August/September '04

During the first half of August, we were privileged to have several meetings close to home. On the fourth, my home pastor asked me to preach the mid-week service. At the end of the service, Bro. Carr had a prayer of dedication with Sabrina and me for our son, Joseph. Also, a special thanks goes to Faith Baptist Church in Gulfport for sending us a substantial amount of money that will be set aside for the purchase of a vehicle when we get to Nigeria.
A much-anticipated trip to the Carolinas, along with one meeting in Ohio, consumed about 4 ½ weeks of our schedule and included ten churches, most of which are pastored by graduates of Hyles-Anderson College (three of the preachers were in school at the same time that my wife and I attended). During the trip, we had the excitement of leading eighteen souls to Christ in personal soul winning, and at least three people surrendered to full-time Christian service from the several opportunities that I was given to preach. Between meetings one week, Sabrina and I spent two nights at a lodge in the Nantahala National Forest (a place where my family use to vacation) as a late celebration of our third anniversary.

At the end of September in my hometown of Gulfport, I had the honor of preaching my first revival meeting ever at one of our newest supporting churches. The cancellation of a missions conference by a church opened our schedule to allow for this great opportunity. Five people were saved and about thirty visitors attended during the five-night meeting which also saw several of the members go out soul winning for the first time. [Pastor & Mrs. Davidson pictured]

June/July '04

Much traveling was done by Sabrina and me during these first two months of summer. June saw us “up north” (that’s any area past Jackson, Mississippi!) for three weeks in Tennessee, Illinois, Indiana, Iowa, and Kentucky. Then we were able to spend a week with my aunt and uncle in Houston, Texas, before going to Arkansas to close out the month of July.

Unfortunately, the survey trip to our field had to be postponed again. In order to visit Nigeria on even a tourist visa, a letter of invitation from a government-recognized source has to be obtained. We had some delay in that document being sent, and by the time we received it, there were no flights available for the dates we needed. Our idea now is to take a trip around the first of the year, close to the time we hope to start our first term in early 2005. This would allow us to secure a home and maybe even a vehicle in our place of service; moreover, we would be able to get definite details about shipping our goods and also the cost of necessities. Please pray with us about our plans.

On the last Wednesday of July, I preached at a church near Sabrina’s home town of Denham Springs, Louisiana. After the message, I first asked for anyone who was unsure of their salvation to raise their hand. Just when I was about to make a plea for Christians to make a decision, a young adult lady in the very back barely lifted her hand as she was looking at me. I immediately prayed and then gave simple instructions to anyone who was ready to make a decision. On the second verse of the invitation song, I made eye contact with the same lady, and she started shaking her head, unwilling to come forward. Before the next verse was over, this young single mother was walking down the aisle with the lady who brought her to church. The assistant pastor’s wife then led her to receive Christ as her Saviour. Usually, I turn the invitation over to the pastor, but because he was out of town, I had the special privilege of seeing someone get saved right in front of me. My sermon explained to the people that doing the work of God would get them through the tough times of life. The church member who brought the visitor was experiencing a particularly hard trial, and she became a living illustration to the message that had just been preached! Many instances like this have kept me excited about deputation, for God is definitely using Sabrina and me even before we get to the field of Nigeria.

April/May '04

[Sabrina's sister, Ashley, w/ Joseph] These last two months allowed us to spend most of the time in our two home states of Mississippi and Louisiana. Due to a rescheduling, I had the great privilege of attending all day and speaking during the Sunday school hour at our home church on Mother’s Day. It is always a joy to preach for my pastor, one of my heroes. It seems that holidays have been the only times that we have happened to be without a meeting.

On Easter Sunday afternoon—of all occasions—Sabrina and I also experienced the momentous occurrence of our first car collision since we’ve been married. Unbearable embarrassment on my part is hindering me from telling you whose fault it was! Thankfully, no one was hurt, and we didn’t miss our meeting. Afterwards, within about a six week span, our van had two breakdowns not related to the accident. During the car trouble, two churches stepped in and helped greatly (special thanks to Philadelphia Baptist in Opelika, Alabama, and Grace Baptist in Sulphur, Louisiana). The similar problems were solved and paid for, and the van has done fine since. It has become a more serious thing for me to ask God for traveling mercies upon us and other missionaries.

At the end of May, Sabrina and I had the excitement of being a part of the Summer Missionary Institute for Training and Evangelism (S.M.I.T.E.). A few dozen teens and workers from our home church attended the week, during which the teenagers were trained in the mornings on how to do Bible clubs, and they then split into teams and conducted the clubs in the afternoons. The team with which I worked as a counselor saw at least a dozen kids get saved.

God has already allowed us to practically fill our schedule through the end of 2004 with church meetings. Please continue to pray for our goal to have our support raised by the end of January. Your faithful prayers have helped to make deputation successful in many ways for us.

