This
letter is being written as I am wrapping up our 10th missions
conference in as many weeks. My family [children pictured] has traveled north to Michigan twice,
flown west to California, and driven east to Durham, North Carolina. I am now
in Brownsville, Texas, the site of our southernmost church and last multi-day
meeting for our furlough. When we arrived in August, one supporting church and
three dear friends in different states found out that my only suits were ruined
when my mother-in-law’s house flooded, and, before the end of September, I had
four new suits!
Our greatest encouragements in our
considering Nigeria as a mission field and our biggest cheerleaders through our
deputation were Robert [pictured] and Rhoda Smith, who spent nine years laboring in
Ibadan. For over a decade now, they have served as missionaries in Barbados and
have continually invited us to see their work. It finally worked out for us to
spend a week in the Caribbean nation in September; I had the privilege of
preaching in two churches, and Sabrina and I enjoyed a vacation with a beach
house, plenty of sightseeing, and wonderful fellowship with close friends.
For the last several years, the
three constant sources of insecurity in Nigeria have been the Boko Haram
terrorist group in the northeast, various militant groups in the oil-producing southeast
Niger Delta region, and sporadic skirmishes between Christian farmers and nomadic
Muslim Fulani herdsmen. Recently, our assistant pastor, Bro. Justin Mathias,
became acquainted with a group of Fulani converts who were desirous of
discipleship and in need of resources to reach more of their own people. On a Sunday morning service in October,
several of these converts [pictured with Ms. Pat Hamburg and the McGuffees] were welcomed to Truth Baptist Church; they gave
testimonies, sang specials, were fed by our ministry, and received an offering
and promise of future support from our members.
I’m glad to share several avenues on
how you can receive further updates and more easily invest in our work. Our
ministry website, www.missionaryholmes.blogspot.com, has been revised with recent prayer letters, scores
of pictures, and a testimony video. Also, you can message me at holmesfaith@hotmail.com if you want an email attachment of the video that we
are showing to churches during our furlough or if you would like to receive our
prayer letters electronically. Finally, our mission board has been working
diligently to make it possible to give through the internet to each individual
missionary. Please visit www.fbmi.org/give if you would like to learn more about this; find our page at www.fbmi.org/holmes. We want to take every advantage to stay in touch and
partner with you in reaching the people of Nigeria.
1 comment:
pastor mark, i am so grateful to God to be under your ministry. I am so glad to be constantly fed by the undiluted word of God which is transforming me, i no longer derive pleasure in sin, i am mindful of things i think, say and do, my prayer life is improving because i understand the importance of prayers in christian life.
God is doing wonders in my life now because i have cast all of my burdens on Christ Jesus. No more Evil Night dreams, God is in full control
Glory to God!!!
I can't wait to experience better life in Christ Jesus my redeemer.
Post a Comment