“God’s will in the matter couldn’t have been more certain,” says Kevin Peacock. “It really was a ‘Macedonian Call.’ ”

Twenty years after that call, the professor at the Canadian Southern Baptist Seminary in Cochrane, Alberta, Canada, continues to serve God in a nation where as many as 93 percent of the population is lost.

He and his wife, Brenda, are International Mission Board missionaries assigned to provide theological education. He teaches Old Testament and Hebrew, while she connects with people through her volunteer work in public schools and the associational youth summer camp.

Kevin’s parents served as missionaries to South Korea, where he lived until graduating from high school. Brenda grew up in Oklahoma.

They met during missionary Journeyman training. She was preparing for two years of service in South America, and he was preparing to serve in Scotland. They corresponded during those two years, and, according to Kevin, “started courting” when they returned to the United States.

On their first date, he posed a thought-provoking question to Brenda: “Now that you have completed your Journeyman service, do you sense that you have completed your missions call, or does it still remain?” She did not know it at the time, but her affirmative answer inspired him to ask for a second date.

Kevin says his sense of calling came by way of growing up on the international mission field, while Brenda shared that her call began to come into focus through her involvement in GAs and Acteens.

After they married, Kevin and Brenda continued to pursue God’s guidance as they prepared for mission service. During Kevin’s seminary training at Southwestern Baptist Theological Seminary, Brenda worked as a teacher.

When the seminary in Canada need an Old Testament and Hebrew professor, one of Kevin’s professors sent his résumé. The Peacocks were then interviewed by the school. “During the interview, the first statement out of the academic dean’s mouth was, ‘You need to understand that in order to fill this position, you must first be appointed by the IMB,’ ” Kevin said. “Brenda and I just smiled, because that was our intent all along. We flew up there to interview with the faculty and administration, and in that five-day visit, there was no doubt that God wanted us to move to Canada.”

They are involved not only in theological education, but also in church planting and evangelistic work in the Calgary area. Kevin noted that there are approximately 1.4 million people in the area, most of them unchurched.

“Canada is very much a pioneer mission field,” he said, “and it is not uncommon for our churches to be filled with converts who did not grow up in church or in a Christian home.

“Many of the students we see in our college and seminary are genuinely converted, devoutly love Jesus, but have little training or few strong models to follow. Much of what we do with our students is walk with them and demonstrate what faithfulness looks like in day-to-day life and ministry.”

Lostness, in the context of their ministry, he said, is most effectively addressed through one-on-one personal witnessing. “Evangelism is basically hanging around lost people and talking about Jesus. So we seek to drop Jesus in as many conversations as we can, then take that conversation as far as they will give us an opportunity.”

Many churches in South Carolina are partnering with and encouraging churches and church plants in the Atlantic Provinces, which is a great encouragement to their work. “Volunteers and volunteer teams are a great blessing to our seminary,” Kevin said. “Much of our work would not get done unless we had some help.”

The Peacocks identify the Lottie Moon Christmas Offering as an ongoing blessing to their work in Canada.“Lottie Moon purchased the land for our seminary, the home where we live, and the minivan we drive,” Kevin said. “Lottie Moon provides four professors and staff members for our seminary.”

“Never once in 20 years have we wondered if our next month’s salary would be available because, through the Lottie Moon Christmas Offering and the Cooperative Program, our Southern Baptist family has faithfully provided for us.

“In a very real way, the Lottie Moon Christmas Offering enables us to do the work God has called us to do in Canada.”