Category Archives: camp ministry

Coffey Family May 2019 Prayer Letter

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Prayer Requests & Praise  

  • Please be in prayer for my son Tyler.  He is finishing up his missionary training degree at the Our Generation Training Center in Alpharetta, GA.  His last step is a 6 month internship in Argentina, with Missionaries Patrick and Leslie Henry.  If you are interested in helping my son, any support can be sent to our board.
  • Please be in prayer for our upcoming Purity Conference at Camp Rhino which is an event held for our ladies.  We are expecting a good turn out from all our churches in PE.    
  • Please also be in prayer for our Youth Day at Camp Rhino where all teens from our PE churches will be coming to Camp Rhino from 9am to 4pm on Saturday, May 18th.  Pray for souls to be saved and lives surrendered to the ministry.

Quick Updates & Reminders:

  • We are excited to announce that Camp Rhino is now 100% debt free.  All of our dorm buildings, pool, pavilion, kitchen, and house have completely been paid for.  We are progressing new construction only as money comes in.
  • A special $3000 donation was given this past month to help finish 3 rooms and possibly help build a small storage facility.  
  • We are soon starting our mission team season here in South Africa.  Our first group arrives here on May 29th and we have groups through the summer until August 1st.  We then have a medical team that will be here in September.  We are honored to host these teams and pray that the Lord does a great work through them and in them during their time.  Please be in prayer for these teams as they ministry in S. Africa.

This has been the most unusual month for my family.  About 2 weeks ago I started feeling ill.  It started out as a sinus infection and turned into viral meningitis. I was down for several days at home and then ended up being in the hospital for three nights.

I’m still a little out of it and now recovering at home, but my very first time to spend the night in a hospital was very strange and different, especially when they put me in the isolation ward.  


I want to thank all those that prayed for me.  I am overwhelmed by the amount of prayer support that people gave.  Seeing everyone who mentioned they were praying for me on Facebook was very humbling and life changing.  

I believe that it was a much more serious situation that was diffused by all the prayer support.   I’m not sure how I contracted the meningitis, but I am thankful for all your prayers. 

Coffey Family April 2019 Prayer Letter

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Prayer Requests & Praise  

  • Please be in prayer for my son Tyler.  He is finishing up his missionary training degree at the Our Generation Training Center soon.  His last step is a 6 month internship in Argentina.  I have included his support letter with this prayer letter, but if you are interested in helping, any donations or support can be sent to our board. 
  • Our 5 Bible college students enjoy their studies very much, but please continue to pray for them and pray more young people surrender to ministry.   
  • We are in need of storage space for Camp Rhino.  Pray we can raise the $5000 for our first storage space. We also need additional camper and staff living quarters.  I will be devoting more time in the near future in raising the needed funds.  More videos and updates are on their way.  Check out our Instagram or Facebook page to stay informed and connected.   

Quick Updates & Reminders:

  • Our new work at Fitches Corner is not taking off as well as we hoped.  We actually have more people at our Thursday Bible Study than we do for our Sunday AM service. Pray we can reach more with the Gospel in this new area.       
  • Tim and Destiny Kelly arrived this week.  They will be a great help with Camp Rhino.  Please pray their needed monthly support and setup fund come in.  
  • New Life Baptist Church and Pastor Sipho are doing well.  The adults and core teen group are maturing well.  Khona Nohamba is doing a great job assisting.  Pray our offering and our numbers to continue to grow so Pastor Sipho can be supported completely by the church.   

Our visa situation continues to be an area of concern.  Amy and I will be traveling to the city of Durban next week to turn in our applications for our visa renewals.  Our lawyer is confident we won’t have problems, but she was pretty condifent we wouldn’t have any issues the last time we applied as well.  It didn’t turn out well.  So…..who knows?:). 

Our teammates Jeremy & Bekah Hall, and Stephen and Ashlee Underwood are waiting to hear back from the same kind of visa application.  We are all hoping there won’t be any hold ups.  For my family, our main worry is having to travel back to the States to reapply  for a new visa if this visa application is rejected here.  Our current visa expires July 30th.  

