Missionary Friends in Thailand

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My good friends Philip and Lori Bassham just had their second baby, Grace.  She’s a beautiful little girl, but has had some infection problems.  She is currently in NICU in Thailand, and will probably be there for a few days.

Philip in Lori are currently learning the language and have been in Thailand for about a year and a half now.

Unfortunately, Philip and Lori missed being able to put this pregnancy on their insurance by about 10 days, and it looks like he is going to have to pay at least $7500 in medical expenses for the delivery and with the situation of little Grace.

Please be praying for this family and their financial situation.  If you would be interested in helping out a little with the expenses you can send it to our mission board: Vision Baptist Mission  P.O. Box 442 Alpharetta, GA  30009.  You can also give online by going to visionbaptistmissions.com.  Philip and Lori are members of our home church and with our mission board.

Coffey Family September 2014 Prayer Letter

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Delay…. Probably.  Please continue to pray.  The location we planned to use for the new church plant fell through this past week.  One of the owners was worried the community would be upset with a church being started in the neighborhood, and wouldn’t give us the go ahead.  We’re not sure if this is a closed door, but we are praying the Lord would change hearts if that’s the place for us.   We are continuing to look for a new location and hope to do outreach soon with an address in mind.  We were planning to start today on September 14th, but that’s wasn’t possible.  I’m hoping we can start sometime in September, but it’s dependent on a building. 

We’re not discouraged.  We know the Lord is in control and we’ll just see what happens.  Our main priority is still improving on our language abiblity so there is plenty to do.  We are continue to do minsitry in the other churches until others doors open up.  We thoroughly enjoy helping the other pastors and their churches, especially with the young people who have a heart for ministry. 

Prayer Request

  • Our first church plant.  We are still hoping to start in September.
  • The place for the new church plant fell through.  Pray we can find a different location soon.
  • Souls saved & faithful men
  • Our language learning.  This is of course is a repeated prayer request because it’s still a big priority.

More Highlights

  • Madiba Bay Baptist just celebrated their 7 year anniversary.  This is the main church we have been attending while in language school. Pictured to the right is Pastor Lubabalo during the anniversary service. He’s been a great help to us in learning the language. 
  • 4 Baptised after the anniversary service.
  • Needs met for Wells Estates Baptist Property and the Gospel Tracts 

Needs 

  • Pulpit, Sign, Overhead Projector (Old-School Projector), song books, and a small trailer for the new church plant.
  • Approx. $7000 needed to build the first building for New Life Baptist Church.  $3300 has come in so far.

The Lord has blessed this past month by meeting two of the needs we have been mentioning.  Wells Estates Baptist has a piece of property they should be able to move to in December.  The money that has already been raised for this church is plenty for the property and a decent building unless things change.

Three churches gave toward the tracts and invitations needed.  This should be enough to last us for a few months, and for new tracts to be printed for the new church plant.   We are always grateful and humbled by the giving of goods people.  Thank you for loving missions and thank you for caring for souls around the world. 

September 2014 Prayer Letter

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Dear Pastor and Friends,

It was exciting to see Madiba Bay Baptist Church celebrate their 7th anniversary this month. This was the first church my brother started amongst the Xhosa people. There were many encouraging things that happened that day. One of them was the people’s testimonies and their expressions of gratitude. Several stood up and honored their pastor (Lubabalo Sitole on the left in the picture below) through monetary gifts and offerings. Getting to see mature(ing) Christians loving on one another was very encouraging. They are definitely not a perfect church, but they are still keeping what’s most important first, and that’s preaching the gospel and making disciples. Pastor Lubabalo also baptized two that day!

The most exciting thing for me personally this month was that I had the opportunity to baptize my first Xhosa man. If you remember from a previous update, Matthew Olwethu was saved several months back. I have been going through some basic discipleship lessons with him (obviously very slowly). We finally made it to baptism and Matthew followed through in obedience. If you would like to see a video of the baptism, visit ProjectSouthAfrica.com. Please pray for him as he continues to grow and discover God’s plan for his life.

Bekah and I continue to chug along in our language studies. Hundreds more hours have been spent in studies since our last update. Next Monday, the 15th, will be 8 months that we have been studying. We are experiencing steady progress, but we still have a ways go. Please continue to pray with us about this as well.

