Camp Rhino and our Christmas Camp

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

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.

New Total for Camp Rhino – Over $80,000 Now

This past week my family was privileged to be a part of Worth Baptist Church’s missions conference in Fort Worth, TX.  Pastor Tyler Gillit, his staff, and church people put on a spectacular conference.  The Saturday night Foreign Food Festival was unbelievable.  I’ve never seen so much involvement in a dinner like that, and I’ve definitely never tasted so many wonderful tasting foreign dishes in one evening.   Throughout the entire conference we were blown away by the encouragement and kindness of everyone.

On Sunday evening of the conference, Worth Baptist really was a blessing to our family, and one of the things that really stuck out was the offering they gave to help with Camp Rhino.  The generously gave $2460 to help buy property and take us past a pretty big hurdle.

We’ve broken the $80,000 mark and the new total of funds given or committed is $81,188.  Another $18,812 will take us to our $100,000 goal.  Praise the Lord.

Just shy of $79,000 for Camp Rhino

First Baptist Church of Judson, TX and Pastor Tim Smith recently decided to partner with our family.  It’s always an honor when a church chooses our family to be their representatives in South Africa.

First Baptist also surprised us this month by sending an extra $1500 for Camp Rhino. With this great offering our total is now at $78,728.00.  With exactly 4 months left with our furlough, we’re excited about where we are.

Please be praying for our children’s visas.  We are hoping to get them back in the next week or so, but nothing is guaranteed.  If we do get them back, we’ll go ahead and pay for our return tickets that are being held which have us leaving January 10th.

One more $1000 from Dundalk, MD

On Sunday, August 27th, I dropped into Calvary Baptist Church in Dundalk, MD to visit Pastor Stacey Shiflett and his family.  It had been many years since I saw the Shiflett’s.  It was through him that I made my first visit to South Africa back in 2003.  I don’t believe I would be a missionary to South Africa now if it wasn’t for this family.

It was encouraging to see the great ministry going on at Calvary and how the Lord is using this family from the “South” to reach folks in Maryland.  It was an exciting atmosphere in Dundalk where there is definitely a need for the Gospel.

Pastor Shiflett gave me an opportunity to present our ministry, and immediately afterwards, the church voted to give $1000 for Camp Rhino.  What a blessing!  With that donation, we are now over $77,000.

 

To Washington D.C. and Back Again

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:)

 

Kentucky & Missouri

Today and tomorrow, I am traveling with my son Luke to present our ministry to a church in Gilbertsville, KY and then to report back to a supporting church in Poplar Bluff, MO.  Following the evening service in Poplar Bluff, we will head back to Georgia in order to escape the Monday eclipse travelers.   I always look forward to meeting new people and reconnecting with others as we travel to churches.  Thank you for your prayers as we travel.

Please continue to pray also for our fund raising efforts for Camp Rhino.  We are only $26,000 short of our $100,000 goal.

A special thanks to Bill Goins and the folks who help with his ministry at Calvary Stand Print Ministry. This ministry sends out our monthly prayer letters, and are also available to help with many other printing needs.  Brother Goins sent me this picture of the folks at Lupton Drive Baptist Church in Chattanooga, TN helping stuff our prayer letters.  We couldn’t do what we do without the helps hands of people from all over.

 

The Wilds

When deciding to start Camp Rhino, I knew there would be an enormous learning curve heading into that area of ministry.  Since our arrival to the States, I’ve tried to visit different camps and meet with their directors in order to gain as much knowledge as I could about camp ministry.

Last month, when visiting Wolf Mountain Camp in California, I was privileged to meet Evangelist Mark Herbster who “just happened” to be there as their main speaker.   Mark also works at The Wilds Camp in North Carolina during the summers and insisted I come for a visit.  This past week Mark arranged for me to visit during their last week of summer camp.  He also put me in contact with key people at the Wilds that were a great help.  I had one-on-one meetings with their Presidents, their Camps Abroad Director, their Retreat Coordinator, their Food Services Manager, and their Program Director.  After two days of being able to meet with their people, attend their services, meal times, games, and activities, I really came away with a wealth of knowledge.

I’m really blown away by the people I’ve been able to come in contact with since deciding to start Camp Rhino.  The Lord has placed key individuals in my path that have been overwhelmingly helpful.

August 2017 Prayer Letter

 

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)

Other Prayer Requests:

  • Furlough: We will leave for the states in just a couple of weeks, on Aug 21. We do still have a few spots available on our calendar. If you or your church would like for us to come and present our ministry or give an update, please email me at jhsouthafrica@gmail.com
  • Bible Institute: It will start up the day after we leave, on August 22. Please pray for all those who will be attending; for faithfulness and application
  • Soweto Baptist Church: The church is still very new (only 1 1/2 years old). Our guys are still very young in the faith. Pray the Lord uses this time to grow them. Also pray for the Underwood family, who will be helping to fill the gaps.

Thanks again for all you do and may God bless you!

Sincerely,

Jeremy and Rebekah Hall

Support Address:
Macedonia World Baptist Missions
Att. Jeremy Hall
P.O. Box 519
Braselton, GA 30517
Home Church:
Whitfield Baptist Church
Pastor Wayne Cofield
2134 Dug Gap Rd.
Dalton, GA 30720
Personal Contact Info:
jhsouthafrica@gmail.com
(770)573-9541
Website: www.projectsouthafrica.com 

 

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$2000 for Camp Rhino from Ohio

Sunday morning I reported back to a faithful supporter, and Sunday evening I presented our ministry in a new church.  Both churches surprised me when they each gave $1000 for Camp Rhino.

Calvary Chapel Baptist Church in Minster, OH has faithfully supported my family since 2001.  I enjoyed seeing Pastor Robert Warnick, and the Assistant Pastor Cory McGuire and all the great people of Calvary Chapel.

In Eaton, OH, I caught up with some old friends, Andrew and Jaclyn Stensaas.  Amy and I met them when we were in college together at Crown many years ago.  Pastor Andrew and his family are doing a great good there at First Baptist.

With the $2000 from Sunday, we are now over $73,000 in total for Camp Rhino.   Praise the Lord.