Category Archives: Prayer Letter

Coffey Family March 2022 Prayer Letter

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Would you consider committing $1000 to be one of the 100 churches to give towards the Africa Youth Home?  We are needing $100,00 by the end of April for this purchase.  It is the property right next to Camp Rhino, which makes it a very strategic location.  

The asking price is around $113,000, and we’ve already raised about $13,000.  I know with prices going crazy in the States and really around the world with fuel and inflation, this is a tough time, but we know this youth home is going to help a lot of young people who don’t have anything.   

Prayer Requests  Praise        

  • We will be back to the States for our Annual Missions Orientation in April.  Pray this is a productive time with our new missionaries.  We’re also planning to raise funds for the Africa Youth Home. Pray we can raise $100,000 in a month:)
  • Please continue to pray for my wife’s ear surgery.  The date has been set for her to have surgery on May 16th.   
  • Pray for Missionary Katie Dilfer’s visa to arrive.  Unfortunately, it didn’t arrive in time and she had to cancel her tickets to South Africa for the end of February. She is hoping she will be here no later than the end of April.   
  • As soon as we get back in April, we also need to apply for new visas.  Pray we can get those worked out as soon as possible. There’s been a back log and some have waited over a year for their visas. 
  • We are thankful for those who gave to replace the things that were stolen in January.  We have bought almost everything back now. 

Quick Updates  

  • We’ve started construction on a new building for Nkandla Baptist Church.  Pastor Khona & his wife Iminathi are excited about having a larger more permanent building.   
  • This last week I was in Nigeria with Graham and Olivia Young during their survey trip.  They will return in July to work full-time under Missionary Mark Holmes for their first two years.  Please be praying for them and Nigeria.  There are very few missionaries to Nigeria for over 220 million people.  We badly need more missionaries in this country. 
  • This past month, we’ve seen two guys that I’ve worked with for years walked away from the Lord come back to church.  We praise the Lord and pray the Lord continues working in their lives to make them more like Him.
Nigerian Style with Graham and Olivia Young

In church news, the main church we are working in now, Lighthouse Baptist Church, has been having more visitors.  Pray, we see more saved.  There are so many without Christ.  New Life Baptist Church is still struggling unfortunately in the more affluent part of the township, but Vision Baptist is doing well.

New building for Nkandla Baptist Church

Africa Youth Home & Short Trip back to the States

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For the month of April, I will be back in the States for our mission board’s annual orientation. I’m looking forward to being with all our Vision Baptist Mission’s missionaries on deputation and on furlough. Pray the Lord blesses this time.

I’m also using this time to present the ministry of the new Africa Youth Home in churches. If you would like to have me back in to report and update your church on the Youth Home, please just let me know. I still have a few dates available, but we will head back to South Africa on April 26th, Lord willing.

Several have reached out to me concerning gifts their church has already given or committed to give for the Africa Youth Home. As soon as I have a total, I’ll let you know. I am praying for 100 churches to commit $1000 by the end of April to make this Home a reality. We are trying to raise $113,000 in total with over $10,000 already being promised.

Would you consider being a part of helping us impact these young people?

Thank you for your prayers and thank you for partnering with us to impact South Africa with the Gospel of Jesus Christ.

Africa Youth Home- Offer Accepted!

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Our offer for the property and first house for the Africa Youth Home has been accepted. We now have about 90 days to raise $113,500 and $5500 has already been donated:)

You can check out the listing for yourself here.

The property for the Youth Home is right next to Camp Rhino and the Bay Baptist Bible College. This purchase will double the amount of property we have in total taking us to over 40 acres of land.

Right now we have 4 teens living on the campus of Camp Rhino, but I can really see hundreds of kids being cared for on this new property one day.

