In 2002, we were appointed to serve with Fundamental Baptist Missions International; a 24-month deputation followed with 211 meetings in 193 churches to raise financial support. June of 2005 began our first term on the field, and the initial several months were spent with a veteran missionary. I would like to give a summary of our first two decades on the field. Any company in which you invest will usually mail an annual report of how your contributions are faring; they tend to be very detailed, full of numbers, and quite boring. On the contrary I hope that you will see our details as a depiction of our efforts to be accountable, the numbers as representations of souls and churches, and the report as an encouraging description of the return on your investments in our ministry:

Schools & Conferences

∗ Providence Baptist College & Seminary opened in August 2009; the school averages nearly 40 full-time students (from more than 70 churches over the years) who live on the church property and attend daily classes and chapel. 1- year certificates, 2-year diplomas, and 3-year degrees are being offered. 4 national pastors are teaching alongside 3 missionaries, and 8 commencements for over 80 graduates have been held.

∗ Temple Baptist Institute is a part-time ministry training school with a 3-year curriculum that meets weekly and has graduated over 100 men and ladies. Revivals Christian Correspondence College was started in May of 2013 with an exclusive DVD curriculum designed to allow for anyone to have institute training on his or her own schedule.

∗ Those who have been trained in the seminary or institute have started 50 churches.

∗ Annual Soul Winning & Leadership Conferences have been conducted for 15 years to encourage pastors and members from the more than 150 independent Baptist churches in Nigeria (Mark travels often and has preached in over 60 of those churches); around 115 churches were represented in 6 conferences each of the last several years.

∗ Student Missions Institutes for Training in Evangelism (S.M.I.T.E.) are youth camps (founded in Louisiana) operating in Nigeria since 2010, now held in 3 different regional venues. Over 5 days, youth attend classes on how to conduct a club, conduct children’s outreaches every afternoon, and are gathered for evening preaching services. Recently, S.M.I.T.E. Nigeria has welcomed 500 campers from 60 churches who take part in nearly 100 Bible clubs and enroll close to 5000 children to hear the Gospel. S.M.I.T.E. is now being held in Kenya, Tanzania, Uganda, and Ghana.

∗ As a result of 10 missions conferences, Truth BC and Grace & Glory BC have helped several ministries, including a Nigerian missionary in Ghana, a deaf ministry, and several seminary interns, at one time giving over $300 per month.

∗ Partnerships have included Bible Education And Missionary Service and other likeminded ministries for the shipment of scriptures into West Africa, Christian Media International for a fully-equipped studio and two weekly half-hour television programs that air in the 2ⁿᵈ and 3ʳᵈ largest markets, PAI for prison evangelism, and several ministries that help to support national pastors and also two orphanages.

∗ The Holmes family has hosted over 90 American visitors who have taken part in annual special church meetings. They are now pleased to keep these guests in the house the Lord allowed them to build in 2013.

Truth Baptist Church

∗ Truth Baptist Church, with an opening attendance of 95 on 14 May 2006, is currently averaging about 330 in attendance. The Sunday evening Bible study and the Thursday prayer meeting, in addition to preaching and teaching in the auditorium, include children’s choir, AWANA programs, institute classes, and discipleship programs.

∗ The ministry owns 1 ½ acres of land in a suburb of the capital city; already on the property were 2 buildings designed to be a hotel that are now used for the church, institute, college, a Christian day school (Foundations Baptist Academy, which was started with daily lessons during Covid lockdown and now is a full primary school).

∗ Over a million tracts have been printed and distributed, and over 2000 converts have been baptized. At least 50 members have been called into the ministry. Evangelistic efforts include house-to-house soul-winning and Bible studies, street preaching, weekly children’s Bible clubs, the Bible Proclaimers Student Fellowship (government school outreach), and ministries to hospitals, widows, and prisons.

∗ Other ministries include soul-winning times for men, ladies, and church-wide; Sunday Bible classes for married adults, singles, teens, discipleship, evangelism training and 3 children’s churches; choirs for adult, youth, & children; fellowship groups for men, ladies, and youth; ushers and greeters; library with books, music, and sermons; bus ministry running a church-owned van and a seminary van weekly; a youth drama group; and a growing deaf ministry.

∗ The church officers consist of a co-pastor, assistant pastor, youth pastor, 3 ordained deacons, and 2 trustees, along with 2 other men, considered junior staff, who go out for soul-winning and visitation virtually every day.

∗ Truth Baptist Church is the home of all the ministries listed above. In November of 2014, Grace & Glory Baptist Church was started as a Bible study which grew to 13 families inside the city limits of the capital; the attendance is now regularly around 120. Mark & Sabrina continue to be involved in both churches.