Category Archives: Updates

Coffey Family June 2020 Prayer Letter

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Wedding Day

The day has finally come for my oldest son Tyler to get married. We are excited that Lydia Bush will be an official part of our family in a few hours. I’m thankful for Jeff and Mindy Bush raising such a wonderful daughter.

Tyler and Lydia at their rehearsal dinner


We were uncertain concerning flying back from South Africa earlier for the wedding because of lockdowns, but definitely believe now it was the right decision. Please do pray flights to open back up so we can get back to South Africa by the first part of August. We are thankful we’ve been able to report back to supporting churches and present our ministry in new churches. We are still hoping to raise extra support to help towards Camp Rhino during our time here.

I want to thank all of you who have given to help the pastors and their families in Uganda, Kenya, Zambia, and South Africa. I’ve heard terrific reports on how much of a blessing you all are to these families in need. If you would like to be involved to help more families in these countries please send your offering to Vision Baptist Missions or you can give via PayPal. $10-20 can help a pastor and his family eat on the very basics for a month during these unprecedented difficult times.

To give to help Pastors’ Families in Africa go to:

http://paypal.me/camprhino
or
https://visionmissions.org/give/
(Choose Mark Coffey or Camp Rhino)

You can also send money to:
Vision Baptist Missions
P.O. Box 442
Alpharetta, GA 30009
(Make a note for Mark Coffey- food for Pastors)

Pastor Alute giving food to Pastors on the border of Kenya/Uganda
Food being given out from Pastor Mario Genada’s Church in Zambia
Pastor Alute giving food to another pastor in Kenya.

The roof for our provisional auditorium at Camp Rhino is nearing completion. The weather has slowed us down a little, but the metal sheets should go on this week. Thank you all for the continual gifts that are helping build Camp Rhino.

I want to also thank everyone who has been praying for my Pastor Austin Gardner. He was on the ventilator for 21 days because of Covid19. He has been off the ventilator now over a week and actually went home yesterday. I’m still amazed at how the Lord has work to bring him back from a very bad situation.

May 2020 Coffey Family Prayer Letter

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Prayer Requests & Praise 

  • God has opened doors for us to work in Zambia and in Kenya with some very trusted and proven national pastors along with a missionary from the Philippians.  Pray more doors to be opened so we can help make even a greater impact in all of Africa. 
  • We are currently trying to help 65 pastors ministering in Zambia.  Because of a severe drought and Covid19, many of these pastors are starving.  For about $20 we can help these pastors’ families survive on cornmeal for 3 to 4 weeks.  Please pray for them during this time.  Pray that we can also raise more funds to help. So far we’ve only been able to send enough money to help about 20 pastors a month.  
  • Pastor Thomas Alute who recently came and preached a marriage conference for us from Kenya is in need of help in order to assist the team of pastors He works with.  Because of Covid19, they are in the same situation as South Africa, but with fewer resources to work with.  They are asking for help to buy food that would enable them to minister to their people and surrounding communities.  
  • Please pray for two of our most vulnerable churches during this time.  Light House Baptist Church and Nkandla Baptist Church are just a few weeks old.  Pastor Nohamba and Pastor Johnson aren’t able to have more than telephone contact with those that have been attending.
  • Our pastors are going to try to hold small services and Bible studies in a few of the township communities in Port Elizabeth.  Pray they will be able to evangelize and train without hindrance.
Pastor Thomas Alute delivering food in Kitale, Kenya

At the last minute, my family decided to take the last flight out of South Africa after being on lockdown for 2 weeks. It was a difficult decision, but I’m glad now we decided to do it.  South Africa is still on lockdown and it may be many months before international flights start back.  We’ve even heard rumors that church services may not be allowed to start back officially until September.  At least now, we don’t have to worry about missing our son’s wedding, but we hope to be back in August. 

Our hope is that we can travel and present our ministry here in the states as things seem to be opening back up, and then be back to South Africa right when things open back up there. 