Some may ask, why don’t you just build the youth home on the property you have now. Why would you want to buy more property? Let me give you a few reasons why:

  • We continue to expand Camp Rhino with adding new facilities and activities for the children. The possibilities are endless with growth of our camps and retreats and we can easily use all the land just for the camp as the Lord provides.
  • The 4-bedroom house located on this property would probably cost $80,000-$90,000 to build. It is a well built home with brick, tile, and stone finishings. For just an extra $20,000-$30,000, we will be doubling the amount of land we will own along with having the first house for our Youth Home.
  • Having more property will allow us to keep the ministries of Camp Rhino and the Youth Home separate. Camp can lose its appeal for the children if they live there every day.
  • This extra property will enable us to continually expand our ministries. We want more than one house to use for the youth home. I can dream of having a dozen or more houses or complexes being used for the Youth Home. This would also give us room for a single mom’s and women’s shelter that we have considered starting one day.
  • The price of property continues to rise, we believe it would be wise to make this investment now.
  • Securing this property allows us to protect the camp atmosphere for Camp Rhino. We are thankful for the neighbors we’ve had in the past, but we never know who may move in next. The property we are wanting to buy for the Youth Home is the closest property to the camp.

Please pray we can raise the needed funds quickly. Please pray about giving.

Coffey Family February 2022 Prayer Letter

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We need your help and prayers.  We’re stepping out to start the Africa Youth Home.

This past week I went to look at a property that is for sale right beside Camp Rhino for the start of this ministry.  It has a 4 bedroom house and 20 acres of land.  By faith, I went ahead and made an offer for the property for $100,000.  The asking price is $145,000 so we’re waiting for their answer.  Needless to say, we don’t have $145,000 or $100,000:). 

20 Acre property with a 4 bedroom house beside Camp Rhino

We have four 16-year-olds living with us now at Camp Rhino.  These teenagers have faced much hardship and loss.  We want to help more young people like them, but we need your help.  

We need at least $100,000 to start if not $145,000.  All the teens we have up to this point have been a part of our church’s ministries for years now.  We have 2 more teens that need to be here now, but we just don’t have the room or the staff.  Would you consider playing a part?

1st Day of School – My daughter Addison is with Ano, a pastor’s kids with the Micky shirt on, and our 4 new teenagers, Sisipho, Dumisani, Liso, & Elethu.

Pray Requests and Praise

  • Our Bible College starts back this month.  Please pray for the 9 full time students who are studying for the ministry.  There are another 15 students who are taking part-time classes in our Bible Institute.  Please pray especially for this aspect of our ministry.  All of our ministries are pointed toward training young people for church planting.  We can’t produce lasting change here in South Africa without more churches.  
  • Please continue to pray for my wife’s ear surgery.  She has a hearing test this week and an appointment with the ear surgeon on February 22nd.  
  • Pray for Lynette Osborn who is coming to work with us in the ministry, specifically in the Youth Home.  She has 40% of her support and is hoping to be here in January 2023.

Quick Updates

  • This past week our house was broken into while we were sleeping.  About $5000 worth of equipment was taken.  We are so grateful that $4000 has been committed toward replacing that equipment so far.  We are also installing a new alarm system that will hopefully deter that from happening again.  
  • We are also thankful that $2200 has been committed toward the $3000 shortfall we had for our camps this year.    
  • Currently, we have 4 teenagers who are living at Camp Rhino.  They are the start of our Youth Home Ministry.  If you would be interested in sponsoring one of these teens please let me know.  A full sponsorship is $100 per child per month.  This provides basic essential needs along with covering food and housing cost. 
Sisipho
Dumisani
Liso
Elethu
Download PDF File HereDownload

Coffey January 2022 Prayer Letter

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Happy New Year everyone. What a great start to 2022 here in South Africa at Camp Rhino.   We had 12 teenage boys trust Christ as their Savior during the first-ever boy’s only teen camp week.  We also just finished the girl’s camp week and had 7 girls trust Christ.  In total between the two groups, we had 142 campers.  

Girls’ Teen Camp 2022

We had to split the teen camp up this year and have separate camps because of space.  We just don’t have enough dorms to house more than 120 at a time, and we are also short about 30 beds to max out the space we do have. With all the churches growing, this is a great problem to have. 

Boys’ Teen Camp 2022

Please pray with us concerning expenses for the camp. We currently need around $3000 to cover this year’s summer camps.  This shortfall is a reflection of some good things that are happening. We have more camp staff than we’ve ever had before.  Our counselor-to-camper ratio is much better this year.  We also have a much better kitchen staff along with our working crews.

