Pastor MacDonald first started his journey into the ministry after he graduated from college with a degree in Entomology from Mississippi State University. He went to Clemson University, where he did a two year internship with Reformed University Ministries. After that, he started his M.Div. at Reformed Theological Seminary in Jackson, MS where he met his wife, HsiaoFang. She, subsequently, transferred to Gordon Conwell Theological Seminary in South Hamilton, MA; after their marriage in the winter of 1989, he transferred there and finished his degree in 1992.

He lives with his wife in Kirkland. They have three grown children: Patrick, Faith and Jeremy. Since September, 2015, he has been the pastor of the English Ministry at the Evangelical Chinese Church (ECC) in Redmond, WA. He has also ministered to youth and English congregations in Greater Boston and Greater Atlanta over the past 26 years.