Please pray we can get this taken care of soon.

Tyler Ellis 

Missionary Intern to Argentina 

I have fantastic news! In June of this year, I will be going to Argentina, South America to train under Missionary Patrick Henry for six months.

Two years ago, I started training to be a church-planting missionary at the Our Generation Training Center in Alpharetta, GA. This six month internship will be the last requirement to finish my degree.  

I deeply appreciate the countless prayers and support I have received up until now. It’s been an incredible experience. 

I am not sure what field the Lord will lead me to following my internship, but I look forward to the practical training I will gain from living in a Spanish South American culture.  

Goals for the 6 Months:

  • Begin learning Spanish
  • Adapt to a new culture and language
  • Gain great church planting experience in a different culture
  • Continue equipping myself for a life long service in missions
  • Win and disciple new believers
  • Get out of my comfort zone

Please pray for me as I prepare for this journey. Pray that God would greatly use, grow, and provide for me. Your prayers are invaluable as I pursue God’s calling!  

I need to raise approx. $12,000 for my timein Argentina.  This will cover everything from airfare to rent.  One-time gifts or monthly support is greatly appreciate.  I can’t do this without help from folks like you.  I currently have over $8000 committed for my trip.  Just under $4000 more to go. 

All support can be sent to: 

Vision Baptist Missions

P.O. Box 442 

Alpharetta, GA 30009 

Please add: “Tyler Ellis Internship” in the memo line.

Thank you ahead of time for your prayers and possibly your financial support.   I pray there will be much fruit to your account as He continues to draws lost men to Himself.

Please check out my Facebook Page “Follow Me to Argentina”  and my website at christianunit.com for further updates! Join me to see the incredible work that God is doing in Argentina!

Yours in Christ,  

Tyler Ellis

Coffey Family March 2019 Prayer Letter

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Prayer Requests & Praise  

  • Several teens over the last few weeks have trusted Christ at New Life Baptist Church and followed the Lord in believers baptism.  We have a few more getting baptized this week as well.  Please pray for their spiritual growth in the days to come.
  • We now have 5 students enrolled at our Bible school, Bay Baptist College which started on Feb. 27th.  Pray for these young men as they prepare for ministry. 
  • Please pray we can raise up more song leaders.  This is slowing down our efforts to start more churches a bit.  For example, one of our preachers is leading music at New Life and can’t really pull away to start a church until we can replace him.    
  • We are in need of storage space for Camp Rhino.  Pray we we raise the $5000 for our first storage space.  

Quick Updates & Reminders:

  • On March 10th we started a new church called Fitches Corner Baptist Church not far from Camp Rhino.  We had 3 adults, 6 teens, and several kids in attendance.  Our Sunday AM service starts at 9am so we can still make it to New Life by 11am.   
  • Fitches Corner Baptist Church is the first of 3 churches we hope to see started before the end of the year.  Pray as we do more to reach SA with the Gospel. 
  • Tim & Destiny Kelly arrive April 10th to help full time here at Camp Rhino.  Tim & Destiny were here last year for a 6-month intership, and we are very excited about having them back here full time.  They are still in need of a bit more monthly support and set up fund.  Please pray they can get that raised ASAP.  

10 years ago this month, God brought Tyler Ellis and Chase Southard into our home.  What we thought was going to be a 6-month stay, ended up beign a liiiittle longer.  God changed our family and all of our lives that day.  My 11 and 9 year old distant 2nd cousins, became my two oldest sons.  What a blessing it has been to see both of them grow into young men who love the Lord.  They are both now training to be missionaries and Tyler is raising support to for his 6-month internship in Argentina, South America with missionaries Patrick and Leslie Henry.  

  • Tyler, Mark, and Chase

Would you consider supporting him during his time in Argentina.  It would be a great blessing to him and especially to his parents living on the other side of the world:).   Any support can be sent for him to our mission, Vision Baptist Missions.