Other Prayer Requests:

  • Co-laborer (cousin) Mark Coffey has plans to start his first church this month in the Motherwell township.
  • Pastor Sipho Bonga and his new church plant are still in need of $7,500 to be able to build their church. They already have the land and $500 toward the structure.
  • State-side, make plans now to attend our annual event in Gatlinburg, TN. “Our Generation Summit.” Jan 1-3, 2015, register now at VisionBaptistMissions.com

As always, thanks for your faithfulness in our partnership to advance the gospel of Jesus Christ.

Sincerely,

Jeremy and Rebekah Hall

Coffey Family August 2014 Prayer Letter

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Prayer Request

  • Our first church plant the 1st of Sept.
  • Right location for the new church
  • Souls saved & faithful men
  • Our language learning.  We still have a long way to go.  Starting the new church will definitely push us more in the right direction.

More Highlights

  • Amy and I sang our first Xhosa special together.  It’s actually the first of any song we have every sang as a duo together:)  To see the video you can go to Facebook.
  • Intern Bethany Staley, has decided to stay for six months instead of just two.
  • My son Chase preached his 1st message

Needs  

  • $600 for Gospel Tracts and Invitation cards
  • Pulpit, Sign, Overhead Projector, and a small trailer for the new church plant.
  • Approx. $7000 needed to build the first building for New Life Baptist Church.  $3300 has come in so far.
  • Still looking for land for Wells Estates Baptist.  We have $5500 for this need but will probably need $6000 more.

The time has come for Amy and I to step out and start our own church.  Over the past year, we have been privileged to assist in the three churches that Missionary Kevin Hall and his team have started, while attending language school.  We will definitely continue to have a part in these churches as well, but in September, Amy and I are diving in to start our own church.  Although we have a long way to go in the language, we believe this new church plant will help up grow by leaps and bounds.  

This past week, we made the first purchase for the church.  We were able to get 40 black chairs for under $5 a piece.  I would like to purchase more of these chairs if anyone is interested in helping.  This is the best price we’ve ever seen on chairs and the sale ends Sept. 30th.  

There are three areas we are praying about starting the church in right now: Walmer, Greenbushes, and Seaview.  Seaview is a smaller area and would probably be ideal to start a Bible study or 2nd church plant at the same time we are working in one of the other areas.  

Please be in prayer.  We only have a few weeks to nail down the area and find a place to start holding church services if we want to start in September.  We are hoping to find a small store front or school to rent.  The areas we are considering are on the opposite side of the city from where the other churches are located, and have had very little outreach from a Bible preaching ministry.  

July 2014 Prayer Letter

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Dear Pastor and Friends, 

June 24th, 2014 at 7:20pm, Rebekah gave birth to our fifth child, Ezekiel Michael Hall. Though, he was too small to survive the birthing process, weighing only 2 pounds, immediately he went on to be with our Lord. We are grateful for the 6 months the Lord allowed us to carry him. We want to begin this update by saying thank you to everyone who sent cards, who prayed, and the dozens of you who gave financial donations to help with the expenses of burying little Ezekiel. It definitely made a tough situation much easier.

On a lighter note, we had two supporting churches come over for a visit over the last month; Newton Baptist Church, led by Pastor Tony Howeth, and Calvary Baptist Church, led by Youth Pastor Lance Kelly. Both groups were a tremendous blessing. The group from Calvary, along with two interns who arrived and will be with us until August, hosted a Children’s Crusade at the three churches. We spent two days at each church and were able to see over 600 children come and participate. All heard the Gospel, and 30+ kids made professions of faith in Christ as Savior. Please pray for Pastor Ntobeko, Tamsanqa, and Lubabalo and their churches as they follow up with these children and their families.

Eager to start the new church plant in Kwadwesi, Pastor Sipho Bonga decided to host a week long youth conference last week at the local community center. Throughout the week there were more than 20 people who made decisions to trust Christ as Savior.  Dozens of new contacts were made and will hopefully soon become a part of New Life Baptist Church. I want to thank Orangeburg Baptist Tabernacle for their generous donation to the building fund for this new work. With their donation, that brings our total need down to $7,500! If you would be interested in contributing please send any donation to Macedonia World Baptist Missions, Att. Jeremy Hall (KBF).

