The Holmes Family: July/August '16

On August 16th, the Holmes family departed Nigeria for a five-month furlough. We have averaged being in America for about five months after every two years on the field. This time, as part of a 15th wedding anniversary celebration for Sabrina and me, we were able to take an extended layover in London and spend a day with the kids touring the city [pictured] and visiting missionary friends. Please pray for our travels as we have forty meetings planned until the middle of January, including ten new churches.

Our excitement about arriving to the U.S. was tempered by the news of mass flooding in Sabrina’s home area. On the Saturday before we left the field, my mother-in-law had to be rescued out of her place in Denham Springs (Louisiana), as waters from a nearby river reached the level of her roof. We are thankful that her life was spared, yet prayer is greatly needed as there is much work to be done in rebuilding her house. Our sending church in Gulfport (Mississippi) generously provided a hotel room and a van for Sabrina’s mom so that she could be with us during our first weekend home; Faith Baptist made it known that they were very happy to see us (restaurant meals, gifts, and a phone were given by members), and I had the privilege of speaking there the last two Sundays of August. The other two big activities of the month were picking up a van that we have on a missionary lease from a ministry called Righteous Rides in the St. Louis area and preaching a school revival for a supporting church in the Beaumont (Texas) area.

Our last six weeks on the field were filled with activity for various ministries. In the middle of July, Evangelist Paul Schwanke [pictured with my family], visiting for his first time with plans to return in the future, preached a morning service for Grace & Glory Baptist Church and then conducted a revival meeting for Truth Baptist Church. Our seminary students had two great days of teaching with Bro. Paul, and both churches in which our family is involved heard him gladly. Also, for the first time ever, our youth camp was conducted in two locations with Bro. Sonny McGuffee and Pastor Jared Decker. Between the two weeks in Port Harcourt [pictured right] and Abuja (with Bro. Bobby Decker joining us at Truth Baptist Church), the Student Missions Institute for Training in Evangelism welcomed 245 teenagers from 24 churches; they conducted 56 Bible clubs that reached nearly 3600 children, and over 1600 professed Christ as Saviour. In the midst of all, members of Truth Baptist and Port Harcourt IBC kindly planned for surprise celebrations of my birthday and our anniversary.

Who We Are

Mark Joseph Holmes was called to the ministry at the age of fifteen, five years after he was saved. He went to Hyles-Anderson College to receive his training and graduated summa cum laude in 2000 with a degree in Pastoral Theology. During Mark’s senior year, God placed on his heart the desire to reach the people of Nigeria, so he spent an extra year in preparation by taking missions courses. Mark served on the same bus route each college year, as captain for three years.

Sabrina Michelle (Hopkins) was saved at the age of eight and surrendered her life to God five years later. While at Hyles-Anderson College studying music education, she served in the Bible Club and deaf ministry and also traveled one summer with a tour group. After graduation with a Music Education degree, during the year before their wedding, Sabrina taught fourth grade at her home church’s Christian school—Central Baptist in Baton Rouge.

As newlyweds, Mark and Sabrina served at their sending church where Mark oversaw the bus ministry and helped in the youth department, Sunday schools, and junior churches. He was privileged to start a children's church and young adult class during his two years of service, and he also regularly preached at a prison ministry and taught for a local Bible institute. Sabrina taught private piano for two Christian schools; she played often in the church services and also taught the beginner Sunday school class. Mark and Sabrina started full-time deputation at the end of May, 2003. Mark Joseph, Junior was born on December 4th of the same year.

In June of 2005, the Holmes family began their first term as Fundamental Baptist Missions International missionaries in Nigeria. Soon, Truth Baptist Church along with Temple Baptist Institute was started, the church now averaging 220 on Sundays with 42 graduates from the ministry training school. Property with buildings was purchased, and Providence Baptist College & Seminary opened its doors in August 2009 and has now produced 30 graduates. Over 30 churches have been started by those who have been trained or ordained by their ministry, including the most recent, Grace & Glory Baptist Church in Abuja. Mark and Sabrina have returned to the U.S. for the birth of:

Victoria Noel 12/14/05

Brian Michael 8/20/07

Noah Preston 2/3/12

LaDonna Elizabeth 7/3/14

For nearly a decade, Truth Baptist Church has been the home of a national pastors' conference and annual youth camp; a full curriculum DVD correspondence college recently became their newest ministry.

Where We Are

The Niger River is Nigeria’s most remarkable physical feature, as well as the source of its name. Formerly a British colony, Nigeria gained its independence in 1960 and became an independent nation of three culturally distinctive regions and at least 250 different language groups—more than any other African country. Home of the world’s largest black population, it is estimated that almost one out of every six Africans resides in Nigeria.

Upon independence, Nigeria inherited a currency that was more valuable than the U.S. dollar at the time. Yet the country has consumed itself with the sell of oil and other natural resources and all but abandoned its agricultural sector, leading to Nigeria’s diminished currency value and heightened reliance upon imports and aide from other countries. Military coups, ethnic tensions, a thirty month “civil war” that claimed over a million lives, and economic corruption have been the driving forces behind Nigeria’s instability of the last forty years. In 1998 a democracy was established, ending fifteen years of military rule.

Baptists have enjoyed a presence in the country for over 150 years with the Southern Baptists growing their own national convention and an estimated Baptist population numbering more than 3.5 million people; the former President of Nigeria was a claimed Baptist. However, Muslim influences are growing greater, indigenous beliefs are still popular, and many existing Baptist churches have abandoned biblical doctrines. There is a great need to reach the rest of the more than 170 million people of Africa’s most populous and possibly most influential nation.

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The Holmes Family

July/August '16

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