Over the last three months, Truth Baptist has witnessed several special events. On the first Saturday of April, one of our best ladies celebrated her marriage to a church planter. The wedding was sentimental, as the bride was our faithful Sunday school teacher and institute student, but we know God is using them both in the Awka Independent Baptist Church. On the first Sunday of May, we held a Baby Dedication service for five families.
Also in May, the kids received a surprise visit from their papa; my father-in-law was able to visit us for four days after a work contract in Lagos, and Sabrina and I kept it a secret until I pulled up to our house gate after picking him up from the airport. Sabrina’s dad had a similar situation in 2006 and was able to attend the Grand Opening service of Truth Baptist; this time he stood to give a testimony during our 13th Anniversary Sunday, and he encouraged our people on how impressed he was with the church’s maturity. In June, my mother-in-law was able to stay for nearly 3½ weeks. She brought gifts for an orphanage, visited a Prison Ministry, taught a Sunday school class, improved our children’s musical skills, and helped them with a Bible Club in our front yard. Sabrina’s mom used the trip as an internship while she is pursuing her bachelor’s degree, so I played the role of her supervisor!
Immediately after Papa’s visit was the 11th Annual Soul-Winning & Leadership Conference (SWLC). Because of our several regional meetings throughout the year, we have tried to focus more on our surrounding areas with this Abuja SWLC. There were still 30 churches represented, and we were pleased with how many pastors brought members and staff along with them. We were also thrilled to host Evangelist Jeff Walters with two other guest preachers. The next week, for the first time, we held a conference in the city of Aba. Missionary Evangelist Jim Belisle, Dr. Mike Cox, and I preached in all three of the area churches on Sunday, and ten pastors came to the services on Monday and Tuesday to help fill up the auditorium of Trinity Baptist Church. Just before my mother-in-law’s visit, Sabrina traveled to the Ladies’ Spectacular in Port Harcourt for the first time by herself (actually with Joseph and Aaron). She enjoyed the fellowship with Mrs. Maskey, her daughter Carissa, and the many attending pastors’ wives.
Believing God,
Mark Holmes, written 13 July 2019
P.S. New Contact Information: My Nigerian phone number is now my WhatsApp contact—+234.805.323.1487.
