in the community. We are thankful for the many churches that have helped, and are helping, Metro Baptist become a self-supporting church.”

The Mackays are seeing these goals met. Russell tells of a milestone in the life of the young church. “We had our first annual missions conference with Dr. and Mrs. John Halsey here on May 10-14. Dr. Halsey preached a seminar on ‘grace giving.’ Faith Promise Missions Giving is a totally new concept to 90% of our people. Many made their first faith promise commitment of $5.00 or $10.00 per week. We had an increase of $500.00 per month for missions. God gave us an exciting Sunday to conclude the conference. We had 85 people from 13 different nations in the Sunday morning service. We had an international quartet singing ‘What a Friend We Have in Jesus.’ One verse was in English, one in Cantonese, one in Sudanese, and one in French.”

One day, God will call the church home and representatives from every tribe and nation will be singing praises to Christ eternally. We are privileged to receive temporary glimpses of that now in anticipation. Russell and Lisa and their four children in Vancouver see a small picture of what God is doing all over the world, every day.

Saturday, February 4, 2012

John 3:16 For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life.

Richard & Elizabeth Conrad -  JAPAN
David & Marilyn Cook -  USA
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