Coffey Family 2019 February Prayer Letter

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Prayer Requests & Praise    

  • We praise the Lord for having paid off over $14,000 of the $17,000 debt we had from starting Camp Rhino.  We only have about $2500 more to pay off.  Please pray we can knock the rest out as soon as possible.  Thank you all who prayed and gave. 
  • Classes for Bay Baptist College at Camp  Rhino are delayed until Feb. 26th.  We’ve had a few students back out but plan to have at least 3 guys and 1 lady begin studying for full time ministry.   Please pray for this first group of students.
  • Our son Chase has settled in Bible College well at the Our Generation Training Center in Alpharetta, Ga.  Please continue to pray for him.  He’s having major car problems right now.  

Quick Updates & Reminders:

  • Several teenagers made professions of faith this past month at New Life Baptist Church.  During one Wednesday evening  service we had three girls and three boys trust Christ.  The very next week three more teen boys trusted Christ, and last Sunday morning two more teen boys trusted Christ.  
  • My son Luke, lead a deaf boy to Christ last week who started attending church after being at Camp Rhino’s teen camp.  Luke worked at building a friendship despite not knowing sign language.  He learned he reads English  and for an hour used a white board to explain the Gospel.  He and his friend  both trusted Christ. 
  • This past week we hosted a men’s breakast with over 45 people at Camp Rhino and we will be having a marriage retreat with more than 50 this coming Saturday.    Pastor Wayne Cofield, a.k.a. my father-in-law, is the guest speaker.
Luke and his deaf friend Athi
Men’s Prayer Breakfast at Camp Rhino

Visa request: Please pray as we are in the process of obtaining long terms visas to stay in South Africa. We have friends who have struggled with getting their visas renewed and have even seen families change fields because of visa problems in South Africa. 

Our family is trying a different route at obtaining a visa that would hopefully enable us to apply for permanent residency.  Once we have permananent residence, there really isn’t any fear of not being able to stay in the country.   

We are in need of raising $2400 to cover the cost of the visa applications for my wife and I.  Because of using all we had to get the camp started, we are a little low on funds.  Please pray we are able to get the money we need asap, so we can be finished with the visa process. 

Thankfully all 3 of our kids living in South Africa did received their Study Visas which was a big answer to prayer.  So worse case scenario, we can leave our kids here by themselves to do the ministry:). 

Coffey Family January 2019 Prayer Letter

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Prayer Requests      

  • Classes for Bay Baptist College at Camp Rhino officially starts on February 12th.  We are encouraged about our first group of students who will be training full time for ministry.  Please pray for this first group of students.
  • Our 2nd oldest son, Chase, is leaving this week for Bible college in the States.  It’s definitely a bittersweet time for our family. Chase has been an incredible help here in the ministry and we are very proud of him.  Amy will be traveling back with him for 2 weeks to help him get set up.  Please pray as they travel. 
  • Pray we can pay off the remaining debt we have left over from the start of Camp Rhino.  We have raised $5000 so far toward the $17,000 debt we occurred. 

Quick Updates & Reminders:

  • We had 19 professions of faith from our first Teen Camp at Camp Rhino.  That is 25% of the campers who attended.
  • During our first camp we had 75 campers, 10 counselors, 21 helpers, and 16 missionary kids, present with a total of 126 people that were fed for each meal for our first camp. 
  • Our son Tyler arrived with 2 of his friends, Joe & Savannah, from the Our Generation Training Center in Alpharetta, GA for a 18-day trip. It’s been a great pleasure having them all here.
  • Our home church, Vision Baptist Church in Alpharetta, GA, is hosting the Our Generation Pastors Conference February 4th-6th.  Please check out their website at visionbaptist.com and make plans to attend.  I promise you’ll treasure your time there.

I really don’t know how to thank everyone who helped make Camp Rhino a reality.  So many prayers, advice, and gifts of every size were given to make it possible.

I wish you all were able to be a part of our first camp.  We had such a great time.  Our first week exceeded our expectations.  A team from Camps Abroad helped during our first camp and were such a great blessing. I was especially encouraged how their philosophy in camp ministry complemented our goals for church planting so well. Their training and leadership were priceless.  