Prayer Request

Right now we have 4 teenagers from our churches that are living full-time on the campus of Camp Rhino.   These young people have experienced some pretty horrific things in their short lives. We believe the Lord is leading us in the direction to start a separate youth home for these kids and for more just like them.  Every teen we have now has made a profession of faith and expressed a desire to live for the Lord. Pray as we move forward.

Please continue to pray for my wife’s ear surgery.  She’s lost most hearing in her left ear.  It’s a serious surgery that could improve her hearing or cause her to go completely deaf in that ear.  We are hoping to have this surgery in the next month or so.  

Quick Updates

Camp has been great, and there are many opportunities for you to still be involved.  We still need sponsors for many of the teen campers that have already enjoyed camp and also the junior campers who will be here next week.  Every sponsorship given helps us pay the salaries of all our counselors and the extra kitchen staff we need for all our camps.  It also aids in improving our camp facilities.  You can sponsor a child for camp at $50 a person or give any offering to help towards our expenses. 

I’m excited to announce that Jacob and Christen Clower have been accepted with VBM as missionaries to the country of Mozambique.  During our survey trip with them, they believe God confirmed that was the place He wants them to minister.  Please pray for them as they begin raising financial support.  

Jacob & Christen Clower – Our New Missionaries to Mozambique
January 2022 Prayer Letter in PDF Download

Coffey Family December 2021 Prayer Letter

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Prayer Requests and Praise

  • It’s great to be home.  We arrived back in South Africa on December 2nd.  It was great being back for my son’s wedding, but not so great leaving my daughter Emilee there for Bible College.  We can already tell how difficult it will be not having her around.  Please pray for her as she attends the Our Generation Training Center in Alpharetta, GA.  This is a missionary training school started out of my home church, Vision Baptist Church.   
  • Please continue to pray for my wife’s ear surgery.  She’s lost most hearing in her left ear.  It’s a serious surgery that could improve her hearing or cause her to go completely deaf in that ear.  

Quick Updates

  • We want to wish you all a Merry Christmas and a Happy New year.  2021 passed very quickly, but I’m definitely looking forward to what the Lord has in store for 2022. 
  • We were able to buy a lawn tractor for Camp Rhino because of a generous donation.  This equipment is going to be a tremendous help to our Camp.  Our guys have been cutting about 6 acres of grass for almost three years now with just weed eaters. 
  • With being the Africa Director of our mission board, I’m privileged to represent a lot of great guys.  One of those missionaries is Jason Rishel.  Pray for him as he is raising funds to purchase motorcycles for his young men who are starting a circuit-riding ministry to reach into the surrounding villages of his city in Burkina Faso.  Each motorcycle cost about $900.  Please let me know if you would like to be a part of this ministry.  
Missionary Jason Rishel’s team in Burkina Faso

December is the start of our summertime here in South Africa.  Unfortunately, it is during this time that many teenagers start getting into drugs and alcohol.   Pray that we can see many of these young people rescued through our church and camp efforts.   Also, pray for our teens to stand for God and not go after the things of the world. 

A week after we left for the States in October, the grandmother of one of our teen boys was shot and killed with him in the next room.  He has been staying at Camp Rhino during most of the week since that happened.  We also have another teen girl staying at the Camp full time because of problems she was facing in her home.  These stories only scratch the surface of what a lot of young people face every day in the townships of South Africa.  

We are really praying about starting a teen home, separate from our camp ministry, to better minister to these young people in need.  We really need wisdom going forward.  Would you help us pray as we consider starting this ministry in the next year? 

Coffey Family September 2021 Prayer Letter

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Prayer Requests and Praise

  • Please pray for all of our churches.  For now restrictions on churches have been eased and we are hoping it stays that way.      
  • Be praying for our Youth Teen Retreat this next week at Camp Rhino. We are expecting to have over 100 campers.  Toward the end of the month we will also be having a girls only teen event.  
  • Our Singles Men Retreat at Camp Rhino was a success.  We had around 20 young guys participate with one of them trusting Christ as their Savior.   
  • We had a great marriage retreat with our Pastorial Team. It was a great time of laughs and learning.
My Pumpkin & My Wifey

