A Mission Call Meets Shared History in Canada
RJ and Elayna Locklear, Lumbee missionaries from North Carolina, have moved to Calgary to serve among Canada's First Nations after delays, health struggles, and years of prayer for workers.
Highlights
Christian mission among Indigenous communities is shaped by a larger tension between the desire to share the gospel and the historic harm caused by institutions acting under the banner of Christendom. In summer 2026, RJ and Elayna Locklear, both Lumbee from North Carolina, entered that tension when they moved with their son to Calgary to serve First Nations communities as church-planting strategists. Their work emphasizes culturally relevant churches, patient relationships, and more Native American and First Nations leadership after pandemic delays and health struggles slowed their path. The story matters because Christian witness gains credibility when it remembers history, listens well, and respects the agency of the people it hopes to serve.
Consider This
Consider how religious institutions can acknowledge historic harm while building new relationships shaped by humility and local leadership. Shared identity may open a door, but trust still depends on listening, accountability, and time.
The Call That Waited
RJ and Elayna Locklear did not arrive in Canada by a straight road. According to the International Mission Board, RJ had been preparing for mission service in 2020 before the pandemic delayed the path. Later, health struggles slowed the couple again.
This summer, the Locklears moved to Calgary with their son, Ezra, to serve as IMB church-planting strategists among Canada's First Nations. Both are part of the Lumbee Native American tribe in North Carolina, and they see their heritage as part of the assignment rather than a side note.
A Different Kind of Preparation
IMB missionary Jeff Clark said ministry on reserves requires a missiology that accounts for worldviews that are not simply Western. He described a goal that every reserve in Canada would have a culturally relevant, gospel-preaching church.
The heart of the story is not novelty. It is alignment. The Locklears are entering a mission field where shared Indigenous experience may create a different doorway for trust, listening, and witness.
History in the Room
The IMB article also names the harder context: Indigenous peoples have experienced historic harm and destruction from those carrying the banner of Christendom. That history cannot be solved by good intentions or skipped in the name of zeal.
Faithful mission here must be truthful enough to remember harm and hopeful enough to believe reconciliation is possible. The Locklears' work will be tested not only by activity, but by whether relationships are built with patience, dignity, and local leadership.
What Comes Next
IMB leaders are praying for more workers from Native American and First Nations churches. The Locklears begin as one answer to that prayer, not as the whole answer. Their early work includes settling into a new culture and developing relationships with First Nations and Canadian National Baptist Convention churches.
Acts 17 says God made nations and peoples with appointed times and places so they might seek him. Read carefully, that text does not erase culture. It honors the particularity of peoples while pointing to the God who is near.
Faith
What God says
Paul describes God as near to every people and attentive to their times and places, honoring human particularity without erasing culture or history.
How we respond
James calls believers to be quick to listen and slow to speak, a fitting posture for ministry where trust must grow through humility and patient relationship.
Pray · Discuss · Act · Watch For
Pray
- Pray for RJ, Elayna, Ezra, local First Nations leaders, and churches developing this ministry.
Discuss
- What does repentance for past harm require before a church can speak credibly about hope?
Act
- When supporting missions, ask how the work honors local leadership, culture, safeguarding, and long-term accountability.
Watch For
- Watch whether more Native American and First Nations believers are equipped and invited into mission leadership.