I have a prayer request for a couple who has committed to work at Camp Rhino.  Tim & Destiny Kelly came to S. Africa on a 6-month internship last year and are raising funds to return and work at Camp Rhino full time.  Would you pray this couple can raise their support quickly.  We need their help.  They will be helping us in every area of camp ministry from security and maintenance to counseling and directing.  Tim especially is a young man who allows God to work through him despite the struggles he faces.  He will be a big help to South African kids.  Feel free to contact Tim at 706-970-0340 or via email at timmykelly73@gmail.com.

Fruits of Camp Rhino

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Kyle exclaimed, “I had the opportunity to lead one of my teenagers to the Lord. That’s the first time I’ve ever done that.  He really understood what being saved means. Seeing him saved brought me so much joy.”

Camp Rhino exist because we want to see young people reached for Christ, but also because we want to see young people better trained to do the work of the ministry.  Our first week of camp offered a tremendous opportunity for our young people to gain valuable ministry experience.

So far, I have heard from 5 of our counselors who said that during camp they had the opportunity to lead someone to Christ for their very first time.  Wow!  I was really surprised.  How exciting to see these young people see the Lord use them to change someone’s life.

Of course, we at Camp Rhino want to see people saved, but it is even more important that we see those who are saved, trained and equipped in such a way they are effectively able to share their faith.  We not only have kids being saved, we have young people who now have confidence and boldness to go after the lost.

My prayer is that many of these young people surrender to full time ministry and from these weeks of camp, we see an army of church planters and godly young ladies raised up for the work of the ministry.  As you pray and support the ministry please don’t forget about the impact that’s being made among those who are lost and without Christ.

I’m still in awe over what’s been done here at Camp Rhino.  Remember, we just purchased Camp Rhino on October 31st of this year!  That’s crazy!  Check out what was ready before Camp started on December 11th:

  1. Guys dorm with 12 sets of triple bunk beds
  2. Guys bath house with 5 showers, 5 toilets, and 4 sinks
  3. Girls dorm with 14 sets of triple bunk beds
  4. Girls bath house with 5 showers, 5 toilets, and 4 sinks
  5. Covered pavilion with picnic tables with seating for over 100 people
  6. Game room
  7. Gaga pit
  8. Human foosball court
  9. Soccer field
  10. Fully functional commercial kitchen
  11. and to top it off a full in-ground swimming pool.

It is pretty unbelievable, and we did this almost completely debt free.  Notice the word “almost”:)  Please be in prayer.  We are in debt for about $17,000.  Seeing that we have a full camp property and a house we can live in, $17,000 isn’t looking too bad right now.

We do want to get this paid off as soon as possible though.  Once this is paid off, all extra funds that come in for the camp will be able to go toward making Camp Rhino even better.  Please pray.

 

First Week at Camp Rhino

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Wow!  What a week.  We had such a tremendous time during our first week of camp.   At least 19 people made a decision to trust Christ as their Savior.  That’s 25% of our campers:)  Praise the Lord.
Thank you for being a part.  Thank you for your prayers.  So many of you were involved in helping Camp Rhino get started.  I can’t thank you enough.  I also can’t believe our first week of camp is over.

Our first camp was made up of 76 campers, 9 counselors, and 21 staff members.  We were well beyond capacity but were able to make everything work.  We definitely know our areas of weakness and will be working in the coming months to get the camp ready for a higher capacity of campers.  Our goal is to have things set up for around 120 campers. 

Other than salvation decisions, the most exciting thing during camp was seeing the growth and maturing of our counselors.  These young people training for ministry did an outstanding job counseling and mentoring our teen campers.  They grew by leaps and bounds over night.  Almost every one of them had an opportunity to lead someone to Christ, and are catching on to the importance of personal discipleship.

Thank you for your prayers and financial support.  I believe your investment will see returns for many years.  One camp down, and many more to come:)

Thank you!!!!!!!