February/March '04

After spending five weeks north of the Mason-Dixon Line, it’s been very nice to get back to some warm weather recently! Sabrina, Joseph, and I were able to go conveniently to several meetings in the North since we were already planning to attend Pastors’ School. During that week at First Baptist Church in Hammond, Indiana, Bro. Ron Gensaw (missionary in Abuja, Nigeria) [pictured holding 1 yr. old Joseph] was there, and I excitedly worked out with him several details of our survey trip. We are greatly anticipating the visit to his work for the several days that we will be in Africa, if the Lord allows it. Sabrina and I are praying that the co-founder of our mission board, Dr. Mike Cox, and his wife will be able to accompany us.

So far, two churches have pledged to help us specifically with costs that we will incur because of our August trip. Additionally, a church in Iowa met a need and a “want” during its missions conference at the beginning of March. We had several things that needed repair on our Caravan, so members of a prayer group pitched in to get the vehicle fixed and running better than it ever has. Also, not long after we arrived for the four-day meeting, the song leader took me out to shop for a digital camera! He used his income tax refund to pay for a top-of-the-line machine that was even more than what I had desired to take on our survey trip.

Also in March, a pastor in Oregon make it possible for us to have our first meeting out West when he provided for our airfare (Joseph’s first time on a plane) and our hotel accommodations. After three days of challenging preaching, enjoyable activities, and delicious meals, we went soul-winning on Saturday. I joined one of the assistant pastors, and during one of our many visits, I was able to share the Gospel with a Muslim teenager at his door. The boy’s father was sitting in the living room, and he allowed me to keep talking with his son who soon bowed his head and asked Jesus Christ to save his soul! I was reminded once again that God can overcome any challenging situation.

A missions conference cancellation recently allowed Sabrina and I a chance to surprise her parents by coming to her hometown of Denham Springs, Louisiana, a week early; my mom drove the short trip from Long Beach, Mississippi, to be with us the next day. It seems that our relatives [Sabrina's parents pictured] cannot get enough of spending time with Joseph and spoiling him! We’re privileged to have most of April and May scheduled so that we’ll be able to stay with family often. Currently, God has blessed us with a total of eighty-five meetings scheduled in Mississippi and Louisiana alone! I am busily working to book meetings through the end of the year, with prayerful plans to be on the field of Nigeria by January.

Dec '03 / Jan '04

This holiday season for us was unique in many ways to any other. Our baby boy Joseph turned three weeks old on Christmas day, and, of course, he received more gifts than his mother and father combined! This was the first time that I didn’t have to go back to school or clock in at work after a holiday break, yet Sabrina and I stayed busy with our ministry. I only had to cancel one church meeting due to our hospital stay in the first week of December. Our schedule was God-sent during the first six weeks after Joseph was born; we didn’t have any meetings that were more than three hours from Gulfport or Baton Rouge. On Christmas Eve and New Year’s Eve, we attended the home church of Sabrina’s family at Central Baptist in Baton Rouge. Then on January 7th, I had the honor of preaching at our sending church. The folks at Faith Baptist had yet to see our presentation, and it was the first glimpse of Joseph for most of our church family.

As I write this letter, we are attending our fourth missions conference in a row. January 14th started our first big trip with our baby. Sabrina had fully recovered from her surgery by that time. We began in north Louisiana; then we trekked to churches in central Arkansas, east Texas, Oklahoma City, and the Nashville area of Tennessee. Joseph travels well; he seems to go to sleep in his car seat as soon as I put the van in drive! [He's 9 months old in this pic] I wanted to share one more story that I didn’t include in the previous letter about our adventures during the two days before Joseph was born. We first checked into a hospital in Louisiana before eventually going to Gulfport. While in the waiting room at Baton Rouge Women’s Hospital, I was trying to engross myself in work and not think too much about the possible complications that could have awaited Sabrina and Joseph. A man my age sat beside me, and, of course, God wouldn’t let me sit there silently. I found out that Tyree was in the same situation I was; his wife was in the hospital almost three weeks before her due date. I invited him to church and eventually had the privilege of leading him to a saving knowledge of Christ! It seemed to make the next couple of days go easier once I got my mind off myself and my problems and took some time to show someone the way to Heaven.

October/November '03

December 8, 2003

We have a new baby boy! Mark Joseph Holmes, Jr. was born on Thursday, December 4, 2003, at 8:55 a.m., weighing in at 7½ pounds and measuring 20 inches in length. He was brought by C-Section and was over two weeks early. Sabrina began showing signs of going into labor on Tuesday morning while we were outside of Lafayette, Louisiana, and we checked into a hospital in Baton Rouge at 7 p.m. They eventually gave her clearance to go to Gulfport, Mississippi—this was preferred because our doctor is located there. We arrived at Memorial Hospital in Gulfport at 2 a.m. on Wednesday. She didn't have much discomfort all day; however, she also was not progressing. They began to try to induce labor, and when at 7 a.m. the next day she still had not improved, they started to prepare her for surgery. Less than two hours later, little Joseph was born! Sabrina's mom, sister, aunt, cousin, and my mom were all there for the delivery, though I was the only one allowed with her in the actual surgery room. He came out with a full head of hair, and already looks tall and skinny. Several have commented that his face looks like his mama, but he's got big feet and a big head like his daddy!
We've already had a lot of visits from local friends and members of our home church and received many gifts, cards, flowers, e-mails, and calls. All tests have come back favorably, and I brought Sabrina and Joseph home to my mom’s house on Sunday morning. God has worked it out for all of this month's meetings into the second week of January to be practically "local," so we will try to make it easy on Junior for a while with our travels. Please pray for all else to continue well.