We are currently raising money to do outreach during the lockdown in South Africa.  Our Pastors can go door to door passing out the Gospel as long as they also give out food.  A bag of rice along with a Gospel tract and church invitation cost about $1.50.  We would appreciate any amount that would help our churches continue to reach out to their communities.  So far we’ve given been able to purchase about 900 bags of rice.

Pastor in Zambia receiving cornmeal for his family.
Pastor Khona and Likhaya passing going from house to house in the townships
Pastor Sipho sharing the Gospel and a bag of rice

Change in Plans

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As many of you have heard, we were supposed to fly out on April 23rd for the States to be back for my son’s wedding and to also raise extra support for Camp Rhino. Unfortunately, because of the lockdown, our tickets were canceled. We originally decided we were just going to wait it out and hope to fly out in May, but it looks like South Africa may be shut down longer than that. Some are saying it will be shut down until July and some are even saying it will be longer.

With that possibility, we have decided to go ahead and fly out on Friday while there is still an option. The American Embassy is offering a charted flight for all Americans, and it’s the last flight out of South Africa. That will put us back in the States on Saturday.

With the thoughts of being locked down here for a couple of months and then going to the States for a couple of months afterward, we decided it would be best for the ministry just to go back now. Our hopes are that we’ll only be back in the States until July and then back to South Africa after the lockdown is over. That should only put us away from our churches for 3 months versus 5 months if we waited for the lockdown to be over to leave.

Our First 100 Bags of Rice

Please be praying for the ministries here. We are not allowed to have services, but we are trying to do an outreach that will allow us to reach out to our communities. We have raised money to purchase 2 kg bags of rice, that we can attach a church invitation to along with a Gospel tract to leave at peoples’ doors. Our pastors want to try to continue reaching out despite not being able to interact with people face to face.

Service at Camp Rhino during the Lockdown- aka my living room:)

There will still be 12 people staying at Camp Rhino that our Pastors, Khona Nohamba and Mvumelwano Johnson, will be overseeing. We have 4 teenagers from our church along with 2 interns and 2 full-time maintenance workers that will be staying on campus.

Also please be praying for our extra expenses. We lost the original tickets and are not sure if we will get our money back. We purchased the tickets through Travelocity, and right now they are saying we will only get an airline credit versus a refund. The flights through the embassy also cost a lot more than normal. For my family of 5, it’s going to cost us about $8000 to get back to the States. Pray we can get our money back, instead of an airline credit, and also pray we can get the other paid off as soon as possible.

Coffey Family April 2020 Prayer Letter

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Prayer Requests & Praise

  • South Africa is currently on a 21-day lockdown like many other countries. This, of course, is affecting all our ministries.  Pray God does a great work during this “downtime.”  No one is supposed to leave their home unless it’s for food or medical needs. 
  • We were going to fly out through the American Embassy this next week but have decided to wait here in South Africa for the lockdown to end. The flight they are offering is the last one out of South Africa for Americans, but it comes with an $8000 price tag:). Pray the lockdown will be lifted in time so we can make it back for our oldest son’s wedding.  Lord willing we’ll be back sometime in May or June:)  
  • Please pray for two of our most vulnerable churches during this time.  Light House Baptist Church and Nkandla Baptist Church are just a few weeks old.  Pastors Nohamba and Johnson aren’t able to have more than telephone contact with those that have been attending.               
  • Pray we can raise $5000 soon so we can build facilities to start our 4th church. We have the property now but need help with the slab floor and building.  We want to start construction as soon as the lockdown is over.  With the economy being hit so badly, the value of the $ has risen about 25%.  This is bad for South Africans overall, but it is helpful for building. We should be able to build for a lot less right now.

Quick Updates & Reminders: 

  • We would love to have you be one of our 2021 Mission teams. Bring a group and help be a part of what’s going on at Camp Rhino and all our churches.    Construction for our new auditorium is on hold at the moment.  The walls have been extended and some of the trusses have been put together.  Our construction crew plans to be back the moment the lockdown is over. 