Quick Updates

  • Our new building for Bay Baptist Bible College is almost complete.  The aluminum doors and windows need to be installed along with the electrical system.  We should be able to use the building for the start of our semester next week.        
  • At the end of the month my family will be going back to the States for 2 months for my son Chase’s wedding. I will also be presenting the ministry of Camp Rhino in several churches during our time there.  If you would like me to report back on the work here, please let me know.  I still have a few dates available. 
  • Please be praying for our oldest daughter Emilee.  She will also be attending the Our Generation Training Center when we return to the States.  Emilee is a big part of our ministry here working with our teen girls and managing our Camp kitchen.  Her leaving will be a tremendous loss.  Not to mention the effect it will have on her mother and I not having her here.  We don’t believe losing our first girl is going to be easy.  Please be in prayer for her parents as well:) 

God is at work in Africa.  We have new missionaries raising support to share Jesus with people in Mozambique, Nigeria, and South Africa with Vision Baptist Missions. New churches are being started in Burkina Faso and the Lord is using national pastors I’m connected within Kenya and Zambia to see many souls saved and trained in the Word God.  Please pray that God raises up even more laborers for this needed continent. 

As we return to the States for 2 months, pray the Lord will make our time fruitful.  We hope to make more people aware of the opportunities they can be involved in on our tremendous continent.  Pray we can see people recruited for Camp Rhino, Bay Baptist Academy, and the full-time medical clinic we would like to start. 

More than anything we need more folks to give their life in church planting.  With a church, people have a chance at eternal life.  We need more Gospel preaching churches here in South Africa and in every city all over Africa.  Please pray for Africa.

Coffey Family July 2021 Prayer Letter

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Prayer Requests & Praise

  • Please pray for all of our churches.  South Africa went back in another lock down where no public gatherings of any kind were allowed for the past month or so.  Instead of canceling all our services, our churches met “underground” at least once a week, but thankfully we are able to start back with our normal services this coming week.
  • Because of the lockdown we canceled our winter teen and junior camps, but still plan to proceed with our Young Single’s Retreat.  We are expecting a good bit more young people than we had for our last singles retreat.  Please pray for hearts to be changed.  We have young guys who are still faithful to church from our last singles event at Camp Rhino.  We are really praying some of these young guys will commit to preach.    

Quick Updates

  • Construction is progressing rapidly on the building for Bay Baptist Bible College.  $25,000 was given for the first building, and we will need about that same amount for each of the following 5 buildings.   
  • Money has been given to cover the cost of 20 of the 40 beds and mattresses we need for Camp Rhino.  Each set of bunk beds is close to $300, which leaves us in need of about $2000 for the remaining beds.        
  • My son Chase and his fiancée Ashley, who marry on October 11th, announced their call as missionaries to South Africa.  We look very forward to having them here in South Africa.  Please pray they can get their support as quickly as possible.   Also please have them in your church to present their ministry if possible.  You can email him at: Chasesouthard7@gmail.com.

I shamelessly work at getting people to visit the mission field.  God used my first mission trip to change my life forever.  I want people to be able to experience the same kinds of things I faced that challenged my way of thinking and living.

This past month we had a group that was here for two weeks.  After a day packed with 4 services on Sunday, we took 3 of the guys out for a full-fledged African Safari Hunt where they were able to kill an impala and 2 kudu deer.  The meat from this hunt was donated to Camp Rhino.  Not only were they able to have one of the best hunting experiences of their lives, but they were also able to help feed the kids at our camp for at least the next 3 months. 

Meat from the Kudus that were hunted

If you’re interested in missions and interested in going on a Safari hunt to help Camp Rhino, please let me know.  We would love to have you. I can promise you it will be a trip you will never forget filled with lots of ministries and a little bit of Safari adventure.      

Coffey Family June 2021 Prayer Letter

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Prayer Requests & Praise  

  • Missionary Jeremy Hall will be bringing a group of 9 people from all over the US to be with us in a couple of weeks.  We’re praying the Lord really moves in the heart of this mission team.  We’re especially excited that my niece, Chloe Johnson, will be a part of that group.     
  • Please be praying for our Junior and Teen Camps that we are having in July.  These will be our first winter camps at Camp Rhino.  As you all are heating up in the States, remember our seasons are opposite here in South Africa so it’s getting a little cooler.        

