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Page Contents:
Our Story
Covenant Fellowship Church
Top Ten list
Reccomended Reading
Kyle,
Ginger & Asher Holton
holtoncrew@gmail.com
",'The lamb that was slain is worthy to receive power!' (Rev. 5:12).
John is here saying, not as an inscrutable paradox but as a meaningful affirmation, that the cross and not the sword, suffering and not brute power determines the meaning of history. The key to the obedience of God's people is not their effectiveness but their patience...The relationship between the obedience of God's people and the triumph of God's cause is not a relationship of cause and effect but one of cross and resurrection.” -
By John Howard Yoder In, The Politics of Jesus
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Our Story
Who are we & how did we get to MZ? Long story, but we’ll give you the basics. We first met each other in our first year at Harding University. Ginger was a deep, southern girl who grew up most of her life in Tennessee. Kyle was a strange mix of Oklahoma, Texas & Roswell, New Mexico (this is probably the strange part). Our friendship & romantic interests progressed quickly! We both began to also cultivate a strong desire to enter into cross-cultural missions. Before our junior year, we were married (August 1998). The following summer we had the opportunity to travel to Jinja, Uganda in East Africa and take part in an internship with a team there. Also during this time, we began meeting with other peers who were interested in African missions.
Two years later, Kyle graduated with a BA in Bible & Missions while Ginger graduated with a BA in Interdisciplinary Studies. The team finished forming the following fall & we moved up to Wheaton, IL to work on our Masters. During this time of study and preparation, we met with the team on a monthly basis and began the fun process of fundraising.
Two years later, the team had settled on Mozambique and we finished our program studies at Wheaton. Ginger graduated with a MA in Evangelism & Spiritual Formation while Kyle graduated with a MA in Missions & Intercultural Studies. We were blessed to have Covenant Fellowship Church as our sending church, which had been our church during a college years at Harding! It was awesome to come back to a church where we had some very special relationships.
The year 2002 was a big year. We returned to Searcy to spend our last year in the states with Covenant church after we finished our studies and Asher was born to us on March 23rd. In March of the following year we moved to Lisbon, Portugal to begin this big adventure of missions in Mozambique!
Covenant Fellowship Church
If you are unfamiliar with the way independent churches do mission (especially those in the Churches of Christ) then let us explain. We are supported by a number of local churches in the States and also some individual families. However, Covenant Fellowship Church, although responsible for a big chunk of our financial support, takes the responsibility to oversee us. This oversight is done logistically through a sending team made up of members from the church who are in charge of various parts of the mission (finances, prayer support, etc.) and also, spiritually, through the shepherds and, simply, the whole congregation. They have committed to pray for us, counsel us, and simply be with us through this whole adventure. We thank God for them. Of course, we aren’t forgetting the other churches (Naperville Church of Christ, Sunset Church of Christ & Central Ave. Church of Christ) and families (lots!!) who are blessing us with their prayers and financial support. When we step back from this whole thing, we realize how it takes a big team for this thing to work. So, we thank God for all of those who are partnering together with us as we continue to follow Jesus’ directives—to send and be sent into the world.
Top Things NOT To Do During Culture Shock
- Speed up when chickens are in the road (it may seem right, but you will feel guilty afterwards)
- Get a speeding ticket from an officer who jumps from behind a tree to pull you over—but doesn’t have a speed gun. (He says you just seemed to be going too fast)
- Go to South Africa & spend six hours a day in the mall because it is air conditioned, has ice cream, & a huge grocery store.
- Pay $10 for a can of Pringles & a jar of peanut butter. (you will be broke in two weeks)
- Ask for directions from a Mozambican. The directions are always the same—“It’s just there” (as they wave their hand in one direction).
- Complain to the woman who hand washes your laundry that your underwear is now transparent & four sizes larger (you’ll have to prove it!!).
- Get kicked out of your home (complete with all your belongings) by the government.
- Say any of the following to your wife: “Beans and rice again?”, “When was the last time you showered?”, “Instead of 10, how bout 20 years on the field?”
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