Exciting News!    

      July 2021 has been one of the most exciting months for our family, since moving to South Africa. Last year, We started meeting for bible study in the home of a recent convert; where we have been meeting ever since. In May, we returned from a short furlough to raise funds for our first church plant. We immediately started searching for a place to worship of our own. After seeking counsel and speaking with multiple experienced missionaries, we decided it was best to rent a place as we begin our church. This will give us the opportunity to make sure we are in the area God wants us in. (Remember, Motherwell has around 250,000 people.) God has provided a small home, in a seemingly wonderful area, to start in! Praise the Lord! This home will allow us to start small and grow into a larger place in the future. We are very thankful for the prayers, the financial support, and the wisdom given by those around us. We covet your prayers over this tiny house, that God will change the lives of all who enter, in a big way.​

      Unfortunately, this good news comes with some bad news. "lockdowns" have returned to SA. With the Covid-19 numbers rising the President decided to move SA into lockdown level 4. The term "lockdown," is said very loosely though. Basically, anything that brings in money is still permitted; but no church services are allowed. This is a clear indication of how badly South Africa needs the gospel. So we go about our everyday routines and make tough decisions about church services. We have continued our bible study but we also realize this may not be the best time to begin a new church plant. We believe that his word does not come back void. We will try to be smart but also try our best to continue to preach the Gospel here in SA. Please pray for us to be wise in our decision-making but also bold in our witness. Also, that this church restriction will soon be lifted. 

      Some of you all may have seen on the news about the unrest here. This has so far not affected us. Most of the looting is about 10 hours north of us in Durban. The people here are desperate for political change and hope for a better future. That being said, we need more laborers to tell them about Jesus. 
      The President has sent out the national guard and it seems to have been helping so far. We have seen no unrest here in Port Elizabeth. We ask that you pray for the safety of all those affected by this issue, and for more people to surrender to reach South Africa with the gospel.
Prayer Requests    

• Wisdom as we proceed during this lockdown.
• The unrest and looting in Durban.
• Bay Baptist College/Training Center (currently being built)
• Bay Baptist Academy - (looking for a property)

We're back!

      We have now been back in Port Elizabeth, South Africa for 7 days. We are so excited to be back! I knew I missed SA but I didn't realize how much until I got home.  We spent the first week trying to get back into the swing of life on the field. It has taken my wife and I a tad longer to get use to the 6 hour time difference but other than that we are doing great as a family. We were blessed to see all of our friends again, Pastor Sipho Bonga at New Life and Vision Baptist church, as well as Pastor Khona and Pastor Mvume. All three of these men have helped me with culture and language. Also to the Coffey family we are very thankful. They went above and beyond to help us during our furlough and helped us greatly in our return last week. Please pray for their family as well as their works: Camp Rhino and Lighthouse Baptist church. 

      Speaking of church, we are so excited to start the plans for our new church plant, Fellowship Baptist Church in Motherwell. In the past few weeks, we saw God use His people in a mighty way! Over $40,00 was raised, Its safe to say we reached our goal! And all we can say is, Jehovah-Jirah! We heard from supporting churches giving, strangers, friends and family, And last but not least, our home church. We are so thankful.
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      Hopefully by the end of next month we will at least have a location/building confirmed. I have mentioned to others that we will most likely find a dilapidated or part of a building; purchase it, and then remodel it on the inside to meet our needs. This has worked for missionaries in the past, and we are excited about the process. We will post videos via social media as soon as we nail something down. I will also be starting back up our bible study in Motherwell this week. Please pray for new contacts as I restart the visitation process and hope to meet new people. 

      Our ultimate goal is to see souls saved and men trained. Pray for Miso and Njeza, these are the two that God has given me so far. South Africa needs MEN if it is going to be reached. Pray that the missionaries here as well as myself can properly train leaders to plant churches throughout South Africa. 

Thank you Pastors and Praying Friends. 