Events and Prayer Requests:

  • Bekah has made a full physical recovery and is anticipating a visit to the states to attend her brother’s wedding. 
  • Her going to the States leaves me home alone with three of our four kids for two weeks!?!? 
  • Language studies were halted for the last month due to the groups and unexpected circumstances, but we are now back at it full throttle.
  • Continue to pray for Matthew and Bathembesile and their spiritual growth as we work with them.

Thanks again for all you do to help us share the gospel of Jesus Christ!

Sincerely, 

Jeremy and Rebekah Hall 

 

July 2014 Coffey Family Prayer Letter

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Prayer Request

  • For our two college interns that will be here until August.
  • That we find the right piece of land for Wells Estates Baptist Church
  • For Amy and I to learn the Xhosa language
  • Bible studies to go well for Pastor Sipho at Kwadwesi (location of the new church plant) – Over 20 professions of faith so far

Highlights

  • Many were saved during the youth conferences and children’s crusades this past month
  • Missionaries Stephen & Ashley Underwood came for their survey trip.
  • My son Tyler preached his 1st message

Needs  

  • $500-$1000 for Gospel Tracts
  • Approx. $8-10,000 needed to build the first building for New Life Baptist Church
  • Still looking for land for Wells Estates Baptist.  We have $5500 for this need but will probably need $6000 more.
  • Around the same amount of $8-10,000 is needed for Wells Estate’s building.

June 23rd marked the one year anniversary of my family arriving here in Port Elizabeth.  It’s been a terrific year of learning a new culture, city, and part of the language.  This year has flown by, but we’re even more excited about what’s ahead.  

We just finished up hosting two groups and from the states.  Pastor Tony Howeth and his gang from Newton Baptist Church in Covington, GA were a great blessing during the Youth Conferences in June.  His preaching and teaching were a great help to the young people.  

The group from Calvary Baptist Church in Hiawassee, GA  and our two college interns worked tirelessly during our children crusades.  There were over 30 professions of faith with over 600 different children in attendance between the 2 day meetings at each of the churches.  

As much as all of our guest have been a blessing to us, we do pray there time here on the mission field will make a life long impact in their lives.  Our heart and desire it to help people find their place in getting the Gospel to the world.  The need for labourers, not only here but around the world, is still great.  We pray the Lord will use this ministry to help raise up more of those labourers. 

A New Chapter

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I had the privilege a couple of days ago to give a short devotional to the group that is here visiting. What I spoke about in the devotion was Joshua chapter 1 and how Joshua was beginning a new chapter in his life. For those of you who don’t remember the story, the Lord instructed Joshua, since Moses had passed away, that the children of Israel would now be looking to him to lead them into the promised land. That enormous task brought about all sorts of emotions and fears, undoubtedly, since God told him three separate times to “be strong and of good courage.” I talked with the group about how to face their fears and how they too were going to need to be strong to go through life and be used of God. 

Though I must say, the challenge to be strong is not much of a help when you feel terribly weak, and when the situation is bigger than you are. If you think about it,  the words “be strong and of good courage” are just another challenge to live up to. They don’t really tell you how to do that? They don’t add comfort to any situation. But what does, and what I shared with the guys, is the only way to do that is to remember the promise God gave to Joshua right before he told him to be strong. God told Joshua “as I was with Moses, so I will be with thee:” That was where Joshua would receive the  comfort. That is what would give him the courage and strength he needed to go through any situation. The presence of the omnipotent, omniscient, sovereign God was going to be with Him every step of the way.

Well, today I am made to eat my words. I have to trust in that same God’s sovereign plan over my life and those around me. My wife and I began a new chapter last night. At 7:20 last night Bekah gave birth to Ezekiel Michael Hall. He weighed just over 2 pound. Though he was too small to make it physically here on earth, he was way too big to ever be forgotten. I must say, some chapters in life you love, others are confusing and you wouldn’t wish on your worst enemy.

I honestly don’t know how people handle death without the hope that comes through a personal relationship with Jesus Christ. We take comfort in the fact that our God is still with us, that He has never left us nor forsaken us. Our hope and peace comes from Jesus. The Lord gave, and the Lord hath taken away; Blessed be the name of the Lord.

