DETROIT, MI (June 24, 2017) — Five missionaries were honored for their service today during the 132nd Annual Meeting of the Evangelical Covenant Church.
Honored were Cindy Hoover, Tom and Janice Kelly, and Baxter and Margie Swenson.
Hoover served in Mexico from 2000 to 2016. She used her skills as a pediatrician to develop holistic health and medical services in Oaxaca and the isthmus of Tehuantepec. Traveling between the two was frequently dangerous, but she was committed to making sure people received care.
Hoover also created and led Semillas de Salud (Seeds of Health), an organization that offers wellness training and medical services to women and children through local schools and churches in the isthmus.
Ironically, it was a rare autoimmune disease that forced Hoover to leave the mission field. “Being one in a million isn’t all it’s cracked up to be,” she said.
Hoover emphasized, however, that she is not retiring. She is looking for new ways and opportunities to serve.
The Kellys and Swensons have retired.
Tom and Janice Kelly served together in Mexico from 1982 to 2016. They partnered with the Mexico Covenant Church to offer spiritual direction, theological education, church formation, pastoral care, and leadership development. Janice worked with other women to organize MAEM—the Ministry to the Abused and Exploited in Mexico—which grew to become a national movement in the Covenant in Mexico and a model for similar movements in Covenant denominations throughout South America.
Tom empowered the Mexico Covenant’s publishing venture, Publicaciones del Pacto, and partnered with writer and editor Miguel Ortega. They developed the devotional Hoy Con Dios modeled after The Covenant Home Altar.
Baxter and Margie Swenson served the Covenant Church a total of 42 years. The couple ministered in Colombia and Ecuador from 1975 to 2007 and served as co-directors of missionary personnel for Serve Globally from 2007 to 2017.
Margie led the writing of El Pacto con Dios, a twelve-year Sunday school curriculum now used throughout Latin America. Baxter modeled leadership and sharing the gospel through friendship and love. The couple provided leadership and taught young adults at Covenant Bible College in Ecuador from 2000 to 2007.
