Category Archives: camp ministry

October 2017 Coffey Family Prayer Letter

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Prayer Request

  • The sell of our house-  When we left for the field the first time, we weren’t able to sell our house.  With the improvements in the market, we are hoping to sell it and at least clear $30,000.  Our plan is to use the money we clear toward the purchase of our camp property.    
  • Safety as we travel- This coming month we’ll be in Alabama, South Carolina, Georgia, Ohio, and Florida.   
  • Our oldest son Tyler- He will be staying back in the States for Bible College when we return to the field. 
  • Christmas offerings being designated for Camp Rhino- We are praying to meet and surpass our $100,000 by the end of December. 

Quick Updates & Events:

  • Volunteer visas for our children were approved.  They are good through July 2019.  Afterwards we hope to get a 5 year work visa which would allow us to one day obtain permanent residence.
  • With the children’s visas in hand, we purchased our airline tickets for South Africa.  We are booked to fly out January 10th.    
  • Our first children’s books that will promote missions principles and Camp Rhino will be shipped out on October 31st. Check them out and pre-order at CampRhino.org.
  • Plan to attend the Our Generation Summit either at Lake Lanier Island Resort in Buford, Ga on December  28th-30th or in Boston, MA on January 4th-6th.  For more information go to OGSummit.com

Through these past months on furlough, God has really taught us and grown our faith in an incredible way.  When we started announcing our goal back in January to raise $100,000 to start Camp Rhino, to be honest, we were a little nervous.  This is the first time we’ve personally tried to raise money like that.  Month after month God, met or even surpassed our goals.   From the first $5000 given to the last $1000 that came in last week, it’s been amazing to see. 

Looking back and knowing the churches and individuals that have been involved is a bit overwhelming.  God has placed us in the path of some incredible people that have been a great encouragement and help.   

We now have over $87,000 towards the purchase of property to start our new camp.  With around $13,000 to go, we’re not near as nervous as we were in January:). Thank you all again for your prayers and support.

Camp Rhino and our Christmas Camp

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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

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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

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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

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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

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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.

 

Kentucky & Missouri

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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

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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.

$2000 for Camp Rhino from Ohio

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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.

 

Marriage Retreat

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Our home church hosted a marriage retreat this past week in Atlanta, GA.  They booked a hotel and conference center for the retreat only about 30 minutes away from the church.  After all our traveling it was nice to have the retreat so close.

I’m glad to know we have a Pastor and church staff that cares enough about about the our lay and missionaries families enough to invest in our marriages. You can check my blog for divorce attorneys.  I was really challenged to care for and be more tender toward my wife.  Coincidently, I have been listening to two audio books on marriage that went along very well with this conference.  If Only He Knew and From this Day Forward were really helpful.  Needless to say, I have a lot of changes I need to make in order to be a better husband.  I encourage you, take time to learn how to be a better spouse. I thing I do know despite my many mistakes, I’m married to the most amazing person I have ever known.

Please continue to pray for my meetings.  I fly out to Ohio today to present my ministry in a new church and report back to a faithful supporter.  When I get back on Monday, I’ll be driving to the Wilds Camp from Atlanta to check out their ministry for a couple of days in preparation for starting Camp Rhino.