The process of raising financial support for Nigeria has gone very well. We will be going to our 75th church this week. The number of supporting churches is growing, and during one stretch in the last two months, six churches in a row voted to add us to their missions program! So far, we have almost 50 more churches on our schedule.

We have tentatively planned a ten-day survey trip to Nigeria for the first two weeks in August during which, Lord willing, the president of our mission board and his wife will be able to join us. If possible, I’d like to visit a couple of different works, and I look forward to being able to finalize many plans for our first term on the field. Thank you in advance for your prayers in this matter.

The following is a letter of recommendation of our ministry from Dr. Wendell Evans, currently the President Emeritus of Hyles-Anderson College in Crown Point, Indiana:

February 24, 2003
Dear Pastor:

I am very impressed with Bro. Mark Holmes. He made a good record while a student at Hyles-Anderson College. He worked faithfully in the bus ministry of First Baptist Church. He made good grades. Bro. Holmes is an experienced and consistent soul-winner. He was personally involved in the lives of many of his bus riders. He carries a burden for the souls of people.

Mark has kept in touch with me after he graduated from college. Mark and his wife, Sabrina, have served the Lord faithfully in his home church while preparing for deputation. I can give him a strong recommendation.

Thank you, Pastor, for your consideration in supporting Bro. Mark Holmes as missionary to Nigeria, West Africa.

In Christ,
Wendell Evans

August/September '03

As Sabrina and I experienced the last weeks leading to the fall season, I couldn’t help but think that this was the longest and best summer of my life. I have certainly reveled in the fact that we are actually full-time in the ministry, and we have yet to experience a deputation “horror” story. In actuality, we have definitely been spoiled by churches, pastors, and their members. We continue to praise God for a packed schedule. During our first four months (concluding on September 21st) of raising support, we had meetings in forty-five different churches. We have over fifty different churches remaining on our calendar so far, and I am busily planning for more.

So many people have been an extra-special blessing to Sabrina during our travels. Our sending church in Gulfport and her home church (Central Baptist in Baton Rouge, Louisiana) have planned baby showers for her and she has been “showered” with gifts from several individuals, especially family [Sabrina's Mawmaw pictured]. Her due date is still December 20th, and she continues to be in great health. We did find out that, the Lord willing, we’ll be having a boy! He’ll be named Mark Joseph, Jr., and we plan to call him Joseph.

During our time on the road, Sabrina and I have found several unique opportunities to present the Gospel of Christ. Upon our arrival for a meeting at a church outside of New Orleans, I saw that several teenagers were using the church parking lots and sidewalks as a “skateboard park.” We met a few of the church members, and while I went inside to grab a handful of gospel tracts, one of the staff men scolded the teens and ran them off the property. As I came back outside, they were already about a block away and had gathered in front of a house within easy walking distance. I made sure I had my New Testament and walked over to them. Each one of the eight boys received an invitation to the church, and I began to witness to them. When I got to the question of whether they would go to Heaven when they die, I was surprised by their curiosity and seriousness. Each of them stopped their bikes and skateboards and listened intently as I shared with them the wonderful story of Jesus. As I came to the point of decision, I said to them, “I’m sure that you would probably be embarrassed to say in front of your friends that you want to ask Jesus into your heart and be saved.” Before I could even finish, one of the boys spoke up with, “I want to be saved.” Immediately, four of the other young men on their own said the same thing. After I showed them some more scripture and prayed with them, those five teenagers sincerely told me they had received Christ as Saviour. Hallelujah for the Gospel and for the boldness God gives to the soul-winner and to the sinner who is not ashamed to speak out in front of his buddies!

The following is a letter of recommendation of our ministry from Dr. Mike Cox, the co-founder of our mission board, Fundamental Baptist Missions International, and currently the pastor of Victory Baptist Church in Elyria, Ohio:

February 12, 2003
Dear Pastors:

It is with great joy that I sit to write this letter of recommendation for missionary Mark Holmes. Mark and Sabrina Holmes are a quality young couple whom God has uniquely prepared to serve Him. A 2000 graduate of Hyles-Anderson College, Brother Holmes served as Ministries Director of Faith Baptist Church of Gulfport, MS, until the summer of 2003. While serving there he distinguished himself as a hard-working young man of exceptional character.

God has called Mark and his wife to serve in the country of Nigeria. Nigeria is a crime-filled, poverty-stricken land. Life there is hard and uncertain. Mark’s history and experience will prove invaluable as he begins his work there.

I want to encourage you to invite Mark and Sabrina Holmes to your church, in order that they might present their vision and burden for the Nigerian people. I am certain that they will be a great blessing to both you and your people.

Sincerely,
R. Michael Cox