In March, our ministry was happy to welcome a guest preacher for the first time since January of last year. Pastor Dan Callaghan of First Baptist Church of Yuba City, California, preached Truth Baptist Church’s 6th Spirit Renewal Meeting. The revival services included a greatly needed and well-attended Saturday teaching, soul-winning, and testimony time; Grace & Glory Baptist hosted the Sunday evening preaching hour, and the combined service received many of our Truth Baptist Church members and college students. Having kept in touch with Bro. Dan since we were bus workers together in Bible college, I was glad for our whole family and many of our co-laborers to finally have the chance to fellowship with my good friend.
This seems to be the smoothest transition back to the field we have ever experienced. We want to thank God for blessing our return, and we also wish to give credit to our church leaders and college staff members for skillfully handling all of our ministries. A special thanks goes to Missionary Pat Hamburg, who stayed in our home during our time in the U.S., welcomed us with wonderful meals during the first few adjustment days, and generously put time and money into numerous thoughtful projects that put a smile on my wife’s face.
Four days after our arrival in February, Merci Cepeda and Kristin Muldrow landed in Abuja for a nearly six-week visit. Our oldest son and daughter, Joseph and Victoria, were traveling partners with them in Louisiana on a Bible Club Blitz team for a few weeks last summer. Merci and Kristin conducted Bible Clubs, helped in children’s church and Sunday school classes, sang specials, participated in our school ministry, brought gifts for a visit to an orphanage, and helped to fund a widows’ meeting hosted by one of our deacons. Two weeks of their trip were spent at A Place of Hope Africa, a large orphanage in the East.
I had imagined that adding the second floor for our seminary dormitory would be the only big project for this year, but the Lord has seen fit to put the following additional new works on our ministry plate over the last twelve months: a continuing television ministry with Christian Media International, a fully sponsored Prisoner Discipleship Ministry, a new day school at Truth Baptist Church, the Friends of the Deaf Ministry that just celebrated its first anniversary in April, and the growth of our last church plant (Liberty Baptist Church of Azunu), which Truth Baptist Church has adopted as its own like no other new church before. We are blessed beyond imagination!
Believing God,
Mark Holmes, written 4 May 2021
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