Being quarantined at Camp Rhino isn’t so bad.  Our two new pastors live on campus, along with Khona’s wife and daughter.  We also have two of our full-time workers, two interns, and 4 teenagers from our church staying on during this time.  We are having Bible classes, while all the guys are putting in 4 to 5 hours of work around the camp each day to keep themselves busy.  Playing soccer and taking time off in the pool has worked at keeping them from being bored.  

Athi, our deaf teenager at New Life, is one of the boys on campus.  We are hoping to use this time to learn more sign language to better minister to him and also one day start deaf ministries in all our churches.  Khona, who is one of the pastors and a Xhosa language school teacher, is still teaching Xhosa classes online.  We are also working on materials where we can soon start an Afrikaans language school as well.

Coffey Family March 2020 Prayer Letter

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Prayer Requests & Praise

  • This weekend, Pastor Thomas Alute from Eldoret, Kenya will be here to be the main speaker at our Couples Retreat being held at Camp Rhino.  Pastor Alute is out of Missionary Randy Stirwalt’s ministry and has been pastoring over 30 years.
  • Pray as we head back to the states at the end of April.  We’ll be there for 2 ½ months for our oldest son Tyler’s wedding.  I still have a few openings if you would be interested in having us in.  I am trying to raise extra support to offset some of the expenses for Camp Rhino.        
  • Our two new churches are doing well.  The two new pastors are getting used to the idea of being pastors now.  Please pray for Khona & Mvume as they are pastoring their new churches while also still both in Bible College.       
  • Pray we can raise $5000 soon so we can build facilities to start our 4th church, Vision Baptist Church.  We have the property now but need help with the slab floor and building.  This will be in the area where we’ve been having midweek meetings but lost our location.  We believe it is now time to officially start a church for that community.   
Pastor Mvume Johnson preaching at his new church, Lighthouse Baptist Church

Quick Updates & Reminders

  • My oldest son Tyler will be marrying Lydia Bush on June 20.  Lydia is daughter to Jeff and Mindy Bush.  Jeff serves as the Director of our Mission Board, Vision Baptist Missions.  Please be praying for Tyler and Lydia as they prepare to start their life together.   
  • We still have openings for 2021 Mision teams if you are interested in bringing a group to be with us.  We would love to have you here on the field.
  • Would would love to have your group here in 2021.

A big part of our goals for 2020 is to help strengthen the three churches we’ve helped start and to also get the forth church off the ground.  I want to do all I can to help these young pastors be successful.  

Our team of pastors is doing a great job, but we still want to improve in a lot of areas.  We are hoping to especially help our first church, New Life Baptist Church, become more financially independent this year.   That has been one of our greatest struggles.  

As we are back in the states for this short trip our desire is to raise more funds, but more importantly, we are also needing to raise more workers, short term and long term.  Our future goals involve starting a Medical Clinic, Christian school, and to expand Camp Rhino.  All of these ministries are aimed at helping us see more churches started.  If you or anyone you know are interested in being more involved on a personal level, I would love to talk to you to see how you could be more involved.    

Thank you all once again for your prayers and support.

Coffey Family February 2020 Prayer Letter

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Prayer Requests & Praise  

  • We praise the Lord for the 27 young people who trusted Christ during our first ever Junior Camp at Camp Rhino.  Thank you so much for praying.  We had 55 Juniors in total attend our camp, which means almost 50% of those in attendance made a profession of faith.  
  • Since the start of our camp a little over a year ago, we have seen over 120 young people come to Christ.  Camp Rhino has been a tremendous aid in all our churches here in Port Elizabeth, South Africa.  Pray we can even see more done for Christ this year. 
  • Pastor Mvume Johnson started Lighthouse Baptist Church on January 19th with 7 visitors in attendance, 4 of which are part of his lost family. 
  • Pastor Khona Nohamba started Nkandla Baptist Church this past Sunday.  We were delayed a week because of the building, but we had a great service with 4 visitors.  
  • I’m excited about the impact of both of these new young churches and pastors. Please pray for them as they shine forth the light of the Gospel in their communities.