 

 

 

 

 

 

Coffey Family December 2018 Prayer Letter

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Prayer Requests        

  • We’re finally here. Camp Rhino opens its doors to campers on December 11th for the first time.  Please pray for all our volunteers, and pray we have a great first camp.
  • There will be anywhere from 60-80 campers arriving for camp.  Pray the Lord does a great work in their hearts. 
  • Bay Baptist College- The first classes will be starting in January.  We should have 5 or 6 students our first semester.  We pray from this we will see more churches started.
  • Our oldest son Tyler, who is in Bible College back in the States, and our 2nd oldest son Chase, who will be leaving for Bible college in January.  They both are training for missions.
  • Finances to help get Camp Rhino ready for our first camp from December 11th to 14th.

Quick Updates & Reminders:

  • Missionaries Josh and Meagan Sullivan arrived this past week with their kiddos.  They have completed their deputation and will be starting language school soon.  Pray as they get set up and are working to get their long term visas. 
  • The 4 person team from Camps Abroad with the Wilds in NC arrived and have been a great help.
  • Jens Looney, a young man from the Our Generation Training Center in Alpharetta, GA, arrived this past week for his 6-month internship. 
  • Contact me ASAP if you are interested in leading a mission team to South Africa or if you would just like to come on your own.

Mattresses  are just one of the many things we had to order to get camp ready.  It’s amazing how many little things it takes to run a ministry.  It’s also amazing how easy it is to forget a lot of those little things until a week before camp starts:)

We can’t thank you all enough for helping during these past two years with the prayers and financial support and gifts that have made Camp Rhino a reality.  It’s hard to believe all that has come together to make this camp possible.  Thank you so much.    We pray the Lord blesses your investment multiple times over. 

Our two major prayers as we start camp is that teenagers’ hearts will be pierced with the truth of the Gospel and that many young people would give their lives to full time Christian ministry.  Might we see from the effects of this ministry, more churches started all over South Africa and the world. 

A lot of last minute things

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The list of things we need to finish up in order to be ready for camp on December 11th is a littler longer than I had hoped, but I still think we’ll be ready.  We are so grateful for the $8150 that came in to help toward our $15,000 goal.  Pray we can raise the remaining $6850 before camp.  This last amount will help cover the beds, mattresses, electrical, plumbing, and kitchen needs.  Our 75 mattresses arrived on Thanksgiving Day and we are in the process of building the triple bunk beds now.  I really appreciate the help missionaries Jeremy and Kevin Hall have given in helping get the beds put together.  We would be in real trouble right now if it wasn’t for them:)

There has been a lot of talk about camp, especially with the purchase of the property for Camp Rhino and our first camp starting in December.  We are excited about the camp and how it will aid our ministries, but please don’t forget the focus of everything we do is pointed toward training leaders for church planting and church growth.  Our first semester of Bible college begins at the first part of the year.  We are excited about things getting started up on the campus of Camp Rhino to see more young people trained for the ministry.

There are 5 churches we work with in Port Elizabeth, but we need so much more to impact the more than 1 million souls here.  Pray for lives to be changed by the Gospel and dedicated to the work of God.  Pray for more laborers.

To sign off, here’s just a random picture I wanted to share of a few of my kids singing at a special meeting.

21 Days Until the Official Opening of Camp Rhino

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Our first camp in December isn’t far away.  Our builders are working over time to get things ready.  Things look pretty chaotic but I’m told all “major” construction will be finished in two weeks:)  We are really coming down to the wire.  All the walls are up in the buildings we need for this year.  3 cement floors still have to be laid, along with basic electrical and plumbing.  I know it sounds like a lot, and it is, but you would be amazed how quickly things are being accomplished.

Last week an extra $2500 was committed toward sponsoring 50 campers along with $6000 being committed toward the construction.  Praise the Lord!

We are still praying for another $9000 so we can finish with all the “essentials” we need for camp.  When I say “essentials” I’m talking about the seating, lights, plumbing, paint, mattresses, beds, and basic kitchen/cooking needs like sinks, deep freezers, pot, pans, and refrigerator.

Thank all of you for your prayers and sacrificial giving.  God has really blessed, and we are blown away and excited with all that’s been done.