BIMI

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Life Changed Through Missions I have been blessed by military missions. As a young Marine in 1985, I was stationed in Okinawa, Japan, and was invited to Maranatha Baptist Church by a friend. Through the preaching of Pastor Ed Gibson, the Lord saved me! I grew tremendously in the GI Fellowship and a year after I was saved, met my wife. The Lord has blessed us with four wonderful children. All of them are saved and are serving the Lord, two in the military and one married to a military member. The youngest is pursuing an education in missions and desires to serve the Lord in Romania. When I returned to Okinawa in 1999, I again attended Maranatha Baptist Church where I served as the Sunday school director and worked in AWANA. Now that I am retired, I have the privilege of pastoring at a church near Camp Lejeune, working with the military. The Lord has grown our church very rapidly. Since October we have added 59 new members and are on track for 100 baptisms! Because of the influence of the military, I went to seminary and did my doctoral studies on military marriage and have the privilege of teaching on marriage at churches throughout the country. I can truly say that military missions was a life-changer for our family. In Christ, Mark Thompson, Ed.D. MGySgt USMC (Ret.)