Category Archives: Updates

Coffey Family April 2014 Prayer Letter

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Prayer Request

  • Our family, as we are dealing with the loss of 3 close loved ones in the past 9 days
  • Safety for our family as we travel to and from South Africa
  • New Life Baptist Church- We were hoping to have an Easter service, but still haven’t obtained a place to start.
  • Extra unexpected expenses for traveling

Highlights

  • My grandmother went to be with the Lord on Easter morning.  I was on a plane to the US 6 hours after hearing the news.
  • Allison Clapp, a close family friend, went to be with the Lord on April 28th.
  • Amy’s grandfather went to be with the Lord on April 29th,  Amy is flying from South Africa with the kids this week.
  • Missionaries Brent & Selina Bergey arrived in PE for their survey trip.  They plan to start an orphanage in the next few years.

On Easter morning I received a phone call from my mom from the states, and immediately knew my grandmother had passed away.  She had suffered a brain aneurism a week earlier and we were told it was just a matter of time.  My cousin Kevin Hall and I caught a plane and flew back to the states for the service.  

A week later, we received very unexpected news of a dear lady from our home church passing away, Mrs. Allison Clapp.  Mrs. Allison was like a second mom to my two older boys, Tyler & Chase, especially since the loss of their mother a little over a year ago.  

Thinking the hardest of the news was over, yesterday as I was walking into Hamilton Medical Center to see my wife’s grandfather before his surgery, my father-in-law let me know that “Pappy” was already gone.   

As I spoke with my wife, who was still in South Africa, we weren’t sure what to do.  With neither of us wanting to leave the kids in South Africa without a parent, we decided to have them all fly back to the states to attend the funeral.  They will arrive on May 2nd, and we are all set to fly back to South Africa on May 19th.  

Today, Chase, our second to the oldest, is having wires removed from his ankle from his break last month, and tomorrow, May 1st , Amy and the kids jump on a plane to head this way.  Please pray all goes well, and please continue to pray for our family during this time.

In the States

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On Sunday morning I was getting ready for to celebrate Resurrection Sunday at Madiba Bay Baptist Church in Port Elizabeth.  After a phone call from my mom, everything I had planned for the week changed a bit.  My grandmother had passed away, and I began looking for flights back to the states.  Our family was able to make it to the morning service and at 2:45pm South Africa time I was on a plane with my cousin Kevin headed for Johannesburg.  By 6:45am Monday morning (est), we were in the Atlanta airport.

On Tuesday, Kevin and I were privileged to conduct the funeral service for my grandmother Sue Webb.  We both had the opportunity to share the Gospel with many lost family members.  Please continue to pray that the seed of the Gospel will take root in their hearts and they come to Christ.

We will be in the states until May 6th.  We are staying a couple of weeks so we could schedule some meetings and try to recuperate some of the expenses of the trip.  The Lord has blessed and about half of our expenses have been covered so far.

Please continue to pray for my family who are still dealing with the loss of my grandmother.