Quick Updates & Reminders:

  • We will be back in the States between April 23rd to July 13th for our oldest son’s wedding.  If you would be interested in helping with our Church Planting efforts or Camp Rhino, we would love to schedule a meeting during this time. 
  • My beautiful wife turns 40 on February 7th.  I know I’ll get in trouble, but I figured it was okay since it will already be on Facebook anyway:)
Pastor Khona working on his new church building with Pastor Sipho

We are really encouraged this new year with the start of two new churches already.  In February, we also hope to start our third church.  We have been holding weekly Bible studies in an area next to our main church, New Life Baptist, in a small shack for a couple of years now.   With newly acquired land we believe it’s time to officially start the church.  We are in need of about $5,000 for the building.  This would give us a slab floor and a very good space to start in.  It will be a metal “shack” church, but something we will be able to use for many years.   

We are thrilled to let you know that almost $18,000 came in for Camp Rhino this past month.  That is over half of what’s needed to finish phase one of construction.  Our goal for 2020 was $35,000, so we only lack $17,000 to meet our goal for the year.  When everything comes in, we will be able to put the roof on our auditorium plus build new dorms for the boys.  That will enable us to house 120 campers along with counselors and staff.  Finishing the auditorium will also enable us to have camp year-round without fears of bad weather conditions.

Coffey Family January 2020 Prayer Letter

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Prayer Requests and Praise

  • Junior Camp for 9 to 11 years olds starts at Camp Rhino this week.  We are expecting around 60 campers for our first Junior Camp.  Pray for many to be saved. 
  • 23 young people were saved at this year’s Teen Camp.  Pray for these young people as we get them plugged into our churches.  
  • Please pray about two important dates: January 19th will be the start of Lighthouse Baptist Church and January 26th with be the start of Nkantla Baptist Church.  Also pray for our two new Pastors, Mvumelwano Johnson and Khona Nohamba. 
  • Pray as our Bible College and Bible Institute starts back up the week of January 19th. We have one more new student joining the Bible College this semester. 
  • Pray for our trip back to the states from the end of April to the first part of July

We want to wish everyone a Happy New Year.  God has blessed us so much in 2019, and we believe 2020 will be even better.  Thank you for making it possible for us to be on the mission field one more year.  

We hope to see more churches started in 2020 and more young people surrender to full-time ministry.  God is blessing our churches and Camp Rhino.  We also are praying God will bring many more from the States for mission trips and internships.  We really desire to impact as many people as possible in the area of world missions.

Pray as our family travels back for 2 ½ months for my son Tyler’s wedding.  We will also use this time to raise more ministry support, especially for our new church plants and Camp Rhino.  We’re close to the end up the Phase 1 construction at Camp Rhino but still need probably $35,000 to finish things up.  We also need to raise monthly support for the Camp as well.

Quick Updates & Reminders:

  • We haven’t yet finished our new auditorium space for Camp Rhino.  We have new plans for a higher roof which will cost us about $8000.  This will enable us to do all of our activities under roof when it’s raining or too cold. 
  • Be praying for Lynette Osborn.  She is a missionary with BIMI who just started raising support to work with us here in South Africa.  Lynette has been teaching at a Christian school for 14 years and has grown up in the ministry.  She is going to be a great help to the ministry, especially with the young ladies ministries in our churches and at Camp Rhino.  If you would be interested in having her present her ministry you can call her at (573)718-2804.

Teen Camp 2019 at Camp Rhino

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23 Trusted Christ as their Savior

2019 Teen Camp at Camp Rhino

Our 2019 Teen Camp has come to an end, and what a terrific end it was. 25% of 90 campers made professions of faith in Christ before our week was over.

There were teens from every one of our churches who were saved. What an answer to prayer!

Thank you so much for praying and thank you so much for giving. We had over half of our campers sponsored because of your generosity. We can’t thank our great counselors enough for the impact they made on the lives of our campers. They worked tirelessly the whole week.

Unfortunately, we weren’t able to finish our auditorium space in time for camp. We fell short in funds, but we were able to make what we have work out great.

