WESTBANK, British Columbia – For 10 years now, North American missionaries Kevin and Alicia Madden have lived 2,200 miles away from Kevin’s birthplace, Washington, Ga., but their home and hearts are firmly rooted in Canada.
By Mickey Noah
NAMB staff writer
WESTBANK, British Columbia – For 10 years now, North
American missionaries Kevin and Alicia Madden have lived 2,200 miles
away from Kevin’s birthplace, Washington, Ga., but their home and
hearts are firmly rooted in Canada.
Madden is a church planting missionary and senior
pastor of The Potter’s House Community Church in Westbank BC, a
community of 30,000 people, located about four hours from
Vancouver.
The Maddens are among more than 5,200 missionaries
in the United States, Canada and their territories supported by the
Annie Armstrong Easter Offering for North American Missions. The 2006
Annie Armstrong Easter Offering’s goal is $56 million, 100 percent of
which is used for missionaries like the Maddens.
Louisiana’s goal is $1.7 million.
“We are so blessed by the Annie Armstrong Easter
Offering,” says Madden. “As part of the Canadian Convention of
Southern Baptists, we work very closely with the North American Mission
Board. The funds from the Annie Armstrong Offering help as a supplement
to my salary, and help us with many of the ministries we carry out as a
church plant.
“It’s really hard to imagine our work and our
ministry without the kind of support we’ve had through the Annie
Armstrong Offering and through our network of partners. We’ve been very
blessed as a church, but the need is great.”
Reflecting the country of Canada at large, there’s
an overwhelming need for more churches in the Westbank area, according
to Madden, who says that only five to eight percent of people in the
region profess a personal relationship with Jesus Christ. Some 90
percent of the population never darkens the doors of any church on any
Sunday.
While the spiritual potential is great, the current spiritual climate can be somewhat bleak.
“Here, people are not aware of Christian teachings
and don’t know much about the Bible,” Madden said. But Canadians are
people who want to be loved and want to be accepted, and who are open
to spiritual things.
“There’s a great openness and hunger for God, and a
lot of talk about God. Canadians are a very hospitable and friendly
people. But as Christians, we have to develop relationships with
them, not try to push a message down their throats or take a harsh
approach to sharing the Gospel,” said Madden. He said the
best method is to let Canadian people witness the authentic Christian
life, to speak about Christ, and to live out and model Christ’s love
and message.
“We need more pastors, more Bible study leaders,
more Mission Service Corps missionaries,” Madden said. “We need
to reach out more to people with addictions and those struggling with
some negative habits or behaviors in their lives. We need a specialized
recovery ministry for these people.”