The first missionary commissioned by the Canadian Presbyterian Church was George Leslie Mackay. He spent the majority of his life in Taiwan, and he desired to demonstrate to the people of Taiwan how much God loved them by loving them well himself. Mackay married a Taiwanese woman (which was very countercultural at the time) and had three children with her. In addition to showing the love of Christ to the people of Taiwan, Mackay and his wife established a university for the people. Mackay died of throat cancer on June 2, 1901. In 2008, the Taiwanese government created the first Taiwanese and English opera, which is based on the life of the Mackays called Mackay: The Black Bearded Bible Man.