Dear Pastor and praying friends,
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      March is always one of the busiest months for a missionary. We are so thankful we have never had any major issues when it comes to our traveling. We have never been in a single accident and we praise God for his protection. We were in 13 different churches and 2 missions conferences this past month. We were in Mississippi, North Carolina, Georgia, South Carolina and Tennessee.

      The Lord blessed us greatly, we had 2 churches take us on for support and over $5,000 raised for our church plant. It is great to see familiar faces as we travel and to be with those who have supported us over the last few years. Thank you to all of those who pray and support us. We could not do what we do without you. Please pray for us as we have 1 more month of travel left before we return to South Africa. Please pray that we can reach our support and church plant goals before May. 

      Thank you for your continued prayers of my in-laws. They have recovered from Covid-19 and are back to normal life again. We celebrated Mercy's birthday last month. Our baby is now 3 and growing up fast. Both Silas and Mercy have spent more time in Africa than in America and like us are ready to get back to South Africa ASAP. The South African government has many different rules and regulations when it comes to the way they deal with Covid. Please pray that we can meet all the requirements needed. We are waiting on Silas' updated passport and then we will purchase our return tickets. We are looking to leave sometime in May and I will announce the date when we get our tickets.  


Church plant need: $40,000                                                                    Monthly Support Need: $600       
Given: $19,100                                                                                           Raised: $430
Now need: $20.900                                                                                   Now Need: $170

Hello Pastor and Praying Friends. 

Furlough Update:
      After prayer and careful consideration I have decided to extend our furlough. Due to Covid-19 our return tickets have been canceled for April 6th. Also with Meagan's parents being hospitalized and other covid related issues, we have had about 8 meetings cancelled and/or rescheduled. Adding an extra month will allow Meagan time with her parents while they recover and for us to reschedule the meetings we have lost. We are now looking to depart in the first part of May.

Sickness:
      Thank you so much for your prayers for Meagan's parents. They are both out of the hospital now and are recovering well. Meagan mentioned to me how humbled she felt by all the prayers we have received. She was amazed that so many people, some she didn't even know, reached out to tell her they were praying. Thank you all from the bottom of our hearts. We don't know what we would do without God's people.
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Travels
      We were so blessed to be in TN, GA, and OH in February. Some meetings were cancelled due to me having Covid in early February but the Lord still blessed. It is great to be with churches that support our ministry and visit with friends we haven't seen in years. Many of these churches have sacrificially given to our church plant fund in Motherwell; and we look forward to the day we can share fruit with them! We are closing in on half-way of our needed funds, and we know the Lord will bring in the rest. March is our busiest month and we look forward to being in some new churches. The lord allowed 3 new churches to add us to their missions team in February and we praise God for it.


Church plant need: $40,000                                                                    Monthly Support Need: $600       
Given: $16,000                                                                                           Raised: $380
Now need: $24,000                                                                                   Now Need: $220

   Covid continues to wreak havoc! While writing this prayer letter earlier this month I took a break to take my Father-in-law to a doctor's appointment. While I was waiting for him to finish up, I went by a gas station to buy a drink. After tasting it, I thought to myself, "Wow! This drink company failed because this drink doesn't taste like anything!" That is when something occurred to me. I had a cold that day and thought it was nothing more than a stuffy nose. After I realized I had no taste or smell, I immediately when to the clinic to get a Covid-19 test. Of course, it came back positive.

   My family and I spent the next 10 days in quarantine. Because we are living with my in-laws, we had to be extra careful. My Father-in-law stayed in a hotel for about 5 days and my mother-in-law ended up testing positive for Covid as well. Although I am back to normal, please pray for my mother-in-law who is high risk. We are praising the Lord that no one else in my family was sick and my wife tested negative multiple times. Due to these unforeseen circumstances, we sadly had to cancel our meeting for that week.

   We are happy to report that after a few weeks of strong restrictions; South Africa is allowing churches to meet again. We praise the Lord for this; as we have seen the repercussions of churches being closed last year. Although we are staying busy with meetings, we are currently counting down the days to get back home and get back to work. As far as the church plant we have now raised $11,000. Our goal is to raise $6,000 a month for Feb, Mar, April, May. This will put us very close to our $40,000 need before June. We hope to start the building program in the Summer of this year.

