Truth Baptist Church was thrilled to host Evangelist Jim Belisle, a field service coordinator in our mission board on his 4th visit to Nigeria for our 7th Great Commission Meeting in November. An open house for Providence Baptist College and Seminary and area pastors was held on Thursday morning; Bro. Belisle preached at the church on Thursday and Friday evenings, and a seminar introducing a new Teaching All Nations curriculum was given on Friday. Saturday evening brought about our 3rd building fund banquet, and, on our church’s Thanksgiving Sunday, our members made their commitments for what they will give to missions and our building fund in the coming year. We praise the Lord for decisions made during the services, a great Saturday of soul winning at a newer church plant, and the resolve that our members have to continue the cause of missions.
In December we had some eventful Saturdays as I preached the 4th anniversary service of a church plant on the 6th; the first graduation for an institute at a church we started five years ago had twelve receiving their certificates on the 13th, and the next week I conducted a wedding for a dear church member and friend of ours. During the week of New Year’s Day, our family was able to spend the week at a hotel in Abuja, a family tradition that is highly anticipated by our kids.
Our ultimate goal as missionaries, second only to pleasing God, is to see the cause of church planting continue whether we are in Nigeria or not. The key to that is commonly taught as generational growth. Truth Baptist Church was started in 2006 as an example church (1st generation) for those who would be trained in our institute, seminary, and correspondence college. The graduates of these schools, sent out from ours and other local churches to start a church, become the 2nd generation and have the potential to multiply the work of the 1st- generation ministry by leading those they train to start more churches (3rd generation). In the last seven months, we have witnessed six 3rd-generation works being started, adding to the four 3rd-generation works that began in 2013. The institute graduation mentioned in the previous paragraph is actually a 2nd-generation ministry training school, and their graduates have already started two churches. With this application of biblical church multiplication, we are confident and hopeful of seeing 4th-generation works in the near future!
Believing God,
Mark Holmes
