Dear Pastor and Friend,
As we are sitting here state-side on a short furlough, it is a bitter sweet feeling to see reports of how God continues to bless in our absence. There really is “no greater joy than to hear that my children walk in truth.” On Sunday, at Soweto Baptist Church, they celebrated their 2nd anniversary. Since the church’s beginning, there have been 40 people who have been saved and baptized. God has begun a tremendous work in the lives of dozens of individuals through this work. We are super excited to return next month and witness how he will continue to mature His children. We are also very grateful to the Underwood family for all of their hard work in our absence.
One of our first priorities upon returning to South Africa will be to officially organize this work. This will be a lengthy process, as I still have much to teach on before it takes place. I am busy now preparing lessons on church polity and membership responsibility. This will be something you will hear more of in upcoming prayer letters. But for now please make this process a matter of prayer.
Last month, Bekah and I had the opportunity to visit our old church in Arequipa, Peru; Iglesia Bautista Omega. It has been over five years since we were last there. Words cannot express how proud I felt to see many continuing to serve and grow in grace. This was probably the most encouraging trip I have ever been on. Everyone was so sweet to us. They had a special service to honor us and then I had the opportunity to preach there once again. Also, before leaving Arequipa, Missionary David Gardner invited me back to preach the annual Youth Conference. Lord willing, I will be returning in July to participate.
Next week, December 11-15, our team in South Africa will host our 3rd annual Youth Camp. With us, and several others being gone, the work load is going to be spread amongst many new leaders. This will be a great time for service and growth. Pray the Lord uses this time, not only in the lives of the youth who will attend, but also in the hearts and lives of the workers. Please pray that they see much fruit for their labor. Also, thank you to all who have donated to send campers to camp!
Other Prayer Requests and Praises:
- Our students in South Africa are in their final week of Bible Institute, pray they end strong and continue to put into practice all that they are learning
- Camp Rhino: My cousin Mark Coffey has been raising funds to purchase property for our youth camp and training center. He has done an incredible job over the last year raising $95,000 of the $100,000 needed to purchase the property. Please go to our website and see how you can get more involved. ProjectSouthAfrica.com and CampRhino.org
- God’s been good as we have been traveling. We only need 4 more churches who will partner with our ministry to meet our goal of 10 new churches before returning January 3rd.
- There’s still time to sign-up for the OurGenerationSummit, Dec 28-30; hope to see you there!
Thank you for your faithfulness to pray and give. You mean more to us than you know. We hope you have a Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year.
Sincerely,
Jeremy and Rebekah Hall