Thanks for your prayers!

Coffey Family May 2014 Prayer Letter

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Prayer Request

  • That we find the right piece of land for Wells Estates Baptist Church
  • For Amy and I to learn the language
  • For two of the pastors we are helping go full time:  Pastor Thami & Pastor Ntobeko
  • For our missions teams coming in June and July

Highlights

  • All travel expenses of our trip back to the states were covered.  It was exciting seeing how God provided.
  • Land found and purchased for New Life Baptist Church in Kwadwesi.  Hoping to begin construction on the building this month.
  • Back to language school- It’s amazing  how much Xhosa a person can forget in month.

Needs

  • Approx. $8,000 needed to build the first building for New Life Baptist Church
  • Still looking for land for Wells Estates Baptist.  We have $5500 for this need but will probably need $6000 more.
  • Around the same amount of $8000 will be needed for Wells Estates Baptist Church.

We arrived back to South Africa on May 21st after a month of funerals in the states.  Please continue to pray for my family as we are still dealing with the losses.  

It is great to be home and back in the middle of everything. 

In the first week back, Pastor Sipho found a nice piece of land for the new church, and we were able to buy that within a few days.

Our next land search is for Wells Estates Baptist.  They’ve been asked to find a new location and could be told to vacate the premises any day.  We have some options but need your prayers for wisdom and the remaining finances. (Continue reading below)

With the purchase of permanent property comes the need for a permanent building.  We are having building plans drawn up that we are hoping to use for all the new churches.  This will help us better know the cost for future building projects and save us from having to pay for new building plans each time.  The layout includes a small prophet’s chamber for the pastor’s family, an Auditorium that will hold about 80 people, bathrooms, and 3 Sunday school rooms.  Above is our rough draft we believe will cost around $8000.  

May 2014 Update

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Dear Pastor and Friends, 

It has been a very emotional month and a half. As some of you may have heard, my grandmother went home to be with the Lord last month. Because of that, my bother and cousin returned to the states to perform the ceremony. I chose to stay back to assist a missionary family, the Bergey’s, who were coming over for their survey trip. As the Lord would have it, in Kevin’s absence, I also was called upon to perform my first South African funeral; many firsts this month in our new South African life!

Staying back also lead to the most exciting thing since our arrival; the salvation of a young man named Matthew Olwethu. Missionary Brent Bergey, while here on his survey trip, shared some scripture with him and he decided to trust Christ. Through Matthew, the Lord has opened many new doors and answered some specific personal prayer requests. One of which was a few young men with whom I could practice my Xhosa. Since his decision, I have had the opportunity to spend dozens of hours with him. On top of that, Matthew introduced me to three of his roommates, Bathembesile, Thamsanqa, and Mabeka. Two weeks after Matthew’s decision, his roommate Thamsanqa made a decision to trust Christ after a sunday morning church service. Please remember these young men in your prayers. Pray for growth, and salvation for the two who have yet to trust Christ.

Language Update: On the 15th of this month Bekah and I will have been in language school for 4 months. We praise the Lord for the progress that has been made, but there is still a long road ahead. On occasion, I am now sharing a 2-3 minute message in Xhosa with the church we are currently attending; very slow, but steady progress. Please continue to pray with us that we will stay focused, not get overwhelmed and continue in the right direction.

It’s official, land has been purchased for a new church plant! New Life Baptist Church will soon be started in the area of Kwadwesi. We are needing approximately $8,000 to build the building. The building will be 1615 square feet. That will include a 615 square foot prophets chamber. If you are interested in giving toward this need please contact me at jhsouthafrica@gmail.com, or simply send any donation to Macedonia World Baptist Missions, Att. Jeremy Hall (KBF). If you would like to see a rough draft sketch of the building, it can be accessed at Project South Africa on Facebook.

Other news:

  • We found out our new addition will be a BOY!
  • Supporting Pastor Tony Howeth and family with be coming over for a visit next month.
  • Missionary Stephen Underwood and family are coming over for their survey trip.
  • Please Pray for the Our Generation Camp, June 9-13. There is still time to sign up at Visionbaptist.com

Thanks again for your prayers and support for our ministry.

Sincerely, 

Jeremy and Rebekah Hall