Quick Updates  

  • With the funds given to help the pastors and ministries in Zambia and Kenya we’ve continued to be a blessing to those great folks.  This past month we financed a well for one of the Bible Institutes in Zambia.  Thank you all for being a great help.  We are still collecting funds to be a help to those pastors if you are wanting to give.  
  • We are starting construction on the buildings for Bay Baptist Bible College next to Camp Rhino.  $25,000 was given for the first building, and we will need about that same amount for each of the following 5 buildings.  We’re hoping to continue construction for the Bible college along with the new lodge for Camp Rhino.  

Please pray that all our churches will be strengthened and more young people will step out and give their lives to preach the Gospel so we can start more churches.  

Lighthouse Baptist Church is going well.  We had 3 ladies saved this past month and the attendance is steadily increasing.  

Vision Baptist also continues to grow.  New Life and Nkandla have struggled a bit but we’re hoping and working to see some more growth in the coming weeks.

All we do here goes toward training national leadership with the purpose of starting more churches.  We know that if people have a church in their community they have a chance at eternal life. Pray with us as we continue to work toward starting a church for every community.  There is so much work to do. 

We finished up our first semester for our Bible College this year.  Our next semester starts in August.  We plan to be in our new building by that time.  We are hoping to branch out this year and make our college available to other churches around the country, especially with our new facilities becoming a reality.  

I do have a very excited announcement to make very soon. Be watching for our next email coming out this week.

Our Half Year in Pictures

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Here is a snapshot of 2021 so far for the Coffey family. Thank you all so much for being a part of our ministry. We are very fortunate to be involved in this exciting work.
We started off 2021 with two camps at Camp Rhino. We were torn about having camp during lockdown but finally decided to follow through with them. Thankfully we haven’t had a single outbreak with Covid this year with any of our meetings.
We started with Junior Camp. 

Then we followed with Teen Camp.

Remember, January is Summer for us here in South Africa:)

We saw over 50 young people make professions of faith during those two camps. Katie Dilfer who is raising support to come back to South Africa was able to visit for 3 weeks during that time. My son Chase also brought a group from the states to help with those camps.  

He also used that time to propose to his girlfriend Ashley.  We love her very much, btw:)

Two interns from Vision Baptist Missions came to work and train with us for 3 months, Noah and Tristan Wilkerson. 

Noah and Tristan surrendered to be missionaries to the bordering country of Mozambique during their time here.  We were able to take a short survey trip there to check out the country before they made their final decision.  Pray for them as they are now on deputation with the new son Logan, raising support to come back to Africa very soon.

Even though our churches were on lockdown and weren’t allowed to meet in their buildings, we invited the churches that wanted to participate to Camp Rhino for three weeks straight of Sunday services.  It was a special time for all the churches to meet together.  

In February, the restrictions were lifted and churches were able to meet again.  There is still a little struggle with attendance, but the leadership and spirit are strong and the churches are beginning to grow.  We continue to see people saved with five people making professions of faith this past month.

In March, I went back to the states for 3 weeks to teach at our annual orientation at the Wilds for Vision Baptist Missions. Below are those in attendance from our Africa team. I have the great privilege of serving them as the Africa Director for VBM. 

This is all our missionaries in attendance for orientation, those on furlough and those on deputation. 

In April, we had our very first teen camp and single camp during school’s fall break.  This is the first time we’ve had a camp outside the regular summer season.  We’re hoping this will begin our year-round camping which we hope to be the new normal.  We had 10 young people make professions of faith. 

Robert Canfield, Africa Representative and Director of the Our Generation Training Center in Alpharetta, Ga brought students from the Training Center to help during those camps.

We’ve tried to make great use of some of our downtime at Camp Rhino to improve our facilities. We’ve installed video surveillance along with an intercom system for the entire camp.

We are also working on improving Camp Rhino grounds and sport fields….

…. and adding hens soon to take down some of the expenses for the camp.

Classes have continued for Bay Baptist Bible College and Bay Baptist Bible Institutes throughout the lockdown. Please be praying as we will be breaking ground on our new buildings for Bay Baptist Bible College in the next few days. (New Pictures Coming Soon)

We’re definitely excited about what else is in store for us here in South Africa.  Thank you all for your prayers and support.  We wouldn’t be able to do what we get to do without you.