We are so thankful for the Camps Abroad who were here for the third in a row. They have been a great help during this entire process. We are very new at what we are doing, and they walked with us every step of the way. Thank you Tim, Rachel, and Steve.

Tim and Steve teaching the staff how to do “Tag Alot”

We are also very grateful for our intern Regina Gordon, who leaves out tomorrow to end her 6-month intership. She has been a valuable part of our team her entire time here, especially at camp this past week.

We were also privileged to have Sindy Gaines from Oakland Heights Baptist Church in Cartersville, Ga here to help with camp, along with Katie Dilfer from Gospel Light Baptist Church in Helena, Al. Both of these ladies were a great blessing. Pray for Katie as she is praying about coming back to South Africa full-time to help start a Christian School.

Sindy was our camp photographer and helped in the kitchen on the side.
Future Auditorium and Activity Center at Camp Rhino

Christmas Camp Sponsors

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In our last prayer letter, I mentioned needing sponsors for our next big teen camp in December. Some requested more info, so here you go:

We are planning for 100 campers for what we’ve referred to as our Christmas Camp which will go from December 10th-13th. While you hopefully will be enjoying a cool and possibly white Christmas, we will be somewhere in the 70’s and 80’s seeing it’s the start of our summer season here in South Africa:)

Our goal is to raise $50 per camper. This would help with activities, transportation, food, and lodging.

We are continually working to make Camp Rhino a better place for evangelistic outreach and training so any donation would be appreciated.

If you would be interested in sponsoring a camper you can send funds to our mission board by clicking visionmissions.org/give/ or via Paypal by clicking Paypal.me/camprhino.

Thank you for helping us impact these teenagers with the Gospel of Jesus Christ.

Can’t have camp without a camp fire
Preaching
Big Ball
Thank you for partnering with us to reach people with the Gospel.

Coffey Family October 2019 Prayer Letter

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My heart is full, and ideas are flowing after the incredible medical clinic we had with Bradley Edmondson and his wonderful team with Medical Missions Outreach.  I can’t explain in enough words how much of a blessing they were during their stay.  

We saw over 2,000 patients come through the clinic and hear the Gospel and had over 250 people make professions of faith.  Pray as we consider our next steps.  I would love to have our own full-time clinic here with the help of MMO.  

Missionary Jeremy Hall assisting the dental team

I can’t thank them enough.  If you don’t support this ministry, I want to encourage you to find out more about them and maybe even have them come present in your church.  You won’t regret it.  I believe we will feel the impact of their ministry for a long time to come here in South Africa.  I love what they do and what they stand for. 

Vision Team

Quick Updates & Reminders:

  • We are only short $6000 to finish the new dorm-style cabins at Camp Rhino.   We just lack the roof, doors, lights, and some of the labor costs. Please be praying as we also hope to start the main auditorium construction before our main camp season starts in December.     
  • I’m so proud of the team of South Africans we get to work with.  The people in our churches did an amazing job volunteering.  I was blown away by those who stepped up and shared the Gospel to hundreds of people during the 4-day clinic.  I literally saw them grow by leaps and bounds right before my eyes.
  • Christmas Camp is Dec. 10-13. Sponsors are needed.

Prayer Requests & Praise  

  • Contacts.  Pray as we follow up on the over 2000 contacts we made this past week with the medical clinic we did with MMO. 
  • Pray for the over 250 people who made professions of faith this week in our clinic. 
  • Pray for our Bible college and Bible institute students as they grow in the Word of God.  We need more people to give their lives to start churches and reach the lost.   
  • My wife Amy’s hearing is doing well.  We couldn’t be more pleased with the results.  She’s not at the 3-month mark, which is the final test, but everything seems to be going very well.   
  • Pray for our surrounding countries.  We need more missionaries in order to reach Namibia, Botswana, Zimbabwe, Mozambique, Lesotho, and Swaziland. 
  • Pray as we consider obtaining property to one day start building our own full-time medical clinic here in South Africa.