Departing with $100,000 and much much more

January 10, 2018 by The Coffeys

As we get ready to leave for the airport today, I wanted to send you our last update before we head back to South Africa.

Two weeks before our goal date, December 31, 2017, we crossed the $100,000 mark that we were trying to reach for Camp Rhino. As many of you know, this was the initial amount we wanted to raise in order to purchase property to start our camp and training center in South Africa. Well…….we didn’t stop there. A week later we received a $20,000 donation and the week after that we received an $8000 donation. With those gifts an a few others we are now over $129,000 for Camp Rhino.

I want to Praise the Lord. He did much more than we even hoped for. I also believe other donations are on their way and there is no telling where we will be by the end of January.

Thank you for your prayers and for your giving. I am so very grateful for your involvement.

Please be praying as we pack the last minute things, drive to the airport, and go through the difficult time of saying goodbye to our family and friends. Today will be a bitter sweet time, but we are definitely looking forward to getting back to our ministry in South Africa.

Please especially pray for us and for our oldest son Tyler who will be staying here in the states. He attending the Our Generation Training Center at our home church to become a missionary as well. Leaving him behind will be the hardest thing for us as we head back.

Coffey Family December 2017 Prayer Letter

December 16, 2017 by The Coffeys

Quick Updates & Reminders:

January 10th is our departure date for South Africa. We are looking very forward to getting back to the field.
7 Young people were saved at this year’s camp, our last we hope at a rented facility.
We completed our first two children’s books that teach missions principles and features Camp Rhino. Go to camprhino.org to order Lana’s Spots or The Little Five Friends Coloring and Activity Book.

It is my joy and pleasure to announce that we have met our initial goal to raise $100,000 to help with the start of Camp Rhino with two weeks to spare. PRAISE – THE – LORD!!!!! The last $388 came in the night I preached at my home church, Vision Baptist Church, on Dec 14th. When I announced our goal to raise that much money back in January, I was a little nervous to say the least. Despite my nervousness, God worked out what some thought was impossible.

$100,000 and Growing

I know this is just the first step concerning fundraising, but God has taught my family a lot during the last year. He has confirmed in our heart we are headed in the right direction, and He has taught us the importance to live by faith and not by sight or worries or second thoughts or doubts.

We really desire to live a life not based on our abilities and talents, but based on God living through us to be a blessing to many others. Please pray for our next steps. We need to find the right piece of property and see from there what other funds are needed. With the sale of our house and more donations being committed, we are hoping to return to South Africa with $150,000.

Also be praying about our next church plant. We hope to start our second church within the first few weeks of returning to Port Elizabeth. Although we are excited about Camp Rhino, we know our main goal is to see more churches started throughout all of South Africa. We really believe that Camp Rhino will help accelerate those efforts.

Prayer Requests

Our oldest son Tyler- He will be staying back in the States for Bible College when we return to the field. This is our first time leaving someone behind and know it won’t be easy.
The sell of our house- When we left for the field the first time, we weren’t able to sell our house. With the improvements in the market, we are hoping to sell and at least clear $30,000. Our plan is to use the money toward the purchase of our camp property.

Almost to $95,000

December 3, 2017 by The Coffeys

This past week while in North Carolina, we had two of our supporting churches give a total of $1470 towards Camp Rhino. With the new addition we now have $94, 691.74 towards our $100,000 goal. Wow, so close!

I’m, thrilled to know we are nearing our goal.

Will you pray about helping us get the remaining $5000?

Our family leaves for South Africa on January 10th. We can’t wait to get there and start searching for property. We have a few options we’ve seen online that we’re excited about. God has used all of you to be a great blessing in praying and giving. I don’t have the necessary words to express my appreciation.

Christmas Camp Coming Soon

November 18, 2017 by The Coffeys

Our 3rd Annual Teen Camp is not very far off. Each year during the first part of December our team host a teen camp in Jeffreys Bay, South Africa, which is about 45 minutes outside of Port Elizabeth where we live. We hope this will be our last camp at a rented facility before we’re able to purchase our own property for Camp Rhino. We will continue our Christmas Camp but hope to be well established in our new property by December of next year.

