Dear Praying Friends,
Two days before the date of this letter, my family experienced something that we need to express as a prayer request. After I went to exchange our December support (dollars to naira) that had been withdrawn from the bank, it was stolen out of our car before I could deposit it into our other account. The incident was caught on camera at the clinic where I had parked and has been reported to police. We are thankful that it was not a robbery, that nothing happened to Sabrina and Noah (whom I had gone to meet), and that it was almost nine years on the field before something this significant was taken from us. I have replayed the situation over and again, and it is obvious that more than a dozen things could have been done differently for the sake of security. Please pray for me personally as I implement simple precautions with God’s help to keep our family safe and allow us to be the best stewards of your investment in us.
Christianity compels us to express blessings especially in the midst of trials. With that in mind, we want to officially announce our excitement over the expectation of our fifth child in July. This will actually extend our furlough, which begins in mid-March, through the month August. We ask your prayers for Sabrina’s health and strength and for our trip to the States, as we work to schedule meetings and look forward to time with relatives and friends, along with the hope of a new addition to our family.
On January 7, we welcomed 7 new students to Providence Baptist College and Seminary, which brings our enrollment to its highest ever at 24! Our current Temple Baptist Institute course (held on Saturdays for six-week sessions) has 16 attendees, and the recent launching of the Revivals Christian Correspondence College (DVD curriculum) has added 12 more for ministry training. Through the correspondence fees, we will employ several seminary students to advertise, expand, and maintain this new ministry.
The last two months of 2013 allowed us three special occasions. We were honored to again host a friend and representative of FBMI, Evangelist Jim Belisle, to preach our 6th Annual Great Commission Meeting. In addition to the missions conference, several from our church attended the special seminary classes that were taught by Bro. Belisle. Next, Thanksgiving Day was made unique with two visiting missionary families who helped us celebrate the American feast. Finally, our kids are now happy to have the following holiday tradition: for the third time, we spent four nights at a hotel in town on a Christmas special where we enjoyed a breakfast buffet, recreation time during the day, and going out to eat in the evenings.
Believing God,
Mark Holmes