Our family has been amazed at the opportunities we have had for both recreation and ministry during the recent nationwide lockdowns. At the beginning of July, it was miraculous that a family camp was able to be held in Branson, and our whole crew had a wonderful time. The remainder of our travels during these two months were all in Louisiana, Mississippi, and Alabama and mostly at supporting churches. Many of the pastors I contacted were just happy to have a guest preacher for the first time in several months! In the third week of July, Sabrina’s home church put me to work driving in the mornings and afternoons and arranging evening activities for the Bible Club Blitz team that represents the Summer Missionary Institute for Training and Evangelism. Joseph and Victoria also traveled with the team to Lafayette and Coushatta (both in Louisiana) to help them conduct multiple five-day Bible Clubs and an evening Vacation Bible School.
Even with the restrictions that were placed on our city during the last few months, a new ministry started in Truth Baptist that is being called Friends of the Deaf. Already, several deaf adults have become faithful to the church services through the efforts of two of our newer seminary students, along with the counsel, advice, and participation of a national missionary to the deaf who recently relocated to Abuja. Additionally, several of our church members are taking advantage of the opportunity to learn sign language through this needed ministry.
At the end of August, I flew to Charlotte for a special meeting with West Park Baptist Church in Rockwell, North Carolina, the home church of the Ron Middleton Missions Outreach (their brochure is attached with our email letter). Evangelist Craig Bryan memorialized his missions-hearted good friend through this great ministry that is now supporting six of our national church planters, assisting an orphanage with which we partner, and kickstarting a building project over which we have been praying for years. During my weekend there, both the church and the outreach generously contributed significant funds toward putting a second floor on our Bible college dormitory. You can see details of that project at https://www.fbmi.org/mpg/holmes, and you can find out more about partnering with Evangelist Bryan for church planting around the world by contacting him at rmmoutreach@gmail.com.
Believing God,
Mark Holmes
Written 27 September 2020