BACKGROUND INFORMATION
Mark was born and raised in Mississippi. At a young age of 18, he felt God’s call to missions. After completing his B.A. degree from Mississippi College, he served as a BSU summer missionary to California. He completed his Master of Arts degree majoring in Spanish and minoring in French at the University of Mississippi. Upon completion of this degree he was appointed as Journeyman missionary to Madrid, Spain, for two years, a program of the International Mission Board, SBC. He served as secretary of the Spanish Baptist Theological Seminary. This experience introduced him to the needs of Spain. Later upon completion of his term of service, he began working as a translator for the Honduras Baptist Medical/Dental Mission in Honduras translating for doctors, nurses, and pastors. He then began to serve in his own ministry as Church Planter initially in Danli, Honduras and later in Esteli, Nicaragua. His service in Nicaragua resulted in the establishment of New Hope Baptist Church, a new mission which he had begun and which is now a growing church in Nicaragua. During this time in Nicaragua, he met Martita. Martita was born and raised in Esteli, Nicaragua. She faithfully served the Lord during the more than four years of Mark’s service in Nicaragua. After more than a year on stateside, Mark later returned to Nicaragua and he and Martita were married. In the summer of 1998 they traveled to New Orleans, LA and began studies in the New Orleans Baptist Theological Seminary. Mark began working towards a Master of Divinity degree specializing in missions which he eventually completed in December of 2001. During the several years of seminary studies, Mark and Martita worked as contract workers for the Baptist Association of Greater New Orleans helping to begin new language missions in the city and helping to strengthen existing ones. They also pastored two Hispanic missions in East New Orleans and along the Northshore area. Upon graduation, Mark and Martita began the application process with the International Mission Board under the International Service Corps program. In November of 2002 they received approval from the trustees of the IMB. At the end of February 2003 they had successfully completed missionary training at the Missionary Learning Center in Rockville, Virginia. In May of 2003 they were granted their official missionary visas to live in Spain and one week later they arrived in Extremadura, Spain to begin their missionary service. In June of 2004 they received news from missions leaders in Spain that their term of service with the IMB could not be renewed because of the lack of funds of the IMB. In November of 2004 the decision was made to resign from their service with the IMB in order to begin a new ministry. A new ministry was formed for Mark and Martita to continue their service in Extremadura, Spain. Under their new role as Faith Missionaries their financial support comes from churches and individuals who feel God’s leading to support them. In the Spring of 2007 Martita was granted Spanish citizenship by the government of Spain. This will allow Mark and Martita to serve a lifetime in Extremadura, Spain.
Mark And Martita Just Married
Mark’s Graduation From Seminary