Prayer Requests:
   The busiest part of our schedule is coming up so we ask that you help us pray for safety in traveling as well as raising the additional support and building funds. 
There is also a small issue with our return flights in April. Our flight through London has been canceled; so we will be rerouted, and looking to reschedule for the same time frame. Thank you for the prayers. 

Church plant need: $40,000                                                                    Monthly Support Need: $600       
Given: $11,000                                                                                           Raised: $180
Now need: $29,000                                                                                   Now Need: $420

​Happy New Year!

Dear Pastor and Churches,
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   First I want to say thank you to all of those who gave us extra support for Christmas. This means so much to our family and we had a great Christmas and New Year. Being able to spend it with our family for the first time since 2017 was special and our children had a blessed time. If we are not scheduled to be with your church and you would like an update please contact me. I have already made a couple of update videos for some churches we couldn't be with and seemed to have a good response. Again we are so thankful for our supporters and we wouldn't be able to do what we do without you all!

   Since the first week of December, we have been traveling. And now we are about to head into our busiest time. We were blessed to be in Florida, Tennessee, Mississippi, Alabama, Indiana, and Michigan. We had 1 new church partner with our ministry and we raised about $3,000 for our new church plant this month. Because of Covid, we have had about 7 meetings canceled in Dec and Jan but the Lord is a blessing and we know he will supply our needs for our support and church plant. Please continue to pray for the people of Motherwell. Please continue to pray for the people of Motherwell. God has put these people on my heart and they desperately need the Gospel.  We will be returning to South Africa in April and look to plant the church around late summer 2021. 

   We praise the Lord for the 22 souls saved and Camp Rhino Jr. Camp this year. Missionary Mark Coffey is looking to also have a teen camp, but with South Africa going on a lockdown, it has been pushed back. Although we know Covid is real and it can be scary we must not allow it to stop us from giving the Gospel. I know Mark feels this way as well and I ask that you pray for him as he seeks wisdom in dealing with this situation. Please also be in prayer for Missionary Jeremy Hall and Pastor Mxolisi and their new Church plant in Slovo. 
      

Church plant need - $40,000                                 Additional monthly Support needed - $600
Given - $7,000                                                          Given $180
Now need - $33,000                                                Still need - $420

Dear Pastors and praying friends. 

Dear Pastors and praying friends. 

   Thank you for the continued prayers and support. Your sacrifice allows us to serve South Africa.

   Although my wife and I have enjoyed time with our families over the holiday, we miss our South African home and family as well. We have already begun our traveling and we desire your prayers as we continue. After our battle with jet-lag, we are finally getting back to normal. Also, our children are getting comfortable with family and friends and enjoyed Thanksgiving. 

    This past week we heard of the sickness and passing of the father of Pastor Sipho Bonga. It is believed to be due to Covid-19. Please pray for Pastor Sipho, his wife Zukhanye, and their church. Pastor Sipho has been a help to my family in our language studies as well as our future church plant. Also remember the people of South Africa, some of the people do not have the health as other parts of the World and may be more susceptible to this virus. 
 
    Camp Rhino is proceeding with children's and youth camp this year. The summer is starting to heat up in SA and the youth get very excited for camps. Please pray for Missionary Mark Coffey as well as the pastors as they prepare. The camp will be in the first and second week of January this year instead of the week before Christmas as usual. Pray for salvation and for men to be called into service for Christ as well as the men preparing to preach to many unsaved during camp weeks. 

   Please continue to pray for our future church plant. We are asking God to raise $40,000 for this endeavor. We currently have raised nearly $3,000. There have been two churches that have promised to give to the church plant. If you would like to help you can visit three2thrive.org/giving and select "The Sullivans". Every dollar given we receive into this account will go directly into our Church plant fund. We still have some Wednesday nights and a few Sundays available if you are interested in hearing more about what God is doing in South Africa. 

