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.

September 2017 Prayer Letter

September 22, 2017 by The J Halls

Dear Pastor and Friends,

Today is the one month mark since we arrived on furlough. Busy is an understatement. I have already given updates and preached 16+ times. We just finished up with two great missions conferences. The first one was with a church that is very near and dear to us, Vision Baptist Church. This church is like a second home church to us. We were super encouraged to see how God is blessing them. Their faith promise missions commitments increased to over $222,000!

The second conference was with Connect/Oakland Heights Baptist Church. It was another great conference. They treated us better than we could ever deserve. One of the things they did that was really cool was that they honored the missionary wives as the “Unsung Heroes.” They gave them gifts and ask us husbands, before the conference, to write about our wife’s strengths, accomplishments and sacrifices, which was read in front of the congregation.That made me realize I do not praise my wife enough, so I decided I want to share with you all what I wrote.

Rebekah is the smart one in our family. She makes us all look better! She should have married a doctor, but instead she got me (inside joke :-). She went to school to be a nurse; graduated with a BS in Nursing. She speaks three languages. She has built a thriving women’s/children’s ministries in two foreign languages. She also works as my personal secretary (definitely the most over-qualified personal secretary in the world).

Rebekah has given birth to 5 children abroad, 3 totally naturally with no epidural. She had to deal with 3rd world circumstances surrounding those births that would have caused the average woman to break. Not Bekah! They just made her stronger and more prepared to serve. Not to mention, most women begin to look worn out after having kids, but I can honestly say she has gotten hotter with each kid. She really is more beautiful today than when I met her.

Rebekah is not fearless, but she is not controlled by her fears. She ministers in places that most men won’t enter. She trusts in the Lord and, as a result, she gets to experience things most will never experience. She has been used of God to lead dozens of women and children to the Lord. Many girls consider her to be their spiritual mother. Just recently, one young lady who she led to the Lord while in Peru (now an assistant pastor’s wife) called to let us know that she named their daughter after her.

Bekah is an incredible mother and wife. She takes care of everything we need, not only in our home, but also in the church. She is not my assistant pastor, she is my wife, but she probably does twice as much as him. The last ten years of my life with her have been the best years of my life. Only Heaven will reveal how many lives Rebekah has impacted for God’s kingdom. — I am one blessed man!

Other Prayer Requests:

Remember to sign up for the 2017 Our Generation Summit. We get to attended and participate this year. We hope to see you there!
While we are in on furlough, we are hoping to raise some additional personal and ministry support.
Remember our people back in South Africa as they lead the church; Mxolisi and Milisa Dama, Matthew Olwethu, Aphiwe Mabomba, and Missionaries Stephen and Ashlee Underwood who are all doing an incredible job in our absence.

I wish I could list all of those who have been a blessing to us since our arrival, but space won’t allow. I hope you know how grateful we are for your partnership in the Gospel with our ministry. We pray God blesses you richly for all that you do!

Sincerely,

Jeremy and Rebekah Hall

follow on Twitter \| friend on Facebook \| forward to a friend
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

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

September 12, 2017 by The Coffeys

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

September 10, 2017 by The Coffeys

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

September 4, 2017 by The Coffeys

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

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:)

Kentucky & Missouri

August 19, 2017 by The Coffeys

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.

$1000 at a time

August 14, 2017 by The Coffeys

Last night, one of our supporters, Mt Zion Baptist Church in Danielsville, GA with Pastor Duncan, voted to give $1000 for Camp Rhino. That’s 3 churches since last weekend to give $1000 a piece to help buy property to start this new camp ministry. This gift takes us over $74,000 that has been given or committed. God continues to bless and more and more people are getting involved.

On Saturday, Amy was privileged to teach for a ladies conference hosted by Believers Baptist Church in Griffin, GA, and I was able to preach their Sunday AM service. Pastor Victor Edmonds and his people were a great blessing.

The Wilds

August 12, 2017 by The Coffeys

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

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)

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!