Here are a few things you could be praying about with us if you would:

Souls to be saved at this year’s teen camp.
Teenagers to commit their life to full time ministry.
That we are patient to wait on the property the Lord wants us to buy.
Our oldest son Tyler who will be staying back when we return to South Africa.
Direction as we hope to start our second church.
Funds to come in to finish off our $100,000 goal and beyond

We currently have a little over $93,000, but still have a little way to go.

October 2017 Prayer Letter

October 31, 2017 by The J Halls

Dear Pastor and Friends,

This week I will be giving an update to a church who has faithfully supported me for more than 10 years, Liberty Baptist Church in Timmonsville, SC. I will also be in two new churches. This is what we have been doing steadily for the past two months. We are really enjoying traveling and seeing many who have been so good to us for so many years. In October, we visited 10 churches, two of which decided to partner with our ministry as new supporters.

New Support: We have had four new churches promise to partner with our ministry since we have been back. We are praying for 10 new churches before January. We need a miracle. This support already has a specific purpose; We have to get more materials translated into isiXhosa. There are little to no Bible study helps or books for personal growth in this language. I am currently employing three people from our churches who translate materials. I want to continue to employ them and begin to get some of these materials printed and distributed to our local pastors and others.

The most exciting event this month took place at our home church two weeks ago. I had the privilege of baptizing three of our four children; Olivia, Brayden, and Jackson. All three of them made professions of faith in Jesus some time ago and have been anxiously awaiting their opportunity to make those decisions public. All the grandparents were able to be present and it was a very special night.

Summer Camp in South Africa is right around the corner, December 11-15. With their finances, most teens cannot afford to go. We have dozens of young people who have been working on different projects (created by us) to earn money for camp. It’s going to cost around $30 per camper. If you would be interested in sponsoring a camper please send any donation to Macedonia World Baptist Missions (attn. Jeremy Hall Camp) P.O. Box 519 Braselton, GA 30517. Thank you very much to all of you who have already participated!

Other Prayer Requests:

Our Travels: we will be making a special trip to Peru this month (Nov.13-21). We will attend a Regional Conference and visit our old ministry and friends.
The Our Generation Summit: “Unashamed” is the theme for this year. Join us at Lake Lanier Islands Resort, in Buford, GA December 28-30.

Thanks again for your faithfulness to support our ministry through prayer and financial support. May God bless you richly for all that you do!

Sincerely,

Jeremy and Rebekah Hall

October 2017 Coffey Family Prayer Letter

October 16, 2017 by The Coffeys

Prayer Request

The sell of our house- When we left for the field the first time, we weren’t able to sell our house. With the improvements in the market, we are hoping to sell it and at least clear $30,000. Our plan is to use the money we clear toward the purchase of our camp property.
Safety as we travel- This coming month we’ll be in Alabama, South Carolina, Georgia, Ohio, and Florida.
Our oldest son Tyler- He will be staying back in the States for Bible College when we return to the field.
Christmas offerings being designated for Camp Rhino- We are praying to meet and surpass our $100,000 by the end of December.

Quick Updates & Events:

Volunteer visas for our children were approved. They are good through July 2019. Afterwards we hope to get a 5 year work visa which would allow us to one day obtain permanent residence.
With the children’s visas in hand, we purchased our airline tickets for South Africa. We are booked to fly out January 10th.
Our first children’s books that will promote missions principles and Camp Rhino will be shipped out on October 31st. Check them out and pre-order at CampRhino.org.
Plan to attend the Our Generation Summit either at Lake Lanier Island Resort in Buford, Ga on December 28th-30th or in Boston, MA on January 4th-6th. For more information go to OGSummit.com

Through these past months on furlough, God has really taught us and grown our faith in an incredible way. When we started announcing our goal back in January to raise $100,000 to start Camp Rhino, to be honest, we were a little nervous. This is the first time we’ve personally tried to raise money like that. Month after month God, met or even surpassed our goals. From the first $5000 given to the last $1000 that came in last week, it’s been amazing to see.

Looking back and knowing the churches and individuals that have been involved is a bit overwhelming. God has placed us in the path of some incredible people that have been a great encouragement and help.

We now have over $87,000 towards the purchase of property to start our new camp. With around $13,000 to go, we’re not near as nervous as we were in January:). Thank you all again for your prayers and support.