State-side Address:                                                                              South Africa Address:
1009 Glasow Street                                                                             52 Redwing Court
Maryville, Tn 37801                                                                             Westering Hills 6025
865-978-1432                                                                                       Port Elizabeth, South Africa


Church plant need - $40,000                                 Additional monthly Support need - $600
Given - $3,000                                                          Given $50
Now need - $37,000                                                Still need - $550

Dear Pastors and praying friends,

   Last Tuesday, October 27 my wife and I began to hear rumors that South Africa may return to lockdown sometime in November. Whether South Africa returns to a lockdown or not, I am unsure, but if they return while we were still in the country, we would not have been able to leave for our furlough. After some council, we decided to return to the states about three weeks earlier than our original plan. We landed in Atlanta on October 31 and are spending some time with family before we start our meetings later this month. My children had a wonderful time surprising my parents. My family and I are happy to be back in our homeland but we miss our people in SA. 

    Because of the early exit, I was not able to finish my bible study in Motherwell. I was preaching over the foundations of the faith. We are saddened by this but also hopeful when we return to SA we can pick right back up where we left off. Since the first week of August, we have been meeting every Thursday. We have had as little as two and as many as 17 in the study. Also, we rejoice over a 17-year-old girl who accepted Christ at our last Bible study before we left. 

    This brings me to the main reason why we are taking our mini-furlough, to raise additional support and money for our first church plant. Motherwell is a city of over 150,000 people, and the area we work in, Mahlabathini has over 10,000 people. Most of the people are unemployed and have been hit hard by the quarantine. Once we start, we would be the only Baptist church in the area. We have finished our language studies and are ready to plant a church. As I mentioned in my last letter we are looking to raise about $40,000 for the new building project. We would also need funds for chairs, speakers, microphones, songbooks, pulpit, etc. If you are interested in us to come to present our work or give to the church plant you can contact me at my new phone number 865-978-1432 or email at missionarysullivan@gmail.com

   Even though we just arrived in America, we are eager to return to where God placed us to serve him. We loved our first two years in Port Elizabeth. My older children Mallorie 9 and Avett 6 are very happy to be stateside but, my younger children Silas 4, and Mercy 2 don't understand and wish to be back in South Africa. Either way, we are here in America until April 6. Pray for us as we begin to travel and tell about the work God is doing in South Africa. 

Church plant need - $40,000                                 Additional monthly Support need - $600
Given - $2,000                                                          Given $0 
Now need - $38,000                                                Still need - $600

Dear Pastor and praying friends,

      It is a joy to be serving the Lord in South Africa. We have continued our bible studies in Motherwell for 8 weeks. I am teaching a 10 part discipleship material but we have had so many new first-time visitors each week I have had to restart the program twice. But with only 6 weeks left before we return to the States, I am going to finish the entire program so those who have been faithless can receive their certificate of completion. Our numbers have been up and down but we had a high of 17 people and we have a core that returns every week. Either way, the Lord is blessing our efforts as he promised he would. Would you help us pray that we can see a soul saved before we return to the states in November?

    I wrote all of that to tell you about some exciting news. The Lord has given me peace about starting our first church in this location. We are looking forward and are very excited about planting a new church in Motherwell, Port Elizabeth in the Summer of 2021. With that said we will need about 40,000 dollars for the building of this church. Would you help us pray that while we are on our mini-furlough that God would raise this money? 

   The spread of Covid-19 has slowed rapidly in South Africa and we are not at level 1. This means most everything is open now except for international traveling. It looks like we should still be able to leave as scheduled for our furlough but there is always a possibility it will be canceled. Please help us pray for God's will concerning this matter. Also remember Missionary Mark Coffey, who is still trying to return to South Africa and so far has not been able to due to the pandemic. 

   Our Co-laborers Jeremy Hall and Mark Coffey are working to start a local Christian School in Port Elizabeth. Jeremy Hall has spoken to the Department of Education and is hard at work to receive all the necessary registration. I also am very excited about this project and am looking to help in any way I can. Would you help us pray about this process?