Pioneer USA Evangelism Post for Leicester Church Army Couple
In the spirit of the wild west, a Leicester-based Church Army couple and their two young boys are facing probably their biggest adventure and test of faith when they leave the Braunstone estate Living Stones church plant and prepare for pioneer Christian ministry in El Paso, Texas. Evangelist Roy Hollands (32), with his wife Ruth (30), Joshua (4) and Edwin (2), believe God has called them to set up a church base for evangelism north of the Rio Grande river on the border between Mexico and the USA.
They are in the process of disposing of nearly all their possessions, including Hilary, a much-loved 30 year-old Land Rover and ex-army ambulance carefully converted into a holiday camper by Roy. Their living room carpet is carefully marked with masking tape showing the inside of a Transit van. When that space is filled, that is all they are able to take with them to Ruth's parents in Kent. Joshua and Edwin are carefully sorting out toys into two boxes - those to keep and those to give away. Used to having a regular income, Roy and Ruth will from September need to raise their own support for this demanding new challenge.
Born in Nairn, Scotland, the son of an RAF aero engineer with Shackletons, Roy commented: "A couple of years into this post with Holy Apostles, I began to see how cross-cultural issues were so evident. The local church was trying to take the gospel to people but not really expecting to have to cross cultural boundaries. That is where the whole idea of Living Stones began and, after much research and prayer, we planted a 'new' church after St Oswald's had closed. There are so many lessons from Living Stones that we can take with us but we shall have to be very cautious in applying them. El Paso draws together the two cultures of Mexico and North America."
They will say their farewells to the people of the developing Church Plant on the first weekend in September and confidently hand over leadership to a local, Ruth Souter, who is now beginning training for ordination. After a brief break, they will undergo their final medical checks. Then they fly out to El Paso and on to Mexico for three months with an immersion-style Spanish language school before officially starting their new outreach ministry in January.
Roy explained: "About three years ago, I was looking for an exchange visit with Canada or America, but it never happened. In 1998, I had discussions with the leaders of Church Army over here on their World Leaders' Conference, and met the trans-Atlantic leaders at our own national conference last year. I shared my vision and Steve Brightwell, National Director of Church Army in USA, invited us to consider El Paso. The opportunity and our hopes just seemed to merge."
Ruth, from missionary parents and having spent 16 years in the North West Frontier Province on the border of Pakistan and Afghanistan, added: "We had separately and for different reasons thought of going abroad but we did not originally want to learn a different language! However, when Steve talked to us about the cross-cultural El Paso post, we began to drool. God brought our two visions together. We visited there in January, met the Bishop - whose diocese is roughly three times the size of the British Isles - and became convinced that we were being called to El Paso."
A newsletter from the Hollands states: "El Paso is known as the 'dustbowl of America' as it is in a high altitude desert at the heart of the continent….. Our vision is to go to live in the poorest neighbourhood called Segundo Barrio, right next to the river. It is the first stopping place for immigrants coming over the border. Here we will start a cell-church."
The Rev John Rainer, Vicar of Holy Apostles, said: "Roy has contributed an enormous amount to our parish's witness in Braunstone. I am very sad to be losing him and Ruth as colleagues but I feel sure that this new work among the poor to which they are going is the right move for them."
