This past week I’ve been reminded how we’re not alone on the field. We have been very encouraged by the outreach and support of God’s people during this unexpected time.
For those who didn’t see our Facebook post, our home was broken into early Tuesday morning while we were asleep by three men who were carrying knives.
Thankfully, no one woke up while they were in our home, but unfortunately the guys got away with about $5,000 worth of equipment: including my laptop, 2 tablets, the camp sound system, and our power generator among other things.
My office- I’m blaming the messy desk on the robbers:)
We are upgrading our security system which we believe will be a big deterrent for future break-ins.
Pray we can replace all these items as soon as possible. Everything that was stolen was used on a regular basis here for the ministry.
We want to thank those who have already reached out to let us know they want to help. You all have been a great blessing.
Wednesday was the end of our last camp for the summer, our 2022 Junior Camp. With school schedules starting sooner due to so many missed days last year because of you know what, we packed our camps a little closer together this year.
In total for the past 3 camps, we had 81 boys and 61 girls attending those two teen camps with 19 making professions of faith in Christ. We also had 107 children attending Juniors Camp with 54 professions of faith.
Junior Camp 2022
We really appreciate all the prayers and support so many of you give.
We are still needing sponsors for the camps that have already taken place. We are about $3000 short of covering expenses for these last three camps.
Girls Teen Camp
We are also badly needing more beds. We need at least 3 sets of triple bunk beds for our campers and 10 sets of normal twin-size bunk beds for our counselors, which we will also use for our Bible college students. I hope to get the exact prices out for those this next week. We are planning on building our own bed frames to save on cost and for better quality.
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
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?
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.
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.
It is undoubtedly a special privilege to announce that my son Chase and his fiancée Ashley, who will marry on October 11th, have announced their call to South Africa as full-time missionaries.
Needless to say, Amy and I are ecstatic. We have been hoping that the Lord would allow at least one of our children to come back and work in South Africa, and God gave us our wish.
Please be praying for Chase. He is currently finishing up his 6-month internship in Peru, South America, but has already started contacting Pastors for meetings. He has already been accepted as a missionary with our board, Vision Baptist Missions, and will begin traveling as soon as he gets back to the States in August. Ashley will join him after they are married on October 11th, and we pray they get their support raised as soon as possible.
It would be a great blessing to me if you would consider inviting him to present his ministry in your church. His contact info is: Chase Southard – chasesouthard7@gmail.com
Chase and his brother Tyler came into our home when Chase was only 9 years old, over 12 years ago. He arrived with us in South Africa when he was 13. It truly is by the grace of God that Chase and Tyler both have given their lives to take the Gospel to the World. I couldn’t be prouder of my two oldest sons. I can’t tell you how much we love Ashley as well. That will have to be another post, but I can promise you, he is getting one of the best girls I know.
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.
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.
2020 was the year we planned to open up Camp Rhino to year round camps. Unfortunately, those plans didn’t work out like we wanted for obvious reasons, but 2021 is looking much brighter.
We held our first teen and junior camps in January and just finished another teen and singles camp at the end of April. This is the first time we’ve had a camp outside of our summer months which we hope will be our new normal. We had a much better turnout than we anticipated with 105 campers and 14 workers. We were stacking kids on top of each other because of our shortage of beds:)
While a lot of countries are still shut down to travel, we’re very glad to know that South Africa is still open. We have a group coming in June for a 10-day trip and also a large group from Medical Missions Outreach coming in September. We are hoping to be completely booked with mission teams in 2022. If you or your church group is interested in visiting South Africa, we would love to have you. Please continue praying for our 4 church plants as we continue reaching our communities.
Prayer Requests & Praise
This past week we had our first Fall Break Teen Camp here at Camp Rhino. We had over 100 campers and 9 of them trusted Christ as their Savior.
We also hosted our very first Single’s Camp. This was geared more toward our church young people, but we did have one young man who trusted in Christ.
Please pray as we plan for the construction of Phase 2 for Camp Rhino. In phase 2 we would like to build a lodge, a large meeting space, and several cabins that can be used for couple retreats and visiting groups. We are probably going to need around $200,000 for these projects.
Quick Updates
My short trip back to the States went very well. I was able to teach during our VBM Orientation and also present our ministry in a couple of new churches. During the Orientation, it was a privilege to be with such a great group of missionaries who are eager to reach the world with the Gospel.
Robert Canfield, Director of the Our Generation Training Center in Alpharetta, GA, brought three students for a two-week trip after I returned from the States. During their trip, we traveled by car to the countries of Mozambique and Swaziland, while also visiting Durban, South Africa’s third-largest city.
We are in need of 40 beds and mattresses for Camp Rhino. We have the dorm space but don’t quite have enough beds. Each bunk bed is about $300, which in total will be about $6000 if you would be interested in helping us with this need.
