Overseas Personnel in Current Service

• Maritime Conference
• On home assignment after serving the Amity Foundation in China
• July 1992 to Present

Gary MacDonald was born and raised in Nova Scotia. He grew up in The United Church of Canada and has maintained his Canadian church connection through the United Church in Sackville, New Brunswick, where he now resides. Gary has a Bachelor of Arts with a major in English literature and a minor in Fine Arts, a Bachelor of Education degree, a Specialist Certificate in Special Education, and a certificate in Teaching English as a Second Language. As a break from the classroom, Gary spent about 10 years working with a passion in refugee and immigrant settlement in Halifax. Before going to China, Gary served as president of the Nova Scotia Association of Teachers of English as a Second Language and was the Nova Scotia provincial representative to the Canadian Association of Teachers of English as a Second Language.

As overseas personnel, Gary began teaching with the Amity Foundation in China in 1992. He has since completed two home assignments in Canada, and has just completed his final term with Amity, which commenced in August 2008 and ended in July 2011. During his time with the Amity Foundation he has taught in regional teachers colleges in the more remote areas of China. Most of his students come from small towns and rural villages. The majority of these students are the first in their families to receive formal education beyond high school, and many of the students' parents are illiterate. In China, Gary has also presented workshops and led seminars on English language teaching for both foreign teachers in China and his Chinese colleagues. He has published a number of articles on his life experiences in China, as well as reflections on Chinese life and culture.

The Amity Foundation is an independent Chinese voluntary organization, created in 1985 on the initiative of Chinese Christians to promote education, social services, health, and rural development throughout China. The United Church of Canada and the Amity Foundation have been active partners since 1985. Through Amity, The United Church of Canada has supported education programs, development projects, church-run clinics, and organization development programs for Amity and the China Christian Council.

• Read Gary's Letters from Overseas