Camp Rhino and our Christmas Camp

October 1, 2017 by The Coffeys

Another $3000 came in within the last week and a half for Camp Rhino. The total is now over $85,000. I believe we will meet and beat our goal of $100,000. Thank you all for praying and giving. I want to say a special thanks to Oakland Heights Baptist Church in Cartersville, GA and Fellowship Baptist Church in East Ridge, TN with helping us pass the $85,000 mark.

Our team at Camp Rhino will be renting a facility to use in December to host our annual Christmas Camp. Please pray as churches are preparing now to bring their young people and recruit lost teens from their community. This should be our biggest camp week so far.

If you or your church would be interested in making a trip to South Africa sometime next year to help with Camp Rhino please let me know. We are hoping to have our first teen week July 2018, but need help before and after getting the Camp ready. We already have six groups schedule to visit us next year, but are looking for many more.

Visas are in Hand

September 25, 2017 by The Coffeys

As we’ve mentioned in previous updates, we were a little concerned about obtaining visas for our children. Amy and I have our visas that are good until July 2019, but our children’s visas were already expired. Last week, thankfully, our kids visas were approved and sitting in our mailbox when we arrived back from our trip to Texas.

Missionaries working and/or going to South Africa are facing visa problems that we have never faced before. It’s always been fairly easy to get a visa to do ministry in South Africa. This year has been a bit different. Changes in the visa process have created a lot of stress and uneasiness when it comes to getting permission to work in South Africa.

We aren’t sure how the visa process will be after July 2019, but we are praying some things get worked out so it won’t be a problem for missionaries to stay long term. We are hoping even through Camp Rhino, we can create a way for missionaries to obtain 5 year work visas. From a 5 year work visa, missionaries would then be qualified for permanent residency.

With all our visas in hand, we are officially buying our plane tickets for January 10th, and are looking very forward to getting back.

To Washington D.C. and Back Again

September 1, 2017 by The Coffeys

This past weekend, Luke and I flew up to Washington, D.C. to be at two meetings in the Baltimore, MD area. On Sunday morning, it was great seeing Pastor Stacey Shiflett, his family, and people at Calvary Baptist Church. During the Sunday PM service I was privileged to report back to Pastor Scott Tewell and the folks at Rosedale Baptist Church. We returned back to Georgia on Monday afternoon, and Monday evening we received some unexpected mail. Our children’s passports that we applied for less than two weeks before, surprisingly arrived. We were expecting it to take 4-6 weeks. We needed the renewed passports so we could renew our kids’ South Africa Visas.

After flying up to D.C. for the weekend and finding out we now have all the passports, we jumped in the car Tuesday, and drove straight back to D.C. and arrived at midnight. Wednesday morning at the South African Embassy was a little challenging, but by Thursday, everything was worked out. The applications for our kids visas were accepted. Please pray they will be approved and returned to us ASAP. Several South Africa missionaries have faced problems getting their visas renewed in the last few months. Since Amy and I already have our visas we don’t anticipate any problems, but we definitely still need your prayers.

We did have an added bonus, on Wednesday evening we were able to visit Crossroads Baptist Church and hear Pastor Kenny Baldwin preach. Pastor Baldwin is someone our team of young preachers in South Africa respect very much. They were a bit jealous finding out I was in his church for their Wednesday evening service:)

August 2017 Prayer Letter

August 9, 2017 by The J Halls

Dear Pastor and Friends,

Much has happened since our last update. Thank you so much for your prayers for us and the work here in South Africa. One prayer request from our last letter was for our youth conference. We had a great turn out. The Lord blessed and we saw two people make professions of faith after hearing the gospel.

We held our fist Vacation Bible School at Soweto Baptist Church last month. It was a mad house, but it was a lot of fun! We had a high attendance of 130 kids. There were about 25+ workers who were involved. The youth worked hard to put on a skit every day and some of the mamas and young ladies served snacks. Several of our young men had the opportunity to preach the gospel. It was exciting to see our people serve.

One of my favorite times of the week is Sunday afternoon. We do not have an evening service, but we do have a small informal Bible study. My wife teaches the ladies while I teach the men (and teens). My wife is going through the book of Galatians at the moment with the ladies and I am teaching the men on hermeneutics. (Below is my classroom setting)