Horizon Weekly | 10 June 2020
By Beth Moffatt
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Chad and Lynda MacDonald and their three children: Kiehl, Emmy and Jude |
God has been good to us here in Canada in so many ways. For the past number of years, we have struggled to have a full NAMB Canada team. In 2019, we were able to achieve that goal. This article introduces the newest members of our team across Canada. Even as this article was being written, much has happened in the world with COVID-19. Let’s not forget God is still on the throne. Give thanks to our God for what He has done and what He is doing despite what is happening all around us. May your prayer be, “Lord, what Satan desires to use for evil, turn it for Your good to advance Your Kingdom.”
Chad MacDonald has returned to his roots as the new Church Planting Catalyst, Atlantic Canada. He grew up in Nova Scotia but had been away for many years serving in an executive pastor role in Vancouver, BC. Chad and Lynda’s three children, Kiehl (11), Emmy (8) and Jude (6) were born during their time out west. Although he relished his executive pastor role, he began to sense God was calling them home. In 2015, they moved back to Nova Scotia to work in church planting with the C2C Network. In October 2019, he began his work as a CPC with Send Network in the four Atlantic Provinces.
The MacDonalds homeschool their children and enjoy camping in their pop-up tent trailer, riding bikes, spending time at the beach, and snowboarding. Lynda has a bookkeeping business and loves to cook, pairing perfectly with Chad’s love of food, which he shares in his food blog.
Chad also has a deep love of networking, bringing people together, and helping to connect the church under a unified mission. He is passionate about people being resourced to advance the Gospel effectively and invests himself in coaching and encouraging church planters.
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Tim and Cecile Miller |
Tim Miller serves as Church Planting Catalyst for Northern Alberta, the Yukon, and the Northwest Territories. He and his wife, Cecile, and family live in the greater Edmonton area, while their extended family resides in the US and Canada. Cecile was born in British Columbia, and Tim was born in Mississippi.
The Millers previously served as missionary church planters to Montana with the North American Mission Board before being called to serve in Canada. Tim has pastored churches in both the US and Canada and was the founder of an international disciple-making ministry, Disciple The Nations Inc. He attended New Orleans Baptist Theological Seminary, where he earned his MDiv and DMin degrees.
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Tammy and Johnny Thiessen. |
Tim is an avid outdoorsman and loves to write about his experiences by pointing to the Creator of nature. He is the author of four books and enjoys opportunities to speak through multiple venues. His passion is to equip this generation of Christ-followers to plant vibrant disciple-making churches that multiply.
Johnny Thiessen, Church Planting Catalyst, Southern Alberta, lives in Calgary with Tammy, his wife of 30 years. She is an educational assistant who also works with the spouses of the church planters they serve. They have three boys, Dylan (27), Dakota (25) and Wyatt (19). They have lived in Calgary since 2012, where Johnny served as the Regional Director for C2C. Previously, he served as a pastor and church planter, where training and coaching have always been part of his job.
The Thiessens own a boat and enjoy wakesurfing and wakeboarding. They love riding bikes and working out at their local gym. Johnny and Tammy have renovated houses, one top to bottom, and have built one from scratch. Tammy is a skilful decorator, and both of them relish taking old, broken things and fixing them, as Jesus does with us.
Johnny’s passion is in developing young church planters, encouraging and believing in them. He desires to help them achieve what God has called them to do and uses his experiences to walk with them, mentoring them along the way.
Beth Moffatt is the Canada Region administrative assistant for NAMB Canada.
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