October 2, 2026
WINCHESTER, Ky. (KT) – James McDonald’s exposure to a missionary in elementary school took root years later.
When that same missionary – Wilma Wahstedt – decided to retire from her ministry of teaching the Bible to elementary-age children, McDonald was ready to accept the call. Wahstedt’s life of faithfulness had made an impact on him.
Missions Mobilization Associate Cory Bledsoe, left, presents James McDonald with an award for being the MSC Missionary of the Year on Friday night at Central Baptist in Winchester.
“The whole time I was in elementary school, she could come in and do Bible lessons, and every summer I went to Bible camp,” he said. “As I got older, I started working at Bible camp.”
McDonald has continued the Bible teaching ministry for 20 years in the mountains of southeastern Kentucky, sharing Jesus with 1,000 students a month – some who were hearing the gospel for the first time. He says he still gets a thrill out of seeing young students begin to understand who Jesus was and what He did on the cross.
“When they get that lightbulb moment, there’s nothing like it,” he said.
McDonald was recognized as the MSC Missionary of the Year at the Woman’s Missionary Union Annual Meeting Friday night.
McDonald and his wife, Virginia, felt the Lord calling them into ministry in June 2005. He began working in Knox County schools doing Character Education, where he would teach Bible lessons from classroom to classroom.
James McDonald was chosen as the MSC Missionary of the Year on Friday at the Kentucky WMU banquet in Winchester.
That eventually ended in public schools, but McDonald and John Lowder started the B.R.E.A.K ministry. B.R.E.A.K stands for Bible Relief Education Association. He works with two different organizations to provide BEAK classes in 13 different schools in four school districts.
“We were doing it out of Corbin Elementary School and one year had 200 professions of faith on the school bus (where some classes were taught),” he said. “Now that is what I do exclusively.”
The non-profit organization is in 10 counties in southeastern Kentucky. Students are released for one hour a month to an off-site location – most of the time in a local church – to study the Bible. If a parent or guardian requests a moral education for their children, the school system is obligated to provide it, according to federal and state laws.
McDonald said there are three requirements for students to participate: a request from a parent or guardian, a place off school property and no financial support from the school.
In Kentucky, the local school board must still approve, though that is not required in neighboring Ohio.
“If you want it to happen, and somebody is providing it, they have to allow it,” McDonald said.
The non-profit organization is self-sustaining, he said, relying completely on donations. McDonald and his wife, Virginia, who passed away from cancer last November, said they knew “God would provide for them.”
KBC Mission Mobilization Associate Cory Bledsoe, left, and MSC Missionary of the Year James McDonald.
McDonald continued to minister faithfully even weeks after his wife died, assisting with the Kentucky Baptist Convention’s Christmas Backpack program to 2,100 children while also sharing the gospel story with them. He also served as a pastor for nine years before his wife became ill.
“While I appreciate each of our MSC missionaries and the incredible work they are doing to serve and reach many with the gospel, the Missionary of the Year presentation allows a unique opportunity to recognize someone who embodies so well what it means to be on mission for Christ,” said Cory Bledsoe, the KBC’s Mobilization & Community Ministry Associate.
“James McDonald is one such person. James is demonstratively committed to the mission of reaching students, faculty/staff, and families within the school systems across three counties in southeastern Kentucky. His love for his family and community is unquestionable.”
McDonald understands the need for sharing the gospel with the children because many of them have not heard or even been in a church.
“They don’t know any of the basic Bible stories that we’re teaching them,” he said. “They come in (to a church) for the first time, and you can tell by the look on their face. It’s like they are in a museum. They tell me, ‘I’ve never been in a church. I didn’t know what one looked like.’ These are third graders.”
He said he was at a conference and when he told people where he was from, they said, ‘Oh, you’re in the Bible Belt.’ I told them the ‘Bible Belt’ doesn’t exist. It’s not a thing. Most of these kids don’t go to church or Sunday School.”
McDonald has a burden and passion for being the one to share with the students about Jesus and what it can mean for them to become a follower.
“I’ve heard it said before that a church should be so engaged in their community that if the church closed the community would feel it and mourn,” said Bledsoe. “I liken that same sentiment to James. He has faithfully served, even amidst profound grief and hardship, out of a deep love for Christ, compelling him to a passionate love for his neighbors.”
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This story appeared in Kentucky Today.
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